January-February 2000
Dear Praying Friends,
We hope that all of you had a wonderful time with family and friends during the holiday season. It is
hard to get
used to writing the year 2000, but we are happy to report that we survived the roll over into Y2K, without
any unusual
problems. Living here in the mountains of Mexico, we regularly experience food and gasoline shortages,
and the loss of
water, power and other conveniences, so we didn't know exactly what to expect. But everything is fine,
and we are moving
ahead.
Our family celebrated Christmas and the New Year together here in Mexico. With all that was
going on, it was both
a hectic and exciting time. It has been a real thrill to visit with our daughter, Jessica, this last month, and
she has been a real
blessing during our Bible services. She will be returning to college in Florida later this week. Last
month, as we planned to
travel to El Paso to get Jessica from the airport, we received a very special blessing. A dear family in
Arizona sent word that
they had a 12-passenger van that they wanted to donate for the work of the ministry. This was a real
answer to prayer! As
we learned of the details, we could tell that God was behind it from the beginning. Even the timing was
perfect. Maranatha,
our home church in Phoenix, was collecting foodstuffs to help alleviate the food shortage among our
people, caused by the
drought. A good friend and brother in the Lord, was planning to drive from Arizona to Texas to meet us
in El Paso with all
that was collected. As it worked out, he was able to use the van to bring everything in one trip. When he
arrived, not only
did we have a nice van, but also it was full of food and clothing bound for the mission field. As we
crossed the border into
Mexico, we were praying that we would be able to make it through the border of the interior without any
trouble with the
Mexican immigration. Often, people attempting to cross with large amounts of food or clothing are
detained or refused entry.
But, once again as in times in the past when we have prayed, and crossed with a large load, asking the
Lord to prepare our
path, as we arrived at the checkpoint, the guards waved us right through, without even asking a question.
Praise the Lord!
The van is a 1986, twelve passenger, diesel van with only 50K original miles. In Mexico, every station
has diesel fuel, and
with gasoline costing the equivalent of almost 2 dollars a gallon, a diesel van is exactly what we need, and
is being used
regularly.
We are especially glad that the Lord sent the van when He did. We had driven our pick-up truck
to the border to
help with the load of things we were planning to bring back to Mexico. On the return trip, about 100
miles from our home,
our truck broke down. We had to use the van to tow it back into a town that we had passed about ten
miles earlier. It was
December 23rd and we wanted to make it home for Christmas, with all of the things for the people. The
mechanic that we
know and trust in that town was gone for the Christmas weekend, and we couldn't find anyone else that
could work on it with
short notice. To make things worse, we were in the middle of a winter storm, with snow falling and icy
roads. We knew if
we didn't make it through the mountains before they became impassable, we would be stuck along the
road somewhere for
Christmas. Fortunately, the Lord led us to a shop that didn't do electrical work, but said we could leave
the truck until after
Christmas when we could find a mechanic. So, we moved everything from the truck into the already
loaded van. The back
end was sagging about six inches under the load, but we aired up the tires to maximum pressure and
slowly made the climb
through the mountains. It was after dark when we finally arrived home to find a flooded bathroom, frozen
sewer line, and no
water, but we were thankful to be home and in a couple of days we had everything back to "abnormal"
Smile. Our family had
a good time together on Christmas day, as we celebrated the birth of our Savior, preparing boxes of food
and supplies and
delivering them to families. What a blessing it was to have a special part in the lives of people in that
way. We want to
thank everyone who helped and continues to help with food and clothing or with money to purchase bulk
foods for the people.
It is a sobering thing to hear a mother with her children, say, that they only have the food that you have
provided and that
without you they would not survive. Many families told us that they had nothing at all for their children.
The food boxes and
clothes we brought were the only gifts they received. We know it is not us, but the love of God and of
other Christians
working out through our ministry. We are careful to remember that we are here to bring the Gospel of
Christ to a lost people,
but with such great physical needs, we feel compelled to express the love of God in a tangible way, by
doing what we can.
Thank you, for helping us make Christmas a special time for them.
The ministry is progressing well, and recently received a real boost. We held a special Christmas service
and
fellowship for everyone that we have personally had the privilege of leading to the Lord. We had a
Christmas film, message,
games, gifts and food. It was a great time in the Lord. We had asked our regular people to invite their
other family members
that might like to come. We usually have about twenty-five to thirty people, and were astonished to see
about seventy people
packed into our small house. We say about seventy, because it was impossible to tell for sure. Our living
room, dining room
area is only about 15'x 25' and there were wall to wall people. It was so crowded that we had to move our
vehicles and build
a campfire on the driveway, so that people could spill over into the outdoors. At times, we felt like we
were nearing total
chaos, but everyone had a good time and more importantly, had an opportunity to hear the Gospel.
Santiago, who trusted Christ last month and his wife attended as well as several of their family members.
