Agua Prieta (AP) is located immediately across the border from the town of Douglas, Arizona in the southeast corner of Arizona.   Agua Prieta was the first step in our Conference-wide Hands-on Mission project in Mexico, and was initiated as a major Conference initiative in the summer of 2001 when the Covenant Council approved it as a major outreach ministry.   Since then, major transformations have been achieved as a result of God WORKING THROUGH the efforts of people from the Desert Southwest Conference and the Northwest Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico (IMMAR)... 

This ministry includes two major locations in Agua Prieta - the El Buen Pastor Methodist Church and la Fuente de Vida Methodist Church Campus.

1.  El Buen Pastor ("the Good Shepherd") Methodist Church. In the mid-1940(s), El Buen Pastor (EBP) became the first, and only, Methodist presence in Agua Prieta.  It is one of the oldest Methodist churches in the Northwest Conference. Almost 60 years later (in 2000), the original Spanish-style building was in such a sad state of repair, that a Volunteers in Mission team from Alabama dismantled it and left a bare lot with only the footings in place and some rebar standing.  It remained in that condition for over a year. 

In 2001, EBP became part of the Conference-wide Hands-on Mission project.  And a major initiative was launched to re-build the church "from the footings up."  Using funds provided by several churches in the DSC and labor from both sides of the border, major construction was initiated, and on August 1, 2002, the first brick was laid by a volunteer work team from Central UMC. Phoenix, Arizona.   With funds and "sweat equity" from both sides of the border, EBP was gradually formed into what it is today - a beautiful Sanctuary - a testimony to God's work through us -- that is now in full use by the congregation of EBP.

In May 2004, Pastor Maria Calixto graduated from the Methodist seminary in Monterrey and  in July 2004 became the pastor of El Buen Pastor.  The new sanctuary was "virtually completed" in the summer of 2005 and was consecrated in October 2005 during the Fall meeting of the Church-to-Church Committee.  Today, there is a full range of church services, prayer groups and adult/youth activities in place throughout the week, and approximately 70-80 Christians seeking to be faithful attend Sunday School and a traditional church service each Sunday morning.  The church stands as "proof-positive" of God's work through us - working together in the name of Jesus Christ.

2.  Fuente de Vida ("Fountain of Life") (FdV) Methodist Church Campus. The Fuente de Vida Methodist Church campus is located about a mile from EBP.  It occupies three (3) corner lots of a major intersection in the center of an impoverished community known as La Colonia Empacadora ("the packing house" colony).  It is so named because it is immediately across the railroad track from a large (cattle) packing house.   The Fuente de Vida Methodist Church campus includes the following three (3) major integrated components - each located on its own corner lot in the center of the community.

            a.  La Fuente de Vida Sanctuary.  The FdV Sanctuary stands on one corner of the intersection in the center of "the Colonia" and is a "beacon of Christ" for the entire community.   The double-wide unit (FdV Sanctuary) and the single-wide (FdV classrooms) were in fact main buildings at the former Fountain of Life UMC in Tucson.  When that church (in Tucson) was closed, the property was donated to the Methodist Church of Mexico and moved to Agua Prieta for use in La Colonia Empacadora.  What a testimony to Christian ingenuity, initiative and persistence!

  b.  La Fuente de Vida Community Center.  This component is located on the opposite corner from the Sanctuary.  In the beginning, members of the community met and prayed in a 3-sided partially completed adobe brick building - without a roof.  (See the photo on the left below).  Through a lot of hard work and focused initiative, that 3-sided building was completed and turned into a fully functional community center - with a covered patio/breezeway and an attached basketball court.  A bank of about a dozen sewing machines and 10 computers (linked together) are installed there for the community to use.  Hence, this building has become the center of community activities - group Bible study, prayer groups, men and women group meetings, computer and sewing classes, professional development classes, and a wide variety of community related activities.   The next step for this component is to construct another building (over the basketball court) to serve as an enhanced computer center.  The youth have other locations within the community to play sports.

La Fuente de Vida Health Clinic.  (On the corner across the street from the Sanctuary and Community Center).  In the beginning there were no medical facilities in the community.  Emergency medical needs were available about a mile away in a community hospital.  The Mayor of Agua Prieta (upon seeing what was being done in Fuente de Vida) donated the corner lot on which there was a partially completed cinder-block building with a dirt floor.  (See below).  The understanding with the Mayor was that we would turn that partially completed building into a health clinic that could serve the folk in the Empacadora community.  That has been done, and now there is a fully functional clinic in place where volunteer health teams can go and serve the health ("salud") needs of that community.  The building was dedicated on November 5, November 2004 in a joint ceremony by Bishop Minerva Carcaño (Desert Southwest Conference of the United Methodist Church), Bishop Jaime Vazquez (Northwest Conference of the Methodist Church of Mexico) and the Mayor of Agua Prieta.  The following weekend (November 8-10, 2005, a volunteer work team from Flagstaff, Arizona held the first ever medical clinic in that newly completed and dedicated building.

NOTE:  There is an urgent need for a Clinic Administrator - to manage clinic operations.  Anyone interested in this outreach ministry may contact Bill Sanford at the numbers listed at the bottom of this page.

Summary of Accomplishments in the Fuente de Vida Campus - 2002 through now.  Nineteen (19) excellent reasons to continue supporting God's call to the Fuente de Vida community where the Body of Christ is seeking to be faithful:

• Christian community well established and growing - in numbers and programs.
• 70-80 community members in church service and/or Sunday school each week.
•  Baptisms of all ages and weddings of community folk.
• Bible study and prayer groups (men, women, and children -- led by pastors and laity.
• Community Center built - and used by total community - variety of activities.
•  Electricity, water, sewer service installed throughout the community.
• Clinic built and volunteer medical teams serving their health needs.
• Computer training lab built and classes ongoing.
• Improved spiritual and people counseling through a Christian church
• Thousands of pounds of food distributed to the community -- through the church
• Thousands of articles of clothing and shoes distributed -- through the church.
• Great quantities of vitamins (all ages) distributed -- through the church.
•  Household items (refrigerators, sinks, light fixtures, furniture, baby items, beds, etc)  distributed through the church
• Christmas program:  Gifts for over 200 children each Christmas for last 3 years
• Over 30 young people per year go to a Christian summer camp in Juarez, Mexico.
• High School Senior - a candidate for entry into Seminary - Fall 2006.
• Children's and Mother's Day.  Total focus on children and mothers for entire day.
• Annual tuition fees paid for all junior and senior high students in Fuente de Vida.
• People Coming to Christ -- Lives Being Changed -- Families Being Strengthened.

BLESSINGS ACCRUING TO OUR CONFERENCE THROUGH THIS MINISTRY.

• God revealing Himself through us and our work as we are called to serve Him.
• Provides opportunity for personal outreach; a way for individuals to contribute time, financial resources, and skills to others in a very meaningful ministry.
•  Makes outreach up-close, real and deeply personal - not simply checkbook ministry.
• Creates personal relationships with the folk with whom we are in ministry.
• Close proximity and affordability permits outreach multiple times of the year.
•  It's a doable ministry - suitable for all ages - family, men, women and youth groups.
• Opportunity for our youth to experience third-world conditions and contribute personally to improving the lives of their brothers and sisters in Christ.
• A meaningful way in which churches of all sizes can experience Christian outreach beyond their own church walls.