Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

The long awaited disk at work on the landsite

It has been close to a month of hard physical labor since my last blog, and I have not had the energy to drag myself to the computer at the end of most days. Today being Saturday, we decided to take the day off and let our weary backs rest. Besides, we awoke to a morning-long deluge, so it was a good decision reached last evening.

I have a number of things running through my head of late, and I will ask you to bear with me as I ramble in what might seem to be disjointed ideas and rabbit trails. So, please forgive the tangled and circuitous pathways that my mind may follow.

I want to begin with a quote from the same book that I mentioned in one of my previous blogs – “Jungle Pilot, The Life and Witness of Nate Saint”. Nate once wrote in a letter to his father, “I feel like the general who said he liked a certain officer because he ‘isn’t always trying to convince me that a thing is impossible just because it can’t be done’”. Nate then went on to say, “We would be glad if the doubtful and the fearful would pray with us, but we would rather, with Gideon, be accompanied by those people who can help us at the risk of disappointment.”

Oh, how very true his words are on the mission field.

Several weeks ago I was standing ankle-deep in muck in the sugarcane field, machete in hand, my clothes

We first loosened up the area to be dug with our post-hole digger

dripping with water from the gallons of sweat pouring from my body in the 110 degree sun, every muscle screaming in protest, fire ants tormenting me as I cut seed cane for the replanting of the flooded out fields, and the thought kept going through my head “What are you doing this for anyway?” “There is never enough money for the work to go forward. Some give lip service to the vision, but disappear into the woodwork when any work begins. Others actually directly oppose and speak derogatorily and disparagingly against the vision and work that we are doing”. “Why even bother trying?” But then something came to mind: “What would dad have done?”

I don’t want to be sacrilegious, but do you remember those bracelets that everyone seemed to be wearing about ten years ago that said simply, “W.W.J.D” (What Would Jesus Do)? I suddenly thought “What would Alvin have done?” “What did he do?” I sometimes have difficulty knowing exactly what Jesus would do in a given circumstance. The answer to that question seems more nebulous at times. But I do have a pretty good idea of what my father would have done, or did do, and of the life that he lived. Besides, I had close to sixty years to observe what he did under varying circumstances.

Back-breaking pick and shovel work is the only way to prepare for the footers

W.W.A.D? Well, for starters, he never was one to shirk work or responsibility. He refused to let down his end of the load, even if he had every right to do so. He would have taken a machete and fought the fire ants and heat and mud, shouldering the load. He would not have complained or groveled in self-pity. He would have pulled his weight, and more. And I have a good idea that that is also what Jesus would do under the same circumstances. I wish to do the same.

We are so blessed. A couple of weeks ago Javier and I were able to begin clearing weeds and overgrowth on the farm with the disc and spring-toothed harrow. It still involved a lot of machete work and hard physical labor, but we did have the help of the tractor. We are not done, but we are moving in the right direction.

We are in the process of transitioning into a new curriculum and academic covering for the Bible Institute. This is not a simple process, and involves some serious questions for all of the directors and teaching staff. The result will bring a much more advanced level of teaching, but will also mean a lot of work and change for everyone, most certainly for the staff. The covering that we are prayerfully moving towards is under an organization called Zion Christian University, which is itself under Zion Fellowship International. ZCU has Bible Institutes in many countries around the world and offers academic covering at a degree level of study. This is a huge move for us, and we need God’s wisdom and grace. Please pray with us now during this time of transition and change as we continue to seek God’s will.

I mentioned in a former blog that Theresa and I have been able to be involved in a little work in a town about a

Javier digging trenches for the footers

half hour south of us called Pujal. This is a little church that was begun about thirteen years ago by a pastor and his wife from Valles. We have learned to appreciate this pastor and his wife who walk in gentleness and humility. On the 5^th of October we were involved in the presentation of a film for youth (to which many adults also attended). It was a time of real ministry and blessing. Through our visits there we learned to know a couple who have invited us back to visit them in their home for a fish meal. We will be attending their little church tomorrow morning, and then enjoying some cat fish with them in their home during the afternoon. This is what “church” is all about I think. We get so caught up in form and religion sometimes that we miss the authenticity of real life. After all, wasn’t much of Jesus’ ministry “hanging out” with people; not necessarily with a preconceived agenda other than simply to show love and the Kingdom of God to them?

And then the really big news – we are beginning to build staff housing on the missionary training farm!!

On Monday this week we began with pick and shovels to dig out for the foundation work. Last night at about 8:00 o’clock we finally ended pouring the first stage of the footings and dragged our aching bodies home for the night. Today it is raining and we are able to rest.

The base is prepared with a hand compactor. No hydraulic hammer here.

