Dear Praying Friends,
What a blessing it is to once again share some of what God is doing in our lives. You are a tremendous encouragement to us and your faithfulness is making a real difference in the lives of our people. The ministry is doing very well. The mission property is a real blessing and we are enjoying ministering to several new families. We are seeing souls saved, Christians growing, and new opportunities of ministry are developing. As we look into opportunities to expand, it is exciting to consider what God has in store for us this summer. Your investment of prayer and support are making a difference in many lives and making a great difference for the cause of Christ. We are very grateful for your involvement and for sharing our vision.
Our family is well and has been quite busy. Our daughter and son, Jessica and Isaac, are involved in mid-terms and Bible conference at Pensacola Christian College. We really miss them, but are proud of them for their testimonies for Christ and hard work. Jessica is finishing her junior year and Isaac, his freshman. We are trusting God to help us make the last two tuition payments. Lord willing, they will be working at the college this summer to help with the funding for the following year. Please pray with us that their tuition needs will be met and that there will be jobs available for them for the summer. Our daughter Bethany, has been busy with her school work as well. She will be graduating a year early. She is our baby, and we have mixed feelings on wheather we should send her to college or just keep her with us ...forever, smile. Bethany turns 17th on March 20th. She has basically grown up on the mission field and is a tremendous blessing to us and our ministry. She is fluent in Spanish, completely at home in Mexico and has been instrumental in initiating opportunities to minister in the lives of many other young people. We know that God will continue to use her in a special way. Along with our regular duties, we have also been busy moving out of the home we have rented for the last four years and into the mission house. It has been an excitingly hectic time, with things in boxes stacked everywhere. But, it has also been an invigorating time and though the years keep creeping up, we feel as young as ever. Deb turned 39...again, in February. Craig turned 44 on March 4th and March 19th marks our 22nd anniversary. We want to be used of God to do so much more, but we wish the time could slow down. It seems to go so fast.
Our Bible services, now being held at the mission are going great! It is a real boost to have a larger meeting room and space to spread out. God has been blessing and we have several new people visiting. As soon as we have the funds to make an investment in additional folding chairs we hope to begin actively inviting people in the mission�s neighborhood. A recent blessing is in the life of a young lady named Reina. She is one of Bethany�s friends who graduated from high school last year. Bethany has been talking with her and inviting her to our services. She began attending and now comes every week even though she has taken a teaching assistant job in a town thirty minutes away. Please pray for Reina�s salvation, most of what she hears from the Bible is new to her. While we are preaching, we can see in her face that she is trying to sort it all out. It�s tremendous to see God working!
Another blessing is in the life of a young man named Iv�n, the nephew of our close friend Mart�n. We met him two years ago and have been praying for him. He and his sister live in Mexico City, and have become friends. On a Saturday night, he was helping Deb set up chairs for Sunday. She invited him to visit the next day. He said he would but that he didn�t like church. With Mart�n, we have been encouraging him and he has continued to attend. He is open and interested in the things of God. After a service, he told Mart�n that the Gospel message was something completely new to him. On another occasion, he began asking Bethany a lot of questions and she was able to help him begin to understand God�s will in his life. Bethany brought him to the mission saying that he had a question. We had been waiting for God�s timing to speak with him. It has been our experience that when someone is being drawn by the Spirit of God, they don�t always know to ask, how may I be saved. So, they ask another question in stead. In Iv�n�s case, he asked why the Jews in the old testament couldn�t eat pork. But, what we heard was, how can I be saved and sure of Heaven? We talked about the Old Testament and the Law, which of course led to Christ, the fulfillment of the Law and the New Testament through His shed blood. When we presented God�s plan of salvation, and asked if Iv�n wanted to trust Christ as Savior, he answered, �Yes, of course.� Praise the Lord! What a precious time we had in the Lord. Please pray for us as we continue to minister to Iv�n. He hopes to stay in our area and is looking for work. It has also been a blessing to see God working in Martin�s life. He is growing in his faith and along with encouraging Iv�n, has been taking a leadership roll in his family. Recently, while Craig was busy, Mart�n and his wife, Andea, invited Deb to their home for dinner. Before they sat down to eat, Mart�n led them in prayer. That is a new step for him in his Christian life, and he is trying to have a good testimony for Christ. Soon after that, Deb was able to have a good conversation with Andrea, witnessing and sharing salvation with her. Andrea has been very slow in accepting us and even colder when it comes to opening up about spiritual things. She is just now accepting us as true friends and though she is still very skeptical about Christians, we believe that God can use Martin�s testimony and someday soon, we will have the privilege of leading her to Christ. One of our main goals as we reach into the lives of people with the Gospel, is to leave the door open for future witness. Please pray with us for Andrea�s salvation.
