This article was originally published in our Missions & Ministry October Newsletter.
Ray Gurney, pastor of Cross Creek Baptist Mission, and Steve Reed, founder of Daybreak International and member of LifeQuest Church, shared a knowing chuckle as they prepared for their upcoming mission trip to Guatemala. From cowboys to Indians to motorcycles, they both thought.
For the past 15 years, Steve Reed has been taking teams to Guatemala to do various mission projects. On his very first trip, he noticed some cowboys riding their horses in a dusty little cow town. Curious, he asked his partner, Cesar Gonzalez, a question that has forever changed both of their lives.
Are there churches for guys like that around here?
“No,” Cesar answered. “Here, evangelical Christians believe it is impossible to be both a cowboy and a Christian.
“Is that so?” Steve countered, a little surprised and perturbed with Cesar’s response. “What if I got together some guys from the United States who are cowboys and are also believers in Jesus to come hang out with these cowboys, would that make a good mission project?”
“Absolutely!” Cesar exclaimed.
Neither Steve nor Cesar realized at the time that 15 years later they would be working with cowboys and ranchers in over 55 locations across the countries of Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador. Today, for every cowboy outreach event done in a new location, Steve and Cesar receive another three or four invitations to go somewhere new and do a similar thing.
When Steve and Ray met, Ray was doing double duty as pastor of Cross Creek and planter of a new cowboy church. So naturally, Steve asked Ray to come help him befriend and work with other cowboys. “I didn’t have any desire to go to Guatemala,” Ray admitted, “but Steve asked me if I’d get a passport and pray about going. Reluctantly, I promised I’d get a passport. In about a month I was down there with Steve!”
Through the years, other ministries have spawned from the cowboy ministry. In 2003, a Kekchi Indian invited Steve and Cesar to bring a group to his village to show the Jesus Movie in their language. That next year they did, and after three days of showing the movie, people from a 3-hour hike away were impacted by those who had seen the movie and returned to their village. Soon, word got to Cesar asking for helping in starting churches with these people. Today, more than a dozen Kekchi churches have been established. To get to the most remote churches, Steve has to take teams of people who can strap on backpacks and hike six to seven hours a day.
But that’s not all. While doing a trip with Steve that served both cowboys and the Kekchi Indians, Ray and Cesar got to talking about a motorcycle ministry. In his younger days, Cesar had jumped motorcycles in crazy Evil Knievel type stunts. Ray, an avid biker himself, promised Cesar that he would bring a team of guys down to work with the Guatemalan motorcycle enthusiasts. On a couple of different trips in the past few years, Ray has been engaged in this new work, and in October will be going down with another team.
And that’s why Steve and Ray got to smiling and chuckling. Who would have figured that you would reach motorcycle guys by way of cowboys and Indians?
But that’s the power of the gospel of Jesus. Praise God for empowering these men to respond to His leading and take the gospel to new places!
For more information about these ministries, contact Ray Gurney at (816) 690-0019 or Steve Reed at (913) 526-3807
