Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

Our new lake-front property after our recent rains here in West Texas

Recently a dear friend of ours from Sugar Land sent us an article entitled “Hurry Up and Wait!”. Our friend stated that when she read the piece she thought of us and our current situation. I agree with her, and would like to borrow from the article a little in order to share the basic concept with you.

Author Ruth Haley Barton writes that the statement “hurry up and wait” usually is laced with cynicism, and we use it when we have rushed off for something only to discover that all of our hurrying and dashing about was in vain because we cannot proceed forward anyway due to circumstances often outside of our control. Full of irony, the retort captures the frustration that we feel when we realize that any time that we might have gained in all of our rushing about has been lost in the end as we find ourselves going nowhere after all. She observes that usually we do not see this as a good thing.

However, she puts forward the idea, that at times perhaps God wants us to wait on purpose. Her article is specifically concerning Advent, and how this can be a season of anticipation and longing for the coming of Christ during which we can actually choose to “hurry up and wait”. She states that:

A picture of the ministry tent

“Rather than allowing our waiting to be entirely governed by external forces, we can actually create times of stillness for watching and praying and waiting on God in the places that feel empty and dark, devoid of meaning.

When circumstances do force us to wait, we can lean in and lift up our souls to the One whom we trust to do good things in and through us. Rather than succumbing to the inevitable frustration, we can allow ourselves to be changed by looking and loving and praying in whatever circumstance is causing us to wait, finding the presence of Christ there”.

Ms. Barton then concludes that:

“If we can wrap our heads around the transformative possibilities contained within this impossible season, we might discover that it is God who keeps us waiting for reasons only he knows.  And if we enter into this season with trust and with awe, we might even find ourselves thanking God for the many gifts this waiting time has to offer”.

What our friend wanted to encourage us in, in sending this article, was not only in regards to the Advent season specifically, but more generally in relation to our year of working here in Texas in order to assist in the financial support of the ongoing ministry in Mexico. The correlation is very appropriate and struck close to my heart.

The need for the Bible Institute and Missionary Training Center is to sell this tent

I think that both Theresa and I often feel that we are in a “holding pattern” at the moment. As I related in my last blog, the present situation that we have found ourselves in, although a blessing due to the work and the money that it is providing for the ministry, has not been an easy assignment and we can barely wait for the end of April to arrive. But, as Ruth Haley Barton’s article implies; that is just the point many times in our walk with God. In the end it really isn’t all about ME! At the end of the day ME, and my little petty desires aren’t really what it is all about. I really, believe it or not, am not the center of the Known Universe! And, if Theresa and I can wrap our heads around the transformative possibilities contained within this impossible season (in our lives), we might discover that it is God who is keeping us waiting for reasons only he knows. If we enter into this season (of our lives) with trust and with awe, we might even find ourselves thanking God for the many gifts this waiting time has to offer.

And, there have been many gifts during this waiting time for us as well. We certainly have been able to grow into “togetherness” (it is pretty much impossible not to when you share a 30 foot travel trailer together for one year). We have also been able to focus and “center” without a lot of other distractions in our lives (again, not too difficult to do when you can’t leave your little work site, ever!). We have had time to read (in between trucks), and time to be together, time to pray (again, as dictated by the chime of the motion sensor which informs us that a truck has just pulled into the yard), and time to wean ourselves from needing to be stimulated by social engagements, etc., etc. It often does feel though as if we are sitting in “hold” mode – waiting to be back with family, waiting to be with friends again, waiting to have something, anything, other than the constant chime of the sensor and the monotony of the trucks pulling into the yard – but it is exactly in this place, I believe, that God wants us right now at this time in our lives. It is right here that we can best fulfill the plan and purpose that he has for us at this point in our lives.

A shot of the inside of the tent. It is very large and useful for evangelistic outreaches

Perhaps you are also facing your own season of waiting in your life – your own increasingly tight confines and constantly chiming motion sensors in the midst of which you must find God’s purpose for your life. Rest in Him. Discover that it is God who is keeping you waiting for reasons that only he knows. In the end you too will find yourself blessed, and will realize that it is often in these difficult times that we grow the most.

In my last blog I put the wrong dates for the ministry trip that Pastor Marty Dyer and the team from Grove, Oklahoma would be ministering in Mexico. I said that they would be there over the first week of November. In reality I was off by one month, and they are there presently, having arrived in Cd. Valles on Tuesday (December 1^st), and will be leaving on Sunday, the 6^th. We are anxious to hear how God has used their time there.

Please continue to hold up our Mexican brothers and sisters who are ministering so faithfully and well under very difficult circumstances. Although they are moving forward and taking spiritual ground it is not easy. The economy in Mexico is making it exceedingly difficult for them as they minister. The politics of the country are hampering them in so many ways as well. Javier shared with me his complete frustration with the system as it affects the work of the Missionary Training Center farm. The weather has also not helped the farm again this year as it has begun to rain again now during the harvest season. But the biggest frustration for the farm itself is the politics involved in the monopoly of sugarcane as it is played out by government-protected mega buyers and growers at the expense of the small farmer.

The tent size is 24 feet wide X 44.5 feet long

But, notwithstanding these setbacks the Kingdom of God is advancing! The work is growing in the Hospital ministry as well as in the Rehabilitation Center in which Javier and his team are ministering. The Bible Institute continues to train men and women into ministry. The Missionary Training farm continues to prepare men and women for future leadership throughout the region. Boys and girls continue to be loved on, fed, helped, and are being lead into a relationship with Jesus Christ through the ministry of the children’s church run by Janny and Mario in their home. Lives are being transformed and the work is advancing forward – there was not even a hiccup when Theresa and I left and handed the ministry over 100% to national leadership. We are blessed to watch as our Mexican brothers and sisters are moving forward in strength shoulder to shoulder.

I also want to present a big financial need to you and request your help for the ministry. Your generosity to the work in meeting this need will be a huge blessing in this time of financial crisis in Mexico. The issue is this:

A number of years ago a large tent was purchased for the ministry and used as the first home of the Bible Institute. Since the tent is no longer needed for this purpose it is a valuable asset that the Bible Institute owns, but it is no longer useful to it, and has actually become a liability since everyone now wants to borrow it, but no one wishes to look after it while doing so. This means that the burden of maintaining it falls back onto Javier and Armando’s shoulders. Also, the tent is deteriorating and losing value. The decision was made to sell it since the money was needed much more at this point than a tent that was no longer serving the purpose for which it was originally purchased.

There is a young local pastor with an active ministry who would like to purchase the tent for outreach purposes. However, because his congregation is small they are unable to raise the money that the Bible Institute needs for it in order to sell it.

My perspective on the situation is this; first of all, I believe strongly that outright charity in

The tent is fully fire resistant certified

mission work (unless where absolutely necessary, and in extreme cases of need) ends up blowing up in your face in the end. I have found out through many years of doing it completely wrong, that what isn’t paid for and sweated for is seldom valued. What isn’t valued is easily thrown away without thought. Secondly, in this situation, this pastor and his congregation CAN, and SHOULD, come up with something – some part of the price – just not all of it to be sure. Thirdly, the ministry of Obreros Unidos para Cosechar desperately needs money to move forward, and this is an asset that it owns. It is no more than right that they should be able to sell it (hopefully back into a Christian ministry), and use the cash for things that will benefit it (such as assisting in the ongoing expenses of running the Missionary Training Center farm).

