Jay and Faith Tenbrink
In the late 1990’s Jay and Faith Tenbrink, young members of His Place Church, entered the Mexico missionary field. They began working with Alternative Missions (AM) and – having studied the language – were based in Cofradia, Mexico in an old medical compound that was ideal for upgrading to accommodate ministry work teams.
This began the adult working team relationship between His Place, through Pastor Nick Harris, and AM. One of the early His Place adult team projects began in 2001 with participation in the multi-year Arrayanes church project, about five miles from Cofradia.
In 2003 our team made repairs to the home in Cofradia that the Tenbrinks were borrowing.In 2004 a team added two rooms to the humble home of Pastor Horacio as they continued working on the Arrayanes project. Teams continued working at Arrayanes and also began visitations with the Cora Indians in the village of Mojocuatla that the Tenbrinks were beginning to focus on.
Cofradia church complex
In 2007 we were asked to begin participating in a very large complex in Cofradia. It was AM’s decision to bring all the surrounding villages together in one gated arena complex rather than each having its own facility. This large complex would be able to accommodate a broad scope of activities including a covered arena for church and sports activities, Sunday School classrooms, offices, a library, and even a small arboretum area.
This work continued through 2010 as the project was worked on by many church teams from the US and Canada. Our teams continued their short visits with the Cora and the Tenbrinks continued to focus on the Cora Indians as time allowed.
This included an ongoing study of the difficult Cora language which is totally different than Spanish and is said to come from the Incas. In February of 2011 the Cofradia complex was dedicated with a small representation from His Place.
Although the Tenbrinks returned to Skagit Valley, they continue to lead His Place teams each year, to help with family home projects.
