Dear Partners on the Jubilee Way,
This letter reveals a whole lot about how Jubilee thought and action work in far southern Mexico where the López Pérez family live, work, and minister. In 2022, with your donations, Jubilee could send only a few hundred dollars to support this family and the “freelance” start of a new Jubilee ministry in Tapachula. The family has repeatedly expressed their gratitude. Now they speak to us in their own words—words bearing simple witness to how the Divine Presence brings healing amid overwhelming evil. There is so much here of encouragement for us in the U.S. today.
[The photo is from the 2023 Jubilee Delegation to Mexico and includes delegate Sue Shamblin with the López Pérez Family.]
We are the López Pérez pastoral family (Edman Orel, Rosa María, and our children Idelette and Edman Yefté). We are originally from the state of Chiapas, Mexico, but served about 30 years in the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (INPM), mainly in Mexico City and the State of Mexico.
We returned to Chiapas in 2022. We live in a small town called Huixtla, on the Chiapas coast, very close to the border city of Tapachula, Chiapas. It is worth mentioning that following the vote to include women in ministries in the INPM in 2010, a group of pastors were labeled as schismatics for voting in favor of ordaining women to the pastorate. This feeling against women in leadership is—especially in our Chiapas context— where conservatism is still very strong. For this reason, I’m not well regarded by my fellow pastors, and they have influenced their churches to close all doors to us working there.
However, our family, being called to this place and this time, continues in the work of our God, with or without a salary, inside or outside the churches, in the city or in the countryside, with lay people or leaders, with men and women, with adults and children, with Mexicans or foreigners, with musical instruments or without them, by car or on foot, no one can stop the advance of the kingdom of God.
For now, we do our work by supporting congregations in the mountains of Chiapas, with those brave churches that dare to invite us to share the Word with them, especially because they don’t have the money to pay a pastor to support them. In the city, we support a small group (the “Source of Redemption” mission) of Presbyterian brothers and sisters who have opened their doors to us, especially with preaching and leadership training. As a family, we support with music in the liturgy: my 9-year-old son with the piano, my 14-year-old daughter with the ukulele, myself with the guitar, and my wife sings and encourages the brothers and sisters.
César and Idelette
Another area of service is with the migrant brothers and sisters who pass through this coastal corridor, the only passage for them from Guatemala. We support them with food and praying for their families on this difficult pilgrimage. The story of Colombian César Tangarife is quite difficult to understand. During his journey from Colombia to Mexico, he suffered physical and psychological abuse. He was forced to sell and use cocaine, and his documents were taken away. He was well for a few days and then relapsed; it was a very hard spiritual battle with his life. He was with us here in Huixtla for almost six months, and thank God, once he was a little more recovered, he continued on to the United States. However, he was unable to cross and was deported to Colombia. This is one story among many that happen in these parts.
We ask you to pray for our ministry, thanking you in advance for everything you can do for us. —Edman, Rosy, Idelette y Yefté
As we all work together to fund and support the Jubilee ministries in Tapachula and all the Circles, what the López Pérez family has shared gives us a helpful, authentic picture of just one of the Circles to which our donations go.
Now as summer turns to autumn, an uptick in donations would be a wonderful marvel. It is our aim for 2026, that donations to Jubilee will be able to increase redistributions to all the Jubilee Circles, including an increase in the few hundred dollars per month that the Tapachula Circle currently receives.
The Mighty Presence of the Spirit be with us all,
The López Pérez Family, Lee Van Ham, John Michno, and Kyle Holberg
This letter is a joint effort of the people named above.
P.S. Remember to please tell others about this great opportunity to effect real change with their donations.
