Current Events and Updates of the Ministry

A number of weeks ago I was asked by Pastor Fred Erb to address Listowel Community Church in Listowel, Ontario (via Zoom) and bring them a mission ministry update. Since Listowel Community Church (LCC) was my Canadian sending church during my years of ministry in Mexico they have been involved with me since the very inception of the work of Voice in the Wilderness Ministries (and indeed, long before the name VitW Ministries was used, and while I served under other names – specifically; Earthen Vessels and CornerStone International).

However, Pastor Erb warned me that since many (and perhaps most), in LCC are relatively new to the church they do not know Theresa or me personally and have no clue as to where the church’s continuing involvement with VitW Ministries and the ongoing work in Mexico fits into the broader picture, or perhaps even why LCC continues to work closely with this particular foreign ministry.

Because of this it seemed to be God’s leading for me to take a look backwards at history with them and to

bring the church forward through the years of time from 1998 to the present. I want to do the same with you in this blog, but with a severe caveat: this is not about people so that glory will come to man; but so that God will be glorified for his constant faithfulness – ALWAYS!

This blog will basically be in point form and will pretty much be from my notes for LCC. Also, since the address was to LCC specifically, there will be mention of this particular church throughout the outline.

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Why should we look at History and the Beginnings of VitW Ministries and its work?

1) – Many in the church are relatively new and have not lived through these beginnings so all will be new information to them. We cannot understand the place were events of the Present fit into the larger picture until we understand the Past.

2) – We won’t know how to move forward into the Future unless we have an understanding of the Past.

3) – More generally, we need to be continually reminded of our journey with God because we constantly lose focus of the big picture and His sustaining hand throughout our lives and we become narrow in our vision, focusing only on the present and the day-to-day.

4) – Most of all, so that God will be glorified!

– In the Old Testament the prophet Samuel used stones as a memorial to remind God’s people of His goodness and faithfulness to them.

– I Samuel 7:12 says that when God enabled the Israelites to defeat the Philistines, the Prophet Samuel “took a stone and … named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.’”

– Joshua used stones to help God’s people remember His goodness. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, the Israelites experienced the power of God to roll back the waters of the Jordan River, enabling them to cross over and take possession of the Promised Land. Joshua then commanded them to build a memorial of stones as a public testimony of what God had done for them … stones that would remind them to keep on praising Him in the Future for what he had accomplished in the Past.

– Joshua 4:4-7: “Joshua summoned the 12 men he had selected from the Israelites, one man for each tribe, and said to them, “Go across to the ark of the Lord your God in the middle of the Jordan. Each of you lift a stone onto his shoulder, one for each of the Israelite tribes, so that this will be a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, ‘What do these stones mean to you?’ you should tell them, ‘The waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the Lord’s covenant. When it crossed the Jordan, the Jordan’s waters were cut off.’ Therefore these stones will always be a memorial for the Israelites.”  (HCSB)

– I think God places a high value on remembering. In all aspects of our walk with God we need Reminders – Remembrances – calling to mind constantly God’s faithfulness and goodness when we are tempted to doubt that He is faithful. This is true in every area of our lives, personally, and perhaps even more importantly when we have children to constantly remind them of God’s faithfulness to us as a family, and then also corporately as a Body of Believers.

– It seems the longer we live, the more we need to look back and consider how God has faithfully walked with us on our journey with him.

– Today I want to look specifically at how God has been constantly faithful in the missionary work in Mexico, and I want to set up stones of remembrance for you as a Body of Believers – an Ebenezer – of His faithfulness over the past twenty plus years.

MOST OF ALL I desire that God will be glorified for his faithfulness and not that people will

receive honor!

I would also like to encourage you to look especially at the dropdown labeled “About VitW” at the top left of the blog page for a further overview of the history of the work.

 

– Early History:

– In 1998 I began in medical mission work with Dr. Carl Heinlein [I saw in Dr. Heinlein a seasoned missionary doctor with a passion for ministry, and he saw in me a younger man with the same desire. I was a trained nurse and wanted to serve internationally in missions].

– Dr. Heinlein committed to training me in “jungle medicine”.

– Cd. Valles became the center of our work due to Doc’s medical health issues.

– Our ministry involved working with national pastors and churches to assist them in evangelism and church planting through medical clinics. We brought people to be ministered to by providing for their felt need through medicine, and the national workers could use this opportunity to witness to them. Many gave their lives to the Lord through these medical clinics, and many churches were planted because of this work.

– Relationships were developed with local churches and pastors through working throughout the region over the years.

– My decision was to remain in Cd. Valles to assist the local national work in the Huasteca region.

 

– Beginning of involvement with Listowel Community Church:

– My father, Alvin Frey began a church plant in Atwood, and then in Listowel in the early 1980s.

– When I began working in Mexico in 1998 Alvin approached Pastor Fred Erb (the pastor of LCC) to ask if his church would be willing to accept me as their missionary and provide my spiritual and legal cover for Canada, with Listowel Community Church in effect becoming my home base.

– I visited LCC (Fred and leadership) in 1998 and the acceptance legally took place in October 1998.

– Pastor Fred Erb and Rick Martin, one of the elders of LCC went to Cd. Valles for their first exploratory visit at the end of November 2000 and went with me on a medical outreach to a place called Tanlacut (remember this name in relation to the current Pame mission work)!

 

– End of Phase One (Medical) and Transition into Bible School / Training Season:

– My medical work came to a sudden end in the fall of 2003 when I was arrested and imprisoned in a Mexican Federal Penitentiary in Reynosa for three months under false charges of drug trafficking (see tab “Prison Experience” in the dropdowns above).

– Upon release from the Penitentiary it was not advisable for me to return to Mexico.

– The medical clinic ministry was 100% ended.

– However, the work in Mexico did not end, but continued through VitW Ministries with several short-term missionaries after I left at the end of 2003.

– In 2006 LCC through VitW Ministries began assisting an interdenominational Bible Institute in Cd. Valles called “Light of the Nations”. LCC provided some spiritual cover for school.

– Also in 2006 LCC through VitW Ministries was able to utilize the Project L.A.M.B.S. (Light Abroad Mobile Bible Schools) curriculum developed by Dr. James Humphries and Dr. Charles Nichols to supplement the Bible Institute in Cd. Valles.

– From 2006 through to October 2012 several dedicated pastors from Canada and the United States gave of their time and resources to teach the Project LAMBS curriculum.

– In November of 2008 the first Project LAMBS graduating class of 35 students received their certificates, recognized by Providence College and Theological Seminary in Manitoba, Canada.

– In January 2009 the second cycle began with 50 students attending the Project LAMBS portion of the Bible Institute. On November 13, 2010 this second cycle of Project LAMBS students graduated.

– The final graduating class taught by expatriate teachers graduated October 20, 2012 and the ongoing work of this portion of the ministry was completely handed over to national leadership.

