Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

Nothing much left of this engine I am afraid

The best laid plans of mice and man (or however the saying goes), have hit us in the face again. As per usual, plans seem to become fairly fluid in the Frey household. This is not necessarily by choice (despite the accusations of the same to my poor, wrongly accused self), but just seem to follow me and swirl around me like the cloud of dust around Pig-Pen in the “Peanuts” comic strip.

Theresa and I finished off all of our last minute running around and business on Saturday morning, battened down the house for a six week absence and got off to a good start at a fairly reasonable time like planned. We drive without incident for several hours towards the border. The day was hot, the air conditioner was running, there were no problems in sight, we were listening to a story on the MP3 player, and I wasn’t paying much attention to anything until the engine began balking and I saw that the check engine light was on and the gauges were reading hot. We rolled to a stop beside the road in the middle of nowhere

Stripped down and bare

and I checked the engine, finding it so hot that the oil was boiling and air was bubbling back into the coolant reservoir. We let things cool down, put water in again and limped our way back onto the highway. But things didn’t look good. First of all, there was a lot of white smoke coming from the tail pipe, and the temperature indicator was swiftly climbing into critical again. We slowly made it to the next village and pulled into the only gas station in town. By this time the bearings were protesting wildly, the engine was backfiring, there was enough white smoke coming from the tailpipe to fumigate for mosquitoes, and I knew that the head must be very fried.

The gas attendant said that he had a friend who is a mechanic and called him up. We towed the vehicle to a shop and then began to look at our alternatives. We knew that this was no longer to have a simple, quick-fix solution and that we would need a place to stay for several days.

Oh, how will this pile of burnt-out parts all get put together again

But God is good. Of all the desolate, uninhabited miles along the trip north we “just happened” to break down at the one town along the eight hour trip that I “chanced” to know someone (well, sort of at least). Once, about nine years ago, I stopped off with Marty Dyer, a pastor friend of mine from Grove, Oklahoma to visit a pastor friend of his here in the village of Jimenez, the town where the van broke down. I could no longer remember her name, or where her church was, but I was almost certain that she lived in, or around Jimenez. I asked our newly acquired mechanic friend, Jesús by name, if he knew of an evangelical church in town with a pastor of such and such a description. He took us to several places to look around and none of them looked familiar. However, we came back to one of the churches and found a couple just arriving for a prayer time. We spoke to them and more or less figured out who my pastor friend was and that indeed she did live close by, but they suggested that we speak to their pastor and see if he could help us. We did so, and he offered us a place in a room off of the church compound.

We have been shown generous Mexican hospitality and now await the repair of the van. It

Tossed aside to be rebuilt. Can new hope be brought out of the wrecks of life

will be several days and many more hundreds of dollars than I was hoping to spend, or had budgeted for, but we have very few options I am afraid.

But God is good.

However, it looks like we may need to sell this van and begin looking for a donated vehicle to replace it. If anyone could give a small, four cylinder pickup that is in good working condition to the ministry we certainly would not refuse the gift. We desperately need a good functioning vehicle to traverse the bad roads that we need to drive on a daily basis.

To make it to the U.S. border we need to have the head gaskets replaced, the heads shaved, the valves ground, the pistons (at least some of them probably) replaced, rings replaced, and who knows what else done to the poor old van. What actually happened we think is that the radiator plugged and starved the engine of coolant. With the stress on the engine due to the hot day and the use of the air conditioner and the climbing of a hill it just overheated and fried out the whole engine.

Houses opened to us in beautiful Mexican hospitality

When I look at the pile of torn apart junk laying around the greasy “mechanic shop” – all pieces that should be attached to our engine – I realize that I can fume and fuss as much as I like , but we ain’t going nowhere soon.

But like I have already said, God is good. He has taken care of us in a wonderful way. It may not be the Hilton, and perhaps more like morsels of bread brought by the ravens, and river water to drink, but it is his provision nonetheless, and we are grateful. The room is boiling hot, and we have a single fan to move around the oven-hot air, but we have a bed and a shower. It certainly is so very much better than being at the mercy of who-knows-who in some unknown village along the way, or trying to sleep in the broken-down van. God has looked after us again, and we thank him.