Listowel Community Church is sending a work team down at the end of January to complete the building project that we are calling the “galera house” project. The “galera”, as you will remember, is the steel roofed pole shed that we put up at the beginning of the year. The plans are to utilize just a bit over half of this space for a staff house for a couple who will live on site. The rest of the space will be used in tractor and equipment storage, as well as in a locked room for tools and supplies for the missionary training farm. The work is brutal and the hours are long, but we are blessed. We have been praying for well over a year for the ability to begin putting up the needed buildings on the land so that the mentoring and missionary work can begin. This prayer is finally beginning to take form. This is just the first step of what is so desperately needed, but it is a good start.

Listowel Community Church is in the process of raising the funds for the building and to send down a work team. With the beginning of the funds raised they are sending money down for us to complete the foundation and floor as well as the external concrete block work – the most brutal and time consuming part of the build. Their team, having only five actual work days while here, would not have a chance to accomplish a build start-to-finish in that short time. However, they will be able to work miracles in partitioning walls and the completion of the inside of the house. We feel that this is a very good arrangement and we anxiously await their arrival in the new year.

If you would like to be a part of this project than please send your gifts to either LCC (where your giving normally

Rebar is prepared and tied together

goes if in Canada), or to Newsong Church (where your giving normally goes if in the U.S.). Please note the gift “for building project”.  All gifts are tax receipted.

We still desperately need, and are expectantly praying for a team to come down in order to put in a septic tank and field for the training center site. As I have already said, we are now beginning to build our first staff building on the farm. Soon, the Lord willing, other buildings will follow. We desperately need someone to feel God’s tugging to head up a work team to come down in order to put in a good septic field now while the work is just beginning to take shape. If we wait too long it will no longer be possible. This could be a very doable and fun project for a group of guys who know something about this kind of work. They would have to raise the funds to complete the project since we have no money to do so, but they would be richly blessed. Please pray with us, but as Nate Saint stated in the quote above: “We would be glad if the doubtful and the fearful would pray with us, but we would rather, with Gideon, be accompanied by those people who can help us at the risk of disappointment.”

Getting ready to pour. Our modern implement – a cement mixer

I will end this blog on a sad note. My only reason to do so is so that you can pray for the work that Theresa and I are involved with, and for each of the people with whom we work beside as co-laborers; specifically for Javier and Cristina, and Mario and Alejandra with whom we work very closely. Over the past several months the opposition and hostility towards them and the Bible institute, Project LAMBS, and Casa del Obrero (the missionary training center) has become more slanderous and vindictive. Sadly, this is coming directly from brothers and sisters who have chosen to take offense, or have chosen to misunderstand the work. The problem is that it has become a hurtful campaign of slander against our brothers and sisters. As it turns out, Theresa and I as non-nationals cannot be directly hurt as badly, but for these local leaders it is a very painful time to be accused of all kinds of evils and antichristian things.

Please pray that God will uphold the hearts of those who are serving him against opposition and hostility. Pray that lies and conjectures will cease, and that broken relationships can be mended. After all, how can antagonism and self-serving kingdom building possibly bring glory to God; especially if this is done because of jealousy of one brother against another? Didn’t Jesus very plainly say in John 13: “Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Please pray for unity and love in Jesus’ body.

Your friends,

Steven and Theresa

Water covered field that we encountered on Monday. All of the seed has been lost

I know that I am outdoing myself with posting blogs of late; however I want to bring you up to date again quickly with what is going on around here after the cyclones and tropical storms that we have had over the past weeks.

I will begin my story back in the end of August only days after my triumphant August 24 entry stating that we were so thrilled to have the last of the sugarcane planted and ready for the rainy season so that it could grow with the gentle rains which we hoped would fall.

Well, rains did indeed fall. Only days after we topped the furrows we got hit with our first days-long torrential rain and flooding. When we could get back out to the land we found that much of the recently planted sugarcane had been eroded away and needed to be covered again. So, Javier and I took our azadónes and began the backbreaking labor of covering the rows again with the heavy, water laden muck, some of it still under standing water. We finished this off with the assurance that now, finally, we would see the crop grow.

And then the rains began again…

If you have been watching the news at all I’m sure that you saw the flooding and

This is the bridge at our house

devastation that has taken place in many areas of the country.

In my last blog I spoke about the flooding that occurred on the night that I arrived back in Cd. Valles. That ended up being a pipsqueak as to what would follow one week later.

On Saturday morning we woke up to water rushing down our street, the flooding coming to within feet of our doorstep. The bridge just down the road from us was a cascade of rushing water over the tops of the guard rails, and the little street just down the road was a river.

Seed sugarcane can stand some time under water. However, there has been little respite since we planted it a month ago. When we finally did get to look at the farm two days ago we found a mess. Thankfully, the standing sugarcane is thriving with all of the moisture. However, almost all of the newly planted sugarcane is ruined and will need to be replanted.