It was
really good for us because we had a chance to meet other people that we did not know. As in many strong
Catholic areas, the
women seem to be the spiritual leaders. Many men think that "religion" is for women and children. But
that evening was
less threatening, and we were able to establish friendships that may not have otherwise been possible. In
fact, the following
week we had a higher attendance than usual, with the greatest number of men that we have ever had.
Praise the Lord.
Something on the horizon that is really encouraging, concerns a young man that we just met a couple of
weeks ago.
His name is Tito, which is Spanish for Titus. He was born here in Creel, but had been up in Phoenix, AZ
for the last eight
months. He had been in the drug trafficking business, when he was caught and sent to prison in Florence,
AZ, just about an
hour from our home church. During his incarceration, he took advantage of a prison ministry run by a
Spanish-speaking
pastor in the area, and trusted Christ as Savior. We were thrilled to hear his testimony and told him that
we wanted to help
and encourage him in his walk with the Lord. He is excited and really wants to serve the Lord. Jail gave
him a lot of time to
study the Bible so he has a good start. He wants to help us in our village outreach and church planting in
the remote areas.
This is a real answer to prayer. We have been asking God for someone to help us in that area. Please
pray that Tito will stay
on track with the Lord, and that we can help disciple him. He has asked if we would baptize him in the
lake, this spring.
That will be a great testimony to other young Christians. He is the type of person who is outgoing, and
knows everyone and
everyplace. He has family scattered throughout the mountains, and already is thinking of places where we
could go for
meetings. Praise the Lord! We are really excited about the possibilities.
As you know, the more we allow ourselves to be used of the Lord, the more the Devil tries to
discourage us. We
usually don't like to expand too much on the negatives in our prayer letters, because we want you to share
with us in the good
things that God is doing, but it certainly is a battle and we are constantly under attack in many areas. We
are currently faced
with a situation that could be very injurious to our ministry, and for which we would ask your prayer. As
you may remember,
we are located in a very strong Catholic area. It is the regional center of the Jesuit priesthood. This order
has been
nicknamed the catholic KGB. They have been known to have hit lists and to be responsible for the deaths
of people working
contrary to the Catholic Church. In recent years, they have been responsible for having people deported
from the country.
Mexico is supposedly a free republic, with religious freedom. But, when the citizens, police, and
government leaders are
Catholic, everything seems to bend their way. With our growing work, we are gaining more exposure. A
few weeks ago,
while we were away, working at the mission property, two government officials came to our house. They
spoke with our
daughter Bethany, at the door. They showed her their ID, and began asking a lot of questions. They
asked for the exact
spellings of our names, and wanted to know what type of work her parents did. She began to be
concerned when she heard
the detailed information they wanted, but it wasn't until their last question, "what religion are you?" that
she realized what
was going on. We believe that they were obviously working on behalf of the Catholic Church and are
probably taking the
preliminary steps in a larger plan of attack. Please pray with us, that God will protect our family and
work, and not allow any
harm to come to either. Legally speaking, we have government permission to live in Mexico and to do the
work of the
ministry until April, but they can bring pressure to bare in many ways. Please pray that we will not have
opposition in
renewing our visas, or any confrontations in our town. We are trying to take steps now to encourage our
sponsoring Mexican
church to continue with us.
Our mission base building project is moving ahead and seems to take every extra peso and all the
energy that we can
throw at it. But, praise the Lord it is in the exciting phase now. The building that will be our house is
completely under roof
now and we are working inside to plaster the adobe walls. It is a lot of work, but we desperately need the
space for our family
as well as our meetings. For that reason, as we can purchase the necessary materials, we will continue to
work right through
the winter months. Thank you, for all that you have done through prayers and gifts to bring the work to
this point. As you
know, we came to the field with only about 60% of our needed support. It is all to God's glory that he has
accomplished so
much. We appreciate all that you are doing to make the mission base a reality, and know that God will
use it in a great way
for His glory. It is possible that we could be within a few months of being able to move into the house.
Praise the Lord!
Other current needs, beside those mentioned in this letter for which we would ask your prayers
are:
� That we might quickly move into the house at the mission property, debt free. @ $6,000.00
� College tuition for Jessica and home school materials for the other children to finish this year. @
$2,500.00
� Folding chairs to be used for services. We must begin purchasing them soon. @ $500.00
� A water storage system that can be used now, and moved to the new property. Tank, switch & pump
@$400.00
� A laser printer for discipleship materials.
� A video projector for the outreach meetings.
Thank you, again for your faithful prayers, support and the opportunity not only to represent you on the
field, but
also to have your active participation. The glory is the Lord's, but the rewards are yours. We know that
God will bless you
for caring enough to invest your lives in the lives of the people here. We appreciate you!
Sincerely, For Souls Who Have Not Heard,
The Chambers
