Ten young adults gather in a living room in Mazatlán every Wednesday night. They arrive eager, and between open Bibles and honest conversations, something beautiful has taken root.
They come from different homes, with different concerns, but for a few hours each week, they gather united. Opening their Bibles, someone reads a chapter aloud, and each person is invited to participate. They discuss what the passage reveals about God, and what it might reveal about themselves; they share gratitude and concerns, and lift each other in prayer. They close the evening out with each young adult choosing something they want to carry differently into the week ahead.
Back2Back Mazatlán’s Transition to Independence Program currently has a men’s home and a women’s home for students between the ages of 17 and 23. Through care and mentoring, they discover who they are, what they believe, and determine what kind of adult they want to become.
The first retreat held for the young adults was in 2023, and it was after that staff decided to bring them together weekly. Attendance grew each week, and what started as another activity on a calendar slowly became a space young adults chose on purpose.
They’ve worked their way through the Gospels and are now studying Acts. The living room has been transformed into a place where young adults feel safe enough to be honest with one another as they share what they are thankful for and what is weighing on their hearts. Staff is seeing peer relationships strengthen as they grow comfortable with praying for one another, asking questions, and sharing.
This fall, young adults from all of Mexico’s Transition to Independence Programs (Cancún, Linares, and Monterrey) are traveling to Mazatlán for the annual retreat. The Mazatlán group is looking forward to welcoming their peers and sharing the community they have built together. At this year’s retreat, four Mazatlán young adults are choosing to be baptized. Individually, but witnessed by the community they’ve surrounded themselves with.
Holistic care is much more than helping a child reach adulthood. It involves building new skills and relationships, growing a faith, and cultivating a sense of belonging that sustains long after childhood has ended. This growth can happen through life-changing milestones, or it can grow quietly on Wednesday nights over open Bibles and honest conversation.
As four young adults prepare to publicly declare their faith through baptism, we are reminded that God continues the work He began. Using a weekly gathering, students find a place to belong and discover together how very much God loves them.