The street on Saturday morning just one house down from our door

Today Javier and I once again loaded our machetes and headed out to the farm. This time to replant what has been destroyed by the standing water in the field. At the end of the day both Javier and I could barely walk from weariness. We got maybe 1/5 of the field done. We will keep plugging away, and trust that this time, finally, we will get germination, and that the crop will not be lost again.

But we still have so very much to be thankful for. We should not have water shortages this year. We have a lovely full pond of water. Our standing sugarcane is doing well. We now have a disc that we have been trying to get for almost a year. We can finally begin to use it. I am cleaning and regreasing all of the bearings so that I can reassembly it.

On Saturday evening Theresa and I were part of a team which went to a little town called

Javier replanting stocks of sugarcane into the muck. He is doing this by pushing the stocks into the mud and cutting them off

Pujal, about half an hour south of Cd. Valles. There we showed the film “Fire Proof” and were able to be part of a time of blessings for couples from that village. We have been asked to come back on the 5^th of October in order to help with a youth program there.

A team from Listowel Community Church is planning to come to Cd. Valles very soon in order to build a much need staff house on the land site. This will allow us to have a staff couple living at the Training Center, and missionary training can begin.

We have been crunching numbers to see how much the building will cost. As closely as we can figure we will need about seven thousand dollars. The hopes are that we will be able to complete all of the foundation and floor work before the team arrives. In order to do this we will need $3,000 dollars to begin. The rest of the money will need to be available when they arrive in order to finish the actual building.

All of the pieces of the disc. The bearings need to be cleaned and regreased. Then I need to see if I remember how to put it all together again

The need for a staff house on the farm is critical. I believe that we need to build it. But we do not have enough money to do so yet. If you feel that you would like to give specifically to this project then please send your check to either the Canadian or U.S. side of the ministry. Gifts will be tax receipted.

Well, tomorrow is another early morning of planting on the farm. I suppose I should wind this down.

Please remember to be praying for the ministry. We desire your prayers. It is not necessarily easy doing what Theresa and I are doing. We appreciate your love and friendship.

Blessings,

Steven and Theresa

The Deluge outside our front door in Cd. Valles upon my return

Do you remember the song from your childhood? Well, we are living it here in Mexico I am afraid. If you click onto the following link you will catch a bird’s eye idea of what we are facing. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-24098184. Even 100 miles in from the coast, and more from the actual site of the hurricane’s landfall, we are being deluged with rain here in Cd. Valles. Curiously, what began as a very dangerously dry rainy season again this year, is ending with devastating rains and flooding.

As soon as I can, I need to make my way out the muddy trail to the farm and see what is left of our freshly planted sugarcane. I am afraid that there may be little left of the newly tilled and carefully worked soil that we laboured so hard over only weeks ago. It gives “zero till” farming a whole new meaning (right James!).

But, let me back up a little bit since the last time that I posted was from Laredo, Texas where I was spending a rather unhappy several days waiting to get some farm equipment across the border into Mexico.

As I eluded to in my last blog as well, I am now completely convinced that the ten plus months of aggravation in waiting for permits and paperwork to get two implements into the country – both valued at only $400 dollars combined – was solely for the purpose of linking with Pastor Jonathan Aragon and Rafael Dueñas, and United Baptist Church in Laredo. Over the remainder of my time in Laredo I began to develop a close relationship with Pastor Jonathan, who has newly arrived in the city to take over the pastorate of UBC. Plans stand at present for an exploratory team from there to come down sometime before the end of the year to see if this is a God-link, and if they wish to pursue working together in some way. Praise the Lord for surprises and unexpected blessings.

As of Saturday there was still no permits or paperwork, nor were we any closer to getting any. However, it was a holiday weekend – September 16^th marks Mexican Independence Day. It also was a weekend that promised heavy, torrential rainfall due to the hurricane and tropical storm hitting both coasts. I knew that many people were praying. And, besides, I was somewhat desperate and out of options. We had already kicked the same cat for over ten months to no avail.

I did what any reasonable person would do. I put the load low and unobtrusive in the van, covered it, prayed hard, and came south. Thank God for green lights at the checkpoints rather than red, for heavy rain, for lots of prayer, and for blinded eyes. Ask no questions please, and we will leave it at that.

I arrived in Cd. Valles after a very quiet trip down from the border. Besides very heavy rains along the way there were no other incidents. I was very happy to be home, and Theresa to have me back. That evening (Sunday), the little trickle of a stream below our house flooded over its banks, covering the bridge and causing a Niagara-like cascade as the water poured over the edges of the bridge into the rushing torrent below. The road past our house flooded over causing all traffic there to stop for several hours. Good timing indeed to be here rather than on the road.

As soon as things dry out enough I hope to get out to the farm and reassemble the disc (hoping that I remember where all of the pieces go), and get some weeds taken care of. Thank you Lord. We have been waiting a long time for this.