What I am suggesting is this: the ministry in Mexico needs $28,000 pesos for the tent – this is a fair asking price. The young pastor feels that realistically his congregation will not be able to come up with much more than $10 – $15,000 pesos of this amount. $28,000 pesos is somewhere around $1,800 dollars U.S. depending upon what the actual exchange is on the ground in Mexico.

My request to you is this – if you feel God’s tug on you heart to give for the specific ministry of this young, faithful pastor in Mexico (who I know well, and who works closely with Javier as well) – that you will assist him financially in this purchase. I am praying that we can raise $1,000 dollars U.S. towards the purchase of this tent. This would be equivalent to approximately $15,600 pesos. This would mean that the pastor purchasing it would then need to come up with approximately $12,400 pesos to finalize the purchase (or about $800 dollars U.S.).

I am not proposing that one person necessarily come up with the whole $1,000 U.S. dollars, but that either several people send in whatever gift amount they can, or perhaps that a church body may wish to take this on as a specific group ministry project. In this way you can receive the blessing of assisting the ministry of a young pastor in Mexico by enabling him to purchase the tent for ministry outreach, as well as blessing the Missionary Training Center/Bible Institute financially by enabling them to sell an asset that they no longer need. Further, the pastor will receive the blessing of dignity in being able to work towards the purchase of a needed ministry tool, as well as perhaps linking in more closely with those who donated the money in order to make the purchase possible.

Any questions related to the tent or to its purchase can be directed to me by email at: steven@vitwminisries.com. I will be more than happy to talk to you.

For any U.S. donors who wish to give specifically towards this need, checks can be sent to Newsong Church as per usual, but marked clearly as “for tent purchase” in the note area of the check so that it can be placed directly towards this project. Also, I would request that you send me an email to let me know that you are sending a gift so that I can let Newsong Church know that they should be looking for it.

Unfortunately, for Canadians who wish to give towards this ministry need, because of Canadian charity laws it is almost impossible to designate tax-receipted giving this way, and this gift will need to be done without receiving an income tax deduction. But, I will add, your Father in Heaven will see it, and his rewards are considerably bigger that those of Revenue Canada.

Canadian donations can be sent to me, and I will see that they go 100% towards this purchase. However, all money sent would best come in U.S. dollars since it will be quite expensive for me to try to exchange money here where Theresa and I are living.

I need to close this ever-lengthening blog. Both Theresa and I wish you a wonderful Advent and Christmas season. May it be filled with family, friends, and most of all, with the Lord Jesus himself – the true reason for the season.

Be blessed,

Steven and Theresa

Theresa’s glamour shot – fire proof coveralls, steel toed shoes, vest and all. She has taken off her hard hat though

“Make sure that no one misses out on God’s grace. Make sure that no root of bitterness grows up that might cause trouble and pollute many people”. Hebrews 12:15 (CEB)

It has now been over two months since my last blog entry, and high time that I communicate again. A lot has happened, and many trucks have passed through the gate for Theresa and me since my last blog. Things have also been very busy with the ministry in Mexico. Let me bring you up to date:

As you may remember from other entries – things have been very volatile and insecure in the oil industry lately. The price of crude oil has remained very low – wonderful for us as consumers, but not so pretty for the producers as the margins of profit are falling drastically making it unprofitable for them to continue to produce at high volumes. At this point the costs involved in drilling and fracing new wells are higher than the cost that the produced oil will merit (or at least, the margin of profit is low enough to get the industry shaken up and into cut-back mode). Over the past months we have personally seen those dependent on the industry (mainly truck drivers – our main contact point in the industry) being forced to take pay cuts, having their work hours cut back, and many have also received pink slips until further notice due to the extreme economic uncertainty presently.

Steven (the beardless wonder) at the LACT meter ready to check in a new truck. Note the cool Texan hard hat.

The spill-down effect of this has been that it has been devastating for those of us employed as gate guards (being, admittedly, pretty low on the totem pole in the pecking order of the industry). LOMA Rentals, the guarding company that Theresa and I had been working for initially, reduced its gate guard staff of well over one hundred only a bit more than a year ago, to eleven gates as of about two weeks ago. Thankfully, Theresa and I were with the last of their gates to remain open.

You may also remember that Theresa and I were blessed to be able to get into this gate guarding work initially by taking over for a couple who needed to go north for some months beginning in May of last year. This gave us a foot in the door without having to go through the normally often lengthy and uncertain waiting period usual in applying for guarding positions. However, it also meant that we had a finite time that we could work at our gate until they notified us that they wished to return.

This is the scene outside our front door. That is the tongue of our travel trailer that you see. Not much room between us and the trucks

A bit more than a month ago we did get notice from them of their impending return, and their desire that we vacate the post. Needless to say, this came as less-than-welcome news to Theresa and me. With the extreme uncertainty in the industry, and with gates closing down around our ears, we had no guarantee that we could find further employment in the area. However, we had made a commitment to the ministry in Cd. Valles, and most importantly to the Lord, that if He would provide us with work we would do so for a year in order to support the Mexican ministry as it transitioned into full autonomy. We fully felt that we needed to honor our hand-shake agreement to leave when the first couple wished to return, but we didn’t know what we could possibly find to replace our employment there. But even so, we also had no certainty that that particular gate would even continue to stay open. In some ways I even felt bad handing that gate back to the original couple because I had the gut feeling that by that time it was a smoldering ember at best, with a very short life expectancy left.

This is our front yard with a full lineup of trucks in the stations. Our trailer is in the background

But God is very good and his mercies everlasting as the Psalmist states so many times. While we were still thinking, praying, (and worrying) about this whole situation we got a call from Mitch and Kathleen Medina, close friends of ours who initially got us involved in this whole gate guarding gig, saying that they needed to take some time off from their job over the winter and would be willing to leave earlier than they had originally planned and return later into the spring than anticipated if we would like to cover their position for them while they were gone. In this way their leaving and return would coincide with what we needed, and they would guarantee that they would get their job back in the spring when they wished to return. This would be beneficial to everyone involved. We thankfully arranged to take over from them in the middle of October through to the end of April 2016, after which we intend to finish working in Texas and return to Manitoba.

Our pumping station – Hendricks T1811

How very wonderful and past understanding are God’s ways as he takes care of his children. We have committed our work and our path to him desiring to be a financial blessing to the work in Mexico, but we can only do so if we are able to continue to be employed. God has provided this for us with a seamless transition from one job to another. Praise the Lord!

We handed over our gate and work site in Catarina to the former couple on the afternoon of October 15^th, hooked up our travel trailer to a rented U-Haul truck and headed towards Kermit in northwestern Texas, where our new work assignment was to begin early Sunday morning, October 18^th.

