High School Mission Trip: Tixbacab, Mexico
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Helberth Arceo was a drug addict with a bad reputation in Tixbacab (Teesh-ba-KAHB) Cenotillo (Yucatán), México when he made his way to the United States illegally—with no intention of returning.
While there, Helberth was invited to church, where he received the Lord and became sober. As a believer, he attended Calvary Chapel Chino Valley, CA; during his time under Senior Pastor David Rosales’ teachings, Helberth grew in his relationship with God and his understanding of God’s Word. While attending a conference, God placed a burden on his heart to return home and see his people reached with the Gospel.
In 2016, he reluctantly returned to his Mexican hometown—not knowing how he would be received. Despite opposition, he started a home Bible study out of his mother’s house, along with a children’s ministry. It became Calvary Tixbacab, the only non-denominational church that teaches through the Bible among several other churches in the small town. Through God’s faithfulness, the church finished construction of a building and, since October 2024, has hosted Sunday morning services along with other weekly gatherings, serving the community.
Students Serve in Tixbacab
A team of 10 from CC Chino Valley’s High School Ministry came to serve alongside Pastor Helberth in late December 2025. High school students learned how the love of Christ transcends all boundaries—even language barriers.
Tixbacab is a small rural town with a population of approximately 450 people, predominantly an elderly population, along with women and children. CC Chino Valley has sent mission teams to Tixbacab in the past, but this was the first youth team sent with the aim of reaching and ministering to the kids in the community.
Helberth explained that once the youth reach a certain age, their focus turns toward the first opportunity to leave Tixbacab. Their identity and purpose become focused elsewhere, so they leave the church and get involved with local sports teams, work, or other distractions. While there, CC Chino Valley team had the opportunity to minister to the town’s youth (ages 13–16) and children. The trip lasted eight days, four of which included planned nights of ministry featuring a Vacation Bible School-style evening, outreaches, fellowship, and a New Year’s Eve celebration.
Despite language barriers, the team utilized different ministry tools, one of which was performing a non-verbal skit called “The Sin Chair”. Each of the seven high schoolers portrayed a character and, without using any words, acted out a “sin” (such as alcoholism, vanity, relationships, greed, or sorcery) that the youth of Tixbacab might be familiar with. Each “sin” was drawn either to the chair labeled “Pecado” (“sin” in Spanish) or to the other characters. One by one, each character became stuck to the sin chair. The final character portrayed a believer and demonstrated how salvation and freedom is found only in surrendering to Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12). This character prayed with the others, and one by one they stepped away from the sin chair, displaying freedom from their sins.
“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
This demonstration opened the door not only for one of the high schoolers to share the Gospel with the kids, but also for Helberth, who was translating, to share his heart with the parents who sat in the back, watching the ministry to their children. As the evening continued, the high schoolers kept sharing the love of Christ by playing games and doing crafts.
Ministry Highlights
A moment that truly ministered to all the high schoolers was on New Year’s Eve. While exploring the small town, some of the kids invited the team to their homes before midnight to experience their tradition of La Quema del Año Viejo—the Burning of the Old Man. Families would fill old clothes with straw, similar to making a scarecrow, and add fireworks inside, demonstrating the burning of the old year, and welcoming in the new.
With caution, the team joined the kids and their family. What ministered most to them was that the family not only invited them to the quema but also shared their table with them. They welcomed the team with tamales and hospitality. The high schoolers shared the next morning how unexpected that was. They came with the intention of serving the people of Tixbacab, yet were deeply moved that night by how, despite not knowing them, the family welcomed them in as their own.
Bella, one of the juniors on the trip on her first mission trip, shared her experience during a Wednesday evening service: “I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. All I knew was that the Lord was going to use this trip for His glory, and He did exactly that. The Lord taught me a few things while on this trip—the first being gratitude. Tixbacab is a small town with not a lot of money, but the kids were filled with so much joy. And I met this little girl that was around 7 years old, and she was filled with so much energy, and so much joy, and so much life. And then I saw the place that she lived in, and it looked like she barely even had a roof. It really moved my heart because, if you met her, you would not have even known that she was living like that. It reminded me that the Lord has blessed me with all I need and more.”
Bella was also reminded of the love that God has for His children. “He reminded me of 1 John 4:7-8 which says, Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. And we are called by God to love one another as Christ loves us. And the love that I felt for these kids was not my own, but the Lord’s. The Lord’s love is so real and deep, and His heart yearns for His children. God reminded me that non-believers don’t know true love, but we can show them how He loves by loving like Him.”
“Here I am, Lord”
Josh Collins, CC Chino Valley’s High School Minister, led the team. He shared how he loves “mission trips because of how God has used them in my life to impact and change me. But now I get the privilege of seeing God take our high school students out of their comfort zone and use them in ways they never thought of. It is truly beautiful watching God break them for the people.”
This was the LORD’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:23
Josh also described being blessed by the unity among the students—doing devotions, taking initiative, and being the hands and feet of Jesus. “They were super servants. One of our guys, Avan, brought a bunch of little Jesus figurines to hand out to the kids in the community and they lit up with joy and loved it. Throughout the week, we painted a mural of Noah’s ark, deep-cleaned the church and went through the town picking up trash. We even had a free day where the students got to have some fun hiking up the Ek Balam Pyramids and swim in a cenote which is a natural sinkhole, common in Yucatán.”
When the team returned home, Emmanuel, one of the 16-year-old boys they met in Tixbacab, reached out to Josh and asked why he felt such a strong connection with the team. Josh posed the question back to him, and Emmanuel answered that it was because the team spent time with them. Josh responded that he believed it was the love of Christ Emmanuel experienced through their time together.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
The high schoolers acknowledged their excitement and how much they look forward to the opportunity to return and see the kids again. Despite the Lord stretching them in many areas—showering with only cold water, sleeping in hammocks, and loving on kids who spoke another language—they saw the Lord move through them and around them.
Now CC Chino Valley’s High School Ministry is preparing a team to evangelize in the streets of New York, and some of these high schoolers plan to attend.
“Here I am, Lord. Send me.” Isaiah 6:8
Thank you for reading! If this story inspired you, we invite you to partner with us in continuing the ministry God started over 27 years ago. We appreciate your prayerful consideration in joining us to reach more souls for Jesus.
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