I have also been reading a book called “Jungle Pilot, The Life and Witness of Nate Saint”. Nate Saint, as I am sure you will remember, was one of the missionaries, who, along with Jim Elliot and three others, were killed in Ecuador by the Auca Indians in January, 1956. I am really enjoying the book and finding this biography of his life a challenge. I also am enjoying it on a personal level. It is interesting how very similar the early work in Ecuador was with that of Northern Ontario were I cut my teeth – that is, if one replaces heat and jungle for cold and boreal forests. But, the similarities are striking, and the use of the airplane as the workhorse of the missionary is so very similar in both. I had many memories of the mission pilots and little mission airplanes from my own childhood as I read the book. Also, the missionaries of the southern jungle were obviously of the same ilk as those with whom I grew up in the far reaches of the north of Canada.

I was struck with one passage in particular, and I would like to include a portion of a talk that Nate Saint gave on HCJB radio in Quito, Ecuador in early 1949. Despite the historical context that references the then-fresh Second World War, and the rather bulky quotes from the King James Version of the Bible, I believe that it challenges the very core of our walk with God.

The subject of his talk was “expendability”.

The fact that is mixed in a very important way with our walk is the thing that became commonly known during the last war as “expendability”…

During the last war we were taught that, in order to obtain our objective, we had to be willing to be expendable, and many lives were spent paying the price of our redemption from the bonds of political slavery.

This very afternoon thousands of soldiers are known by their serial numbers as men who are expendable. During the last war we saw big bombers on the assembly line, row after row, powerful, costly implements of war! Yet we all knew – we actually knew that many of those bombers would not accomplish even five missions over enemy territory. We also knew that young fellows, many of them volunteers, would ride in those airborne machine-gun turrets, and their live expectancy behind those guns was, with the trigger down, only four minutes. Tremendous expendability!

We know that there is only one answer when our country demands that we share in the price of freedom – yet when the Lord Jesus asks us to pay the price for world evangelization, we often answer without a word. We cannot go. We say it costs too much.

God Himself laid down the law when He built the universe. He knew when He made it what the price was going to be. And the Lamb of God was slain in the counsels of God from before the foundation of the world. If God didn’t hold back His only Son, but gave Him up to pay the price for our failure and sin, then how can we Christians hold back our lives – the lives He really owns?

The Lord tells us that He that loveth his life – we might say that he that is selfish with his life – shall lose it. It’s inescapable.

Missionaries constantly face expendability. And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives. They forget that when their lives are spent and the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.

Some might say, isn’t it too great a price to pay? When missionaries consider themselves – their lives before God – they consider themselves expendable. And in our personal lives as Christians isn’t the same thing true? Isn’t the price small in the light of God’s infinite love? Those who know the joy of leading a stranger to Christ and those who have gone to tribes who have never heard the gospel, gladly count themselves expendable. And they count it all joy.

“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone”. The apostle Paul said, “I die daily. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

And Jesus said, “There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time… and in the world to come eternal life”.

These are truly significant words. Are we willing to be expendable for God? And yet, as Nate Saint correctly pointed out, we are all expending our lives. In one way or another our lives are being spent. The only question is “how”, and for “whom”.

I must close and get onto other things. There is still much to get done today while the rain keeps falling.

Blessings my friends,

Steven and Theresa

The long awaited disc.

Friends, I need your concerted prayer as you open this blog today.

I am currently in Laredo, Texas. Theresa has stayed in Cd. Valles in order to continue to teach the sewing school classes.

I arrived in Laredo yesterday in order to try once again to bring the disc and box blade across into Mexico. You will remember that about a year ago I purchased these implements for the farm. We desperately need the disc for ongoing weed control and light cultivation. When I purchased these implements I had no reason to think that there would be any issues in getting them imported into Mexico since we had such wonderful success with the import of the tractor and the implements that came with it through the help of Rafael Dueñas. Brother Rafa has an import business based in Laredo, and it was directly due to his generous help that we were able to get the tractor and first shipment into Mexico in February 2012. 

Now, almost a year since first trying, we still have been unable to get the disc and blade across the border. I honestly have no idea what the brick wall is that we keep hitting, but it will not budge. The snarl up is with the necessary permits due to the fact that the equipment is used. But, honestly, none of it makes any sense. But we need God to perform a miracle quickly and smash down the solid wall that we hit every time that we attempt to import the equipment.

God certainly knows that we need the disc very badly on the farm. It is his equipment, and his fields that we are attempting to take care of. It is a simple piece of paper with the correct signature that we lack. Please pray that God will move the mountain out of the way, and that I will be able to get the implements in very, very soon.

Today I attempted to import them at two different crossings. At the first one I was told that I was at the wrong bridge and would need to return to the States and cross at the other one. Upon arriving at the second crossing I was told that I didn’t have the correct paperwork and that I would need to get permits from other Mexican agencies, etc., etc., and would again need to return to the States. All of this, of course, means having to re-enter into the U.S. with a full van and a questionable story as to why I am dipping into Mexico and then right back out again. Not to mention that each time I need to re-enter the U.S. there is about an hour-long line up waiting to be inspected. All of this in blazing, triple digit heat. It all adds up to not being much fun.

