The Nickels: Missionaries in Mexico
Our Story
How do an Australian and a Canadian end up getting married and living in Mexico? This is how...
On Sept 24th, 2015, we both flew from our homes (Matt from Canada and Bonnie from Australia) to San Diego, California. We drove down Highway 1 together crossing the USA-Mexico border and arriving in Ensenada, where we spent the next 3 months in a missionary training school called DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). At the end of December 2015 we travelled with a team of 15 people to Costa Rica where we spent the first month of our two month outreach, and then travelled to Panama for the second month. It was during these two months of international outreach that we both connected really well with the Harryman family, seven people from Joplin Missouri who changed our lives forever (you'll hear more about them later). Our outreach consisted of lots of children's ministry, worship leading, teaching english, street evangelism, building projects, and other types of ministry.
At the end of those 5 months of training and outreach, we all went our separate ways. Matt back to Canada, Bonnie back to Australia, and the Harrymans back to the USA, but only for a short while before they returned to Panama for 2 years of training. (From the beginning of the DTS, they knew that they wanted to start a new missions base in San Juan del Río, Querétaro, México, and in order to do that they needed to spend two more years, in training). Bonnie worked for a year before deciding to leave everything in Australia behind and move to Panama to be trained, and then Mexico to start the YWAMQ (YWAM Queretaro) missions base. After Matt returned from his DTS he went to University for Computer Science, where he studied for 4 years.
In April 2019 (1.5 years after the YWAMQ base had been established by the Harryman family, Bonnie and a few others) Matt, his family and a few friends decided to travel down to San Juan del Río for a short term missions trip. Reconnecting during this 10 day trip, we began dating long-distance (Canada - Mexico) shortly after. Matt still had 1 year of University left, but his plan was to move to Mexico once he finished and start working full time as a missionary once he graduated in April 2020... Well, as we all know, that's about 1 month after COVID hit the world. So after finishing up his degree during the first month of COVID, Matt stayed in Canada until October 2020, then finally moved to Mexico. However at the end of April, Bonnie was forced to make the trip back to Australia where she was locked down for 8 months. So finally in December 2020, Bonnie was able to leave Australia and Matt and Bonnie were finally reunited... after 1.5 years of long distance!
To make a loooong story somewhat shorter, we got married in March 2022 in Mexico, and have been living and serving here ever since! On July 24th, 2023 Evelyn Rose was born, expanding the Nickel family to 3 people! The 3 of us are full time missionaries, ready to live out God's calling on our lives every day here in Mexico!
On Sept 24th, 2015, we both flew from our homes (Matt from Canada and Bonnie from Australia) to San Diego, California. We drove down Highway 1 together crossing the USA-Mexico border and arriving in Ensenada, where we spent the next 3 months in a missionary training school called DTS (Discipleship Training School) with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). At the end of December 2015 we travelled with a team of 15 people to Costa Rica where we spent the first month of our two month outreach, and then travelled to Panama for the second month. It was during these two months of international outreach that we both connected really well with the Harryman family, seven people from Joplin Missouri who changed our lives forever (you'll hear more about them later). Our outreach consisted of lots of children's ministry, worship leading, teaching english, street evangelism, building projects, and other types of ministry.
At the end of those 5 months of training and outreach, we all went our separate ways. Matt back to Canada, Bonnie back to Australia, and the Harrymans back to the USA, but only for a short while before they returned to Panama for 2 years of training. (From the beginning of the DTS, they knew that they wanted to start a new missions base in San Juan del Río, Querétaro, México, and in order to do that they needed to spend two more years, in training). Bonnie worked for a year before deciding to leave everything in Australia behind and move to Panama to be trained, and then Mexico to start the YWAMQ (YWAM Queretaro) missions base. After Matt returned from his DTS he went to University for Computer Science, where he studied for 4 years.
In April 2019 (1.5 years after the YWAMQ base had been established by the Harryman family, Bonnie and a few others) Matt, his family and a few friends decided to travel down to San Juan del Río for a short term missions trip. Reconnecting during this 10 day trip, we began dating long-distance (Canada - Mexico) shortly after. Matt still had 1 year of University left, but his plan was to move to Mexico once he finished and start working full time as a missionary once he graduated in April 2020... Well, as we all know, that's about 1 month after COVID hit the world. So after finishing up his degree during the first month of COVID, Matt stayed in Canada until October 2020, then finally moved to Mexico. However at the end of April, Bonnie was forced to make the trip back to Australia where she was locked down for 8 months. So finally in December 2020, Bonnie was able to leave Australia and Matt and Bonnie were finally reunited... after 1.5 years of long distance!
To make a loooong story somewhat shorter, we got married in March 2022 in Mexico, and have been living and serving here ever since! On July 24th, 2023 Evelyn Rose was born, expanding the Nickel family to 3 people! The 3 of us are full time missionaries, ready to live out God's calling on our lives every day here in Mexico!
Why Mexico?
When we first visited Mexico in 2015 during our DTS in Ensenada, we began to love the country. The people, the culture, the society, the food, the landscape. We both knew next to no Spanish back then, but found an increasing desire growing in our hearts to learn so that we could communicate with the wonderful people we met. Below are some of the main points of our calling to serve in Mexico.
