The Work Continues...
There is still much that needs to be done in Mexico, and the words of Jesus have never been truer when he states:
“Do you not say, ‘There are still four months, then comes harvest’? I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see how the fields are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor; others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” John 4:35-38
The fields in the Hausteca region of Mexico are white for harvesting. One of the greatest factors in the preparation of this spiritual harvest today has been the faithful sowing which has been done by men and women such as Pastors Ezequiel and Veronica and others who have spent many years on their faces in prayer, waiting for God to move across their nation. There is now a tremendous readiness for the Good News of Salvation. This is true because the soil has been carefully tilled and made ready through many years of tearful and intense labor. It is our privilege, now, to come into the harvest fields and labor with those who wield the sickles, gathering the bundles from the fields. In this sense we literally “reap that for which we did not labor; others have labored, and we have entered into their labor.” The sower and reaper rejoice together because the wages are the souls of men and women - fruit for eternal life. It is a great privilege and honor for Voice in the Wilderness Ministries to labor in the Lord’s harvest fields with those who gather in the harvest.
The Ministry continues under opposition:
The direct medical work of Voice in the Wilderness Ministry came to a sudden end in the fall of 2003 when Steven Frey was arrested and imprisoned in a Mexican Federal Penitentiary for three months under false charges of drug trafficking (see tab “Prison Experience”). Although this chapter of ministry was forcefully closed for Steven, the work of Voice in the Wilderness Ministries continued. A number of short-term missionaries carried on the vision in Cd. Valles, continuing to work with the national church. Voice in the Wilderness Ministries continued to supply finances for the ongoing work of the food distribution for the needy. Funding was also continued for evangelism through the purchase of Sunday school and vacation Bible school materials and supplies, as well as Bibles and other teaching materials. As churches and mission outreaches continued to be planted in the Huasteca region by the national church, Voice in the Wilderness Ministries paid the travel costs for national missionaries to continue their work of evangelism. Further, funds were provided for the training of national pastors and workers.
In 2006 Voice in the Wilderness Ministries was privileged to assist in introducing an international, interdenominational Bible school to Cd. Valles called Instituto Biblico Interdenominacional Luz de las Naciones (Light of the Nations). This Bible Institute was begun by Pastors Ezequiel and Veronica with a vision to train pastors and leaders to impact not only Mexico for Christ, but also the world.
In the same year Voice in the Wilderness Ministries was also honored to be 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. Project LAMBS curriculum is taught in a modular format.
From 2006 through to October 2012 it was the delight of Voice in the Wilderness Ministries to work with several very talented and dedicated pastors from both Canada and the United States who gave of their time and resources to come to Cd. Valles to teach the Project LAMBS curriculum. Due to the distances and cost restraints involved in the teaching staff coming to Mexico, two one-week modules were taught three times per year. Since there were twelve modules required for graduation, each student needed to complete two years of study.
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 school, besides the ongoing program of the Bible Institute Luz de las Naciones. On the 13th of November 2010 the second cycle of Project LAMBS students graduated.
It is the designed purpose of Project LAMBS for its expatriate teachers to work themselves out of a job as quickly as possible. The way that this is done in countries where the school ministers is that after the first teaching cycle, gifted graduates are asked to co-teach alongside the visiting teachers. More and more responsibility and teaching is handed over to those who show God’s grace on their lives in this role. During the second two-year rotation of the school in Cd. Valles this process was begun. By the third teaching cycle there were several graduates who had demonstrated that they were gifted to be the future teachers and directors of the Project LAMBS program in Mexico, and that the foreign teachers would soon no longer be needed.
The final graduating class taught by expatriate teaching staff wore their caps and gowns on October 20, 2012. The mission of Project LAMBS was wonderfully completed, and the ongoing work of this portion of the ministry was handed over to very gifted and qualified national staff.
The work of Project LAMBS has found its wings and has grown and flourished under the direction of a completely Mexican leadership and national teaching staff.
The Instituto Biblico Interdenominacional Luz de las Naciones (Light of the Nations) has always been directed and taught be nationals. It has been the privilege of Voice in the Wilderness Ministries to work very closely with this Bible Institute and to provide it with some measure of covering as well. From its inception, until the end of 2012, the Bible Institute was graciously hosted within classrooms in the Assemblies of God church pastured by Ezequiel and Veronica. Since the Bible Institute is a nondenominational work this began to cause increasing difficulties, and other alternatives needed to be sought. At the end of the 2012 school year, along with a change in administrative and directive staff for the Bible Institute, there was also an opportunity to rent a very usable and centrally located space for the school outside of the Assemblies of God church building. This move was made for the beginning of the 2013 school year, and the Bible Institute now has its own space and can fully develop nondenominationally and serve the various churches throughout the region without the limitations of denominational affiliation.