So, now at 9:00 o’clock at night I have set up office in a McDonald’s restaurant and am catching some free wi-fi and grabbing a “seniors” coffee and taking advantage of having my laptop with me.

I don’t say the following to have any sort of bragging rights, and in fact I am somewhat embarrassed to say it, but it is the truth nonetheless – I say it to emphasize that I really do need you to pray for a breakthrough soon; sleeping in a hot sweaty van is getting tedious. On my last gig here in Laredo in November I was also alone, Theresa having stayed in Cd. Valles that time as well. That time it was about four or five days of sleeping in the van. At least that time the weather was somewhat milder. This time it is still very hot and uncomfortable. This is now my second night this time around, and unless God breaks through soon, it looks like it will be another long marathon. It is no more fun for my “flesh” than it is for yours to try to catch a couple of Z’s huddled in the driver’s seat in the Walmart parking lot. But when I am alone, and when I can, I prefer not to have to spend God’s money that should be used for ministry purposes just to sleep. I am not trying to be a hero; I am just trying to spend God’s money wisely. Our funds are limited enough without spending where we do not need to.

Onto other, more edifying things – I am very pleased to say that Jason Funk, our fearless webmaster has done it again and has made a smashingly beautifully upgraded website for the ministry. The information is updated and current now, and I no longer have to cringe with embarrassment every time that I send anyone to it. I really encourage you to take a look at the site and see the changes in content that have been made. The basic site looks the same, but the content is very different. This will give you a much more clear idea of what is happening, beyond the blog alone.

Also, and very cool – there is now an “Archived Letters” tab along the top of the website. If you tab onto this you will find old ministry newsletters dating way back to August 1998 and onwards. These are missionary letters that I sent out during the early days of the ministry. You will find them interesting in order to see where to roots of the ministry began, but they will also provide the historic and contextual perspective of the current work of Voice in the Wilderness Ministries in Mexico. I encourage you to take a peak at these as well and see “from whence we have come”.

By the way, Jason Funk’s contact information is as follows. If you have any need for web design I couldn’t recommend a better guy. Thanks again Jason:

204.355.8932      /  jf@jasonfunkdesign.com  /  www.jasonfunkdesign.com

Also, something very, very cool that happened today thrills me to pieces, and almost makes up for the rest of the aggravation of the day. After we finished loading the disc and blade into the van this morning, Rafael asked me if I had time to go to see the new pastor of the church in which he is an elder. Apparently the other year when we were here, the now-retired pastor (with whom Theresa and I stayed for several days and learned to appreciate very much), had hoped to have a team from the church come down to spend some time with us in Cd. Valles. Rafael now thought that we should see the new pastor to follow up on this. Of course I said “yes” to the proposed visit with the new pastor, and Rafael and I headed over to the church office. There I met a young, energetic pastor with a keen interest in what we are doing in Mexico. Plans are tentatively set for Rafa and the pastor to come down in an exploratory trip sometime in November or December of this year in order to see if it is a good fit for them as a church to link with us on an ongoing ministry basis. They also spoke about the possibility of bringing other churches in the Laredo area into the teams as well. Wow! Thank you Lord. This is exactly what we have been praying and hoping for. This church is Baptist. Others that they may bring into the team are Assemblies of God, and others across the city. All of them will have a very strong majority of Hispanics, and certainly Spanish speakers. Praise the Lord. Pray with us that this networking can begin. Maybe this is why we are having this prolonged (and aggravating) time in Laredo trying to import the farm implements. Maybe it was exactly so that this networking could begin. If this is the case, then it is worth it all in the end.

Well, I think I will have a second cup of coffee and see how the night develops. It is still too early to head over to the Walmart parking lot for the night.

Blessings, and please don’t forget to pray that there will be a breakthrough at the border, and that I will be able to import these implements and get them down to the Training Center farm where we so badly need them.

Your friend and brother,

Steven

The Crew – the work begins

So very much has happened since my last posting that I am finding it difficult to know where to start and what to include. However, let me simply begin and see what happens…

Theresa and I arrived back in Canada in the latter part of July after an energetic and fulfilling time with our children and grand children in both Japan and China. While back in Manitoba we were able to spend a little time with our family and friends there before turning the wheels south again.

 We arrived to a very hot Cd. Valles on Saturday, August 17^th in the early evening after a very quiet and uneventful trip from the border. From what we have personally seen, and from all the reports that we have been receiving, things in Mexico have become mercifully quiet again. Apparently incidents still do take place in some of the larger cities, but by and large things have calmed down in most areas of the country. This is wonderful news for all of us.