Truthfully, even though we knew that our new position would be heavier than simply gate guarding and would involve many new responsibilities, we were also delighted because it was to be only a twelve hour day / seven days per week rather than the twenty-four / seven that we had been working for the past, almost six months. We were so very much looking forward to being able to hand the job over to the night staff at the end of our 12-hour shift and leave for town together for a cup of coffee, or simply to do our laundry together. We might even be able to watch a movie together on the couch in the evening without being constantly interrupted; and wonder of all wonders, we might even be able to sleep in the same bed at night rather than one of us constantly needing to sleep fully dressed on the couch in order to be prepared to run outside whenever a truck pulled up at any hour throughout the night.

Trucks lining up to off-load. It is when the bays are all full and the trucks lined up back to the highway that things get rather stressful

This now, as you probably already realize, is the “rub” (as Shakespeare would say), and where the truth of Hebrews 12:15 became very real for Theresa and me. The whole concept of the root which can cause much disappointment and bitterness is a very real and tangible thing, and against which we need to vigilantly and constantly guard our hearts. Although theologically I may be using this verse outside of the context that the writer to the Hebrews intended it, I think that it also fits my usage as well. Let me explain what I mean:

We had no sooner than finished our one-day of training, and the couple for whom we were taking over had no sooner than pulled off the lot, and the new saddle that we were trying to fill still chaffed and rubbed and sat poorly, and the work was still very, very scary – on Wednesday afternoon, our third day on the job taking over a very busy and responsible position – that we had a visit from our regional supervisor to inform us that due to cut-backs the company was removing our night coverage, and as of the following morning we would be covering the site completely alone – on a 24 hour / 7 days per week basis!!! (and, let me add – all for the same pay).

Bitterness!

Disappointment!

Deceived and mislead!

Perhaps all of the above apply.

Truthfully, Theresa and I did not pass this particular pop quiz with honors, and I am afraid that we may have even received a pretty mediocre grade at best. Through it all though, I also was reminded of a truth – something that I have seen played out many times, but of which I constantly seem to need to be reminded over and over – that is that, if one feeds on bitterness and anger you will get a belly full of it, and it will absolutely fill you up. Jesus said it well when he said that it isn’t what goes in (ie., food that is ingested into our body) that defiles a person, but rather what comes out. It is what comes out that identifies what is inside – in the heart – in our inner parts so to speak.

This is our life at present – 24/7

The night-shift couple that was given the short-noticed pink slip was understandably not highly amused by the actions of the company and soon very unhappy and bitter words and attitudes came spilling out of a belly full of bitterness. Soon Theresa and I were lustily feeding off of their anger and bitterness in a feeding-frenzy like piranhas on a bloated carcass. Our bellies were filling with the vile stuff and soon all thoughts of thankfulness for God’s abundant mercies and provision in this new job were long forgotten. We felt violated, abused, and ill-treated. We felt that we had been taken advantage of! This was not fair!!

Only moments before we had so clearly seen God’s hand in the provision of this work. Now we saw nothing but that we felt that we were being abused, and we were extremely disappointed that we were now back to being married 100% to the work site, and to a never-ending job – to work that never ends 24/7.

The view from the top of one of our bulk tanks. She ain’t perdy, but she does produce oil out here

Actually, there is even more to the story that I have not mentioned so far; only days after we handed back our former gate in Catarina to the returning couple – a grand total of five days after the handover – we got a text from our former employer informing us that BYRD Gate, the name of our previous gate, had closed, and that the returning couple were now without work. Although she is not a professing Christian, her text read “You made a good move. The Lord is watching over you”. Undeniably and unequivocally we recognized this to be true – or, should I say, we had recognized it to be true. Now we had a belly-full of disappointment which was soon to turn into anger and rot if it wasn’t quickly taken care of.

Thankfully, God is gracious and he gently reminded us that he is still with us and that we can still trust him. It is kind of funny really – nothing had changed in the blessing department. Our pay had stayed the same. We were still getting more per day than we were making at our former job. We were still blessed with work, etc., etc. True, the work was now 24 hours per day – never ending again, and without any breaks – but still, what we once saw as being so positive had not changed, only our attitudes towards it had.

Am I turning hick? But I think that this sunset against the 18 wheeler is rather pretty

The complete irony is also that for the past seven nights now – ever since the previous night-shift personnel left with their pink slips in hand – we have had night staff coverage on a temporary, loaned basis. What happened immediately as the previous night staff left is that one of the other sister pumping stations closed temporarily while they are doing some renovations on it. This meant that we have received their diverted trucks and would have been swamped without additional night help. So, for the past nights Theresa and I have had help, and only a 12 hour shift. This will only be temporary while the work at the other station is being done, but nonetheless, it is very, very much appreciated. The saddle feels a little less stiff at present after one week on the job, and calluses are beginning to form making things less scary. God is truly good. He even has a sense of humor I am finding. Certainly, I have found that I should never expect him to give many details before I absolutely need them, and he really does like stretching us whenever possible. I simply need to learn to trust him more.

Even here there is beauty when you look for it

I think that I am also beginning to understand the workmen in Jesus’ parable about the hired vineyard workers as related to us in Matthew 20 a little better. However, perhaps I can identify a bit more with the attitude of the laborers than with the deep truths of salvation that Jesus was trying to set forth in the story. In our case, we contracted for a certain job for a certain pay. We got the job and the pay, but then the hours, or at least our perception of the hours and the pay, changed. We were then no longer satisfied with the wages that we had agreed upon and now felt deceived, mislead, and disgruntled. Doesn’t this all have the exact same ring as the complaints of the workmen in Jesus’ parable! Yes, but…it isn’t fair! My personal rights (or, at least my perception of them) have been violated.

Moon rise against the bulk tank, cleachy pad, and power lines. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

But there has been something rather funny about this whole job as well. The rule of the company is that all employees must be clean shaven. So, my beard had to go! Poor Theresa had never seen me without a beard, and wasn’t very excited to do so either. She has finally stopped laughing and pointing and is beginning to get used to my new look. Thankfully, I was allowed to keep my mustache. My beard has come and gone over the years, but had become a permanent fixture for at least the past fourteen years or more. But my mustache is a different matter. The last time that I shaved it off was in 1972 when I was a wee itty-bitty guy and lived in Berlin, Germany. I hated my upper lip so much when I shaved it off that I immediately grew it back, and swore that I would never torture the world again by removing it. It has been a permanent fixture on my face ever since.

There is also much to write about concerning the work in Mexico. The ministry there has been moving forward rapidly, and the Kingdom of God is being advanced. Javier has begun an outreach into the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center in Cd. Valles every Friday afternoon. This has provided a means of ministering to these needy, mostly young men, as well as providing a perfect classroom for training the disciples who he is mentoring into ministry in a hands-on setting.

