BROWNSVILLE, Texas (ABP) — While drug cartels brand guns and other weapons, Baptists are seeking to end the violence through prayer and the spirit of God, said Daniel Rangel, director of Texas Baptists' River Ministry.
Texas Baptists are encouraging Christians to pray for the border and are training residents to have a positive impact on others in their communities.
"It takes a brave person to do what is right," Rangel said. "It takes a brave person to stand up for someone else. It takes a brave person to be kind, to be helpful, to seek out what is right. They are challenged to be an agent of peace, a person of peace."
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Texas Baptists are working in partnership with No Mas Violenci — No More Violence.
The joint effort, made possible by gifts to Texas worldwide missions initiatives and partnerships through the Cooperative Program and to the Mary Hill Davis Offering for Texas Missions, customizes the No Mas Violencia curriculum first used in Argentina to quell violence before, during and after soccer games.
Since then, it has been used throughout South America to end violence in various situations.
"We're showing them how to love themselves, how to have a good self-esteem," said Samuel Soto, a student at the University of Texas in Brownsville. "By that, they can teach the children."
Individuals and teams are trained to make wise decisions and positively influence others around them. Each lesson is undergirded by biblical principles and paves the way to present the gospel, organizers noted.
"The first principle they teach is you're important and I'm important because we're both made in the image of God," Rangel said.
The No Mas Violencia initiative is in direct response to a Baptist General Convention of Texas annual meeting motion to take action regarding violence along the border. Training sessions have taken place in Brownsville and El Paso in Texas and Matamoros, Juarez, Reynosa and Nuevo Laredo in Mexico.
Osvaldo Lerma, pastor Iglesia Bautista Filadelfia in Brownsville, believes God is calling his followers to make a difference along the border.
"We can make a change," Lerma said. "God wants to use us to change the face of our communities."
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John Hall writes for Texas Baptist communications.