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Monterrey, Mexico can be a frightening place to live. The smell of violence and the stench of death, sadly, are common. Motorists entering the city drive past mountainsides painted with massive “Z’s,” a territorial claim by the infamous Zetas drug cartel .

Francisco and Nancy Kuk, however, voluntarily are investing their lives there.

“Many of our friends and relatives were very concerned, but we dare to believe that wherever we go, God will be right by our side” Nancy said. “Making the decision was difficult, but the fact that I had my family there gave us some comfort. If we had to start from zero in a place that we no longer knew it would have been harder. The burden seemed much easier to bear with the help and support of our family.”

The Kuks, 2008 graduates from Baptist University of the Américas, moved from San Antonio to Monterrey last May as pioneering “missionaries” in a BUA program that places graduates with Latin American ministries with the help the support of Texas Baptist churches. The Kuks are supported by Northeast Baptist Church and Woodland Baptist Church in San Antonio.

BUA is supported in part of the Texas Baptist Cooperative Program, the primary giving channel of Texas Baptists.

The young couple “talked about the possibility of coming back to Mexico for over a year, and we weighed all the pros and cons,” Nancy added. “We took into consideration what we would be giving up — not for us but for our son. However, we also looked at what we would be gaining and realized, since Marcos would still be a baby, it was not going to affect him as much as it would if we waited for him to be older.”

Two months after moving to Monterrey, Francisco found work as a teacher at a very well-known school in Monterrey, Colegio Bilingue Madison, where he teaches civics and ethics, and Spanish to middle school students. In August, Nancy was hired as a 5th grade English teacher at Colegio Bilingue Contry.

“It has been almost a year since we came back to Mexico, and every day we get more settled in, every day we fight a new battle, every day we look back and every day we thank God because not only are we doing okay, but God has also given us jobs, placed caring people in our path and everyday He is teaching us to fall back in love with our country,” Nancy pointed out. “Who knows? Maybe Mexico is yet another stepping stone for something even greater God has in store for us.”

The young couple doesn’t ignore the fact that the violence increases day by day.

“We are cautious not to be out past a certain hour, but the drug cartels are now beginning to come out and commit their atrocities in broad daylight,” Francisco said. “Nancy’s brother, sister and father have been mugged and her brother robbed twice – once at knife point and once at gun point. We have had a few close encounters too, but God is our protector. We ask all our brothers in Christ to keep us in your prayers for our safety and the safety of the church here. There is much to be done and very few people doing it.”

Nancy and Francisco also work with Pastor Jesús Mario González at Iglesia Bautista Betábara.

“Pastor Mario suggested we take things slowly and let the church get to know and trust us,” Francisco explained. “We have to learn how this church does ministry, and then we can begin to put our dreams and training into action — witnessing, teaching and discipling believers and, hopefully, eventually starting a Baptist Bible Institute through BUA.”

Maegan Gatlin, BUA Communications