This breakdown has meant that Theresa and I will need to change our plans and schedule for the trip north as well. We must cancel some of the planned stops and visits along the way, but the Lord willing we will still make it to Nebraska in time for Theresa’s deadline.

God is good!

Are there any spiritual applications and lessons to be learned from this whole little “fiasco”?

Just a really cool door. I won’t try to read any great spiritual significance into it

I think that there are:

First of all, the Apostle James talks about enduring trials and troubles in chapter 1 verses 2-4 where he says:

“Dear brothers and sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything.”

Peter also states in 1 Peter 1 verse 7(a):

“These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure. It is being tested as fire tests and purified gold – and your faith is far more precious to God than mere gold”.

Although burning up the engine in ones van and being stuck in a town in Mexico for several days may hardly be contrived of as a fiery trial testing ones faith as spoken of by Peter, it certainly can be accurately called “trouble” as spoken of by James. My first tendency in the natural is to react with gritted teeth, set eyes and a stamp of the foot, declaring the unfairness of the whole thing. This was not in my budget nor plan!!

Another picture-perfect shot in the town of Jimenez

But what does James say? Let troubles be an opportunity for joy.

JOY?

Yes, because when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

Hmmm, not exactly my natural reaction to troubles I have to say!

Let endurance grow (due to troubles in your life), because when your endurance is fully developed you will be strong in character and ready for anything.

I do like the promise of the result – a character that is fully developed and ready for anything – I have to confess thought that the pathway to the result rubs against the fur and is never pleasant. Still, I doubt that there are any shortcuts.

There is also another lesson, or parallel that I learn from this mechanical meltdown on the van dealing with the issue of sin. Let me explain:

The process, probably, on the van went something like this –

For some time now there has been a buildup of “crud” in the radiator. Never anything noticeably big – nothing overwhelmingly devastating, not even very noticeable really. Just a flake of rust here, a bit of junk there, a glob of goop in some unnoticed tube, and some orange slime simmering in some corner of some pipe along the way. In reality, the system would have probably worked for months, maybe even years if there had been no heat stress placed on the engine. Little trips to the farm and back may have gone on indefinitely perhaps without anyone noticing the accumulation of nastiness in the radiator.

But there was a day of stress – 119 degree heat, air conditioner running, uphill climb – and the meltdown happened, the crud in the unseen areas of the radiator was revealed for what is really was – the slow, devastating, mostly unseen and unsuspected accumulation of choking nastiness. Due to the stress the engine began to be starved of life sustaining coolant, and the destructive overheating and meltdown happened to a “perfectly good” van.

So what am I saying? Just this – rarely does a Christian set out to fall into a devastating, life-destroying sin. In fact, most often the spiritual meltdown comes about as the result of small compromises and “little” sins. These are the small flakes of rust, the orange goop, and the bits of nastiness that begin to clog ones spiritual radiator. Over time these build up to a point of critical mass.

Then, at a point of stress in ones life this unseen and unsuspected mass begins to block the person’s spiritual life, heat builds up, and what once looked like a perfectly good spiritual engine lies destroyed and useless puffing nothing but spiritual black smoke.

The irony is that a $10 dollar radiator flush would have saved the engine if it had been done before any heat began to build up – before the physical pressure was placed on the engine. In the same way we also must service and maintain our spiritual radiators. We must be careful to have spiritual flushes done routinely in our lives as well. We must maintain a washing by the water of the Word in our spiritual lives lest the crud and goop of sin build up, threatening to destroy our spiritual engines.

Too much being read into a burned out engine on the van? I don’t think so. Let it be your parable for today.

May God bless you richly.

Steven and Theresa Frey

Measuring the well depth

So how does one deal with disappointment and the feeling that God has let them down?

This morning at 39 meters (128 feet) on the well shaft we hit a clay-like substrate that the drilling crew said was non-water producing. Since it was likely that this layer was very thick, they suggested that there was no reason to go on.

