Mark 16:15 NIV: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”
Two Campbellsville University alums are following this command, serving as missionaries in Chapala, Mexico, amid recent safety concerns following the reported killing of a cartel leader.
On Feb. 22, Nemesio Ruben Oseguera Cervantes was killed in Tapalpa, Mexico, causing cartel retaliations to disrupt public safety. According to USA Today, the U.S. State Department issued a shelter-in-place advisory, warning Americans to stay in their residences and away from any “large law enforcement presence.”
Just 85 miles away from Talpalpa, Cameron Talbot and Kelsey Overall, two CU alums, are serving as missionaries at Oak Life – School of Orphan Care, founded by Talbot in 2018. Oak Life trains students to “holistically and sustainably” care for orphans.
After what took place in Talpalpa, Talbot explained the priority at Oak Life is the safety of their staff, the mission teams who visit them and the children they serve. Communication is key and it is just as important for Oak Life to acknowledge any safety concerns as well as monitor them and provide reassurance. During the cartel retaliations and government safety precautions, Oak Life followed protocols and remained indoors for the allotted time.
Moving forward, the organization will be “watching to see how the U.S. and Mexico respond and interact with one another” and from there they will decide how to move forward in their ministries and partnerships.
“At the same time, we don’t want to play into the sensationalized version that people are seeing of what’s happening,” Talbot said. “The actual context on the ground is often difficult to explain.”
A mission trip, which was planned by CU’s campus ministry for Chapala, Mexico during spring break, was postponed to the end of May.
“We need to pray for the Mexican people,” said Talbot. “Taking out one man, albeit a powerful one, does nothing to change the underlying, systemic power structures of the cartel. The Mexican people are tired of living with the cartel reality and the injustices of the government. They often feel powerless to cause change in their own towns. Pray for peace.”
Talbot serves as the director of Oak Life and Love in Action Children’s Home, another ministry focused on orphan care. His decision to move to Mexico as a missionary came from a direct call from the Lord.
“One day, while praying as a teenager, I heard Him say quite suddenly, ‘I want you to go to Mexico,’” said Talbot. “It was quite a shock at first, and not something I had considered in any way, but that’s the exciting part of following the Lord – He knows things we don’t.”
Talbot studied Christian missions and Spanish while at CU. After graduating in 2014, he moved to Mexico. In 2015, he started his ministry as a “house dad” for Love in Action Children’s Home, a Christian organization seeking to provide homes for “abandoned, abused and orphaned children” in Chapala.
“The heart of the organization and staff was and continues to be very self-sacrificing and Christ-centered with a lot of love for kids,” he said.
During his ministry there, Talbot met his wife who was also serving at Love in Action. After getting married, the two of them prayed about what their ministry needed to look like as a married couple. They began to research orphanages in their area, discovering how “under supported internationally” those resources were as well as the average outcomes of children in institutionalized care.
“We founded Oak Life with this research in mind… To educate and empower orphanage directors, caregivers and advocates so they can sustainably and holistically care for children from hard places,” he said.
Oak Life provides a four-month training program for students to graduate from and hopefully spread across the globe, creating a presence in other countries to provide orphanages with the care and help they need.
“Any country where orphanages still exist, I want an Oak Life Caregiver there on the ground,” Talbot said. “[To provide] a new type of training that will deeply affect the lives of all the children they interact with.”
Kelsey Overall graduated in May of 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in Christian missions and Spanish. After graduating from CU, she moved to Chapala, Mexico to work as the missions director and administrator at Oak Life School of Orphan Care. She’s been living and serving there for nine months and plans to stay there until August, when she will move back to the states.
“The Lord opened up an opportunity for me…where I could combine all my passions – missions, Spanish and children,” she said.
Overall also works at a “trauma-informed private school,” teaching English to girls with difficult backgrounds. She admitted the environment in Mexico differs from where she is from, and one of the challenges she’s faced is “adjusting to the loudness of the culture” as well as working through the language barriers.
“Not being completely fluent in the language has proven to be difficult when being in an authoritative role,” she said. “[However], some of the biggest rewards have been growing in the language, as I have to practice it often.”
During the incident in Tapalpa, Overall followed protocols and remained in lockdown for 72 hours. She said after that weekend, things returned to normal “as if nothing has happened.” Her desire to stay in Chapala hasn’t deterred since those events and her trust remains in the Lord.
“This scenario does not affect whether I want to continue living and working here because I know that the Lord has me here,” she said. “I am confident in His plans and will continue to work until He tells me differently.”
This summer, Oak Life is hosting a summer mission program for any students interested in working in orphan care. From June 14 to July 12, students, ages 18 to 24, can work with Oak Life and local children’s homes to “change how orphanages care for kids.”
Further information about Oak Life can be found on their website, oaklife.org, and their Instagram account, oaklifeus.
