Read letters from Andres and Gloria Garcia
Spring 2014- A Scary Experience
Late Summer 2013
April 2013
Spring 2013
Winter 2012
November 2012
September 2012
Summer 2012
October 2011
June 2011
October 2010
May 2010
Mayo 2010
October 22, 2009
June 25, 2009
March 31, 2009
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Andrés and Gloria Garcia
Mission co-workers at the U.S.–Mexico border
Andres and Gloria ended their mission work on the U.S. Mexico border in summer 2014. Thank you for your support of the Garcia's ministry.
Andres and Gloria are currently in the USA and based in TX. They are available to speak when their schedule permits. Email them to extend an invitation to visit your congregation or organization.
About Andrés and Gloria Garcia's ministry
Andrés and Gloria Garcia are serving as the U.S. coordinators for the Puentes de Cristo Presbyterian Border Ministry (PBM). In this assignment they seek to enhance the opportunity for church members and congregations in the United States to participate in the joint mission of the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico (INPM) and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as described in the Covenant Agreement between our two churches and to strengthen mission education and relationships within the two churches.
The Presbyterian Border Ministry has been a joint ministry of the PC(USA) and the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico. It is called to share a holistic gospel with those who live along the 2,000-mile Mexico-U.S. border by responding to spiritual, emotional, physical and material needs. Visiting mission groups learn about the spiritual, cultural and social benefits of striving for mutual mission.
Download a prayer card that lifts up the work of Andres and Gloria Garcia and partners in Mexico
Country context
Mexico has been described as a land of contrasts. Natural beauty and urban blight and poverty and affluence exist very close to each other. Reynosa is home to several large U.S.-owned manufacturing plants that have located in Mexico to take advantage of low labor costs and inexpensive land. The Reynosa/McAllen area, like other border communities, struggles with problems created by drug cartels. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been engaged in mission in Mexico since 1872. The PC(USA)’s joint ministry with the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico along the border is a major focus of PC(USA) involvement in Mexico.
About Andrés and Gloria Garcia
The Garcias are not new to challenges. After serving in Central America (Costa Rica and El Salvador) for 16 years, the Garcias accepted an assignment in the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa, Equatorial Guinea, a small country in West Africa. The Garcias served there as evangelists and church administrators in partnership with the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Equatorial Guinea.
From January 2003 to March 2004 the Garcias were missionaries-in-residence in the Worldwide Ministries Division for the Ecumenical and Mission Partnership team, in Louisville, Ky.
The Garcias served in El Salvador from 2001 to 2002 with the Calvinist Reformed Church of El Salvador. Gloria worked in mission education, facilitating the work of mission teams from the United States. Andrés was a consultant in construction projects.
Prior to their assignment in El Salvador, Andrés and Gloria worked in Costa Rica. Their most recent assignment there was teaching at Evangelical Center of Pastoral Studies in Central America. The couple was also responsible for serving as resource persons for the center’s exchange and communication project for peace, collaborating with the center’s work in women’s ministry and workshops and serving as educational and theological resource persons for ministry in the region.
Andrés Garcia was born in a rural farming community in Honduras. He was one of 10 children, 4 of whom died in infancy. He completed secondary school and earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in theology and Christian education at the Latin American Biblical Seminary in Costa Rica. In addition he has a degree in agricultural engineering from the University of Costa Rica. He spent nine years as organizer and director of the Central American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies before teaching courses and leading workshops in parts of Central America where the church is alive but without trained leadership.
Born in Quito, Ecuador, Gloria Salazar-Garcia is the fifth in a family of nine children. She earned a B.A. degree in Christian education from the Latin American Biblical Seminary and a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the National University of Costa Rica in San José. She has been a consultant for the Latin American Evangelical Center for Pastoral Studies and a coordinator for the center’s pastoral women’s ministry.
The Garcias have two adult children, Gerson Ofir and Varinia.
Birthdays:
Andrés - February 4
Gloria - July 14