The Circle of Silence
There is a region in Central Mexico called "The Circle of Silence" in which less than 3% of people know Jesus. One of the visions of YWAMQ (the organization that we work with) is to see The Circle of Silence broken! We want people to know the freedom that Jesus offers from sin, from drug addiction, from alcohol, from pornography. We want people to experience the love that God has for them as His children. We want the gospel message to be proclaimed to all people in Mexico so they may repent and be reconciled to God, to be in right relationship with Him and enjoy life with Him! There are various ways we go about breaking the Circle including:
La Santa Muerte (The Holy Death)
This article and short video help to explain La Santa Muerte and its influence within Mexico. Many people in Mexico have turned to this religion because it attempts to offer consolation to those who have lost loved ones. It claims that by gaining a better understanding of death, people don't have to fear it. Sadly, the drug industry in Mexico has claimed many lives, so the appeal of La Santa Muerte is naturally high among Mexicans. La Santa Muerte also accepts practices that are considered sinful by Christianity (ex. homosexuality).
Sadly, this is an example of how Satan can twist and distort the truth to create something evil. It is true that we don't have to fear death! In fact, Paul claimed that as Christians "to die is gain" because we will "be with Christ" (Philippians 1:21, 23). La Santa Muerte offers freedom from the fear of death by embracing it, but Jesus offers a greater freedom: embracing Him. And Jesus is not a God of death, but a God of LIFE!
"This is what he promised us—eternal life." (1 John 2:25)
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:11)
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
The Fatherless
Many households in Mexico don't have a father figure, and many families that do deal with abuse, alcoholism, and other harmful issues. Violence against women in Mexico is at an all time high, and there is an alarmingly high rate of femicidios (women being murdered).
More info coming soon...
The Circle of Silence
There is a region in Central Mexico called "The Circle of Silence" in which less than 3% of people know Jesus. One of the visions of YWAMQ (the organization that we work with) is to see The Circle of Silence broken! We want people to know the freedom that Jesus offers from sin, from drug addiction, from alcohol, from pornography. We want people to experience the love that God has for them as His children. We want the gospel message to be proclaimed to all people in Mexico so they may repent and be reconciled to God, to be in right relationship with Him and enjoy life with Him! There are various ways we go about breaking the Circle including:
- running schools such as the Discipleship Training School (DTS), the Discipleship Bible School (DBS), and the School of Leadership and Ministry Development (SLMD)
- hosting community Bible classes and studies
- teaching and equipping pastors who serve in the mountains and indigenous regions of Mexico
- sharing the gospel with our neighbours and friends in the community
La Santa Muerte (The Holy Death)
This article and short video help to explain La Santa Muerte and its influence within Mexico. Many people in Mexico have turned to this religion because it attempts to offer consolation to those who have lost loved ones. It claims that by gaining a better understanding of death, people don't have to fear it. Sadly, the drug industry in Mexico has claimed many lives, so the appeal of La Santa Muerte is naturally high among Mexicans. La Santa Muerte also accepts practices that are considered sinful by Christianity (ex. homosexuality).
Sadly, this is an example of how Satan can twist and distort the truth to create something evil. It is true that we don't have to fear death! In fact, Paul claimed that as Christians "to die is gain" because we will "be with Christ" (Philippians 1:21, 23). La Santa Muerte offers freedom from the fear of death by embracing it, but Jesus offers a greater freedom: embracing Him. And Jesus is not a God of death, but a God of LIFE!
"This is what he promised us—eternal life." (1 John 2:25)
"And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." (1 John 5:11)
"Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3)
The Fatherless
Many households in Mexico don't have a father figure, and many families that do deal with abuse, alcoholism, and other harmful issues. Violence against women in Mexico is at an all time high, and there is an alarmingly high rate of femicidios (women being murdered).
More info coming soon...
Discipleship and Training
Coming soon...
52 in 520
Since rehab ministry is one of the largest ministries we have and we devote large amounts of time and resources towards it, I decided to study the impact and effects of alcohol on Mexico as a country. I found some shocking statistics in the Encuesta Nacional de Consumo de Drogas, Alcohol, y Tabaco 2016-2017 (The National Survey on the Consumption of Drugs, Alcohol, and Tobacco 2016-2017). These slides are a short summary of some of the most concerning stats.
Now, what does "52 in 520" mean? Great question.
In San Juan del Rio it is reported that there are around 52 rehab centres.
There are 52 weeks in a year, so 52 x 10 = 520 weeks in 10 years. 520
The vision that we have is to see all 52 rehab centres in San Juan del Río have at least 1 weekly connection with a group of Christians within 520 weeks.
More info coming soon...
In San Juan del Rio it is reported that there are around 52 rehab centres.
There are 52 weeks in a year, so 52 x 10 = 520 weeks in 10 years. 520
The vision that we have is to see all 52 rehab centres in San Juan del Río have at least 1 weekly connection with a group of Christians within 520 weeks.
More info coming soon...