– The sacrificial leadership of Fred Erb, Winston Penner, Cleo Yoder and many other teachers throughout this time with Project LAMBS was very instrumental in the ongoing work and success of this leadership school.

 

– August 2003 – May 2009 (Penitentiary and Canada):

– Throughout these years [as already noted] the work in Mexico continued to thrive and grow, and LCC (VitW Ministries) continued to be very involved with the work – especially through Project LAMBS and financial assistance to the ongoing Mexican national ministry.

– I met my wife Theresa and we were married in 2004.

– In 2009 we felt lead to return to Cd. Valles in order to assist (we thought) in the purchase of a site and the overseeing of the construction of a building for the Bible Institute. Theresa and I returned to Mexico in May 2009 after an exploratory trip back earlier in the year in order to assist our local church in Landmark, Manitoba with a church construction project in Cd. Valles.

 

– Purchase of the Farm Property / Beginning of the Training Center Farm / Sewing School:

– A 6.6 hectare property (about 16 acres) was purchased in February 2011 to accommodate the new vision for a vocational and biblical training school where students could live, work, receive Bible training, and be mentored by godly leaders.

– The work of developing the Training Center Farm was begun (buildings and sugarcane).

– In the fall of 2012 Theresa began sewing classes for women out of our living room.

– By 2013 this had developed into a school where women were being trained and discipled. The school was handed over to national leadership (Cristina) who continues to train and minister to women and girls.

 

– Focus on Training, Evangelism, and Church Planting through working in conjunction with National Leadership:

– In September 2010 a Mexican legal nonprofit was set up to cover the work of the Bible Institute, Project LAMBS, and the expanding vision of the work. The name Obreros Unidos para Cosechar [OUpC] (Laborers United to Harvest) was chosen for the nonprofit.

– In October 2012 the three distinct divisions of the work were formally recognized and placed under national directors [ie., the Bible Institute, Project LAMBS, and the Training Center Farm].  All three of these came under the umbrella of the Mexican non-profit, OUpC.

 

– End of April 2015: Handing Over Leadership to Nationals and Leaving Mexico:

– It was evident to me that it was time to hand over the leadership to Nationals and allow them to take over (read the blogs of this period of time to understand what God was saying to me).

– Immediately after leaving Mexico Theresa and I worked for one year in Texas in order to be able to financially assist the work in Mexico directly.

– We moved back to Manitoba, Canada in the summer (Theresa), and fall (me) of 2016.

– We continue to be very intimately involved with the work in Mexico (especially with Javier and        Cristina through phone calls and email).

 

– Present Day Ministries in Mexico (in which VitW Ministries continues to be involved):

– Children’s Feeding Program (Maná Esconido [Hidden Manna]

– Sewing School / Workshop

–  Pame ministry in Tanlacut and surrounding tribal region

– Training Center Farm (Casa del Obrero)

–  Bible Institute (Light of the Nations)

– Project LAMBS

– Local churches (many of the members of the Board of Directors are pastors)

– House of the Potter Church in Solidaridad (Javier Santos is the pastor of this local church)

– Planting of Mission churches and outreaches (both local and outside of local region) [Javier and Cristina]

Hospital ministry (feeding and evangelistic outreaches) [Javier and Cristina]

Youth Drug Rehab ministry work locally in Cd. Valles [Javier and Cristina]

 

Children’s Feeding Program, Hidden Manna:

– Javier and Cristina had a vision to work with the extremely marginalized poor in the newly developing squatter’s settlement north of the city of Valles in 2000.

– In early 2000’s they also applied for a land allotment in it in order to accomplish this.

– In 2007 they began a children’s ministry in the village now called Buenos Aires.

– Since its inception in 2007 this work has grown, and today there is a strong ongoing ministry to children where they continue to receive a wholesome breakfast and are taught the Word of God. There is now also a youth program and youth church, as well as an adult church which, to a large part, developed from among the parents who once accompanied their children to the breakfast feeding program.

– Many of the godly young men and women who are going on in their walk with the Lord, and who are now a part of the youth ministry, have themselves grown up through the breakfast program, once attending as little children themselves. These godly young men and women are now able to minister to, and to share the gospel with the younger children and other youth who have yet to give their lives to Christ.

 

Missionary Work within the Pame Tribal Region / Church Planting and Evangelism of this Pame Zone:

– In early 2000 medical clinics were utilized in the Pame tribal village of Tanlacut to begin a new church-plant. The medical team and I entered into this isolated village monthly for over six months in order to open the doors to enable a church-plant to begin.

– This first church plant did not endure, and lasted only approximately a year before the national missionary family left the community.

– In June 2017 Javier and his national missionary team made their first exploratory re-contact with Tanlacut and the surrounding Pame region.

– Javier and the missionary team now enter into this rugged region of the Eastern Sierra Madre Mountains to the west of the city of Valles every two weeks for a three-day missionary thrust.

– God is opening doors very quickly in the whole region and churches are being planted almost every trip that is made.

– A number of years ago a property and building in a tiny Pame village called Agua Nueva was donated for a headquarters for the Pame Missionary Ministry. Here the local church gathers and national missionary teams have a place to stay on their missionary trips. This church is growing, and the center is becoming a strategic point of contact for the Pame ministry.

 

Covid-19 has absolutely devastated this region of Mexico and has made every aspect of life very difficult for everyone. However, even in these difficult times the message of the Gospel continues to go forth, and the church continues to grow!

– Despite lockdowns, churches being closed, and lack of funds the Kingdom has advanced.

– Javier has been able to utilize technology to reach many more than he could do normally.

– Since churches were forced to close they utilized any opportunity during times when restrictions were slightly lifted to have small group meetings in homes. Many came to Christ during this time.

– The on-line Bible School and Missionary Training that Javier is heading up is reaching as far away as the U.S. / Mexican border.

– The missionary thrust among the Pame has exploded and doors there are being blown open.

But Cd. Valles and the surrounding region, as well as whole of Mexico continue to be a dangerous place:       

– There was another fatal shoot-out in Cd. Valles last week were several were killed, vehicles were left riddled full of bullet holes, and the streets were filled with automatic machine gun fire.

– this happened just outside the door of the building which housed the Bible School and the Sewing School up to several months ago. This is also where the current sewing school was being rented up until last month, and just around the corner from where Dr. Mario and Alejandra and their family live (Mario and Jani are leaders of the Bible School and Project LAMBS).

– We must continue to pray for our brothers and sisters in Mexico – especially those with whom we have been spiritually connected for so many years.

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I trust that this look back in time at God’s faithfulness will be encouraging and helpful, and that it will spur you on toward love and good deeds, as the writer of Hebrews admonishes us in chapter 10:24.

Thank you for your love and prayers for those who serve so faithfully in Mexico.

 

Your fellow servants in Jesus Christ,

 

Steven and Theresa

I bring you greetings from Manitoba as we are once again beginning to see temperatures above the freezing mark after what seems like a very cold deep freeze of several weeks. However, I guess in reality we don’t have too much to complain about since our winter (except for the bottom dropping out for several weeks), really was not too harsh.

