It was a huge decision to make, and Cecy’s head was full of questions. What would it be like to live there? What is the university context? What do students struggle with? What are the churches like? Is God calling me here?

Cecy made her first exploratory trip to La Paz, a small city in Mexico, in November last year. ‘La Paz’ means ‘peace’. But it’s far from peaceful. It’s a dangerous place, with high rates of crime, violence and homicide. COMPA, the IFES movement in Mexico, doesn’t have any student ministry happening there. So Cecy went praying that God would make the way ahead clear – and He did!

La Paz has at least 18 universities, some public, some private. Cecy had the opportunity to meet several students and get to know their context. What are the challenges they face as Christian students? One thing they mentioned was the rejection they’re facing, being labelled as homophobic because of the negative impressions people have of the Church.

Another student, Sara, spoke about how difficult it is to do mission alone. She was very happy to hear that Cecy would be coming to support and equip her to share the gospel with her friends.

Cecy was encouraged to find that the local churches were interested to hear about COMPA’s vision and were positive about collaborating.

Cecy plans to move there in May to begin the pioneering work. She is now praying for God to provide a team to work together, a suitable home for the ministry and the necessary finances.

IFES is currently supporting the pioneering of 51 new groups in Mexico through the Breaking New Ground project. Find out more about this project and read more stories of pioneering work around the world.

Give today to support IFES pioneering initiatives on unreached campuses in Latin America and around the world.