History of Santa Elena Mission

THE HISTORY OF CENTRO COMUNIDAD SANTA ELENA
Also known as THE SANTA ELENA MISSION

The Santa Elena Mission, a Christian Mission was initiated prior to 2004. This mission is located approximately 520 miles south of Ruidoso, NM about 380 miles south of the US/Mexico Border near Creel, Chihuahua.  Creel is a small village in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountains near Las Barrancas del Cobre or the Copper Canyon.  The mission is about 5 km from Creel in a conifer forest at 8000 feet elevation.  The building of this school and dormitory (or albergue) facilities began in the 1990’s, when the Tarahumara Tribal Chief, Lazaro Cardenas, requested a school and a dormitory for the children of Santa Elena and the surrounding communities.  The dormitory was to be used for the 20 to 30 children that lived too far away to walk to school every day.​

Dr. Sherman of El Paso responded to this request through his US organization, “Christian Hands in Action” (CHIA).  Sherman formed a Mexican non-religious non-profit Civil Association “Manos Cristianas en Acción” about 2003 to build, own and operate the facilities.  This civil association is controlled by a Board of Directors consisting of Mexican citizens initially selected by Dr. Sherman.  For CHIA’s investment in building the facilities, the civil association obtained title to two hectares of land where the mission, school and the orchard were to be located.  This title was granted by Gregorio Questa, a major land holder in the Santa Elena area.

Architect Wendell Hall working with CHIA, designed and built much of the two-story 7,100 square foot structure. David Rico, Sr. of El Paso and a “Manos Cristianas en Acción” board member, was also very involved in the work. Ester Koster, brought a missionary team from Holland to do most of the finishing work.  Gregorio Questa also assisted with the project. The school was completed in 2004 with classes beginning in the fall with 15 to 20 students living in the dormitory and many more attending classes there.   CHIA paid the operating expenses initially.  There were several managers of this mission during the next few years.

In 2004, Hershel & Elaine Anderson found the mission at Santa Elena and soon dedicated their lives to working with and supporting the mission.  Additional classrooms, a basketball court and an outhouse, were built by a branch of the Mexican Government.  During this period, the Andersons initiated the installation of the garden, orchard, fencing, a water well and a state-of the-art irrigation system.  The water was pumped to a large storage tank and was used for the school, adjacent buildings, and for watering the plants being grown in the orchard.  To improve the water supply, a cistern was built near the albergue by the Rotary Club of Chihuahua to collect water and pump it to the storage tank.  Later, an 8200 foot 2 inch water line was installed to serve the mission from the Recowata water transmission line by the Junta Municipal Aguas y Saneamientos (JMAS).  The water line is difficult to operate since it must be turned on and off near the highway.  Because of this, the cistern is the primary water supply.

By 2006 there were several management issues at Santa Elena. Because of these problems and CHIA’s desire not to be responsible for management and funding of the project, CHIA asked the Andersons to assume complete financial support and management of the albergue and surrounding property. The Anderson’s paid Dr. Sherman’s Christian Hands in Action organization $40,000 for their investment and gained the non-profit’s Board of Directors commitment to agree with Anderson’s management.  Over time, the Andersons would select new members of the Board of Directors.  The Community United Methodist Church of Ruidoso (CUMCOR) began to get involved at this time with financial and other support.  Mission trips were taken to Santa Elena to do work projects and vehicles were donated.  Mission teams built and equipped two outside shower rooms and a woodcraft shop.  Major repairs were made to the septic system.  CUMCOR members built an outside storage room and converted part of the dormitory upper floor to an apartment for the Mission Managers.

Hershel Anderson made contact with Manolo and Rayito Guerrero regarding managing the mission.  The Guerrero’s were a very dedicated couple from a church in Cuidad Juarez with an interest in working in the Sierras.  He took them to Santa Elena for a visit in March of 2007.  The summer of 2007 a fire due to a failed refrigerator motor did considerable damage to the albergue.  A mission team from CUMCOR provided most of the cleanup, and repair of the fire damage. ​

The Guerrero’s were members of that mission team.  In September of 2007 Manolo & Rayito Guerrero accepted the position as Mission Managers at Santa Elena and moved into the apartment in the dormitory.  Their work was to operate the dormitory and provide a Christian Mission School for the children in coordination with the government provided teachers, who taught basic education classes in the albergue.  During this time, craft training was added for young adults to help provide them with skills which will allow them to earn more income.  ​

Since 2008, the overall management of the mission has been provided by the Santa Elena Steering Committee, a committee of the CUMCOR.  The CUMCOR Steering Committee goal was to help the Tarahumara at Santa Elena by providing them with education, improve their health through diet and hygiene, and bring them to know Jesus Christ.  This committee is responsible for establishing management policy, supervision of the mission managers and funding of the mission.  The mission funding has gradually shifted from the Andersons to CUMCOR and other collaborating churches since Hershel Anderson’s death in 2010.  Legal control of the Mexican non-profit “Manos Cristianas en Acción” was completed in 2012 with the appointment of a new Board of Directors chosen by the Steering Committee.  The documentation of a title to the land owned by the civil association “Manos Cristianas en Acción” was also completed in 2012.  The new board members were Pablo and Adriana Rodriquez of Creel who have a long history with the mission.  In 2015 two additional board members, Ines Resendiz, and Jenny Ivette Reza both of Cuidad Juarez, Chihuahua were added so that there are now four Board Members.  In 2016, Ernesto and Olga Ernesto De Santiago of Creel replaced Pablo and Adriana on the board.  All board members were recruited by the Steering Committee.​