Still, it would be nice to be on a beach somewhere and not shoveling snow… just saying…

I’m afraid that many of you might not realize that the ministry in Mexico has been going strong over these months and years, and has not skipped a beat. I am to blame for any misunderstanding in this regard because to a great extent I have dropped the ball and have not been keeping you up to date through these blogs.

What you do not have any way of knowing is that I have been in ongoing and constant communication with the work in Mexico over the past years (oh, the wonder of the internet and the advances of technology – both the good and the bad of it)!

What I believe will be the best approach for the future in these blogs is to post the reports and communications from the field directly. In that way you will be able to keep up to date on the work as events happen, and not have months-long gaps in between where you are forced to wonder if anything is happening at all.

With this in mind I will place several reports into this blog, this time specifically from Javier, and relating only to the Pame missionary outreaches into the Eastern Sierra Madre mountains to the west of Cd. Valles. Javier and his missionary team are now entering into this region every second weekend for a three-day intensive ministry thrust.

You will remember from past blogs that there is a Pame church-plant and Pame Missionary Center located in the little cross-road village called Agua Nueva. Javier and the missionary team’s thrust has expanded from this center into the mountains all around this outpost, and is directed specifically to the Pame tribal people in this mountainous region.

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December 30, 2020

Greetings brothers and sisters;

I am sending you a photo of the Pame Christian community in Tanlacut at the dedication of the house and business of our brother Magdaleno and sister Maria Magdalena. This is the couple who donated the house and property at Agua Nueva which has become the mission center for the ministry into the Pame region.

God is so faithful! After having donated their house to the ministry – the only house that they owned – God has blessed them doubly for their faith in him, enabling them to now own this beautiful new house and business.

We have also had the privilege of planting a new church in the Pame community of Coco Tanlú. A dear elderly woman was the first one to open her home to us to present the gospel of Jesus Christ.

On January 8^th and 9^th, the Lord willing, we will be entering into the mountains again in order to minister to these Pame brothers and sisters.

On our last trip into the region we also visited the Pame community of Milpas Viejas where we have had a mission outreach for some years now. This time we were ministering specifically to the children.

We are already seeing much fruit among the Pame people from the gospel having reached them. To God be all the glory for this.

May God fill your lives and those of your family’s with blessings on this year end.

Greetings to each of you.

Thank you for so many blessings,

Javier Santos

January 10, 2021

Greetings brothers and sisters:

This week we were in Tanlacut and Tanlú and it was a glorious time of ministry. God is adding new souls to the Church for his Kingdom.

God Bless you my dear brothers and sisters. It is a joy to be able to greet you this way.

We fellowshiped with the believers at the new church plant in Tanlú in the little community called El Coco. The first contact here began with one old widow opening her home to us. By this second visit the congregation has grown to eight new souls, and the church of Jesus has begun in this little community. To God be the glory!

At the end of the service we shared a rosca de reyes (kings bread) with the congregation.

[According to Mexican tradition the Epiphany, the 12^th day after Christmas, marks day of the arrival of the three wise men after the birth of Jesus and is celebrated with rosca de reyes, a ringed cake with a baby figurine baked into the batter].

We also were able to share clothing and footwear with some of the needy of the Pame ethnic group. We give thanks to the God who has blessed us so that we can continue to be a blessing those who are so very needy.

 

The need for rain continues and again there is a severe drought in the region. The rivers are without water and only one well supplies the entire community.

 

Thank God, our return mission visit into the Tanlacut region was gloriously blessed. God opened a new congregation and a whole new group of believers in the small community of El Coco in the Tanlú area.

From one old woman who opened her heart to the Lord on our last trip the church here has now grown to eight souls hungry for God. We trust our Lord that he will continue the increase of the harvest, and that this fledgling congregation will continue to grow strong.

Your brother in Christ,

Javier Santos Hernández

January 21, 2021

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Glory and honor for ever and ever be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who always fills us with abundant blessing.

I am continually moved that despite the Covid pandemic our brothers and fellow countrymen among the Pames continue to receive the Word of Truth and come to the feet of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But the work among them also comes with a great commitment for me as well as it requires me to travel into the mountainous regions where they live to the west of Cd. Valles, every 15 days. On each mission trip we minister the Word of God to various communities scattered around the region. However, it is also a great privilege to be able to bring encouragement and words of hope to their thirsty souls.

During our visits into the Pame villages we walk from house to house looking for open hearts to the gospel and for potential workers for the Kingdom. I know that from along these paths and steep mountain walkways, at any moment, God could unveil a champion for his Kingdom from among the Pame people themselves who could take the Word beyond what we as a team can reach.

My prayer and cry to God is that the Lord of the harvest will send forth laborers into His harvest, which is clearly ready for the in-gathering.

Blessings,

Javier Santos

March 1, 2021

God bless you my dear brothers and sisters.

We just arrived back from the mountains and I feel very blessed by God because He has allowed us to arrive safely home to Cd. Valles again despite the cartel violence which took place once again in the city last week.

Just a very quick report on this latest ministry trip into the Pame Zone:

We experienced great victory in ministry with our brothers and sisters at the Pame Mission Center of Agua Nueva on Friday afternoon. We also had a new married couple in the congregation there. Later in the afternoon we had a very edifying service in Tanlacut for the believers who gather there. In El Coco there were three more people who were added to the Body of Believers. To God be the glory!

Besides this, this weekend we were also able to plant another mission church in La Cebecera in the municipality of Santa Catarina, deeper into the Eastern Sierra Madre mountains.

We ministered to the brothers and sisters of Tanlacut, Agua Nueva, and Milpas Viejas on Friday. On Saturday morning we left the Agua Nueva mission center early and drove to the new church plant at El Coco where we ministered throughout the morning. Later on Saturday afternoon we drove to Santa Catarina were we ministered throughout the afternoon, and spent the night. Through this ministry time in Santa Catarina another mission church has been planted. We give God the glory for the victory that He gave us. Because of the ministry of the missions team this week one more brand-new mission church has been planted.

During our time in Santa Catatina on Saturday where the new church was begun we were in a vigil of prayer throughout the evening, and until 11:30 at night.

We ministered on Saturday morning at the mission church in the community of the El Coco.

We met with the church one kilometer from Tanlú on a very hot day on Sunday at 11:00 in the morning.

There is a tremendous hunger for the Word of God throughout the whole region, and the hearts of the Pame people are open to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We continued to reach the Pame people on the side of the slopes in Tanlacut under the oppressive heat at 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday.

Praise the Lord, there were three more adults for Christ, and ministry to the children.

A great need that is besieging these Pame communities in the mountains to the west of Cd. Valles is the lack of rain causing a very severe drought. The rivers have dried up and the wells are in critical condition due to two years of almost no rainfall.

There is almost no water any longer.