The same moon rise. Notice the pump jack in the distance. These are what make the world go around here in west Texas

Javier and his group of trainees, along with the assistance and support of their little church in Solidaridad also minister to the poor and needy at the local General Hospital at the south side of the city. In Mexico, when a family member is admitted into the hospital it is often necessary for someone from the family to be present to care for many of their physical needs. These people are often new to the city, having come in from far-flung rancherias and outlying rural villages. Most are very poor, most have little experience in the “big city”, most are way out of their element, and many need very basic assistance such as meals, while they are waiting on their sick family members. It is to this challenge that Javier and his group of trainees has decided to rise. Without financial funding outside of their very poor, little church body in Solidaridad they have decided to serve at the hospital every Tuesday afternoon by evangelizing and providing a meal to the people there. Javier says that at times they feed upwards to two hundred or more individuals, many of them very open to hearing and receiving the Gospel message, and all very thankful for the assistance that is being provided. Javier stated in one of his letters to me that his heart is always deeply moved by the tremendous needs of the people that they encounter there in the hospital. All of the finances for the purchase of the food for the meals are made available only by miraculous provision, as this is way above and beyond what the little church would normally be able to raise, and certainly on a weekly basis. Javier told me that one time a completely non-Christian nurse provided the money to purchase a zacahuil (a massive tamale-like local dish) sufficient to feed 200 people. I happen to know that this translates into a gift of roughly $200 dollars. I couldn’t help but think that I was listening to stories of a modern day George Müller as I listened to him.

Javier laying block at the newly constructed Casa del Obrero septic tank

Very soon Javier is also planning to begin ministering in the new federal prison which has opened up just outside of the City of Valles. They are still in the process of working on the legalities of arranging for this particular evangelistic ministry, but they hope to begin soon.

Javier also writes that he and Armando are very busy with the preparations for this year’s sugarcane harvest on the Missionary Training Center farm. They are in the process of cutting fire breaks and clearing the edges of the field in preparation for the burning of the sugarcane for harvest. Javier told me that they expect the harvest to begin any time, and what is more, it looks like this year’s harvest might actually be a good one. This is wonderful news when one remembers that the last harvest was 100% lost due to the incredibly wet season, and the previous one to that was extremely expensive for the ministry due to the heavy rains that year as well, requiring that a large portion of what should have been profit was instead spent on renting a tractor to haul loaded trucks out of our muck-choked fields. We need, and pray for a good harvest this year.

We are also very excited that pastor Marty Dyer and a group from Newsong Church in Grove, Oklahoma will be heading back down to Cd. Valles over the first week of November in order to minister there. Marty and Newsong have been long-time friends of the work in Cd. Valles, and indeed my first meeting of Pastor Dyer was about sixteen years ago in Huichihuyan, a little town south of Cd. Valles, where he was leading a ministry group from Newsong Church. Since that time we have worked together many times, and our visions and hearts continue to be linked in the service of advancing God’s Kingdom in Mexico.

Alicia and another sister serving up zacahuil in the hospital to serve to the poor

Javier has a very tight schedule for the Oklahoma ministry team when they arrive in Cd. Valles as follows:

– Tuesday:    Preaching and meal at the Cd. Valles General Hospital.

– Wednesday:    Door to door and visitation evangelism at Solidaridad with a service there in the evening (this is the little town where Javier and Cristina minister, and where their little church congregation is from).

– Thursday:    Door to door and visitation evangelism at Col. Lazaro Cardenas and Troncones. (Troncones is a new mission area for them, and much of the day there will be spent in actual knocking on doors and visiting first-time contacts).

– Friday:       Door to door and visitation evangelism at the mission station of San Antonio Huichimal (this is now a mission church-plant of about two years, and Armando and Alicia are ministering there). In the afternoon the group will be ministering at the drug and alcohol Rehabilitation Center in Cd. Valles (called El Mirador). In the evening they will be back at San Antonio Huichimal for a service there at the little mission (open-air) church which meets in the space between a family compound.

Javier and his team ministering in the hospital

– Saturday:      Teaching session with the Bible Institute students (Luz de las Naciones). This will begin at 8:00 a.m. and probably will go for as long as the team desires to teach. The Institute classes are all day Saturdays, beginning at 8:00 o’clock in the morning and running through the afternoon.

So, as you can see, mission trips are really not times for lounging on the beach in skimpy bikinis, but rather, they are times of serving, little sleep, and stretching. But, they are also times that are deeply rewarding as one sees God’s hand manifesting through our frail humanity.

What I have not mentioned is the birth of Aminadab and Juan’s little boy about a month ago – a great blessing to them after several miscarriages. Nor have I mentioned the ongoing ministry of Janny and Mario as they continue to labor faithfully at the Bible Institute as well as in the little mission church which they lead in their home, focusing upon the needs of the poor children in their area of the city. Mario, a medical doctor, is working two jobs full time besides being a father and husband, as well as a teacher in the Bible Institute. I have also not mentioned any of the others who are so faithfully teaching in the Bible Institute and serving in multiple areas, nor Armando and Alicia who are now shouldering almost 100% of the load of running of the Missionary Training Center farm besides being full-time leader-trainees under Javier’s careful discipleship. There are too many people to mention, and all are worthy of honor and note.

God has truly been very faithful in the work of the ministry in Cd. Valles, and as Jesus stated in Matthew 11:12; “His Kingdom is moving forward in strength [advancing forcefully], and forceful [or violent] people have been trying to take it by force [lay hold of it] (EXB). Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains this verse as: “People have been “earnest” about it; they have come “pressing” to obtain the blessing, as if they would take it by violence. There is allusion here to the manner in which cities were taken. Besiegers “pressed” upon them with violence and demolished the walls.

There is an earnestness and a “violence” evident in the advancement of God’s Kingdom taking place through our brothers and sisters in Mexico which is humbling and inspiring to me. May God bless them richly as they continue to faithfully serve Him.

I must close this very long blog as I need to get outside to help Theresa as she checks in trucks or else my name will be mud. She has been working all morning, and I need to spell her off.

I do have one need though that I would like to ask for help on: Theresa and I feel that it is important to purchase a truck for Javier’s needs in Mexico. One of the things that we are working for over this year is for the funds to do this. But, what I need help in is finding a vehicle. What we are looking and praying for specifically is a 4-cylinder, standard transmission, Ford Ranger pickup truck. There are a lot of Ford Rangers in Mexico, and the parts and repairs are available for a reasonable cost (unlike many other makes and/or models). I don’t think that the year is that important at this time, because it will probably be limited more by the cost, and what we can afford. We need to stay somewhere within the $3,000 – $3,500 dollar range in our search if possible. However, it stands to reason that it makes absolutely no sense to send down junk, and doing so would be more of a curse than a blessing for the Javier. So, what I am looking for is a 4 cylinder, standard transmission, Ford Ranger pickup truck in good condition for somewhere around the $3,000 – $3,500 dollar range (or something that someone would feel that God would want them to subsidize, since my pockets are not deep). Also, if we are asking God for miracles, I would also like to add on this list that a 4 X 4 would be excellent since the Missionary Training Center farm is down several miles of almost impassable mud road during the rainy season and a regular vehicle can almost not enter at that time. However, a standard 2-wheel drive version would also work fine. We would really appreciate your prayers with us on this, and your assistance in finding such a vehicle would be awesome since both Theresa and I are stuck to about a quarter acre space of dusty dirt for the next six months, and we have no time or opportunity to look a field. However, the need for a vehicle for Javier is extremely high priority.

Blessings to each of you. Thank you for plowing through this lengthy tome. There is so much to say, and my heart is so full of joy in what I see God doing through our faithful brothers and sisters who are laboring so hard in the work in Mexico.