Up to this point I still believed fully that God was going to break through with a miracle for us. With this new discovery I realized that I needed to give up, and give in – there was no miracle forthcoming after all.

I know that it is only water and a water well, but for me it was a matter of boldfaced faith

Actually we stopped at 128 feet

and my heart and reputation laid bare on the line, so to speak. For others the fervent cry may be more personal, and an issue of life and death – for example, in times of extreme sickness and prayer for healing. For some it may be a matter of extreme financial need that causes them to agonize in prayer for God’s mercy and gracious supply. And for others it may be prayers of anguish for their unsaved children. The causes for soul-baring faith and prayer are innumerable, but the feeling of desperation in God is similar to all, and the crushing disappointment that can follow if the prayers seem to go unanswered is also comparable across the board.

Whatever the reason for us to lay bare our hearts in raw faith, when God does not respond – when the heaven that is over your head seems as brass and the earth under you seems as iron (Deuteronomy 28:23), and it feels as if he does not hear, or has no desire to respond – then, at that point, we need to reassess the whole issue of faith and prayer.

I am in that place at the moment.

Theresa displaying her new curtains in the Casa del Obrero. Pray with us for a staff couple to live here and to begin mentoring missionary trainees

I fully, fully expected God to supply this need for the Ministry Center. I expected 100% to be able to report a miraculous provision of the blessing of overflowing water. I absolutely believed that I could take God at his word when he said that he would “pour out water to quench our thirst and to irrigate our parched fields” Isaiah 44:3(a). I expected a miracle of his abundant provision for the ministry and for the surrounding area.

I am now wondering where I went wrong. Did I not hear him right? Should I not have trusted in such simple faith? Was it not his will after all? Does he intend to provide in another form, or in another way? What was the purpose of this unfulfilled exercise of faith, if there was one? Etc., etc.

The well was not a complete bust. There is water, but very little. It will supply a household and can be collected for use in careful gardening, but it is not what we believed for, prayed for, hoped for, trusted for, or needed.

God, why?

“Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise him again—my Savior and my God!”Psalm 42:5

We wait on you Lord.

Blessings,

Steven

Withdrawing water from the shaft with a “drop bucket” to check the inflow amount

Just a quick update, and an urgent request for prayer for the well situation at the Casa del Obrero site:

In Matthew 7 Jesus says that if we keep on asking we will receive what we ask for. He then adds “For everyone who asks, receives”.

Today we need a miracle of water. I have just returned from the farm where we did a second refill test on the well. We now sit at a depth of 30 meters (98 feet). When we began the shaft was full of water up to about four meters below the surface level – a good sign. However, the refill rate is just a trickle and would take several hours to fill the shaft again. Not enough for much more at this point than to supply an above-ground reservoir. This is certainly better than nothing, but not what we need, and not what we are praying for.

Prayer warriors arise – PRAY!

Pray for the miracle that we need. Pray that the drill bit will punch into a sure, abundant,

The inflow is still inadequate for our needs. We made the decision to go deeper – to 35 meters

and never ending subterranean river today. We are running out of funds, and every decision that I make concerning continuing or quitting the quest rests on two extremes – on one hand, God’s finances over which I must make wise decisions as his steward. On the other side, now that we have invested the money for 30 meters and not found adequate water, when is it wise to stop and accept enough as enough? If we do have to call “uncle” is there water just below where we stop? When is the “point of no return” on the depth?

Just to refresh our memory so that we can pray more intelligently: the water is absolutely necessary on the Missionary Training Center. God miraculously provided money to begin the drilling through or friends Kevin and Jackie. The drill rig was sitting about a kilometer down the road from us, and ready to begin when we had the money to do so. The well was placed at a spot where a prophetic word of blessing and future hope was spoken over the ministry. I felt that this was where God wanted us to place the well in faith in his spoken Word. The well is not for my selfish benefit, but rather to be a blessing for the ongoing ministry of the Missionary Training Center so that the farm can become self financing and abundant, and also as a point of flowing out into the surrounding communities [Isaiah 44:3(a): “I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields” (NLT)].