But even in this critical situation God is receiving glory, and the beautiful thing that is happening as a result of this need is it is leading people to seek God.

My cry to God is that He might have mercy on these communities.

This is the bottom of the river of Tanlacut; normally a flowing and bubbling river – now nothing but stones and dust.

Thank you God for Your victories. To your name be all glory!

Your brother in Jesus Christ,

Javier Santos

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I trust that these reports will be an encouragement to you. Please remember to keep our dear brothers and sisters in Mexico in your prayers, and especially the leadership as they faithfully serve there.

Your fellow servants in the name of Jesus,

Steven and Theresa

 

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones.  Psalms 116:15

On Friday, January 1^st 2021, at 7:26 in the evening, my Mom, Lydian Frey age 90, of Steinbach, Manitoba passed away peacefully at her residence surrounded by her family. She is survived by her four sons, Paul (Rhoda) Frey, Larry (LaVonne) Frey, Steven (Theresa) Frey, Calvin Frey, her daughter Ruthann (partner Bill) Snyder, fifteen grandchildren, and twenty seven great grandchildren. She is also survived by one brother, Amos Martin and his wife Lorna, of Elmira, Ontario.

She was predeceased by her devoted husband of sixty five years, Alvin Frey, and by her parents Elias and Anne (Brox) Martin, and by four brothers and three sisters.

Lydian Frey was born in the Wellesley Township of southern Ontario on March 1, 1930 and she grew up on a small market garden farm surrounded by eight siblings and a loving community. She attended public school in Heidelberg, Ontario and she spoke often of walking the two miles to school and home again in all kinds of weather with her siblings and friends. She also spoke affectionately about helping her parents on the farm and going to market with them to sell their produce. As a young woman Lydian worked in a candy factory making chocolate covered maraschino cherries – a delicacy that she could not eat for the remainder of her days because of the overindulging in the “culls” that she did while on the quality control line at work.

At the age of seventeen she met a dashing young man by the name of Alvin Frey who swept her off her feet. Since her parents insisted that she not get married until she turned nineteen, Lydian waited for almost one seemingly-unending month after her nineteenth birthday before marrying Alvin in March of 1949.  After their wedding, Lydian began housekeeping in the home of her new in-laws in the small village of Wallenstein, Ontario.  About a year after moving with Alvin into his parents’ home their first son, Paul, was born. In the year immediately following the birth of their son, they converted the upper story of an adjacent chicken barn into a cozy little residence for their growing family. They lived happily in this newly refurbished home until their second son, Larry, was born. At this point they purchased the house directly around the corner, and here they continued to live until the summer of 1960. Their third son, Steven, was born during this time.

Lydian and her husband Alvin and their young family were very involved in the small Mennonite church in Hawkesville.  Although by this time Alvin had sampled various careers, including beginning a farm drainage company with his dad and his brothers and being part-owner of a small baby shoe manufacturing factory, he and Lydian always sensed a greater call on their lives to become more directly involved in the Lord’s work. In 1959, during a summer trip with their children to visit Northern Light Gospel Mission in northwestern Ontario, Alvin and Lydian discovered that the calling that was to occupy much of their future life would be serving as missionaries among the Oji-Cree people north of Red Lake. Upon returning to Wallenstein they sold their house and belongings, and in 1960 they moved their young family to the small, isolated community of Deer Lake, Ontario.

Although this new life was completely different from anything that Lydian had ever lived, she always continued to maintain a secure and loving environment for her family and to provide a refuge for anyone in need. Many times her home became a place where sick babies, needy seniors or injured animals were nursed back to health. She also became adept at preparing gourmet meals using locally accessible moose, beaver, rabbit and muskrat, garnishing them with macaroni noodles, canned tomatoes, and other available “delicacies”. Of necessity she became an expert at long-term meal planning and improvisation because many times during the freeze-up and breakup seasons new food supplies could only be obtained on a bi-monthly basis.

After spending twenty years in northwestern Ontario, and after the addition of an adopted daughter, Ruthann, and a fourth-born son, Calvin, Lydian returned with her husband and two youngest children to southern Ontario.  Here she joined her husband in his ministry of founding and pastoring churches in Atwood and Listowel, Ontario.  It was also during this happy time in Lydian’s life that she and Alvin welcomed an infant granddaughter, Tanya (Carlon) Yoder, into their home, raising her as one of their own children.

In 1987 Lydian and Alvin moved to Landmark, Manitoba, which became the home base from which her husband’s trans-local church planting ministry took place. This work occupied their lives until their retirement and beyond. Here, as in every place that she lived, she participated fully in life and ministry by continuing to offer gracious hospitality to everyone – the trademark of her life. She was always able to cheerfully rise to the occasion and provide meals and lodging for unexpected guests, even when they arrived at inconvenient times day or night.

Although Lydian’s life was filled with ministry and service, she also always seemed to find time for a good hobby or two. Her loves included gardening, quilting and embroidering and other handwork. Her large, homemade quilting frame was almost permanently set up in the house at one location or other, and garden-fresh vegetables graced many a summer meal. She also loved experimenting with different recipes and foods. She often spoke with great nostalgia of a trip which she and Alvin made to Israel; one of the highlights of which was being able to sample various, random foods from the street vendors. She also spent many happy times in Mexico with her son, Steven, where she was always up for almost anything, including novel culinary adventures.

Shortly after her husband passed away in 2013 she moved into an apartment at Woodhaven Manor where she spent her final days. Her days there, as she became increasingly unable to walk easily, were spent praying for her family and acquaintances, reading numerous books and enjoying visits from family and friends.  As her health failed, heaven became an ever-more real and tangible place where she desired to go with an increasing passion. And it is to that eternal place of endless joy and glory that her family has released her now.

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Our Mom is now in GLORY. Her greatest wish has been fulfilled.

HALLELUJAH!

 

Now we do not want you to be uninformed, believers, about those who are asleep [in death], so that you will not grieve [for them] as the others do who have no hope [beyond this present life]. I Thessalonians 4:13

 

Your fellow servants in Jesus Christ,

Steven and Theresa

If you have been following my blogs, especially during the past months, you will have seen that I have camped completely on the book of Habakkuk. The vivid imagery of the words of the prophet have become very personal and a foundation of confidence for me over this year. God, the sovereign, and oft times unfathomable in his purposes One – that God – is the One in whom I rest unmovable even while absolutely perplexed as to his plans and purposes.

How often over the past months have I simply had to say with Habakkuk “I will stand on my guard post and station myself on the rampart; and I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me.”

I have zero doubt as to his sovereignty, or that he is in absolute control; that is not even vaguely my question. Rather, I guess I, along with the prophet, find myself saying “How long, O Lord, will I call for help and you will not hear? I cry out to you, “Violence!” yet you do not save. Why do you make me see iniquity, and cause me to look on wickedness? Yes, destruction and violence are before me; strife exists and contention arises. Therefore the law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore justice comes out perverted.”