Theresa and I also personally ask you for your prayers as we continue to shoulder this somewhat heavy load that we are undertaking over this year. We ask you to continue to hold up our brothers and sisters in Mexico. Also, let me again remind you that although Theresa and I are no longer in Cd. Valles, the work is advancing, and with this is the continued need for finances. Thank you for your continued prayer, love and finances for the work.

Your fellow laborers in the vineyard,

Steven and Theresa

A group of the children in Javier and Cristina’s church in Solidaridad

“Every time you cross my mind, I break out in exclamations of thanks to God. Each exclamation is a trigger to prayer. I find myself praying for you with a glad heart… There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears / [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you. / It’s not at all fanciful for me to think this way about you / and to have this confidence and feel this way about you all. / My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality / because you have me in your heart and I hold you in my heart as partakers and sharers, one and all with me, of grace (God’s unmerited favor and spiritual blessing). / All along you have experienced with me the most generous help from God. He knows how much I love and miss you these days. Sometimes I think I feel as strongly about you as Christ does!

Alicia holding vacation Bible school in the Tenec village of San Antonio Huichimal where they minister weekly

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish / and that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight / and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush / so that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble]. / Live a lover’s life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul; / and may you abound in and be filled with the fruits of righteousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [that His glory may be both manifested and recognized] / making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God”.

The little children’s work in the very poor village of Buenos Aires. This is where Javier and Cristina have a feeding program and outreach every Saturday morning

I trust that my rather free blending of Philippians 1 verses 3 – 11 from “The Message” (MSG) and the “Amplified” (AMP) versions of the Bible has not offended you. But when I read these verses recently I knew that this is how I feel about my brothers and sisters who are laboring in the ministry, and who we have left behind in Mexico. And: “As the Scriptures say, ‘If you want to boast, boast only about the LORD.’” 2 Corinthians 10:17 (New Living Translation).

It is then in the Lord that I will boast!

My heart is full of pride and joy when I speak with, and receive ongoing ministry reports from the national leaders and directors of the ministry that Theresa and I were able to be such an intimate part of for the past years in Mexico. Receiving emails and ministry news from Javier Santos, Mario and Janny, Aminadab, Armando and Alicia, and others of the national leadership who are laboring so faithfully and loyally in the ongoing work makes every tiny bit of “inconvenience” that Theresa and I may be facing this year seem barely worth mentioning, and my heart bursts with pride and delight in what God is doing through them.

In this blog I feel that it is appropriate to boast freely of what God is doing in, and through

Alejandra teaching vacation Bible school at the little children’s church in thier home

these brothers and sisters in Christ. As such, I will focus on snippets and pieces of emails that I have recently received from some of them. Please rejoice with me in what God is doing through these faithful brothers and sisters.

Javier Santos recently wrote: “It is a pleasure to write to you, knowing that the God of Israel is always with us, and that we have a living hope that he will come to those who with longing expectation wait to meet him who gave his life for us.

This week I have been working more intensely in the area of academics with Armando and Alicia. [Steven’s note on this: This is the young couple who are the first disciple / leader trainees at the Casa del Obrero Missionary Training Center. They are being mentored one-on-one by Javier, and he is pouring his life into their spiritual growth as well as practical leadership training at the present time. You have read about them in former blogs]. To date we have finished the coursework on Church History, Pastoral Counseling, Hermeneutics, Introduction to the Bible, The Life of the Old and the New Man, Missionary Orientation and Missiology, and The Pentateuch. I am now beginning them on new material in order for them to finish with their first year of academic work in November. We are now beginning Personal Evangelism, Systematic Biblical Theology, a study of our local Huasteca region and its people groups in light of specific Missiology and Mission Outreach, Christian Ethics, A More In-depth Study Through the Bible, etc. I want to have Armando and Alicia complete twelve courses by November. At that point they will spend a month in practical, hands-on missions practice by planting a church in one of the villages in the Huasteca.

Children’s vacation Bible school at Mario and Janny’s house

[Steven’s note: When I asked Javier about this month of missions practicum, and in which village he felt that they would be concentrating on in a church-plant, his answer was that he had no idea – this was to be their church-plant, and as such, it was their responsibility to seek God in this themselves. Incidentally, Armando and Alicia are already responsible for a new church planted in the little Tenec village of San Antonio Huichimal. Although they did not begin this particular work alone from its inception, Armando was involved with it’s beginning from day one and onward].

Javier then continues: “Of course, we are also not neglecting the work on the farm, and three days per week are dedicated specifically to the farm work. However, because of the heavy rains this year which have kept us off the land we have been able to hit the academics very intensively as well. Also, since all of the land is currently in sugarcane we don’t have too much work directly on it at present, but we are expecting a lot of work in November [Steven’s note on this: ie., at the time of the winter harvest. Assuming, that is, that the weather allows for harvest at that time. As you will remember from the past blogs, the harvest that should have happened in the beginning of this year was lost]. We are also waiting until things dry a bit so that we can finally begin working on the septic tank. Up until now, with the extremely wet year we have not been able to begin on it at all. But we have been blessed, and God has enabled us to advance in his work.”

Happy children are receiving Bible teaching and love at Janny’s home

I want to point out that Javier is also a full-time pastor of a little church in the community of Solidaridad. He is mentoring young men from his congregation in personal evangelism on a weekly basis. Being hands-on in his training style he goes into the surrounding communities every Monday evening with them to show by personal example. He is also personally ministering in at least four mission church plants which he began; he is a teacher at two Bible Schools; he and his wife have a children’s feeding ministry and church in a little squatter village outside of Cd. Valles; he is the full-time director and administrator of the Missionary Training Center farm; he is personally mentoring Armando and Alicia; he is managing his own small acreage outside of town; and he is a full-time husband, and the father of three growing boys. His hands are very full.

I also want to mention something else about Javier and Cristina. Years ago, before he came to the Lord, Javier began training in university as a lawyer. When the Lord got a hold of his life he felt that this was not the direction that God had for him. He has had numerous business opportunities offered to him over the years but has felt that this was not the direction that God was leading him either. Javier and Cristina are servants and givers – giving much, much more back into their little church than they ever receive – both financially and spiritually. They have been purposefully teaching their congregants what it means to give – to tithe generously – with no thought of return. They have done this primarily by personal example rather than through Bible thumping. Cristina also holds down a house cleaning job outside of the home, not only to help to make ends meet financially and to be able to place food on the table for the family, but also to teach the women in their church to become proactive in seeking to bless others, and not to sit silently victimized by poverty. She has also begun sewing classes and a sewing cooperative in their home in order to help other women learn a trade in order to bring in an income as well. Theresa was able to supply the sewing machines for this cooperative.

This picture was taken in the Bible School office of some of the directors and teachers along with several Bible school students and a some visitors from Oklahoma

This summer Cristina and Alicia and other women from their little church have brought week-long vacation Bible school programs into a number of surrounding villages (I know of Solidaridad, Buenos Aires, San Antonio Huichimal, and Colonia Lazaro Cardenas, but there may also be other communities that I am unaware of). All of the expenses involved in bringing these vacation Bible schools, as well as in running the ongoing feeding program in the little children’s church in the squatter’s village is coming out of giving from the very poor little church of Solidaridad where Javier and Cristina minister, or directly from Javier and Cristina’s personal giving.