So, in light of all of this pray, pray, pray! We need a breakthrough today!

My next blog will be a praise report of the abundance of blessing as flowing water fills the well shaft.

With bated breath and anticipation…

Steven

Meet Theresa’s latest creation. This special-order “missionary” caterpillar puppet is going to one of the local pastors for their Vacation Bible School program

Let me bring you up to date on the well situation. We have not fallen off the face of the earth, nor have I forgotten to blog. It is just that we have had some setbacks since my Saturday post. At that point, on Friday, the drill was down the hole and could not be retrieved because one of the main gears on the drilling rig needed to be repaired. The guys removed the broken pieces and worked on having them repaired over the weekend, with hopes of starting again on Monday morning.

On Monday they reassembled the rig and by the late afternoon they were ready to begin drilling again. We decided that on the following morning (Tuesday) we would pump the well to see what the refill rate was. This way we would know if the 25 meter depth that they had reached was enough or if we needed to go deeper. At this point the water in the well sat at about 4 meters from ground level. However, it had had three days to fill the shaft.

On Tuesday morning they removed the water from the well shaft, and although there was a

There has to be some perks to living in a tropical climate besides not shoveling snow in January. How about mangos?

small amount refilling it, it was also obvious that it was not sufficient for our needs. It would probably have served for one single household with judicious use of water, but this is not what we need, and certainly not what we are believing and praying for. So we decided to continue going deeper – up to 30 meters – and see what we could find.

No sooner had they started the rig than one of the main cables snapped, dropping the bit to the bottom of the shaft. So this ended Tuesday’s drilling.

Wednesday was a washout – literally. There was an extremely heavy downpour during the night on our already waterlogged area of the state. Due to the flooding of the bridge into the access road to the property the crew could not get to the work site.

Today, Thursday, they arrived in the morning and retrieved the bit from the well shaft and repaired the cable. In the afternoon they fired up the rig again and ended the day at the 29 meter (95 feet) mark.

Tomorrow they will continue the last meter and check the refill rate again.

Jumbo mama – this is a mango with an attitude. One fruit goes a long way at this size!

Please pray for the miracle that we so desperately need.

The missionary team for Matamoros and Texas left early on Tuesday morning in order to arrive back at San Antonio, Texas by that evening. It was a blessing to have them here, and I believe that God has knit our hearts and vision together. We will see what he does next.

It is now the windup crunch time for Theresa and me as we try to get everything finished before we leave for points north on the 19^th. We will be gone for about six weeks, and there is always a lot of arranging that needs to be done before one leaves.

So, that is basically what is going on here in rainy Cd. Valles. It is very busy, but God is also with us and we are blessed.

Steven and Theresa

The well is now approximately 25 meters deep but the rig has experienced a mechanical breakdown. We will have to wait until Monday to preceed

Day 4: The drilling crew reached roughly 25 meters (82 feet) and then the rig experienced mechanical failure. The drill remains part way down the hole so it is impossible to know how much water is in the well now. It looks like it will be Monday before the rig can be fixed, the drill removed, and the amount of water tested. I am asking that at that point the well be pumped so that we can see how much water is actually coming in.

So, I have no word at all today, except that the rig is down for awhile. This will give us more time to pray and “keep on asking” as we noted from Mathew 7:7 in yesterday’s posting.

Please keep interceding for this need with us.

The evangelistic outreaches that are taking place in various villages with the seven missionaries that came down from the north are going very well. We are enjoying having them here with us, although it makes for long and exhausting days, over and above the normal work schedule.

Theresa and I just got back to the house from ministering in the village of San Antonio Huichimal with Javier and Cristina as well as one of the Hispanic brothers who came down from San Antonio, Texas. It is now after midnight and we are still waiting for the group to arrive at our house since one of the couples is staying with us.

But God is good – even when one is exhausted.

We will keep you posted,

Steven and Theresa