Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying for us over these past weeks whilst in Lajas.
We had a good time out there as a family and team, and we are getting more used to life in the village. As we are not able to resupply with fresh
food, our stays in the village for the next few months are going to be
limited to between two and three week stays. This for now helps the
village adjust to us, but more importantly helps our children get a
break from village life and being on their own. Once back in Durango
they can then get to being a part of their different sporting activities
and with friends again.
Due to a fiesta on the 2nd of February, there was a lot more drinking
in the village than what we had seen before. Someone brought out
alcohol to sell and this worsened the problem. At the fiesta there
were times where things got close to developing into fights, and we
could sense that things were getting tense in the village. That night
as we met as a team, we sensed we should pray for God's protection over
the village, for the people themselves, and also for our own safety. The next day we heard of no shootings or fights.
The following day only the the women that lived close by us were home
as the men had gone off somewhere. A couple of drunks arrived at the
houses and began hassling the ladies. It eventually got to the point where the women had to leave. I had heard the commotion and so went to
see what was happening. The ladies were leaving their houses and
heading our way so I suggested they go in our house and we'd shut the
gate. They hid in our house and things got a little tense when one of the drunks tried to open our gate. Fortunately, I was able to meet him at the gate before he opened it and thankfully, after much discussion, he was able to be encouraged to leave.
That night there was a lot of shooting and once shots were fired close to the house. Fortunately it was only drunks firing into the air for fun. The following nights there were more shots fired around the village, but again no reports of anything serious. On our last day before leaving we found out that on two occasions someone was about to kill someone else and the guns didn't work. One of these altercations took place within a hundred yards from the house. The fact that the guns malfunctioned and didn't fire we see as the hand of God intervening. We are very thankful because as a team we know people involved in some of these situations and we hate to see them instigate or become victims. Please continue to pray for the people of Lajas.
MILLPILLAS!!!
When we first began working in Durango, the team initially began
targeting a town on the road to Lajas called Milpillas. It is a "Mestizo" town meaning that most of the people have Indian blood in their recent family history, but they themselves have crossed over into the Mexican culture and have left the Indian language and culture behind. There are about a 1000+ people living there with some full-blooded Tepehuan living on the outskirts. Everybody speaks Spanish, and there are a few Tepehuan speakers there as well. In order to be able to reach the Tepehuan more effectively, Lajas was chosen over Milpillas as it is a 100% Tepehuan town. However, Anne Marie and I have continued to feel a burden for the people of Milpillas and have prayed that the Lord would raise up people who would be interested in reaching the town with the Gospel.
About 2 years ago, I mentioned the need and our burden to Leo the pastor of our church here in the city. Leo, after some months of praying, felt the Lord wanted to use the church to reach Milpillas. Our church supports and has partnered with a "medical mission" called "Amigos Sin Frontera" (Friends Without Borders) and it was decided that they would take out doctors and dentists into Milpillas to begin an evangelistic outreach by providing these much needed services.
Due to our teams contacts in Milpillas, we were able to get written
permission from the town leaders for the medical clinic. This past week, 7 pickups full of doctors, dentists, a bunch of helpers from our church, along with medicine, blankets and food, drove out to Milpillas for a 3-day clinic. Here's the result: they weren't received too well by the leaders in spite of the permission we had been given, but the next day as they began unloading and setting up and the town began to understand what they were offering, the place really opened up. Not only did they see hundreds of people come into the clinics for help, but they distributed over 200 Bibles, most of which people requested. Many people asked why they were doing all this and so the team was able to share about Jesus. The governor himself that initially gave them a very cold reception, not only received medical help, but came back day after day apologizing for his coldness and seeking their forgiveness. The group leader was able to share the Gospel with him personally. The governor gave the permission to show the Jesus film and other Christian movies, and the group was also able to preach the Good News to those that came. We don't know the numbers yet but a good-sized group of people accepted Jesus as their saviour.
"Miercoles de Ceniza" (Ash Wednesday) is a very important day for
Catholics here in Mexico. From what we understand in a nutshell,it is a special event that starts the process of purifying one's self in readiness for Easter. On the evening of this special Wednesday, the townspeople would go to the Catholic church for a service, and the priest would dip his finger in ash and draw a cross on the foreheads of the people symbolizing the beginning of the "Cuaresma", the period of cleansing leading up to the Holy Week. As most of the townspeople were down watching the Jesus Film, only a few made it to the church for the service. The priests weren't used to this and decided to find out where all the people. They wound up down were the clinic was being held. Seeing that the group was showing an evangelistic film, they complained to the governor, wanting him to stop the film. The governor told them he wouldn't stop the film and said, "You people have never done for us what these people are doing."
We nor our church aren't in any way against the Catholic church, but
we have been asked to represent Jesus and to preach the Gospel, the Gospel that Jesus is the only way. We praise God for what He is doing in Milpillas and time doesn't permit us to explain all that happened, but it is very exciting. The governor as already given the group permission to come back again. Now that the door is open, the church is planning on having a bigger outreach there with the idea of planting a church.
Due to our commitment to Lajas, we couldn't possibly have a ministry in Millpillas and be effective in Lajas. We are so thankful that in a small way we could be a part of seeing the town hear the Gospel.
We head back out to Lajas tomorrow and will be out there two weeks. We
praise God for sustaining us and protecting us and allowing us to serve Him in Lajas. We continue to pray that we will be able to become effective communicators in the Tepehuan language, and that we would get daily opportunities to show the love of Christ. Our children still struggle with life out there, so please continue to pray for them that they would be able to find some good friends out there. Continue to pray for the airstrip to open up and for the salvation of the Tepehuan.
Sorry that my emails have gotten so long, but as we're away from the
computer so much, when I finally get back to being in contact again,
there's so much more to write about. I will however make a more
concerted effort to be brief in the future. Keep you ear to the ground
for our next update. It should be special.
For Jesus and His glory,
Andrew and Anne Marie
...
February 2007 letter