Javier and Cristina owned an old, very decrepit car, but about a month ago it broke down not to be revived again. Truthfully, it was costing them much more than they could afford to try to keep it alive for the past years, but they had no choice. Most of the places that they minister are miles apart, and many times the only alternative is by foot. However, now they have no choice. In town they can use the public buses, but this also makes full-time ministry difficult when places, especially the missions, are miles apart. It also gets to be expensive when there are five of them in the family that need to travel. However, the ability to replace the vehicle is completely outside of their finances. The car that they had, as beat-up a piece of junk as it was, was purely a gift from God for them for the years that they had it, and beyond another outright miracle they will not be able to replace it. When I spoke to Javier about this his response was that God will provide, and that sometimes it is in hard times that we learn best what God desires to do in our lives.

As far as the other national leaders: Dr. Mario and Alejandra (Janny) are working hard and faithfully in their areas of ministry as well. Dr. Mario, a doctor of anesthesiology in two of the local hospitals, is barely able to sleep because he is holding down two jobs. Besides this he and his wife Alejandra are planting a children’s church and feeding ministry in their home for the poor street children in their area of the city. They have converted part of their home into a church where the children meet to receive both spiritual and physical care. Since the children’s work began about a year ago some of the parents, especially some of the mothers also come to the services to be taught. Because of his intense work load at the present time Dr. Mario has not been pursuing the expansion of the Project L.A.M.B.S. program at the moment. However, his desire continues to be to extend it throughout the region. Nonetheless, at present, they feel that they need to pour themselves into the children to whom they minister.

Alejandra (Janny), Dr. Mario’s wife, is the full-time director of the Light of the Nations Nondenominational Bible Institute. Besides being the mother of two very active and growing young boys and running a children’s church and feeding center from their home, she teaches full-time and directs the Bible Institute. Besides this she has continued to direct vacation Bible schools in their area of the city this summer. Her very capable hands are very full as well.

Aminadab (Ami) is the vice president of the Bible Institute and full time Bible teacher. She is a well trained and capable administrator and teacher. Ami was one of Theresa’s exemplary students in the sewing school, and it was to her and her husband Juan that Theresa handed over the Phaff sewing machines from the school in order for them to continue on with the sewing classes as a ministry tool. At present, because Ami is expecting their first baby in about a month, her sewing instructing and classes have become limited to being done in their home. She wrote to me to let me know that as of the 15^th of August she would be taking time off from teaching in the Bible Institute for some months. Also, with the birth of the baby they would need to put the sewing ministry outreach on hold until the new year. Nonetheless, she is continuing to teach the adolescent Sunday school classes in their home church, and her husband Juan is ministering with a pastor friend of theirs in a near by village called Pujal on Sunday mornings.

The purpose of my boasting, however, is not to spectacularize these faithful men and women, but to magnify the Lord who is at work in them. I also want you to know that the ministry of Voice in the Wilderness never was dependent upon Theresa or me, nor will it ever be.

Rather, God who has begun a good work will complete it.

Praise the Lord!

Your friends and fellow servants,

Steven and Theresa

Theresa at her post at the front gate. In the triple digit heat her hat is a vital part of her outfit. She has an awesome tan by the way!

“So”, you ask, “what is it like having two distinctly different people sharing 260 square feet of living space in a little travel trailer in the blazing heat of the south Texas sun?”

Well let me tell you…

First of all though, let me say that we feel incredibly blessed to be here, and to be able to do what we are doing in order to continue to be a small part of the ongoing ministry in Mexico. We have survived our first “frac”, and are still smiling (most of the time) – a milestone of considerable significance. Truthfully though, the past several weeks have been very stressful and incredibly busy for Theresa and me, with trucks entering and exiting the gate almost non-stop both day and night. Over the “frac” we have been averaging about 120 vehicles over a 24 hour period. This means some 250 trips out to the gate in order to either log traffic in, or allow them out. Most days over this time we have simply set up a tarp for shade and sat at the gate so that we could keep up with the steady flow of traffic. Sleep at night between vehicles has been neigh onto impossible.

Steven logging in a truck filled with frac pumps and equipment

But, thankfully, we are beginning to see light at the end of this particular tunnel. The actual “frac” has finished, and now they are beginning to set up the well site for the ongoing extraction of gas and oil. This means that at present water and oil trucks are running night and day, endless lines and lines of water trucks extracting frac water from the site; but at least this gives us some sort of a semblance of a return to a routine, even if the trucks are now running on a 24 hour schedule pretty much nonstop.

We have taken to doing shifts over this time. I cover the nighttime hours from about midnight until the morning; at which time Theresa takes over and I crash until the early afternoon when we both are able to cover the gate, as well as getting normal living stuff taken care of together until the night routine begins again. It works, but we are looking forward to when we can begin to get into a bit of a more normal schedule again (what ever that will look like now with two new wells pumping as well).

The Newsong team and the church at Solidaridad. The person in the back with the white mouth is a clown who is also a student at the Bible Institute

But, as I have already stated, Theresa and I feel very blessed to be able to serve for this year in order to assist with ministry finances as the work in Mexico transitions into independence after our leaving.

We do have a critical prayer request though concerning our work here in Texas. As you are no doubt aware, the price of crude oil continues to be very low. The downturn in the petroleum price has kicked the props out of what was only very recently a booming business here in the U.S. This is having a ripple down effect into the whole area where we are working around Laredo. Spin-off business that were a going concern only months ago, are now struggling to survive. What this means for Theresa and me personally, is that there are fewer and fewer gate keepers needed and workers are being laid off. Last week close friends of ours, who had been working as gate guards for our company, were laid off. Where there were hundreds of guards working only a year ago, only a handful now remains.

The Newsong team being hosted in Javier and Cristina’s home for a meal

As I wrote in my last blog – our commitment is to work for one year in order to be able to give our income to the support of the ministry in Mexico. We can only do this if we have jobs. Also, we stuck our necks out in the purchase of our travel trailer so that we would have a place to live in order to be able to do this work. We need to pay off these expenses, as well as earn an ongoing income in order to be able to fulfill the commitment that we made with the leadership in Mexico. Our prayer, and our request for your prayers, is very basic; simply, that we can stay here at our gate (without having to move), and that our job will continue at least until the end of April 2016, at which point we intend to return to Canada. So, please pray with us in this so that we can fulfill the commitments that we have made, and accomplish the things that we feel called to do.

Thank you for your prayers with us on this matter.

This is why all sugarcane harvesting has been suspended for this harvest cycle

As I was sitting under my shade tarp at the gate the other day, in between jumping up to control vehicle traffic I was reading through an old Gospel for Asia “World” magazine. In the November 2014 issue K.P. Yohannan, the founder of GFA, was asked what major lesson he has learned as he has lead the ministry (of Gospel for Asia). His answer to this question made a deep impact on my heart.