We were able to arrange the trip from Canada in such a way that we could briefly visit

Cutting of the seed sugarcane begins

Theresa’s mother as well as churches and friends along the way. We were blessed to be able to spend some time with our good friends J.W. and Mary in Gladewater, Texas as well as with brothers and sisters at New Song Church in Grove, Oklahoma. Not only do we share many years of friendship, but Pastor Marty Dyer and the rest of the leadership there continue to share the vision of the work of Voice in the Wilderness. Further, New Song Church remains our legal and spiritual cover in the United States. Our time there was a genuine blessing.

While in Grove we stayed with our long-time friends Alvin and Margaret Lee. These seasoned warriors of the Gospel and veteran missionaries never cease to bless us with their young hearts despite the fact that their bodies may belie this youthfulness. Though both in their eighties they exhibit a full measure of the spirit of Caleb; “I am still as strong today…I’m just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then. Now give me this mountain that the Lord promised me that day.” I pray that God will give me the strength and endurance to be as energetic when I reach their age. While staying with them, Alvin gave me a copy of a wonderful floor plan for a small staff house – more about this latter in the blog.

While in Grove we also met with two people interested in the work in Cd. Valles, and who possibly will be coming down in the early part of 2014 to spend some time with us. We continue to pray that God will lay it on people’s hearts to link in with the work of the ministry and come to help us.

Loading the seed sugarcane onto the trailer

William Cowper wrote “God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform”. This remains as true today as it was in 1774 when the words were penned. Without using names and specifics because everything still remains too premature to do so, I want to bring you up to date with a rather miraculous event (at least in my opinion). While still in Manitoba I was going through old ministry letters that I had filed away into folders going back into the early years of the work that Dr. Heinlein and I were involved with over the years. (My intention in doing so incidentally, is to have archived letters posted on the VitW Ministries website so that there can be an historical continuity of the work from its inception until today. The letters are now collected and will be placed onto the site as soon as Jason Funk, our fearless webmaster can do so). So, back to the incident at hand – I was sorting my way through old letters and notes and came across a series of emailed letters dating from 2004 in which a friend was corresponding for my father with a friend of my father concerning the matter of Bible School curriculum in Spanish for the then-fledgling Bible School work which was just beginning in Cd. Valles. This particular missionary was at that time running a Bible School in Guatemala.

The nine year old letter piqued my interest and I wondered if I could still find this

Loaded and ready to go

missionary, and if God had a purpose in allowing me to find this old correspondence. After a number of attempts I was able to locate the missionary who now serves in Costa Rica, as well as the organization under which he and his wife minister. One of the purposes of this organization is to provide curriculum and covering for Bible Institutes and schools around the world, and they have complete curriculum in Spanish. I have had some very interesting conversations with their office in Florida and we are praying to see if this is the fit that we have been looking for, and which we have been asking God to provide. Incidentally, when I asked my mother if she knew who these people were she gave a very affirmative response and told me that their grand parents and parents had been fellow missionaries with mine in northern Ontario during the early days of the ministry there. It is a curiously small world – connections that span from northern Canada to Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Honduras, and that might ultimately bear fruit in central Mexico. Hmm, I wonder if this is what God is putting together, or is it just a very interesting coincidence. Please pray with us about this as we seek to know what He wants us to do concerning this pressing need. Again, because things are too premature to give names or details at this time I ask you to forgive the rather nebulous information that I am giving, and simply pray that God will make things clear as to how we should proceed with the need for academic and curricular covering for the schools.

The sun is hot and the labor intensive

When Theresa and I arrived on Saturday evening we had hoped for at least a couple of days to catch our breath and get the house shovelled out and readied to live in again. After an extended absence there is always an incredible accumulation of dust and dirt, as well as dead insects (and potentially other critters) that seem to find their way into the house and amass in heaps around the place. Despite our well laid our plans for a “bit of time” we hit the ground running hard.

After attending the local service at Esfuerzo Magdiel the following morning we were visited in the afternoon by Javier Santos, the director of the farm Training Center. He explained that the pressing need is to get the newly cleared area of land “seeded” into sugarcane immediately because it is now cultivated and ready. Besides, there has been very poor rainfall again this year, however it did rain only several days ago and the soil is still wet enough to make the conditions excellent for planting. But, he explained, we need to find “seed” sugarcane. So, that same evening we went to visit a Christian friend of ours who grows sugarcane and had promised us seed when we need it. When we visited him at his home he explained that he, like all of the rest of us, is finding that the sugarcane is growing very slowly this year because of the dry conditions and that he has no sugarcane mature enough to cut for “seed”. He explained that he himself needs seed cane, and doesn’t have any to plant even his own fields.

 On Monday morning we began at first light to go around looking for growers who might

Planting begins

have sugarcane to sell us enough “seed” to plant the approximately ¾ hectare area that still needed to be completed. We finally did find a local farmer who would sell us the needed seed at a reasonable price.  We then began the ordeal of looking for workers who would be able to assist us in the cutting and planting. We encountered three men who told us that they would be ready to work in the morning.