We have also been blessed with several new Indian families. A few months ago, we shared how God has been working in the life of an Indian lady named Rosa. She is the Mother of Ignacio, a young man saved under our ministry a few years ago. Rosa, has finally come to trust us. As with most of the people here, especially the Indians, it seems to take several years just to be accepted. Rosa has been attending our Bible services faithfully and has invited her Mother In Law and Sister In Law who are also attending now. We praise the Lord for how he can work in lives that we can not reach. The Ladies are getting involved in our �Helping Hands� hand craft ministry. They are weaving beautiful handbags and blankets which they use to trade for food and clothing that their families need. Then Sunday evening, two ladies came by the mission and we had a good visit. They said they would like to visit next week. We praise the Lord for these opportunities and ask for your prayers as we minister in the lives of the Indian people. They are very difficult, almost impossible to reach. Having the Spirit of God working in the lives of Indian people is the key to winning others. We have been working recently to learn the Indian dialect. It is very different, much like the Apache language in the US. Miguel and his wife Maria, have been spending time at the mission. They have been helping with all the odd jobs around the property and we have been working together to put their language in writing. Because most of them don�t read or write, it is a spoken language and there are several different dialects. There have been works done in the past, but the dialect we use here has a lot of variation in the words. It would be great to someday teach or preach in the Indian language. It seems impossible at this time, but a few years ago Spanish seemed equally difficult. For now, the use of the dialect gives us a way to connect with the Indian culture, and they get a chuckle out of hearing us try to speak it.
Along with all of the rejoicing we are doing concerning the ministry and it�s opportunities here, we are also sharing in the greatest financial crisis in our towns history. The saw mill in town which has been the major employer in the area for the last fifty years has finally closed. We have shared in the past, some of the problems they have had with decreased orders and the inability to pay their employees. Several of our families have been affected over the last year or so. Now, they are officially without work. Towards the end, the electric power to the plant was even cut off for failure to pay the bill. It is a sad time for the community and is having a devastating impact. People are becoming increasingly desperate. Crime is up and two homes in our neighborhood have been burglarized in the last month. A neighbor and good friend has encouraged us to keep the property well secured, especially at night. A friend of his had an experience where the burglars broke in while he was home. They struck the man on the back of the head, knocking him out, and robbed the house. The worst thing is that there doesn�t seem to be any relief in sight. It�s amazing how so much good and so much bad can be taking place all at the same time. But then, we know that we are in a spiritual battle. We know that Christ is the ultimate answer and pray that God will continue to work in the hearts and lives of the mountain people. We try to encourage our people by starting all of our Bible services with Proverbs 118:24, This is the day that the Lord hath made, we shall rejoice and be glad in it. Our people know it by heart.
As we mentioned above, the mission building has been a great blessing and source of opportunity. We are working daily to finish the many details. Because it now serves as our family�s home, we have several items for which we would ask your prayer. We are thankful for a water pump that was made possible by some dear friends in Phoenix. We now have water pressure throughout the building. PTL! Just a hot water heater is still needed now to make the system complete. Also, with the heightened security issues, we would like to build and install security gates. We moved to the property with boards nailed over the openings in the fence. The idea has always been to occupy the property as soon as possible. The installation of the gates was not a priority, but it seems like a wise thing to do at this point. We can do much of the work ourselves, but will have the expense of materials. It has been a long haul to get to this point and we appreciate all of you who have shared our vision to make the mission possible. Will you please pray with us about these details to finish and secure the building?
There is so much more we wish we could share. God is working and has given us a lot of ideas to help develop the ministry. Thank you, for being a blessing to us, we truly appreciate you. Your prayers are being heard, and your faithfulness is making a difference for all eternity. You are a valuable part of our team and we pray God�s richest blessings on you!
Sincerely, For Souls Who Have Not Heard,
The Chambers Family