My heart’s cry is not whether God is sovereignly in control of all things, but rather why it is that He is apparently allowing evil to get an upper hand.

But then I need to quiet my heart with the following truth along with the Psalmist in chapter 37:

“Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers for they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light and your judgment as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him; do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; do not fret; it leads only to evildoing. For evildoers will be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord, they will inherit the land. Yet a little while and the wicked man will be no more; and you will look carefully for his place and he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will delight themselves in abundant prosperity. The wicked plots against the righteous and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees his day is coming. The wicked have drawn the sword and bent their bow to cast down the afflicted and the needy, to slay those who are upright in conduct. Their sword will enter their own heart, and their bows will be broken.

Depart from evil and do good, so you will abide forever. For the Lord loves justice and does not forsake His godly ones; they are preserved forever, but the descendants of the wicked will be cut off. The righteous will inherit the land and dwell in it forever. Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found. The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; He is their strength in time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked and saves them, because they take refuge in Him.”

Or, again returning to the unshakable truth of the prophetic cry of the prophet Habakkuk: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea!”

And: “The Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him.”

Recently I was praying and thinking about what I should write in this blog and the account of the disciple’s meeting of Jesus on the road to Emmaus came to mind – you know the story well (as recorded in Luke 24):

“While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. One of them answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one unaware of the things which have happened in these days?” “But we were hoping…”  And He [Jesus] said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe.”

The words “But we were hoping” jumped out at me. But we were hoping! That is the sadness of my heart: “But we were hoping.”

How is it that God allows so much evil to apparently get the upper hand and wicked men and women to seemingly gain power and control? But it is in the voicing that very doubt that I must echo with the psalmist: “I have seen a wicked, violent man spreading himself like a luxuriant tree in its native soil. Then he passed away, and lo, he was no more; I sought for him, but he could not be found.”

Also, as Peter reminds us: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness.” To the contrary, “Do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” Rather, He is “patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance”. And if this is indeed so, then “What sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”

I wonder if the same feeling of acute sadness that I feel about the political, social, and economic events of 2020 is felt in places where poverty and lawlessness are the norm rather than the exception.  Recently I was reading in a mission magazine about the persecuted and tortured church in Nigeria and the surrounding region where the inconceivable violence of Boko Haram and other fanatical extremist groups has brought about the killing of more than 8,370 church members and eight pastors in one small area alone, not to mention the countless more abducted and raped, or the over 700,000 people, mostly Christians, displaced by the recent violent insurgence. The absence of security during 2020 due to the Covid-19 crisis has allowed these murderous groups to take advantage of the vacuum and to attack vulnerable Christian communities which were locked down and left as sitting targets while governments focused police and military resources on the pandemic. I’m absolutely sure that their prayer and heart’s cry is very different from ours in North America.

I wonder, is it only because we in the West have experienced such good for so long that this year’s events have carried such a crushing blow? Is it only because we were hoping that these blessings; that integrity, truth, justice, and lawfulness would continue without interruption that their loss cuts so deeply?

And yet, despite what may appear to our natural eyes Jesus Christ is sovereign, and I fully believe that we will soon see him physically seated on his throne as Lord and Supreme Ruler of this old earth. Then Psalms 2 will be physically fulfilled before our eyes:

“Why are the nations in an uproar and the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!”

He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger
and terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

“I will surely tell of the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You. ‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Your possession. ‘You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.’”

He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

_________________________________________

The close of 2020 brought with it some big changes for the Frey family as well. At the very beginning of December my mother had

a stroke following a number of other complications which placed her in hospital. Because of the severe constraints due to the provincial Covid-19 restrictions this meant that she spent about a week alone in the hospital while none of the family could visit her. Eventually two of my brothers were designated as the family members allowed to visit her on a limited basis in the hospital, and each day, literally, it was a question as to whether she would make it through to the following morning. The stroke left her completely paralyzed on her left side, with considerable pain on the affected side, 100% dependent for all care, and bedridden.

Because of the present Covid-19 climate and the severe restrictions that this caused for the family and for her and because she was designated as palliative with very little more that the hospital could do for her any longer, we came to the decision as a family to bring her home to her little apartment at the independent living complex in Steinbach where she lives, and that Theresa and I would care for her through her final days to her passing. I was able to get a leave of absence from work, and as it turned out we had actually already booked November 27^th through December 20^th off work as our holiday because we had expected to be heading to Mexico in order to train national teams in eye clinics over that time (as explained in my August 8^th blog: “The Lord REMAINS in his Holy Temple: let ALL the earth keep silence before him!”)

I arrived in Steinbach (about an hour and a half southwest of our home in Pinawa) on Thursday, November 12^th in order to be able to prepare the apartment for mom’s final discharge via ambulance from the hospital on the following day. We had a hospital bed, oxygen, and other medical equipment scheduled to arrive on Friday just before her return. The ambulance finally arrived with her around 11:30 pm on November 13^th. For the past four weeks I have given her around-the-clock care, assisted by either Theresa or one of my two brothers who live locally. Due to the code red Covid-19 restrictions Theresa and I are basically prisoners locked into her apartment with access to other family members or friends who want to visit only through window visits where they sit outside in the cold and communicate to us and my mom via cell phones through the closed windows where we can see but not touch. Because we are living under the strict rules of Woodhaven, the independent living home where she has lived for the last several years, we must be extremely careful to obey each nuance and minutia of their restrictions in order not to jeopardize our ability to remain here with her, or to continue our care for her here within their facility. If we were to overstep their rules in any way her only option would be to go back to the hospital again where she would not be allowed to see anyone.

She has rallied somewhat over the past month since being home. She remains completely paralyzed on her affected side and fully dependent upon us for all of her body functions and personal attention. Her care requires two people because of the fact that she needs to be turned every several hours in order to prevent pressure sores and because she needs to be changed throughout both days and nights, and she is unable to assist in any way and must simply be log-rolled from side to side in the bed.

This week we were able to get a mechanical lift on loan which allows us to lift her out of her bed in order to transport her into her little living room so that she can sit in her recliner chair and get a break from her bed whenever she feels up to it. This has given her a sense of increased normality again for brief periods of time.

I truly don’t know what the future holds for Theresa and me. It is clear that the present circumstances are not sustainable for the long term for any of us. The little apartment was designed for one person, not three. I am sleeping on a little foam mattress on the floor beside my mother’s hospital bed in her bedroom so that I am available throughout the night when she needs me, and our lives are 100% focused on her care at the present time. It is a joy to be able to serve her, but the present situation will not be able to be sustained for the long term. We’d really appreciate your prayers with all of us for God’s perfect will. Mom is longing to go home to heaven and is struggling with the question of why she must remain here when she so would so much rather be in Glory and not dwelling in her old, painful, failing, and humiliated body. Many times over the past month and a half she has poked her finger through the ever-thinning veil into eternity, but God has never seen fit to allow her to enter, much to her disappointment.