He responded: “A few years ago, while in the midst of a struggle, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, ‘Be a leaf in the wind.’ He simply meant, ‘I began this work, and I will continue to do it. Don’t strive or agonize over anything. Just let Me be God, and you be like a dry leaf that is carried by the wind, and there will be no strain or pain’.”

Brother K.P.’s response spoke to me because it strikes at the heart of my struggle with leaving the ministry in Mexico. God desires us simply to be like a dry leaf blown by the wind of his Spirit. Then, as K.P. explained, there will be no strain or pain. It is God’s work, and hence, His responsibility to see it completed to the end. (Philippians 1:6).

This is the condition of the land at the Training Center farm. Armando walks barefoot in the mud

The fact that God continues to work mightily through our Mexican brothers and sisters that we left behind was wonderfully evidenced in the end of June when a team led by Pastor Marty Dyer from Newsong Church in Grove, Oklahoma went to Cd. Valles in order to spend several days ministering with Javier and the other leaders. The report back from both sides, both from Javier, as well as that of the U.S. team members was very encouraging.

In the first two days of the Newsong ministry trip they accompanied Javier to Rio Verde (about an hour and a half to the west of Cd. Valles) where they ministered with a young pastor by the name of Hazael. For the past couple of years Haziel has been mentored by Javier, and has begun a new outreach in Rio Verde. Javier wrote to me saying that the time in Rio Verde resulted in a time of liberation, healing, and strengthening of the church there. He said that not only did this time bless, and make a huge impact on the fledgling work, but that there were also new families who came to the meetings, and who gave their lives to the Lord as a result of the ministry.

Javier had to shed his shoes in order to take this picture of the entrance road looking back towards the Training Center farm site. Notice the corn on the left. Even this rotted due to the excessive rains this year

Then, back in Cd. Valles at the Bible Institute, there was a time of teaching and ministry with the students and staff led by Rhonda Bettes, one of the team members from Newsong Church. Javier said that not only was this a time of blessing, but that there was hardly room in the building to fit everyone who came to receive the teaching.

The evenings were then spent ministering in San Antonio Huichimal and Buenos Aires, both mission church plants of the little church in Solidaridad where Javier himself pastors the work. It is at Buenos Aires, a squatter village, as you may remember from a blog from some months back, that Javier and Cristina have a ministry with the very poor children of the village, and it is here that they run a children’s church and feeding program. Javier stated that as the team shared with the children some adults also came to be ministered to, and some of the moms gave their lives to the Lord. The time in the little mission church in San Antonio Huichimal (pastored directly by Armando and Alicia, the discipleship trainees at the Casa del Obrero Training Center) was also a time of blessing and encouragement, and several people also were prayed for and gave their lives to the Lord. The Newsong team’s time on Sunday ended with two services at the little village of Solidaridad where Javier and Cristina minister. This was also a time of blessing and encouragement for the Church.

In an email to me following the mission trip Rhonda Bettes wrote “The young couple that

I will need your signature on this line please…

run the Casa del Obrero (ie., Armando and Alicia) are truly amazing young people. They have true servant hearts. God chose them well. The young man gave his testimony, he was funny, articulate and passionate…His wife was sweet, kind and helped Cristina in serving us. They all treated us like family, and at the same time like royalty.”

Here, then, we see what happens when men and women become dry leaves blown by the wind of the Spirit of God. We don’t have to strive and fear that God will not be able to complete the task.

Sure, things may not always go according to our plans all the time. This year for example, despite all the back breaking work of Javier and Armando on the Training Center farm, we have just received the final word that because of the non-stop heavy rains and flooding in Cd. Valles this year the sugarcane mill will now not harvest or process our sugarcane crop. This means that we, like many of the other farmers in the area, have lost one whole year’s worth of work and its associated income. This certainly was not in the plans; but, as Habakkuk reminds us: “The LORD is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.” (Habakkuk 2:20).

Who are we to dictate to God what he must do. We believe that the Casa del Obrero farm is supposed to become self-financing, and that it is to become the financial base for the ministry; but it is God who sits on his throne, not us.

We will strive to be still and silent before Him; dry leaves, blown by the Spirit of God.

Please remember our brothers and sisters as they continue to serve faithfully in Cd. Valles. Remember that the work continues vital and ongoing in Mexico. Nothing has changed at all there except that Theresa and I are no longer living there.

Also, please remember Theresa and me as we serve here in Texas.

Be blessed in the Lord.

Steven and Theresa

Packing the van in Cd. Valles as we prepare to leave

So, where in the world are Steven and Theresa Frey anyway?

That is a valid question; but let me first of all give you the long version of the saga – the larger picture, as it where…

If you have been even a casual reader of this blog over the past year or more, you will know that it was becoming increasingly clear to Theresa and me that our time of direct service and living in Mexico was drawing to an end. It certainly was not that the ministry that we were involved in – the work itself – was not advancing and pressing forward. On the contrary, the Bible Institute (Instituto Biblico Luz de Las Naciones), the Leadership-training Bible School (Project L.A.M.B.S.), and the Missionary Training Center (Casa del Obrero) were all growing and pressing forward under strong national leadership.

But that was exactly the point – each of the areas of ministry that Theresa and I felt

Friends saying goodbye on our patio in Cd. Valles

mandated to serve with were already moving forward under trustworthy national leadership – exactly the way that we had always intended and prayed that it would do. I saw that we were no longer necessary in situ, and indeed, I was beginning to get the strong sense that our continued presence in Mexico was having a negative rather than a positive effect on the sustained maturation to the work. For one thing, as long as Theresa and I were physically living in Cd. Valles where the work continued, because of several factors (my age, the cultural mores of our Hispanic brothers and sisters which demanded that they show deference towards us due to the fact that we began the work and represented age and leadership, my persistent inclination, like a hovering parent, to attempt to problem solve and pick up the financial tab for every boo-boo in the ministry, etc., etc.), I began to realize that we were hampering our national leaders rather than assisting them to fly with their own God-ordained wings. It was time for us to get out of Dodge.

Beginning to unload at our new location at the job site (and our new home)

But, again, if you have been reading the “As The World Turns” of these blogs over the past months and years you will know that one of the very big issues for us as a ministry has been the lack of funds, and the decline of finances to maintain the work exactly at a time when the on-going needs were escalating rather than decreasing. Sugarcane, the only crop grown in the area, and the very crop that we had hoped would become the ongoing financial basis for the work, experienced a huge price-slump and has proven to be unreliable and insufficient to meet these needs.

We have been extremely grateful to each faithful supporter of the work over the years. We could not have continued without your faith, love, and generous financial giving. You are literally what has enabled the ministry to continue over the years. Thank you so very much.

As a ministry we have also desperately been seeking alternative, and varied multiple

My home is my castle (unfortunately, it is not the other way around as well)

revenues sources beyond sugarcane for the farm. We know that it is time to become truly Mexican based and Mexican financed. However, to date we still have not found anything adequate to meet this pressing need. For one thing, any start-up requires capital to begin. As the old adage states: “It takes money to make money”. It is pretty hard to begin with nothing (despite all of the motivational stories to the contrary). For one thing, we still don’t have power at the farm. The power line runs right in front of the property, but we need to purchase a transformer in order to have it hooked into the farm. This is about a $6,000 dollar tab by the time it is all said and done. In order to even consider a welding shop on the Training Center (we have been very seriously looking at this option), of course, we need power. Then also, we need welders, grinders, a small pickup truck, etc. All of this takes startup capital. None of which we have.

