
Baja California Mission in Northern Mexico
	The Oblates have been laboring in Mexicali, Baja California since 1971. In 1996 we opened a new mission in Tijuana and the two sites are collectively known as the Baja California Mission in Northern Mexico. This border mission is complex both culturally and socially and is truly a work among the poor and abandoned.
In Mexicali, the Oblates are helping to develop the missionary parish of La Sagrada Familia, a "community of communities," made up of thousands of poor, working class families, gathered around 8 churches. In January of 1999 we broke ground for a new church in the northern part of this parish area. The church is dedicated to St. Isidore the Farmer and his wife Santa Maria de la Cabeza, patrons of farm workers.
	Fr. Jose Gago, originally from Leon Spain, is associate pastor in Mexicali. Many of the people, though living in the city, have rural roots and can relate to the simple country lives of these two saints. The land for the new church was donated by a family in Mexicali. Much of the work is being done by parish volunteers. On the outskirts of Tijuana, we have accepted the building up of a new parish with St. Eugene as patron. The thousands of families in our Tijuana parish are struggling to make a living in sprawling shanty towns nestled around foreign-owned factories (maquiladoras) which provide employment with wages which compete with the world market (less than a dollar an hour).
Fr. Bob Callahan, pastor of St. Eugene, is very active in ministering to the thousands of families who build their lives and homes on the dusty hillsides of the area (which turn into slippery mud-slides during the rains). Much of his time is taken with obtaining land for the seven populous communities of the parish, building parish facilities, a clinic, and coordinating volunteers from the U.S. who have helped put roofs on homes of some of the poorer families. Bob is a veteran missionary, having worked in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Mexico, as well as the U.S.
	With the help of numerous professional people from San Diego, Bob has established the non-profit organization called "Friends Helping Friends International," with the construction of a parish house and offices being their first major accomplishment. Besides the two parishes, the Baja California Mission also gives fraternal support to the Oblate Student Residence in Tijuana, which is a community of young men preparing to be Oblate missionaries. The Oblates have made a conscience effort to work among the youth, and through this ministry we have discovered a growing interest among the young to follow in the footsteps of St. Eugene.
The mission has a sister parish in Scottsdale, AZ - St. Bernadette Parish - since 1994. The parishioners of St. Bernadette sponsor over fifty students in Holy Family parish with financial support and meaningful friendships have developed over the years.
	The Oblates of the mission have been helped with lay volunteers. In both Tijuana and Mexicali, students from Oblate parishes in the San Fernando Valley of California have taken part in missionary experiences.



BAJA CALIFORNIA MISSION REPORT