The work in Mexico has been very busy over the past months despite the severity of suffering due to the lasting effects of the drought, the collapsing economy, and the restrictions which have been enacted due to Covid-19.

I mentioned in past blogs that Javier would be stepping down from his position as president of the board of directors of Obreros Unidos para Cosechar (OUpC), the nonprofit that is covering the various aspects of the Mexican ministry. At their meeting on the 3^rd of this month there was a vote on new officers of the board as Javier was vacating the position that he has held for many years, and the treasurer also wished to step down from her position, also after many years. The current directors are Adán Hernández Secaida as the president of the board, while Dr. Mario Cázares was voted in as secretary, and Blanca Lourdes Ríos continues on as treasurer. Javier will continue on as a board member only, allowing him time to focus his energy more towards the Pame brothers and sisters in the mountainous regions to the west where his heart really is, as well as to continue his daily work of preaching and teaching the gospel in order to establish leaders in each village where the work of ministry has begun. His burden is teaching and preparing strong and godly leadership to continue the work of evangelism throughout the whole region and beyond.

I am pleased with their choices of officers. Adán is trained as a lawyer but is pastoring an Assemblies of God church in the city of Valles. He is a good brother and I believe he will be a good leader of the team. Dr. Mario’s name has come up often in these blogs as he is the director of Project LAMBS and co-director of the Bible Institute along with his wife Alejandra. He is an anesthesiologist and very active in the local hospitals in the city. He is also a very good brother and will be a valuable player on the directorship of the board. Blanca, who continues as treasurer is a lovely, intelligent, and wonderful young mother of two. Her husband, Juan is a police officer in the city, and both are faithful Christian believers and members of Javier’s church. I have known Blanca since she was a young teenage girl and I am very pleased that she continues in her position on the board. I look forward to seeing where God leads the work under the new leadership.

The missionary thrust into the western mountains to the Pame tribal group continues with occasional hiccups due to restrictions to entry because of coronavirus constraints. Javier told me that there are few actual Covid cases in the region itself; still entry has been restricted for months at a time over the past year. At the beginning of December they were again able to meet with the believers in the various villages in the Tanlacut area after not having been there for several months. Javier was blessed by the missionary team who accompanied him; both of the brothers also being Bible students training at the farm, Casa del Obrero for whom these ministry outreaches are an active part of their missions practicums.

Their reception by the local believers was also very encouraging for Javier and the team with openness and a hunger for the Word demonstrated by these scattered believers who are very isolated and lacking Christian fellowship and leadership.

What was very discouraging for Javier was what they found when they arrived at the missionary center building at the little crossroad village of Agua Nueva. You may remember that this building was donated a couple of years ago for the missionary work among the Pame people, and we have had the privilege of being able to assist the local Pame congregation with some funds in order to begin renovations on it. Although the work on the missionary center building is a long way from being completed, it is being used for a church building and a place for national missionaries to live when they enter into the region. This time, since Javier and the team have not entered into the region for several months, they were dismayed to find the building broken into, all of their stored supplies and equipment destroyed (not stolen, but simply vandalized), excrement smeared over everything, profanity scrawled throughout the Bibles, piles of feces on the pulpit, the floor, any clothing left there, and their water storage containers, everything throughout smelling of urine, and basically anything that could be was destroyed and vandalized was. It is evident that it was an act of hatred against God and the local believers, as well as of Javier and the national missions teams.

Javier’s comment to me after his return to Cd. Valles was simply “I thank God that he has allowed us to suffer a little bit of the sacrifice and contempt that Jesus Christ himself suffered for us”.

The work of Hidden Manna children’s ministry and the sewing school/workshop continue as well. The women are enjoying their new building, and even though the Covid restrictions have limited some of what they have been able to do, it continues to be a focal center for the women and girls who are able to attend.

The children’s feeding ministry, and the youth and adult training work has also been continuing in person again at the Buenos Aires facility, although they have also been forced to become creative over the past months due to restrictions on meetings. Presently the children are able to come to the center where they are loved upon by Cristina and her team. We pray that this will be able to continue, and that they are not forced to close their doors again.

We rejoice with Javier and Cristina and their boys because they were able to begin living in their new house at the beginning of this month. Javier wrote:

“On December 3^rd we began to move into our new house. We are now living in our new place although we still have not completed the move, and still have much to finish before we can truly accommodate ourselves completely in it. I have been plugging away on completing the finishing details on the house which seem to be endless, and slowly I’m getting a handle on them”.

Javier gave me a bit of a virtual tour inside the house on his cell phone the other day. It looks to me like lots of work needs to be done before one can say that it is finished, but they are thrilled to finally own their own place. There is no paint on the walls, lots of other finishing touches in the cement work needs to be completed, toilets and water still need to be connected, etc., etc., but they are overjoyed to finally have their own place for the first time in their lives.

And finally, as we turn our hearts towards Christmas; may you find great joy and gladness over this season despite the fact that it will probably be one of the strangest ones that you have experienced in your life. I’m guessing that never before were you ever forbidden by law from meeting with your family or friends over any other Christmas, and you probably never saw store isles barricaded off with tape declaring:

“SECTION CLOSED: MANITOBA PROVINCIAL REGULATIONS DICTATE THAT THIS SECTION DOES NOT CONTAIN ESSENTIAL ITEMS THEREFORE THESE ITEMS CANNOT BE SOLD AT THIS TIME”.

At least, I never have.

Recently Theresa happened to be in a store when she heard a young boy saying “So what’s the use of coming to a store if you aren’t allowed to buy anything anyway?” A very good point in my books! It happened to be our niece with her young son who was hoping to buy a gift for his little brother, but everything that he wanted to buy was deemed “nonessential’.

But, God is not limited, and I’m guessing that there were not too many holly jolly Christmas sentiments being expressed around the manger when the actual first Christmas took place. I’m doubtful that tyranny under Rome was too jocular an occasion either.

Thank you for your continuing prayers and love for our brothers and sisters in Mexico.

May your homes be filled with the peace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ over this Christmas season.

 

Your brother and sister in Jesus,

Steven and Theresa

As we enter into November 2020 I do so with a certain amount of ambivalence and uncertainty concerning the impending future. Surely any sane person can see that the world has gone berserk and is flying apart at the seams.

“Justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey”. (Isaiah 59: 14, 15a).

The book of Habakkuk has become increasingly relevant to me over the recent weeks. Habakkuk, the prophet of the Lord was also bewildered that wickedness, strife and oppression were rampant in Judah while God seemingly did nothing. Justice had essentially disappeared from the Land; violence and wickedness were pervasive, existing unchecked.

In the midst of these dark days, the prophet cried out for divine intervention:

“How long, LORD, must I call for help, but you do not listen? Or cry out to you, “Violence!” but you do not save? Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrongdoing? Destruction and violence are before me; there is strife, and conflict abounds. Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never prevails. The wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted”. (1:2-4)

Shockingly God’s response to Habakkuk was that he was sending the Chaldeans, a wicked, “ruthless and impetuous nation” to judge Judah for their sin.

