The Mexico work, one of the earliest foreign works undertaken by the brotherhood actually began as a result of many conversations between two men who worked at the State Hospital in Kerrville, Texas: One of these men was a digressive named Bro. J. B. Torres; the other was the son-in-law of Sister Moffett of Medina, Texas. Bro. Torres was converted from digression.

Bro. K.G. Wilks learned of Bro. Torres through the pages of the Old Paths Advocate (OPA). Several exchanges of letters between resulted in a trip to Kerrville in 1959 to meet Bro. Torres, a pharmacist who had sold his business to preach the gospel. From that time there were regular reports of Bro. Torres' preaching on both sides of the border and of his supplying names and addresses of people in Mexico who were interested in the Faith. Although Bro. Torres later became unfaithful and had left the church by 1962, much of the earliest activity in the Mexican work must be attributed to him. Bro. Torres was instrumental in converting Bro. Jesus Rodriguez of Nuevo Laredo; from there the work spread to Monterey where Bro. Jesus' brother, Juan Rodriguez, Sr., and family were converted.

During this same period. there was an awakening of several people to the work in Mexico. Bro. Waymond B. Coleman and Raleigh Perkins of San Antonio had learned of Bro. Torres and the conversion of Bro. Jesus. In 1965 the Colemans made a trip to Monterey to locate Bro. Juan Rodriguez, Sr. It was through these men that the work was to develop. It was also on this trip that they met Juanito and Elias, young sons of Juan. Sr.

From 1965 on, brethren from the San Antonio area made four or five trips a year into Mexico to develop the new work. Bro. Coleman, Perkins, Melvin Crouch, Phil Fender, and Francis Holt were among those heavily involved during those early years. The Catalina and Nacogdoches congregations of San Antonio took the oversight of the Mexican work.

News of the new work soon caught the concerns of the brethren both in and out of Texas. Bro. Joe Martinez and Hugh Frank Hinton, both of Dallas, did investigative work in the border area in 1959. Congregations in Woodson, Texas (1959); New Salem, Mississippi (1960); Healdton, Oklahoma (1965); Covina, California (1961); Earlytown, Alabama (1961); Houston, Texas (1963), were involved, The Vaughn Blvd. congregation in Fort Worth (later Trentman Ave. and now Arlington) began supporting Bro. Martinez to provide a full time worker in this effort. Many other congregations, such as Oklahoma City (Capitol Hill); Fairview, Louisiana; Lebanon and Lee's Summit, Missouri; Austin, Texas (Woodrow Ave. congregation) began to support the work with both partial and full time contributions.

Beginning in 1959, there were many reports in the OPA about the possibilities of spreading the gospel in Mexico. Bro. Wilks and Coleman were the primary reporters of needs and accomplishments in Mexico during those early days From the OPA reports, the following points of history were gleaned:

March: Bro. Torres began preaching to many on the streets of Kerrville. Bro. Wilks and Millard Richmond went to Kerrville to encourage Bro. Torres.

June: Bro. Hugh Frank Hinton reported worshiping with the church in Nuevo Laredo.

July: Bro. Don McCord visited Bro. Jesus Rodriguez in Nuevo Laredo on behalf of Covina, California, supporters of Bro. Jesus.

October: Bro. Torres reported that Bro. Juan, Sr., was converted by Bro. Jesus.

April: Brethren Torres and Martinez baptized three during a meeting in Nuevo Laredo.

May: Bro. Martinez reported beginning full time preaching, expecting to go to El Timal to work with Bro. Juan, Sr.

October-December: Vehicles were donated to the work by Bro. Otis Fowler of Sabinal, Texas, and Bro. Jack Mansfield of Montebello, California. Bro. Martinez moved from Dallas to San Antonio.

October: Bro. Torres reported the conversion from digression of Bro. Ruiz Cruz who was working with a congregation in Monterey. Reports showed that eighteen members were meeting near Saltillo. Ero. David Macy expressed hope of becoming a preacher in Mexico.

November: Bro. Martinez, Wilks, and E.E. Perkins of San Antonio went to Nuevo Laredo to visit the work, reporting that the worship service was in order and that they were warmly received.

June: Regular support was reported from New Salem, Mississippi; Covina, California; and the Lawrence Road congregation in Wichita Falls. Other support was reported from Hebronville. Texas; Graham, Texas; Woodson, Texas; the Reach Street congregation in Fort Worth; and San Antonio. Bro. Coleman began writing the Mexico Report.

April: Bro. Crouch reported Bro. Martinez was working with seven native preachers.

August: Five native preachers attended the Sulphur meeting with Bro. Joe Martinez interpreting for them. This was a special occasion that allowed brethren in the U.S. to meet their Mexican brethren. Bro. Miles King, Dennis Smith, and Ralph Gomez visited Mexico.

May-December: Bro. King, Jerry Cutter, Ron Courter, and Bob Chancellor were among preachers visiting the work.

February-March: Bro. Joe Norton, Wayne McKamie, Raleigh Perkins, and Coleman visited the churches, reporting new congregations at LaBanda, Agua Nueva, La Chuchilla, and Providencia.