Manolo and Rayito successfully developed a Christian Mission to house, feed and care for many Tarahumara children who lived in the vicinity while the teachers were operating a public school. It became difficult for the mission managers and the government teachers because the albergue and the outside classrooms were being used both as a mission and a public school.  These difficulties were related to the fact that the Mexican Government has laws that specifically prohibit government from participating in religious activities.  During this time, there were unclear responsibilities about costs, and how the building was being used and maintained.  It was ultimately decided that the public-school teachers would no longer teach school inside the albergue.​

The public-school teachers then began teaching the children in a classroom adjacent to the mission.   The children go to public school in the mornings and return to the mission in the afternoon.  In a negotiated agreement, the property (including the basketball court) that contained the school buildings was donated by the CHIA to the Chihuahua Department of Education.  The school area is now separated by a fence constructed during a mission work trip in 2013.  Since the separation of the mission and school facilities, the operation of the mission and the school has greatly improved, and the government has constructed more classrooms.  Now mission personnel and the public-school teachers work cooperatively for the benefit of the children.​

Between 2008 and 2012, the government constructed more classrooms in outlying communities so that there was no longer a need to house children in the dormitory since all of the children attending the Santa Elena School lived nearby.  In the fall of 2014, the Santa Elena Mission program was converted to a lunch and after school program.  Children arrived between noon and 1 PM and received a hot lunch at the mission and 2 to 3 hours of supplemental instruction.  The instruction included Bible lessons, personal ethics and responsibility, crafts, review of school subjects and personal hygiene.  Between 20 and 35 children attended this program.  Outreach programs to the adult community were also provided.​

In September of 2014, a playground for approximately 40 to 50 children was installed on the Santa Elena property.   The new playground was installed on a 60’ X 30’ leveled pad, next to the Carpentry Shop at a total cost of about $12,000 USD.  It was a wonderfully successful project, attracting additional children to the mission.  It was designed and paid for by CUMCOR and other District Churches in our area.

In 2014 the CUMCOR Steering Committee changed the name of the project to “Centro Comunidad Santa Elena” to recognize it is not a church but a center of activities for the Santa Elena Community.​

Since 2014, management of Santa Elena has focused on the long term, working on such items as:​

  • Reporting the activities at the mission on a daily basis.
  • Improving services provided at the mission.
  • Improving maintance of the facilities.
  • Broadening the financial support base to include other churches and individuals.
  • Including members of other Conference Churches on the Steering Committee
  • Obtaining hazard insurance for the facilities.
  • Obtaining compliance with all government regulations
  • Starting a retirement and health insurance program for the mission managers.
  • Improving the water, wastewater and electrical infrastructure.
  • Improving communications between the steering committee and the mission managers.
  • Improving communications with donors through newsletters and videos.
  • Providing mission opportunities via mission trips.
  • Improving relationships with those in the Santa Elena community.
  • Developing long range goals for mission programs.

A scholarship program for students graduating from the adjacent elementary school was started in 2015 so that students can continue their education through high school.  Please refer to the Scholarship section for more information on this program.

In April and August of 2018 mission teams added two new modern bathrooms on the second floor of the mission to more comfortably house students and mission teams.  Video cameras to improve security were also installed outside the building and in the hallways of the mission.  These cameras are monitored in the manager’s apartment.

In the fall of 2018, we reinstated the program to provide room and board to about 15 elementary school children who live some distance away from the school, these children live at the mission 5 days a week so that they can attend the adjacent public primary school.  After about 3 hours per day at school the children return to the mission where our mission directors reinforce their school subjects, provide Bible based instruction, and teach students personal hygiene. The students learn personal responsibility and participate in group recreation. This program has been well received and has resulted in an excellent working relationship with the public-school teachers. The mission now supports some of the school programs with donations for special activities.

Currently the Centro Comunidad Santa Elena is providing a valuable service to the Santa Elena Community. Support for Santa Elena is raised by the steering committee through donations. Although Community Methodist Church of Ruidoso originally provided most of the support for the mission, the support for Santa Elena has expanded to so that many other Methodist churches and individuals provide about 50% of the funding.

The management of the mission has also been expanded to include steering committee members from Grace Methodist in Alamogordo, Socorro St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, and Clovis Kingswood Methodist Church.

A scholarship program for students graduating from the nearby elementary school was started in 2015. This program provides a full scholarships to the boarding school “RAHOBI”, which is an acronym for Rancho Hogar Bilingüe Indígena (Ranch Home Bilingual Indigenous). The school has a Secundaria curriculum of 3 years ( 7th through 9th grade) and Preparatoria curriculum of 3 years (10th through 12th grade). The school is properly incorporated into the system of the Mexican Secretariat of Public Education (Secretaría de Educación Publica).The school is located in Colonia Linda Vista, Bocoyna, Chihuahua, México about 20 miles from the Santa Elena community.

In the fall of 2018 we reinstated the program to provide room and board to about 15 elementary school children who live some distance away from the school, These children live at the mission 5 days a week so that they can attend the adjacent public primary school. After about 3 hours per day at school the children return to the mission where our mission directors reinforce their school subjects, provide Bible based instruction, and teach students personal hygiene. The students learn personal responsibility and participate in group recreation. This program has been well received and has resulted in an excellent working relationship with the public school teachers. The mission now supports some of the school programs with donations for special activities.

Currently the Centro Comunidad Santa Elena is providing a valuable service to the Santa Elena Community. Support for Santa Elena is raised by the steering committee through donations. Although Community UMC originally provided most of the support for the mission, the support for Santa Elena has expanded to so that many churches and individuals throughout NM Methodist Conference provide about 50% of the funding.

The management of the mission has also been expanded to include steering committee members from Grace UMC in Alamogordo, Socorro St. Paul’s UMC, and Clovis Kingswood UMC.