This reply created an even greater theological dilemma for Habakkuk: Why didn’t God purge His people and restore their righteousness? How could God use the Chaldeans, that wicked and cruel nation to judge Judah?

Throughout the book, as the prophet argues with God he achieved a deeper understanding of God’s sovereign character, and a firmer faith in him. Ultimately, Habakkuk realized that God was not to be worshiped merely because of the temporal blessings that he bestows, but rather for his own sake:

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior. The Sovereign LORD is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to tread on the heights”. (3:17–19).

It is the very sovereignty of God himself that we question when we doubt him. He remains squarely upon this throne, Sovereign and Lord irrespective of what appears around us, or what storms beset us as individuals or as a nation.

“The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him”. (Hab. 2:20)

So, even though my eyes see evil all around me. Even though truth and justice stagger in the street like drunkards. Even amid the uncertainties of the upcoming U.S. election and all that it entails. Even though the economies of the world continue to collapse; while nations writhe and Covid-driven fear continues to paralyze the globe. Though hostilities increase around the world and nations rattle sabers one against another. Even though God may very well choose to judge us by giving us the just deserts of our unrighteousness and godlessness as nations – Canada and the United States, as well as the whole universal race of sinful humanity. Even then will I rejoice in my Lord, knowing that he is sovereign and that NOTHING, ABSOLUTELY NOTHING can or will happen outside of his express will and plan; even apparent evil!

“The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand”. (Is. 14:24)

“All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’” (Dan. 4:35)

Amen. Amen.

The LORD reigns!

Throughout these difficult times, even while the whole world has been stood on its head, the work of the ministry has continued strong in Mexico. However, as you will remember from the August blog it has been a very difficult year in many ways.

Hit first of all with a hard and devastating drought the Huasteca region was then slammed with the sucker punch of Covid-19. Most of the sugarcane, the almost sole crop in the region was completely lost to the drought. Then as the beginning of the year progressed into the ongoing devastation of the fear of the new world-domineering virus (fears both real and illusory) what little financial hope that remained for many of the poor completely evaporated. Those depending upon day-labor for their income were especially hard hit as business closed and normal work ended due to enforced lock-downs, and whole families teetered at the brink of extreme crisis.

This also meant that churches and mission outreaches were forced to close. The Bible School and other teaching centers could no longer continue. The work among the children in the poor squatter villages needed to be changed as the children were no longer able to congregate together for meals or teaching and activity times. The sewing school also needed to become extremely creative in continuing its work among the women and girls whom it served.

All of this was recorded in the August blog and I encourage you to reread it in order to refresh your memory.

Since then things have taken a cyclic turn. For a number of months things began to open again and some of the restrictions were slowly lifted. The children’s ministry, Hidden Manna was able to open its doors again to the needy children, providing them with nutritious meals and Bible instruction and training. The sewing school once again was able to become increasingly open in its work and more of the women and girls were able to meet together at a time. The churches were able to open their doors, and the ministry into the villages in the form of the missional church-plants was able to continue unrestricted for a brief period. Javier and the mission team again went into the western mountains to minister to the indigenous Pame Christian brothers and sisters – briefly.

Now that door has once again closed for them for the time being. Only God knows how long the new restrictions will last this time.

In the fall, government schooling again began for the children, but no in-class teaching is being offered. All of the lessons are only accessible via televised classes. This is very problematic for the poor children because many of them not only do not have electricity in their hovels, but much less a television on which to attend their lessons. The government does offer some sort of a written study guide for the children, however realistically, for many of them this whole school year will be educationally lost, as was last spring.

Cristina and Alicia have moved their sewing school and workshop to a new location. It is smaller than the last building but more economical and centrally located for easy access for the girls and women that it serves. This school and workshop has become a place of vital healing and ministry to the women, both young and old that it serves. It has not only become a place for spiritual ministry, but also a center where work contracts are taken on and finances earned by the women involved. One of the big needs in the very near future is for a donor to come forward upon whose heart God has laid the burden to assist this particular ministry to the girls and women by enabling them to continue to rent their building. Although the sewing center does generate some funds it is never much, and is always used in other needs and ministries, and they are really not able to pay their rent without help. Last year we were blessed when a church in Canada took on the full amount of the rental for the 2020 year. However, we are now nearing the end of the year and are praying that the Lord will again lay this need on someone’s heart for the upcoming year so that this critical ministry to girls and women can continue.

The work of the children’s program, Hidden Manna has been critically important for many of the poor children of Buenos Aires, a poor squatter’s village over these past difficult months as well. Although Cristina could not open the doors of the children’s work itself she was unstoppable. Knowing that basic food was often scarce and unavailable to many of the poor children that normally were being served by Hidden Manna she decided that if they could not come to her she would go to them instead. Making up “dispensas” of food and household needs such as soap and other sanitary supplies she went home to home among the poor to distribute care packages to them. The love of Jesus was in this way expressed in a very hands-on and practical way even if the children were unable to attend the normal meals served at the center or attend the Bible lessons and training times.

Another urgent financial need is for an individual or a church to take on the funding of the children’s ministry, Hidden Manna for another year as well. The pledge for the finances to fund this work will also be ending at the end of the year and we pray that God will lay this critical ministry on someone’s heart as well so that these children will be able to continue to receive food for their growing bodies as well as for their awakening spirits, and that this vital ministry can continue unimpeded by finances.

Javier and Cristina’s new house is almost ready for them to move into. As you will recall from the last blog, the funds for them to build were given by friends of the ministry, many of them who have never met either Javier or Cristina but upon whose heart God laid a burden to bless these faithful servants. Javier hopes to have the family moved in by the end of the year. Praise God for his faithfulness.

The training center farm, Casa del Obrero continues to be used by God. In August I wrote that Javier was planning to step down as director of the Training Center at the end of the year. This was a misunderstanding on my part, and I reported it to you in error. In actuality he is planning to step down from his role as president of the Board of Directors of OUpC, the Mexican nonprofit that covers the various aspects of the work. However, he will continue to serve in his ministry as the director of the Training Center farm.

Armando is now almost 100% in charge of the complete work of the farm itself, thus relieving Javier of much of the physical work of the farm. Armando is also growing steadily in leadership and is becoming a right arm for Javier in many ways within his ministry.

The Casa del Obrero Training Center is opening a new chapter and is now offering on-line Bible training, taking on five new students, one from Matamoros, Mexico and one from the United States; but I will let Javier tell you more about that in his own words in a little bit…

There will be changes to the Board of Directors at their annual meeting in December. You will remember that I had hoped to be able to be there for that meeting with the board, but Covid-19 has changed all of that. Please pray with me that those who should step down from the board will do so, and that only those who have a vision and a call of God to be involved with the ministry will remain. In my estimation the board is presently too big, and many of those who are currently “members” are so in name only and serve no purpose and have no desire to really be there. May God bring people with energy and godly vision onto the board.

