Untold Missions Story: Mexico Drug Violence Driving People to Jesus Christ

When missionaries and pastors serving in Mexico discuss drug violence, a common theme emerges. People are suffering and dying in terrible ways, they say, but the fear this creates is driving unprecedented numbers of Mexicans – especially teens and twenty-somethings – into the arms of Christ.

"Victory in Jesus, that's what's happening in Mexico," says missionary Mary Stroud. "There has always been violence there, but now what used to be done in darkness is being brought into the light."

She and her husband, Matthew, served for two years in northern Tamaulipas state – one of the most violent in Mexico, and the stomping grounds of the Zetas, the most brutal and notorious cartel. For security reasons, they asked that their real names not be used, as they are still ministering in Mexico. The Zetas sometimes murder people merely for talking about them.

"The Enemy uses deception through the media to paint a bleak, horrible, hopeless picture of Mexico, which isn't a true one. There's a tremendous uprising of youth coming to Jesus. Seeds that were planted year after year are coming to fruition. The time of harvest is now.

"Yes, due to the violence people are losing their lives – that's real. But God is reigning in Mexico. Victory is here, and it belongs to our Lord Jesus Christ!"

Andy Rodriguez, 48, who works in the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas with Victory Outreach, a Christian drug recovery program, says crack cocaine is a huge problem on both sides of the border because it's so cheap and plentiful, thanks to the cartels. But over the past two to three years as the violence increased in Mexico, he has seen something amazing happen in the Valley. Keep reading