~ Serving in Loreto, Zacatecas ~
The Balls send out a periodic newsletter by regular mail. If you would like to be on their mailing list, please contact our office.
Mike grew up in a Christian home and made a profession of faith at a young age. He met a young lady just after graduating high school, and through her interest in missions, he began to see the need himself, so he enrolled in Bible school. After one year, they married, and he continued his studies, but his wife was killed in a car accident a few months later, and he didn’t finish that school year.
He continued his studies the following year, still feeling the call to missions. There, he met Faith. After that school year, they married, and he finished his last year of Bible school. Their first son (T.J.) was born the following year, and a traditional mission board accepted them. The following two years were spent in deputation, and a second son (Austin) was born.
Although lacking the full financial support the mission said was needed for their field, they felt the Lord wanted them to attend language school. Once there, the mission board began subtracting its portion from the monthly support money, leaving Mike and Faith without enough to pay for language school. After a discussion with the heads of the mission, they decided to leave the mission but continue with a language school. James Lucas invited them to join him in Mexico. They joined SFMI, and in 1991, they headed south with the two boys, expecting the third (Borden).
Jim Lucas left Mexico, but Mike and Faith stayed in Aguascalientes, preached the gospel, and discipled those whom the Lord led to Himself. Three girls (Feilynn, Chantel, and Angelina) joined the family. Eventually, the Lord raised up a church with its own leadership. In 2000, Mike and two of the elders from Aguascalientes began preaching in another town (Loreto) about an hour away. Some people came to know the Lord there, so discipleship classes began.
In 2002, the Lord led them to leave Mexico, leaving the work in Loreto under the care of Marcial, one of the elders mentioned above. They moved back to the States, where a fourth daughter (Viana) was born. In 2005, they returned to Mexico to live in Loreto. Due to Marcial’s continued diligence, a group of believers met there. Our purpose in returning was to disciple the growing body of new believers. Mike continued teaching and preaching, eventually joined by the new believers in evangelism and a few men in the ministry of the Word. A fourth son (Ethan) finished out the roster (of 8).
In 2008, the Lord led them out of Mexico again after establishing elders and leaving the work in their hands. They were out of Mexico for four years, one of which was spent in Ghana, West Africa. In 2013, they returned to Mexico again, reaching out to smaller towns around Loreto and encouraging the believers to do the same.
Since 2015, they have been in Mexico half the year and half the year in Wyoming, where the Lord provided a home close to Mike’s parents. Faith began her life with the Lord at age three, when she asked Him to be her friend. Her parents were Christians, but she didn’t follow Him until she attended Bible school after high school. Although she did not specifically feel a call to missions, she was willing to go wherever the Lord led.