Oct. 16, 2005 update
Dear Friends,
This is just a quick update before we head out to Lajas as a family on
Tuesday. We've heard some disturbing news from Lajas that needs a lot of
prayer. On Thursday, in talking with Secundino, he told me that
apparently there is talk that we are going to be run out of Lajas, or at
least asked to leave the village. This was quite alarming as up until
now we had received no negative comments or vibes when we've been in the
village or working on the house. I decided to go over and talk with Juan
and Lucia about this, and they confirmed that it is true that the
leaders are going to ask us to leave. It seems that they believe that if
they let us live there, eventually more outsiders will move in, and we
will take their lands. From what we can ascertain, it seems half the
village wants us there, and the other half doesn't. There has always
been certain people in Lajas who haven't wanted us out there, and it is
most likely that they have been trying to turn the village against us.
Our only hope is that this time out there I can talk with the leaders
and convince them that our desire is not to take their land. I have
however, said this before, but it seems they do not believe us. They have
good reason not to, as many Indian villages have been taken over by
outsiders and the Indians have been left with little or nothing. Please
be praying for wisdom as we try and share with the Tepehuan leaders why
it is important that they allow us to live there. We want to share with
them that we have a message from God that can free them from the fear
and bondage they live in. We want to communicate that we love them and
don't want to take their lands from them. We want to remind them of all
the good things we have done and all the help we have been over the past
5 years in showing them God's love. Pray that their minds will be open
to the truth and that they will give us a unanimous permission to live
there. If it is God's will for us to live there, it will happen. If the
leaders say "no", then for our own safety we would no longer be able to
be in the village. They may say we can continue to visit the village
temporarily, but this would make it impossible to effectively learn
their language, and practically it has become too difficult with a family to
always be on the move. Unless we get a unanimous "yes", we see no sense
in continuing to take materials out for the house and continuing on with
that.
If you are wondering how we are doing with all this after so much time
and money invested, while initially it came as a shock, in essence we
knew it could always come to this. We have discussed it as a family and
with Barry and Candy, and have prayed, and I think generally we are all
simply taking it in stride and are waiting on the Lord. Anne Marie and I
have thrown around plenty of options of how we can reach the Tepehuan if
there is a negative outcome in Lajas, but in reality we want to take
each day as it comes and look to the Lord for each step as He reveals
the future to us. Needless to say we would appreciate your prayers. We
drive out Tuesday and I hope to talk with the leaders first thing
Wednesday. At this point we plan on returning Sunday. Pray for clarity
and for the right words to say to the leaders. Pray that we will be able
to communicate clearly in spite of the language and cultural barriers.
Pray that the Tepehuan will see their need of a saviour and will want to
know the message we have for them. In the end, pray that the Lord's will
is done in Lajas as it is in heaven. Pray for Barry and Candy as they
head up to the States for their niece's wedding.
For Jesus,
Andrew and Anne Marie
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