Church Planter, Horse Whisperer Bring Gospel to Mexican Cowboys

Acts 18:1-11 Paul uses his skills as a means of spreading the Gospel

Here's a modern-day example of the Lord working in the same way.

Article from Christian Today:
http://www.christiantoday.com/article/church.planter.horse.whisperer.bring.gospel.to.mexican.cowboys/7912.htm
Copyright © 2006 Christian Today. All rights reserved.

A church planter and a horse whisperer from opposite sides of the U.S.-Mexico border are working together to reach out to the local Mexican cowboys - as yet unreached by local church groups.

by Maria Mackay
Posted: Monday, October 9, 2006, 13:30 (BST)

They say God works in mysterious ways and that was exactly the case when God brought two stranger cowboys on opposites sides of the U.S.-Mexico border together to bring His Word to unchurched cowboys in Mexico.

Andy Hill, a missionary with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, initially shunned the idea of reaching out to the 'vaqueros' – or Mexican cowboys – in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta where he was stationed.

“I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer,” Andy joked, who really tried to push the thought out of his head of any mission work among the cowboys.

"I thought, 'Wait a minute. That sounds like too much fun'," he says. "I was afraid it was too much my idea and not enough God's."

When Andy and his wife, Lori, arrived in the town four years ago as new missionaries, two things immediately stood out: the deep-rooted cowboy identity and the lack of outreach by local Christian groups among the cowboys.

"Here in Mexico it's been said that all men are cowboys at heart," Andy relates. "Mexico has a very diverse population, but at the heart of this country are those roots that they've come from - that 'vaquero' culture."

He added that among Christians, “there’s been an attitude that once you become a believer, you have to leave anything they consider worldly behind. And that includes things you enjoy doing," Andy says. "So if a man is a 'vaquero'- a cowboy - if he has horses or enjoys those sorts of things, he has to leave all that stuff, all his old friends, behind. He has to completely separate himself."

That was an attitude that Andy couldn’t open his own heart to, given his own background growing up on a small farming and ranching operation near Haskell, Texas.

"We're told (in God's Word) to be in the world but not of the world. And you can't be in the world unless you're interacting with it," says Andy, a former police officer and Marine Corps sergeant. "You can't win the lost to Christ, you can't live your testimony in front of them, if you're living apart from them."

The more Andy got to know the vaqueros in Agua Prieta, the more he felt that God was at work among them too. It was at that time that he got a call from his missionary supervisor, Allen Alexander, who asked Andy if he had ever considered starting ‘vaquero’ churches in the area.

"As a matter of fact, I have," Andy said. "But I keep pushin' back against it." When he explained why, Allen responded: "Well, I wish you'd see where God would take you with this.”

At the same time as God was planting the idea in Andy’s heart to begin outreach among the ‘vaqueros’, God was also preparing a horse whisperer named Chip Sugar back in Andy’s old stomping ground.

Chip, of Hawley, Texas, explained, how God just started speaking to him one day as he was working to tame a wild horse in a round pen.

“God just started laying Scripture out in front of me, showing me how the relationship I have with the horse is like the relationship He wants with me," he explained. "He showed me how He's trying to get me to trust Him more, just like I'm trying to get the horse to trust me."

Chip was then led by God from his Fort Phantom Baptist Church in Abilene to set up a new part-time ministry which would reach lost people by taming horses.

Chip and Andy did not know one another. It was only when Andy heard about the work of Chip through a friend at the Hills’ home church, First Baptist, Clyde, Texas, that the two men were finally brought together to bring lost souls to Christ.

Now Chip makes regular voluntary trips to the Hills’ where he brings people to Christ by explaining step by step how he tames an unbroken horse.

The crowd watches in awe as Chip brushes a blanket across the back of the wild horse’s back and explains to the crowd – through Andy’s translations - the steps he is taking to get the horse to trust him enough to saddle and ride him.

The process is, he says, the same as that of learning how to trust Christ.

By the end of the process, the horse has been tamed enough to carry Chip’s teenage daughter.

For 'vaqueros' and their families, taming the horse is a powerful visual of what Christ wants to do in their lives.

It's a symbol, too, of what God's done with the Hills since they came to Agua Prieta. They've struggled to figure out what God wanted to do through them, but they're finally seeing Him bring everything together.

And first fruits of the mission outreach are very promising as seven 'vaqueros' and their families now gather regularly to study the Bible and take part in worship with the Hills at the local rodeo grounds.

Andy believes it's "the beginning of a movement of 'vaquero' churches that has the potential to spread across all of Mexico."

"We're on the brink of a breakout of the Holy Spirit the likes of which hasn't been seen in these parts ever," Andy says. "And because of that the enemy is fighting us, every step of the way, fighting us tooth and nail, trying every tactic he can come up with. So it's been a battle."

But through the power of prayer, the ministry has stood firm and has no intention of going anywhere.

"God just keeps whispering in my ear, 'Trust me. Trust me,'" Andy says.



Information on Agua Prieta,Mexico

Agua Prieta is a town in the northern part of the Mexican state of Sonora (31.331289,-109.562). It stands on the U.S.-Mexico border, adjacent to the town of Douglas, Arizona, USA, and covers an area of 3,631.65 km². In 2000, Agua Prieta had an estimated population of 61,944 people, and a literacy rate of 96.3%. 89% of the homes in the city have electricity, 94% have running water, and 86% are connected to the sewer system. The city's most important economic activities, in descending order, are industry, commerce, and farming.

History
Agua Prieta began growing at the end of the 19th century as railroads were built between Douglas, Arizona and Nacozari, Sonora to transport minerals. As a result, the first settlers of the town were those employed by the U.S. mining company Phelps Dodge Corporation, which was based in Douglas, Arizona. The town was founded in 1899 as the Commissary of Fronteras, but did not become an independent municipality with its current name until August 28, 1916. Rodolfo L. Márquez was the new municipality's first president. It rose to the status of Villa on May 8, 1933, and it was officially placed in the category of city relatively recently, on November 11, 1942.


Agua Prieta played an important role in the Mexican Revolution. Plutarco Elías Calles and Lázaro Cárdenas, two future presidents of Mexico, both lived in the town during its early years. In 1916, Pancho Villa made a night attack on Agua Prieta that was repelled by the forces of Obregon, assisted by large searchlights powered by American electricty. In 1919, the Plan de Agua Prieta was signed in a curio shop near the Mexico-United States border, which called for the repeal of the government headed by Venustiano Carranza. The army headed by Álvaro Obregón eventually deposed Carranza.