Let me explain a little bit about how sugarcane is grown. Although I am far from an expert, I do know more about it than I did two years ago. Sugarcane is a perennial crop, and once planted it will grow from within the root mass for quite a few years, depending upon the conditions of the soil, the rainfall, the amount of fertilizer given, general tending, etc. It is planted by cutting stalks of sugarcane and laying them lengthwise in furrows and then covering the stalks with several inches of soil. In order to assure good germination it is best to plant the stalks double, although many people cheat and plant them singly, or simply slightly overlapping in the furrows. The new plants germinate from the “joints” in the sugarcane stalks. “Seed” cane should be either first year growth, or at least not old and woody or too mature.

Seed cane is planted double in the furrows

Tuesday began at dawn in cutting the cane for seeding. We cut, loaded, and then hauled it to our field with our trailer and then began to plant. We managed to plant approximately 2/3 of the field by 2:00 o’clock at which time all of us were practically dropping dead from exhaustion and the 120 degree heat that we were labouring in. On Wednesday we finished cutting the seed and planting the field. We then needed to walk along the furrows with a machete and cut the double rowed stalks into shorter segments so that they would not curve and pull the stalks out of the dirt as they dried after planting. At that point each furrow needed to be closed in with soil, and all of the cane stalks covered.

But God gave us a big blessing. On Monday we had discovered that a local man had a horse and single plough that he used to do field work. We could hire him for $350 pesos (about $30.00 dollars) to cover over the furrows, thus eliminating much of the labour intensive hand work of doing so. Hiring him was an easy decision on my part. We still needed to hand-cover some of the missed areas after the ploughing, but this part of the planting was made much easier with Mr. Horse. Thursday completely finished the work of planting, cutting, and covering the seed. We are now ready for rain. This also means that 100% of what we wanted to place into sugarcane is now planted. Of course, there remains the never ending battle with cleaning the sugarcane as well as the need to replant about a 2 hectare area that came in very poorly last year. But for now we can take a deep breath for a minute or two.

Today, Friday, involved getting a hired tractor out to the field in the morning in order to cut

Covering the seed cane

a ditch along our land frontage because a number of men from the community down the road were complaining that water would run from our field onto the road and might destroy it. It is interesting to me that they are not demanding the same of anyone else along the road, and the neighbouring farms certainly seem in no better condition than ours was. Nonetheless, in order to keep peace we hired a tractor and blade to cut a ditch and berm.

Upon getting back from the fieldwork at about noon today I found out that a friend had passed away last night and the funeral was this afternoon. So, this afternoon we buried a friend, and I am now finding a couple of minutes to try to put together something for a blog entry.

During this whole week Theresa has been equally busy. Her work however, has focused on the house. As I already mentioned, there always is an incredible amount of cleaning that needs to be done when we return after being away for some time. Actually, it needs to be done constantly at all times because the wind-blown dust always seems to have everything covered with grit and dirt. It is just that when it has a chance to accumulate, even in a closed house, the results can be a bit overwhelming. Theresa’s week has been non-stop cleaning and organizing the house again. Finally today she is able to slow down a little and take a bit of a breather (around attending the funeral that is).

Covering the cane with horse-drawn plough

We are so blessed to find the condition of the ministry after having been gone for several months. The national men and women that have been placed into the various areas of leadership have been extremely faithful to the vision. The Bible Institute and Project L.A.M.B.S. are both flourishing and going strong. Both are blessed with strong leadership. Javier Santos has worked very hard on the farm over the summer. The sugarcane looks good. He has planted maize and squash throughout the area around the building site so that the soil there is utilized and will not simply go into weed cover again. Cristina, Javier’s wife has continued on with the sewing school and helped the women take on custom sewing work making school uniforms, children’s clothing, custom bags, etc. These, remember, are women who only months ago had never operated a sewing machine. Now we are looking at the real possibility of trying to assist some of them in setting up a small production area so that they can help to supplement their home income with their sewing skills. Theresa is rightfully ecstatic with the level of competence that has been developed, and with the confidence with which the women now take on special orders of work. Most importantly though is that the vision of each of the leaders has remained true and strong. There is a single, God-centered focus in each of them for the advancement of His Kingdom through the work. None of them are looking for self glorification or self serving, but rather that God will be honoured through their labour.

This blog is getting very long, but there is still so much to tell. I will try to be quick.