June: Eleven young people went to Mexico to build a meeting house in Agua Nueva.

August: Bro. Juan Rodriguez, Jr., was reported to be rapidly developing as a preacher and learning English while spending time with the Colemans in San Antonio.

July: Bro. Norton and Dennis Smith and their wives visited the congregations in Saltillo and in the villages to the south, distributing clothes to the poor.

August: Nineteen native preachers were reported to be on some form of support from the U.S.

August: Bro. Macy was sent to Mexico to preach a series of needed lessons. San Antonio brethren were convinced that a U.S. missionary was needed in Mexico.

December: Bro. Macy was chosen to move to Saltillo in August of 1972 with Bro. Juan, Jr., serving as translator. (Tony Valdez, a professional interpreter, served until this time.)

August: Bro. Macy and family moved to Saltillo with the Catalina congregation in San Antonio as the sending congregation. Support was provided by several congregations. The Capitol Hill congregation in Oklahoma City provided a new vehicle for the work. (Bro. Macy was the only American evangelist who ever actually moved to Mexico.)

July: Bro. Macy and family returned to San Antonio. Brethren in San Antonio (Catalina) decided to ask Bro. Juan, Jr., to serve in a leadership role in the Mexican work. October:

Bro. Juan, Jr., began writing the Mexican Report from Saltillo. Bro. Jim Hickey expressed a desire to begin a work in another part of Mexico, Mexicali, south of California.

January: Bro. Hickey reported twenty-four responses as he began the Mexicali work.

February: The Church of Christ was formally recognized as a legal religion in Mexico, and it was recorded in Mexico City.

23December: The Colemans moved to Saltillo to assist in the Mexican work. The first preachers' study, the first of 15 to date, was conducted by Bro. Wayne and Charles McKamie.

OPA reports of the work recorded many preachers and other visitors from the U.S., and the work went though a period of strengthening of existing churches rather than expansion. Great quantities of food and clothing from U.S. brethren were distributed.

1981

July-August: Bro. Norton became involved in the studies in Mexico. The Colemans moved from Saltillo to Cd. Victoria to help in the new field opened up there.

March: The Colemans moved out of Mexico to McGregor, Texas. Bro. Juan, Jr., and family moved to Cd. Victoria to work.

June: Bro. Norton reported spending three weeks traveling with Bro. Juan, Jr., and Elias to visit almost all of the work at this time. They visited twenty-two preachers who were working with thirty-five congregations.

March-April: 1983-84 were times of building meeting places because a Mexican presidential change mandated a public meeting place for congregations. Several Baxter College digressive preachers accepted the truth on worship. Studies in many areas concentrated on the Lord's Supper.

August: A gospel meeting August 23-26 marked the opening of a new building in San Pedro, Monterey.

January-February: The work had expanded into seven states and into many cities, such as Monterey, Saltillo, Cuidad Victoria. San Luis Potosi. Nuevo Laredo. and Reynosa.

March: A change in the responsibility for the Mexico Re-port was announced as Bro. Norton took over the writing from Bro. Coleman. Bro. Juan, Jr.. continued to provide the outline for the Report. now published on a quarterly rather than a bimonthly basis.

April-June: A period of growth was noted with the report of four new congregations and forty-seven baptisms. Growth was also recorded in the development of native leadership in the local congregations and in the fact that congregations in Mexico were beginning to generate some funds to build their own buildings.

April-June: A five-year goal was realized with the beginning of a work in Mexico City. Garland. Texas. sponsored the work and provided support for a preacher in the Federal District.. Four congregations were now meeting in Monterey.

January-June: A congregation at Carmen in Campeche on the Yucatan Peninsula was converted to the ancient worship. Report of a new congregation near Lilitla, San Luis Potosi, was given.

January: Successful leadership development and training were reported in the Monterey-Saltillo area.

May: The preacher's study was conducted by McKamie., Norton. Terry Baze and Murl Helwig with four native preachers also presenting topics.

The moral and doctrinal issues in Mexico have in many cases, been similar to those faced here except there they are on an ever-present Roman Catholic background. The miracle. mystery, and authority that is Catholicism is ever present. For that reason, developing true New Testament leadership independent of a local preacher has been extremely difficult, remaining the number one problem until this day.

Many of the issues superimposed on this Catholic background come from the United States. Sadly. and to our shame, some of the errors came even from our own. Issue after issue has been met. Wrongs have been and are being set right. The concept that all must give way to Truth has been firmly planted.

It is evident to even the casual reader that a tremendous effort has gone into the establishment of the Lord's cause in Mexico. The history of thirty years reveals a brotherhood willing to spend and be spent in an outreach of love and concern. Untold hours have gone into this response to the Great Commission. There are no words to tell of the people who have poured their very souls into the work. The projects pursued; the miles traveled; the money spent; the studies done; the tapes, the tracts, and the books; the successes and the failures; the joys and heartaches are absolutely overwhelming until we look into the faces of a generation of Mexican young people who have never known anything but New Testament Christianitv. To God be the Glory! Great things He hath done!