I am so thankful that God healed our brother Doctor Mario Cázarez. As you will recall, he is the director of the Project LAMBS part of the Bible School as well as the co-director of the Bible Institute along with his wife Alejandra. Earlier this year Dr. Cázarez contracted a very severe case of Covid-19 through his work as an anesthesiologist in the local hospital and was very critical in intensive care for some very desperate days. We are so grateful for full healing for him.

But, I also would like to ask you to pray for our dear brothers and sisters in Mexico. In conversation with many of them I see that they are struggling under tremendous fear and uncertainty concerning Covid-19 and the crumbling economy. One dear sister told me recently that for the past ten months she and their two children have almost never been outside of the house and only her husband leaves to go directly to work and back home again. He alone does the shopping. Please pray that this fear will be broken and they can once again glory in freedom from anxiety.

I would like to end this blog by having Javier do so in his own words. I am attaching two letters that he wrote to me – one at the end of August and the other at the beginning of October. Even though this is some weeks ago I believe that they do express his heart in his own words:

________________________________________

I am very grateful to God first of all for life, family, and for all his provisions. But I also give thanks for the life of each of you, and especially for all those who blessed us so much by making possible a home and refuge for Cristina and me as well as for our boys. I feel very blessed by God to have you as my brothers and sisters – my friends! God has blessed us greatly through all of you who have not even met us personally but who have blessed us with your resources. Thank you.

May God multiply your finances even in these most difficult times because the God of Israel is faithful and wonderful. He is our protector and provider in everything. Thank you for everything that you have done for us without even knowing us personally. You have allowed yourselves to be used as tools by God for his divine purposes.

We now have a home where we can take refuge. Being able to own our own home has been a dream for many, many years and this is now a dream come true! Ever since the beginning of my ministry I have never owned a home and have had to pay rent. But now I can declare with joy: “Thus far the LORD has helped us.” (I Sam. 7:12).

He has blessed me in heavenly places and with the oil of joy has given me peace, and I rest in delightful places.

I can only express my gratitude to God for giving me a place to live while I am on this earth, even if only in passing. My sincerest thanks to all my dear friends. Receive God’s richest blessings to you and your family. It is never in vain to serve God, and he will not forget your faithfulness. Continue to reach for the highest calling of God to achieve what our God has promised us.

Thank you for being a part of my life. You are an example of fidelity and respect and an inspiration in my life, and I give thanks for your life and your words of encouragement. Always keep going and never faint. Thank you for teaching me that indeed all things are possible, and that nothing is impossible in this life.

I feel blessed by you. Again, thank you so much.

Javier

_______________________________________

On October 1^st Javier wrote the following:

It is a privilege for me to write to you again and to be able to communicate on this way. Thanks be to God for his mercies and that he has sustained us through his mighty power.

I feel privileged to have you as my brothers and sisters. Surely it is only God who could unite us in that very intimate communion of being children of one God, begotten with the blood of Jesus Christ, making us one family in Him. I also thank God for his mercies and that he has been so good to us.

I have been working on the house finishing off details. I am now working on the kitchen and cementing in the windows. The electrical wiring main still needs to be put in to the pole as well as the electrical contract completed. Also I continue to wait for the connection and contract for the potable water and sewer. However, these need to be issued through the proper government departments and can sometimes take time to complete.

I also need to finish connecting some more water pipes to the water storage tank on the roof in order to connect it to the bathrooms and kitchen.

Little by little I am finishing off the house and making it habitable for us to move in. Today I made the power post where the electrical main cables and the meter are going to be connected into the house. God has blessed me with health and the ability to accomplish these things.

My hope in God is to be able to have everything finished before the end of the year so that we can move into our new place by the beginning of the new year. I look forward to no longer needing to pay rent every month since this has been a very heavy burden for many years of your life. God is good and I know that it will be accomplished!

Little by little we are able to reestablish the different areas of ministry following the enforced shut downs that were demanded as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. For the past month we have been able to return to normal in many areas of ministry – holding services in the local church in Solidaridad, preaching in the various missions including Buenos Aires, Infonavit 2, Tampaya, El Cinco, and San Antonio Huichimal.

In the middle of this month we will also go out to minister in the Pame tribal area again.

I also want to clarify something with you regarding our last communication. In fact, it is not my intention to step down from being the director of the Casa del Obrero Training Center Farm. I will continue my role as director of the Training Center Farm. Rather, what I want to do is simply step down from my position as president of the nonprofit Obreros Unidos para Cosechar. In this way I will be able to separate my name from the nonprofit which will give me more freedom to be involved in the various aspects of the ministry. I will continue on the board as a member, but I do not wish to continue to hold a leadership role on it.

In this way I can also have more freedom to pursue the areas of ministry which God has laid on my heart – specifically that of pastoring locally as well as advancing the missionary thrust into the Pame tribal region in the western mountains.

However, I will not cease to help with the ministry of the Training Center Farm or those who are laboring there so that the vision that God gave for this particular ministry, which is being achieved little by little, will one day be fully realized through God’s provision.

God always has big purposes. This week training will begin through the Casa del Obrero Training Center with five new students. The surprising and amazing thing is that this training will also now be done through on-line coursework, which means that for the first time we will be offering extension classes via the internet. One of the students is from San Antonio, Texas and another one from Matamoros, Mexico. Since they are already pastoring churches they cannot physically come to Cd. Valles in order to attend classes here.

The three other new students are all local – a married couple and another pastor all from Cd. Valles. Each of them is already serving as a pastor in a local church as well. All glory be to God who continues to increase our ministry and our ability to serve him.

Godly leaders are daily being multiplied and trained who are ministering in local churches, as well as going to minister in other places to preach and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the vision of God that the church does not become stagnant or fruitless.

I want to tell you about a feeling that began in my heart about a month ago. Even while I keep telling myself that I still have not finished ministering in the Pame region I have become deeply burdened for the nation of Venezuela. This seemed very strange to me because I do not even know Venezuela, and certainly have never been there. I don’t know if this is only a feeling of mine or if it is a vision from God.

I keep talking with God and asking him to give me a clear direction of his will and schedule. If the burden is truly from him and not only from myself then I am praying that he will supply everything so that a church can be planted in Venezuela within two years, for clarity of direction for the city that I am to minister in, for the contacts within the country itself through whom he must open doors, and for the people who will work with me there. If it is from God he will make it happen; if not, then no. I rest securely in this knowledge and that I do not have to attempt to make anything happen. I simply rest in him.

Thank you for reading this letter.

Blessings,

Javier

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That will give you a window into Javier’s heart. Please continue to pray for our dear brothers and sisters in Mexico as they faithfully continue to serve our Lord through these difficult times.

“The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him”. (Hab 2:20)

 

Blessings my friends.

Your fellow laborers in Jesus Christ,

 

Steven and Theresa