Taylor+L

Original story from Reporternews.com: [|Mexico violence deters some, not all, mssion trips]
 * __So Much Is Being Affected media type="custom" key="5730913" __**

Emily Peters is the reporter who wrote this article. She works for Abilene Reporter-news (reporternews.com is the online version of the newspaper). [|Abilene Reporter-News] is the main newspaper in Abilene, Texas. It was started in 1881, three months after the city was founded, so it has developed a lot of credibility due to its amount of time in business. However, there is not much said about the newspaper’s bias, or lack of – it is never stated either way.

I chose this article for this assignment because I have recently gone on a mission trip to Reynosa, Mexico so I am very interested in what is happening in that area. I also chose it because it shows how terrible things are getting in Mexico, along with how that is affecting not only tourists, but also churches.   This article was made to inform people. It rightfully explains the violence that is going on in the area. Also, it gives an example of how severe things have become along the Mexico-U.S. border. “Reynosa is listed in a warning released Monday by the U.S. State Department as one of the cities know to have “large firefights” between the military and drug cartels armed with automatic weapons and grenades” (Mexico Violence, Peters). Peters also writes about a specific youth group from [|Beltway Park Baptist Church]. She shows the extreme danger of the situation when she writes about the youth being caught in a crossfire between the Mexican military and drug lords. The church has now cancelled their plans to return over spring break. By giving that example, she is proving her point even more.  Despite her examples of the violence in the area, Peters also mentions other churches in Abilene are not shying away from the area of violence. The mission team from Southwest Park church is not cancelling their plans to go to Acuña. However, the situation in Acuña isn’t nearly as bad as the one in Reynosa.

Although the trips to the Reynosa area are put on hold for most churches, there are other places they are going to. Beltway Park Baptist church is still sending a mission team all over Abilene to share their faith. That example shows that even though a lot of violence may be going on in the Reynosa area, as there is in many other border towns, but that isn’t going to stop churches from serving others. 

Song: [|**Praise You In This Storm, By Casting Crowns. From Odeo.com**]