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Deforestation takes on new meaning when you're standing in Loma de Ardilla, a cluster of homes perched on a dusty 6,000-foot ridge overlooking an endless sea of Oaxacan mountains. The Mexican village's name means "Squirrel Hill." But its residents haven't seen a squirrel there for years.

Deforestation claimed this mountaintop long ago, as traditional agriculture methods removed precious topsoil while subsistence farmers survived by turning trees into charcoal to sell. Equally barren mountains extend to the horizon like the swells of a dusty brown ocean. They starkly contrast the green maze of pine-covered hills behind the ridge that one must navigate to reach the village.

Yet joining the soft purple of the sparse jacaranda flowers — virtually the only color in this deforested landscape — is another color of hope: the sky blue walls of new ecological latrines. They join water tanks and ecological stoves as signs that something new is happening.

Another sign: the wall-less Presbyterian church above the village. Prince of the Shepherds members tore down their 13-by-20-foot building two weeks ago to build a bigger one for the growing congregation of seven families. A work in progress, today six wooden beams support a corrugated aluminum roof that shelters 14 rudimentary pews hand-carved from pine.

"It's important for the church to be active outside its four walls. That's why we don't have any walls on the new church," said church leader Santiago Perez with a laugh.

Prince of the Shepherds has partnered with Mision Integral (MI), a Christian development ministry and local partner of the San Diego–based reforestation ministry Floresta.

"Some people separate the physical and the spiritual," said Luis Alberto Castellanos, general director of MI, which is based in the nearby city of Oaxaca. "We believe the gospel is integrated. Our work is our testimony, a chance to show our faith in the love of God."

Oaxaca, along the southeast coast, is one of the poorest of Mexico's 31 states. MI is active in Oaxaca's Mixteca region, a remote mountainous area where water access is severely limited and lack of economic opportunity has led to crippling deforestation.

Founded in 1998, MI started with reforestation projects in four Mixteca communities of subsistence farmers. Today the ministry is active in 40 communities on projects ranging from family gardens, latrines, and ecological stoves to fish farms, dental clinics, and microfinance.

"People said we were crazy for planting trees," said Castellanos. "We do much with little. As when Jesus fed the 5,000, God multiplies out of nothing."

To see for myself, I cram into a white Chevy Colorado 4x4 pickup with five MI workers carpooling to remote Mixteca communities. The two-hour drive northwest from Oaxaca is gorgeous: rolling folds of pine-covered 8,000-foot Sierra Madre mountains as far as the eye can see. We turn off the highway at a magenta Catholic shrine just past Kilometer 140, and descend the windy dirt road down to the narrow valley below. It's a land of acidic red soil and seasonal streams. The April sun pushes 100 degrees.

Near the barrio (village) of Rio Plaza, we begin where MI starts with most communities: a family garden. Each features 12 varieties of vegetables, such as onions, broccoli, red cabbage, and lettuce. Silver plastic wraps five garden beds 60 feet long. Holes poked with an aluminum can on a stick allow the garden plants to emerge. A drip irrigation system conserves water and reduces labor.

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November (Web-Only) 2009, Vol. 53