Dear Praying Friends,
What a blessing it is to once again share all 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. We are busy, and seemingly pulled in several directions at once. The legalities of life in a foreign country have been very demanding. It is hard to believe how fast this year has passed. Jessica recently finished mid-term exams at Pensacola Christian College and is looking forward to returning home to Mexico for the holidays. Isaac continues to be a tremendous help in the ministry, driving a van route and enjoying soccer. Recently, he was a hero when he made the high score for the local team he plays on. Bethany has been busy, trying to finish high school a year early, as well as teaching English to elementary school kids. She began with two girls. Then another girl from their class asked if she could study with her because the others were getting good grades in English. After that, a lady and her daughter stopped over for help with an English project. Bethany is getting quite a reputation as a teacher. What great opportunities to share Christ!
Our Bible services continue to be a blessing with good attendance and several visitors. Elizabeth, one of our young ladies, recently invited two ladies that work with her. Their names are Olivia and Luli. It is exciting to watch Christianity at work. Olivia, is raising one of Clara�s children. Clara, you may remember, was one of our ladies who died during childbirth.
Mario and Lulu, a young couple who recently accepted Christ as Savior, have been a real blessing too. They are faithfully attending, helping read scriptures and participating in our Bible studies. We offer Bibles to any new converts who can recite the books of the New Testament from memory. It was exciting to see Lulu stand before the people and recite the books. You can see a picture of her receiving her new Bible from Deb on our web page under the recent activities section. Mario is learning the books, but is still a little shy. They have also been bringing their neighbor�s three children. The kids love to come and it is a blessing to see their smiling faces. The children are at Mario and Lulu�s house all the time and eat most of their meals with them. The children�s mother works seven days a week, from early morning until late in the evening. She only earns the equivalent of thirty US dollars. Their father has abandoned the family. We have helped their mother with emergency food supplies and blankets, as well as helping Mario and Lulu with supplies to feed the children. We hope that the love of Christ that Mario and Lulu are showing them will someday lead her to trust Christ as Savior as well.
Another blessing is Myra, who first visited with Jackie, Martin�s niece. Bethany took it upon herself to befriend her. They are about the same age and have enjoyed each other�s friendship. They have been going together to cheer for Isaac�s soccer team, and other activities. Myra now attends regularly and recently after working with Bethany, also recited the books of the New Testament from memory and received her new Bible. Please pray for Myra. She still needs to trust Christ as Savior.
These past few months, the ministry in general has been filled with great challenges. We have been working hard to conform to all the necessary legal requirements put on us by the Mexican government, concerning land, vehicles and entrance visas to live and work in the country. We are right in the middle of several complicated issues, but recently received good news. We once again have been granted permission to do the work of the ministry in Mexico. Praise the Lord! It took several trips to the capital, and even more time and money, but we now have our visas. The challenge now is that they will expire in April, 2001. So, we will have to start the process over again in February. We are very happy that they were finally approved. Thank you, for praying.
Several of our people have been experiencing difficulties the past few months as well. We would ask you to pray for them. Antonio, the man with whom we are having English classes, lost his job. He has had several weeks without a paycheck and has had to move out of his apartment as well as sell his car. He and his wife have been married for less than a year. His brother is trying to build an apartment along the side of his house for Antonio. But, it doesn�t have a roof and money is not available to purchase the necessary materials to build one. They are talking about using a vinyl tarp, but the winter temperatures here drop below zero. We are really concerned for them. Please pray that all will work out for Antonio and his wife, Isabel.
Another situation that has devastated our community concerns the largest employer in our town, a sawmill that makes wood moldings. For the last few months, they have not had the orders to keep production at full speed. Two months ago, they laid off seventy workers and now they are laying off forty more. They have gone from three eight-hour shifts to half of one shift. The people who continue to work have not been paid, except once in the last six weeks. Even then they received only a week�s pay. This is a real crisis in our community, affecting the economy of the entire area. Several of our families are directly affected and it doesn�t seem that it will turn around any time soon. One of our families has had to send their ten-year-old son to work in town, on Sundays, to earn money for the things he needs for school. Omar, is a bright young man with a big smile. He has memorized all of the New Testament books and all of the plan of salvation verses that we have been working on. Each week they take our lesson handout home to him. Sometimes we think, how much can he earn? Maybe, we could just pay for his school expenses. But, we can not do that for everyone although we wish we could. He is an industrious young man and we want to help him. He needs to be in our Bible classes. His father has been working at the saw mill for the last fifteen years and is afraid to quit, so just keeps working as they all do, without pay, hoping that things will get better. Please pray about this desperate situation.