We are still in desperate need for a small house on the landsite for a national staff couple. In the first place, we cannot store anything at the farm, nor in fact grow anything there other than sugarcane until we have someone living on site. But, even more importantly, we

Final cover by hand

cannot begin any missionary training ministry on the farm until we have a place for staff to live. Of course, we will soon thereafter need a place for the discipleship students to live as well. But the first and extremely pressing need is for a small house for staff. We already have the “galera” – a 30’ X 30’ metal pole shed with metal roof. Our plans are to use this structure to create the first staff house. The pole shed will be divided in half. Half becoming a staff house, and the remainder being closed off for tractor and implement storage as well as for a locked storage shed for farm tools and equipment. I mentioned earlier that Alvin Lee gave me floor plans for a building that will fit perfectly into the space limitations of the existing building and that will still be a very nice and comfortable house for ministry staff. Now we simply need money to begin. This need is urgent.

We also need money to have a well drilled for water. We know that there is water on the property. There is a drilling crew in the area that is urging us to begin. We desperately need a secure source of water for the Training Center and, potentially for irrigation of gardens and the farm itself. But we need somewhere between four or five thousand dollars to have the well drilled and casing placed. We are desperately praying that God will provide someone who will be willing to provide the needed funds so that a well can be drilled very soon. Once again, as with the staff house, no missionary training ministry can take place without water. Without a well we will be limited to hauling everything in by the tank load

We have been blessed with a now full holding pond of water where there was only a large hole several months ago. We have yet to see how long it will last when the full-on dry season begins. However, now with the rains, even if unseasonably low, the hole is full to the brim. We are even thinking that we should try to plant some fish in the pond to see if they will be able to grow. If nothing else, we would have very happy and fat neighbours if the fish did take to the pond and if the water does last throughout the dry season. However, this water is muddy and full of farm runoff and will never be potable. A good source of drinking water is still necessary.

We are still desperately in need of the disc that is sitting at the border. We have now been waiting for ten months for paperwork that has bogged down into absolute immobility. There seemed to be nothing that we could do to break the stalemate that has ground the process to a dead halt. But now, perhaps, at long last, maybe there is a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. The fat lady has not yet sung, and I don’t want to count the proverbial chicks before they are hatched as I too often have had my hopes dashed in the past by doing so. However, God is still in control, and it appears as if there may be a way to get it through the border after all. I will certainly keep you up to date on this. The little disc would make a HUGE difference to the constant battle that we continually fight with the grasses and other weeds on the farm. Please pray that God will break the impasse that has frustrated us for the past ten months.

In the last blog I mentioned that the drop in the price of sugarcane this past year will hit us very hard. It now looks like we will receive something in the second harvest payout after all, however nothing like what we were expecting to get. The price now seems to have been set at $480 pesos per ton of sugarcane, down from the $600 and something that was expected. This kind of a drop in income will really hurt us as well as every small cane grower in the country.    

There is a good possibility that there will be a couple of work teams arriving to help us build in the winter. Denis Keating and a number of other friends from Manitoba are hoping to come down in February sometime in order to put in a septic tank and field for the Training Center. Also around that same time Fred Erb is hoping to bring a team from Listowel Community Church to begin on a building project. Neither of these is set in stone, and both teams will need to find the funds to do so. If you are willing to help with funds for either of these work teams please let me know. It is not easy to bring a group of people onto the mission field as well as providing the funds needed to complete the work project for which they are coming.

And then finally, just a note of praise, and a little twist of God’s sense of humour; about a month before we returned to Mexico I received an email from Miguel Iglesias, the former pastor of the church in the Reynosa penitentiary were we both were fellow inmates some years ago (if you don’t have a clue what I am talking about then I invite you to look up the June 11, 2010 blog entitled “Today We Met The Apostle Paul”. Also I invite you to read the article written by Grace Fox for “Power For Living” which appeared in their June 28, 2009 publication. To read the article by Grace Fox simply click onto the following red letters “Prison Experience” or go to the tab at the top of the website with the same name).

While at the border Theresa and I looked up Miguel to see how he is doing, and to see what God has placed upon his heart how. He had already spoken to me about a mutual doctor friend, also a former inmate of the same penitentiary while Miguel and I were there, who is now serving the Lord in Mexico doing medical clinics. Miguel was wondering if I still have any connections with sources of basic medicines so that the medical ministry of this Christian doctor can continue. There are still many details to be worked out, and I explained that if I am in any way able to help out in the acquisition of medicines my help would end well within the Texas border, and that I now do not cross into Mexico with even an aspirin let alone any other medications. Period. Case closed! Still, it will be curious to see where God leads us in this. Wouldn’t it be kind of cool if God brought this whole thing full circle, and I continue again where God first had me begin back in the late 90’s? I think that God likes to rattle our little secure cages from time to time. We will see where this whole thing goes.

Well, I do need to close before you fall asleep. There has been so much to say, and so much to bring you up to date on. The journey is exciting, and the ride both exhilarating and at times breathtaking. But God is good.

We need your prayers. Please remember to pray for us. We need finances desperately to continue in the vision that God is making so plain. We need personnel, both national and expatriate to help us in the ministry. And we need your continued love and support.

May the blessing of the Lord rest upon you. We bless you in the name of the Lord.

Steven and Theresa