MEXICO – If you’ve ever known a man who could be described as a man’s man not only by his physical strength, his aptitude to influence and lead other men, and his life lived out with godly character but who also is a big teddy bear when it comes to the needs of a child, then you know someone like Pastor Juan. Pastor Juan pastors one of our AC churches in La Paz, Mexico, where he has turned his home into a church and in so doing, his church into a home. A home where all feel welcomed and where they belong – especially the hard-working men who reside in the community. Pastor Juan’s house/church is located on the eastern outskirts of La Paz, far from the hustle and bustle of the city, far from the seaport defining the western side of La Paz. In Pastor Juan’s community, you need to navigate between cacti and the wind-blown sand dunes, which make the drive out to his community seem different every time.
At three o’clock each Sunday, the open-air patio behind his home isn’t a place where reluctant fathers are dragged to church—it’s where men willingly gather, bringing their families to a humble space where everyone can belong. You see, Pastor Juan has put the time in with the men of the community, weaving their lives together. The men of this community are not rich men. They are hard workers with skill sets, but with the lack of industry in the area, the men feel the pressure to make ends meet.
A while back, Pastor Juan gathered the men of his house church together on nights and weekends to weave a fishing net. This was not a small singular dip net, but rather a 10-foot tall, 50-foot-long fishing net. Every 14 days, they take their handmade net, an old ponga boat, which rests behind the patio, along with a borrowed 35 hp motor to a beach launch near La Paz. A couple of the men get in the boat while the rest push the boat by hand into the sea just enough to lower the engine before jumping into the boat themselves. You can imagine the laughter and jokes as the surf breaks over the edge of the boat and they motor through the surf break towards the open ocean.
Remember, the net fills the hull of the ponga boat. There are no seats on this boat. Each man must ride on the rails until they reach their fishing spot. The men then dispense their net and wait in a small rocking boat for more than four hours during which time they sing, pray and share a devotional. When it’s time, they haul up the net and simply pull the fish out of the net into the hull of the boat, which gets more slippery underfoot as they go. By now its midnight and they repeat the process one more time throughout the early morning hours.
Before sunrise, as the boat approaches the surf on its return from a successful night of fishing, the men must jump out into the water to lighten the load as the boat passes through the surf towards shore. Upon return to Pastor Juan’s house, the boat is cleaned, the motor returned to the neighbor and the fish are processed and divided out between all the church families. Much of the fish will need to be dried due to lack of refrigeration in most homes. As the sun rises, a new workday begins for these men and though tired, they will hold a sense of honor in providing food for their families as well as cherish the trust and friendship of the pastor and fellow parishioners in the boat. In a fortnight, 14 days if you will, they will do it all over again…
Always joking with Pastor Juan, I asked if he thought they had ever caught as many as Peter in one night: 153. Being a true fisherman, he said he thought they had indeed caught that many – plus one more! My following question was, “When the seas get rough out there, do you think you could do what Peter did in the rough seas?” That’s when he invited me to join them next time and see for myself.