Maria Rosa, an Indian lady who trusted Christ under our ministry, is another with serious needs. She had to leave home with her children three weeks ago. Her husband, Selso, has a serious drinking problem, and was becoming abusive. When he is not drinking, Selso is a nice, quiet man. But Maria Rosa, as well as the children, described him as crazy, being drunk for several days. They are as poor as you can probably imagine, maybe worse. Maria Rosa weaves yarn belts which her children sell in the streets to visitors. They live in a one-room shack with no water or electricity. The children sleep on the dirt floor and the wind whistles through their roof. She recently asked if we could help her buy a piece of plastic sheeting to cover the roof. Her children were crying because the rain was pouring through and soaking them. Often, they go without adequate food, fighting malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies, so the thought of buying plastic is beyond her ability. Please pray that God will meet their needs. Perhaps in the near future, we can organize a work group and raise money to rebuild their roof. We help them with subsistence foods as possible, and yarn to be used to make belts. We can�t solve their problems or live their lives, but we would like to help. Maria Rosa is one of our most faithful people. Pray for us to have wisdom in how to best help them. Some good news is that last week; Selso visited for the first time in almost three years. And also, we finally convinced them to let their children attend school. Neither Maria Rosa nor Selso can read or write. We have been encouraging them to let their kids go to a new government school conducted in their native dialect. For the last two years, we have been explaining the value of education and encouraging them. Finally, this year they began to attend. The kids like it, and we make a big deal out of it, asking questions and just being interested. We put together special care packages full of soap, shampoo, tooth paste and brushes and other items to help them. We also helped them with some clothing. In our area, the Indian men wear western (US) style clothing. Abel, age 8, is somewhat embarrassed because he doesn�t have a change of clothes. Sometimes we feel frustrated that their father doesn�t play a more important roll in their lives, but at this point, we also realize how desperately they need our love and care.
With these types of issues becoming more of a part of our people�s lives, we have undertaken to provide emergency assistance when we are able. We have been trying to help meet these needs with our personal support, clothes and food as well as any donations forwarded from our friends in the US. The prediction that this winter will be severe means that the next few months will be critical. We are not exaggerating when we tell you that each winter, people die from starvation and exposure. By God�s grace, it will not be any of our people. If you would like to help us help these families, we have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of brothers and sisters in Christ on the mission field. People like those mentioned above with whom we work personally. If God leads you to get involved, donations of good used clothing, jackets and blankets can be sent to our mail drop in Texas. The Chambers Family, 2200 N. Yarbrough Ste. B. El Paso, TX 79925. If it is better for you to ship to Phoenix, AZ, our good friend, Travis Calvert, coordinates supply trips from our home church. Financial gifts are also much appreciated and give us the ability to meet more specific needs. They are tax deductible through, Glendale Baptist Missions, 7101 N. 55th Dr., Glendale, AZ 85301. In bulk, a large sack of flour, beans, rice, corn meal, a case of cooking oil and other items can all be purchased in Mexico for only about $100.00 US dollars. With a little help, we can be a big help and make a difference during this difficult time.
In the midst of all this turmoil, came a little bundle of joy. Monse, a young woman who trusted Christ under our ministry, was expecting and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She was in our Bible service last week for the first time. It was a real honor to learn that Monse named her baby after our daughter, Bethany. You can see her picture on our web page.
Our mission-building project continues, but has had to slow down. We have been doing what we can, but our support the last couple of months has been much lower, and we have been juggling staggering expenses. We praise the Lord for allowing us to get all the floors poured, and the surveying and engineer�s plans completed. We are still working on the Deed. This, along with all the legal red tape concerning our American vehicles and entrance visas, as well as helping our people in their time of need, has left us unable to finish the interior. It is amazing what God has accomplished and we are waiting on Him to allow us to go forward.
Personal Needs: We came to the field by faith and remain by faith. With that in mind, we would ask you to pray for us about the following. As you know, our daughter, Jessica, is in Christian college and Isaac and Bethany are home schooled. For financial reasons we had to start school a month late this year and even then, borrow money to purchase the curriculum, and pay Jessica�s first semester�s registration. Jessica is at college this year with the help of a dear family who purchased her plane ticket to go. She has a ticket to return home for Christmas, but arrangements to return in January have not been made, neither do we have the ability to pay for her second semester with two payments of $650.00 each for the first semester tuition, still outstanding. We are trusting the Lord to meet these needs as only He can. We simply want you to be aware of our situation and to pray for us.
Thank you, for doing so much to be a blessing to us! During this time of such emotional burden concerning our people and the needs here, you give us great encouragement. At times, it is difficult, even overwhelming, but the thought of doing less feels so unacceptable, and God always sees us through. As we look forward to celebrating Thanksgiving Day here in Mexico, we will be thanking the Lord for each of you who impact our lives in such a positive way. You are making a difference for Christ and we greatly appreciate you! We wish all of you a wonderful Thanksgiving and very merry Christ centered Christmas.
Sincerely, For Souls Who Have Not Heard,
The Chambers
