The Lord’s Work in Córdoba, Mexico
Winter 2022
“To the one we are the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” (2 Corinthians 2:16)
This journey in reformed theology began in March 2010, when by the grace of the Lord, as director and teacher of the Bible school of my former congregation, I was assigned the subject of Church History. At that time, I was part of a charismatic church. During the second course of the subject, I had to teach about the Protestant Reformation of the 16th Century, and I was able to better understand the roots of my Protestant faith. Although I had a moderate knowledge of that period of church history, I was forced to deepen my knowledge of the Reformation. This is how I came to study for the first time what is known as the “Remonstrant Controversy” in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 17th century. For the first time I met the term “Arminianism.” I understood its implications given the focus of the church to which I belonged and served.
As is often the case, in my eagerness to “destroy” Calvinist theology, I began to study it in depth and ended up exhausted by the weight of the biblical arguments and the consistency of that perspective. In tears I realized my tremendous error and the glorious reality of God's grace towards a miserable sinner like me, a staunch defender of free will. From that moment my family life, my pastoral ministry, and my preaching changed radically. Encouraged by the preaching of fellow reformed preachers in the United States of America, with this new knowledge I was able to be strengthened in my resolve not to continue down the path of pragmatism and Arminian doctrinal error.
Finally, after three years of personal struggle, by the abundant grace of the Lord, I left my old church to begin preparing for the opening of the new local church, having reformed theology as the source of inspiration and instruction. In God’s providence I met and discussed matters with Mr. Marcus Reyes. After a season of waiting on the Lord, we decided to start a reformed church together in Córdoba, Veracruz.
We wanted to come under the care of a group of Particular Baptist churches in the city, but our request was refused. Although disappointed, we understood that God was providentially guiding us in a different direction.
Marcus had learned about the Free Presbyterian Church at the end of 2013 and traveled to Mexico City to meet Rev. Jason Boyle, who had already been serving in that city for three years. So began frequent contact with Rev. Boyle and we made regular visits to Iglesia Cristiana El Redentor during the first months of 2014.
Coram Deo Reformed Church, Córdoba held its first service on Sunday, May 11, 2014, with an attendance of 50 people, in addition to the brothers of the Grace Christian Church of Orizaba where brother Reyes is the minister. The vast majority of those who accompanied us from the city of Córdoba came from a charismatic and neo-Pentecostal background, since they used to attend the church where I was associate pastor for more than eleven years.
In April 2014 we made request to Rev. Boyle for us to come under the care of the FPCNA. He encouraged us to be patient, as denominational decisions could well take some time. To our surprise, during the Week of Prayer and presbytery meeting in May 2014, the brethren resolved to invite us to the presbytery in Cloverdale in the fall of that year. Their desire was for us to get to know each other and then evaluate the possibility of accepting our request to be taken into their care. They also resolved to send a commission, comprised of Revs. Myron Mooney and Reggie Kimbro, to visit Córdoba in September 2014. Rev. Mooney preached the Word on that visit.
Our visit to Cloverdale was a time of great blessing. The presbytery agreed to take us under care of the presbytery and assigned us to the supervision of the Foreign Missions and Seminary Committees. Being taken under their care was an unprecedented decision for the presbytery and involved an immense amount of organizational work.
Since the founding of the local church in May 2014, many people from my previous context have visited us. Upon hearing the Christ-centered sermons, the relentless confrontation of sin and observing the distinctives that we had adopted, many have ended up withdrawing and adhering to other less “rigorous” and more “contemporary” churches. I must admit that assuming such a conservative position has made us an “unattractive” church. Most of the churches in the region are Pentecostal, charismatic and the historical denominations have even chosen to accept certain modernist practices that are more in line with the philosophy of the people.
We have seen the hand of God guiding us, taking care of us, sustaining us, and correcting us. Although we do not give up our efforts to faithfully preach the biblical text, the path has not been easy. We thank God for the work of brothers who have invested resources to send supervision teams. In 2016, we received Rev. John Wagner and Mr. Steven Lee. Rev. John Hanna visited while he was in Mexico for the anniversary of the work in Mexico City in 2017. That same year Revs. Myron Mooney, Mark Allison, and Derrick Bowman conducted the ordination of Rev. Boyle and Rev. Mooney again preached in Córdoba.
In 2019 we were very thankful for the work of an international missions team led by Rev. Derrick Bowman, accompanied by his wife, Lydia, and a group of enthusiastic and God-loving young people. Their visit powerfully encouraged and edified us. This was also a year of personal moments of great joy with the marriages of our daughter Pamela and our son Lalo Jr., as well as the arrival of our grandson, Lalo III.
I must acknowledge the persevering work of Rev. Boyle in visiting and orienting us. He has guided me in the process of my own theological and ministerial formation, and in the process of the church becoming a mission church under the care of the church in Mexico City.
In May 2022, by the grace of the Lord upon me, I completed a course of theological study, and the presbytery agreed to me becoming a licensed minister. On August 21, 2022, Revs. Mooney and Bowman visited once more, carrying out the licensing procedure.
By the grace of God, we have at this time a membership of fourteen people who have remained firm, constant, and diligent. We have met in four different locations and have baptized fourteen brothers in the faith, most of whom remain constant in the church.
With the help and blessing of the Lord, we hope to become accepted as a local Free Presbyterian church under the care of the denomination. If that comes to pass it would be my honor to serve the Lord as the ordained teaching elder of this small but much-loved church.
We long to honor God in the years to come as a church that is faithful to the holy gospel and that conducts itself according to presbyterian government with worship services conducted in order and decency. May God grant it.
Thank you to all who have sustained us with prayers, words of encouragement, and even financial support. We thank God for His providence in joining us to this beautiful denomination.
“Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).
Rev. Lalo Peña
Minister of Coram Deo Reformed Church
Córdoba, Mexico