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Mission Trip to Mexico
Minister off to Mexico
by Wilfred Langmaid --- For the Daily Gleaner
Saturday, February 2, 2002
Rev. Paul Ross is headed to Mexico, and he has a suitcase full of summer clothes all ready to take with him.
However, the senior minister of St. Paul’s United Church, 224 York Street, is not simply heading off on a holiday to escape the winter weather. He is an invited member of a Mission Team assembled by Campus Crusade for Christ, the group known for university work across Canada, the Power to Change Program, and Athletes in Action.
The trip, scheduled for February 11 to February 18, is centered in a locale known as “Trash City”.
“It is known throughout the world,” Ross said. “In Trash City, whole families live in extreme poverty, as well as some children alone. The members of the mission team are taking large suitcases full of summer clothing to give to people in Trash City.”
Ross and his fellow mission team members from across Canada with Campus Crusade for Christ have been invited to embark upon this project by 50 churches in the Acapulco area.
They will, in fact, be splitting their time between Trash City and the resort of Acapulco less than half an hour away on the coast. While in Acapulco, they will be networking with members of the business and travel communities.
Ross was thrilled to be asked by Campus Crusade for Christ in mid-January to join this mission, and he was further encouraged by the response of his congregation.
“I’ve found the response of the people of St. Paul’s to be very positive and very supportive,” he said. “They have helped me pack lots of summer things to give away, and they have given me time off to go. They view it as an important part of our outreach, not only locally, but globally.”
This is not Ross’ first stint away from his people to conduct outside ministries. Raised in Fredericton, he returned to the capital in 1996 as Senior Minister of St. Paul’s, after having ministered in Elmsdale, Nova Scotia.
The following year, he conducted what he described as “a nation-wide preaching mission.”
This particular trip, while only a week in length, will be a rich experience for Ross. He said, “It’s an opportunity to learn of another’s culture. It’s important to have a global perspective in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ-both here and in Mexico.”
Indeed, Ross sees that role of professing to be a major aspect of his upcoming trip. As he put it, “Helping out orphans and working with the travel and business communities offers us an opportunity to share our Christian faith with them.”
 View Pictures from the Mexico Mission Trip
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