Theresa at her gate guard duty. STOP. There ain’t nobody getting past without checking in

We are also looking at animals – perhaps raising chickens and pigs – with the intention of not only sustaining Armando and his family as they live at, and manage the Missionary Center, but also being able to sell eggs and meat in order to create a good income source. We are also looking at small, covered garden areas in which to grow vegetables and other marketable crops for self-sustenance as well as sale in the community. The issue that makes this difficult though is the 120° plus degree weather that scorches Cd. Valles for much of the year.

We have looked at many ideas for auto sustainability for the ministry, but we always have come back to the same niggler – the lack of funds to begin.

In all honesty, there is probably another hindrance to us as well – the lack of knowing how to do it. Desire to do so certainly is not an issue. Both Javier and I see the extreme and utter importance of viable auto sustainability for the ministry. However, Javier, for all of the gifting that God has given him, is not an entrepreneur; and sadly, nor am I. We see the big picture, but don’t know how to get there. It is in this area that the Body of Christ must come forward and function. Where there are businesspersons and people with entrepreneurial know-how to take the work forward into the next step – that of producing finance-generating resources to sustain the ministry – let them come forward. These persons with business insight and savvy may be Mexican or other.

Perhaps it is you, dear reader. God intends for this ministry to go forward; that is obvious

Gate guarding or not, normal living still goes on, and clothes still need to be washed and dried

despite (and perhaps, most obvious BECAUSE OF), the incredible attack that the work has been under over the past years. The Enemy has no intention that the work should go forward; but God has other plans. Perhaps you can have a role in the current need – not necessarily in giving cash, but rather knowledge and business and entrepreneurial know-how.

We started off this blog with the question; “So, where in the world are Steven and Theresa Frey anyway?” We have gone around the bush several times to do so, but we are getting closer to closing in on the answer to that query.

It was because of the above mentioned issues that Theresa and I took the opportunity that God laid directly into our laps to take a job for one year in the petroleum industry in southern Texas as security gate guards. It is not a very glamorous job, but it allows us to live and work in Texas; transitionally out of Mexico, and en route to Canada so-to-speak.

A truck arrives. Steven at the note pad

Because of the nuances of the work that we are involved with, we can live fairly inexpensively, save our money, and give a large portion of our income back into the work in Mexico. It is our intention in this way to personally assist for one year as the national leaders in the Mexican work transition over from our leadership, to becoming fully autonomous and self-reliant. Certainly, I continue to remain in close contact with the national leadership there via emails and telephone calls as needed. But, we are no longer present to get in the way of their autonomous decision making. And this is a very good thing.

I realize that our one-year salary is only a Band-Aid, and that it negates nothing of the stated need that the work has for becoming truly Mexican, and Mexican-run and financed. But you tell me what else we could have done in the interim. Until God provides the missing link that will begin to generate income from the 6.5 hectares of beautifully rich land at the Missionary Training Center farm through agriculture, animal husbandry, production shops, etc., I don’t know what else we were supposed to do. Certainly, neither Theresa nor I could simply smile, wash our hands, slap our brothers and sisters on the back, and walk away with a “Have a great life” as we rode off into the sunset. We had assisted in the birth of a baby. God is in the process of bringing that baby into maturity, but we still had to be available to be there during the interim.

So here we are in southern Texas, having arrived here for our work to begin on the first

Cutting blocks for bracing supports for the trailer. Our new “pad” in the background. Thank goodness for pop outs that give so much more room inside

day of May. If you have access to Google Maps or the likes, simply look for Catarina, Texas. If you are of the “old school” variety then you will need to flip your atlas to Texas/Eastern and look for Laredo (along the Mexican border). Interstate 35 runs between Laredo and San Antonio. Just north of Laredo, highway 83 branches off to the northwest towards the town of Carrizo Springs (population of around 5,500). On its way north, about 60 miles out of Laredo, it runs past a gas station and a turn in the road. That is Catarina. We are a bit over a mile outside of “town” on a very “Mexican” road. Needless to say, our location is not on the map! But, Carrizo Springs, our city of glittering bright lights, is only 20 miles away, and where we do shopping and the likes.

In Cd. Valles the work still moves forward. Javier gives the Casa del Obrero house a new paint job

Our job consists of literally watching the gate leading into a number of petroleum well sites. We needed to purchase a travel trailer (a whole, incredible story of blessing in itself), in which we live right at the gate entrance. Theresa and I run shifts, one of us always being prepared to register traffic, and open the gate to allow entry and exit from the site. Some days it is a breeze, and some days we wonder what ever made us (or, should I say “me”) decide to do this in the first place. But through it all, we are conscious that God has blessed us to be able to be an ongoing part of the work in Mexico in this way. Also, it, like any job, has periods of absolute perfection when Theresa and I look at each other and have to simply say “This is so cool”. But, the alarms that run continuously throughout the night making more than snatched snippets of sleep impossible, or the days that are absolutely non-stop truck traffic coming and going, more than make up for the times of quietude. But, you tell me what job doesn’t have its ups and downs; its highs and its lows.

We have been blessed. We have been able to put in little vegetable pots around the trailer,

Mean while, back in Cd. Valles the rains have been playing havoc on the crops. Javier is all decked out and spraying for weed control

and are anxiously (and impatiently) waiting for our crops of tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, lettuce, herbs (Theresa’s project), chilies, and more, to produce their abundance. We are busy, mostly happy, enjoying each other, and learning how to live in a 31’ travel trailer without inflicting undue emotional distress onto one another, and very, very happy for air conditioners in the trailer.

If you have been watching the news you will know that the south, including Texas has been hammered with incredible rain and flooding. In Mexico, Javier and Armando have been unable to harvest the sugarcane due to flooding. In fact, the sugar-processing mill has been shut down due to the inability of the trucks to transport the cane from the outlying areas due to the mud, flooding, and bad roads. This is, of course, a major set-back for the Training Center farm because that crop – now months past its optimal harvest time – represents one full year of labor and investment for the ministry. Please remember Javier and Armando in prayer.

Armando takes advantage of the muddy soup to plant grass. Not much better to do right now in the incredible rains

The Bible School and Institute are going well. Eva Alejandra and Dr. Mario are directing these training institutes. Also, Javier continues in one-on-one training and discipling of Armando and Alicia, the first leadership trainees at the Missionary Training Center.

We continue to need your prayers and faith in the work. Transition is always a time of uncertainties and questions. Please know that although Theresa and I have moved into another phase of the work, it, the ministry, still is going strong, and has not skipped a heartbeat. Our Mexican brothers and sisters continue to need your faith, love, prayer, and generous giving of finances.

Be blessed, and drop us an email when you get the chance to do so:

steven@vitwministries.com

tlynnfrey@gmail.com

Your fellow laborers in the harvest,

Steven and Theresa