Tom and Collette

Tom, Collette, & Santos

First, a little history. More than 10 years ago we were living in San Marcos focusing on the ministry in Arrayanes and Mojocuautla. They had just installed phone lines and for the first time we could get internet service. I began searching the internet for any information about the Cora Indians. I stumbled across a website of Tom and Collette Beytien, a couple from Nebraska who were working with the Cora up in the community of La Mesa del Nayar. They had been working at a school for Indian kids from the Tepeuano, Huichol, Cora, and Mexicanero tribes. They worked alongside the director, an elderly Franciscan monk who at that time had been in the mountains for 35 plus years. I sent them an email expressing my desire to work more with the Cora people and included an invitation to visit us anytime they were passing through.

Since our first meeting God has continued to allow us to work together in many different ways because of our shared passion for seeing God revealed among the Cora people. Now, as we are back in Mexico and gearing up to start a new work in the area around the Mesa, Tom and Collette are back at the school. Now that the Franciscan has passed away the school has been taken over by the Alumni group, directed by our friend Santos. The school still has its roots in the Catholic tradition, but they are open to our involvement. During our trip there last week, we were invited to share during their devotional times a 6am and again at 6pm. During our trip we were able to help out by painting in the dining hall, painting the exposed wood on the exterior of one of the buildings, and building a number of shelf units for the dormitories. Pastor Horacio, his son Alfredo and David Medina accompanied me on the trip.

Right now there are more than 100 students at the school, some of them live there full time since they come from as far away as Durango and Jalisco, and the rest return to their homes in La Mesa. This school really needs help financially. To adequately house, feed, and teach this many kids is not cheap, but if I understood Tom correctly, they are doing it now for about $500 a month. They really need closer to $1500 a month. If you would like to be a part of that work you can contact Tom and Collette at familyrenewal@yahoo.com.