Oct. update letter

Dan, Angelica & Jacob Swanson from San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico

Dear Family & Friends,

We sincerely hope you are well and blessed by our Lord. We have so much to share about God’s leading in our lives that it is difficult to put it all into one letter. We hope you remember to check our blog periodically to keep updated on our activities at: www.rocajem.blogspot.com. In the spring of this year we both became convinced that God was leading us to leave the Center we helped develop in Puebla in the hands of family members and for us to move to Chiapas to assist another “national missionary” in his educational ministry among indigenous churches.

Angelica had a more difficult time adjusting to the change which meant leaving her family and a growing medical practice in her hometown. But her heart’s desire has always been to pour her love and energy into our 3 year old, laying a solid foundation for his physical and spiritual development. She has also been open to opportunities to return to providing medicine to indigenous people as a ministry more than a job. Just recently we talked with a local pastor who invited her to develop that ministry through his church. She is also giving medical advice on two Christian radio stations in San Cristobal. Please pray that she will be able to find the right balance between caring for Jacob and serving this important need in the church.

Jacob has started pre-school and we feel very blessed to have one that is part of a ministry of a local church. Though the first couple weeks were difficult with separation, he is gradually getting used to the idea. We also appreciate that his teachers are very understanding about allowing him to travel with us when we visit indigenous communities, recognizing this as a complement his formal school education.

Dan is very excited to finally be living in this city where he has visited for a couple weeks a year over the past decade leading groups with Jubilee Economics Ministries. Through these experiences he has developed many close relationships with leaders in indigenous communities which are proving to be very important now for a ministry of reconciliation that he is being called to. He has connected with the ministry of Voice of the Martyrs whose mission is to support Christians living in difficult situations and they are appreciative of Dan’s experience and contacts with these leaders.

Pedro Robledo is a Presbyterian pastor from Chiapas who two years ago started an itinerant Bible teaching ministry among indigenous churches. Previously, he has served in Presbyterian seminaries as a professor and dean while also as a book distributor for Kairos publishing based in Argentina. Dan helped him receive his first shipment of theological books through the Langham Trust (John Stott Ministries) and we expect our partnership to grow as well as a with the Langham Literature Trust.

Dan celebrated 30 years of mission service last year as it was at the Urbana Student Missions Conference that he signed the “decision card” to be involved in missions as a career. Some of his mentors along the way have graciously agreed to write a kind of endorsement of his career which I share with you below. We are so thankful for so many who have come alongside and especially many of you who have prayed and given for my (and now our) ministry over the years. May God continue to bless you!

Sincerely in Christ,

Dan, Angelica & Jacob Swanson
Email: SwanyRiver@aol.com

When Dan Swanson enrolled in the Westmont College Urban Program in San Francisco he demonstrated the qualities you hope will be present in a student. He spent three days a week in an internship working with minorities and was committed and passionate about his work. He was diligent in his studies and was very engaged with the disenfranchised throughout the city. His passion for mission was evident then and has been a part of his life experience in all the ensuing years. His faith and that passion have informed all the choices he has made. It is a joy for a professor to see a student's life unfold as Dan's has. (Ms. Rusty Springer, retired director of the San Francisco Urban Program at Westmont College.)
"I remember young Dan Swanson as a zealous Christian who took the Gospel with utter seriousness. We made numerous trips to Sandinista Nicaragua in 1988 where we visited poor barrios, neighborhood assemblies, art and music workshops of the Ministry of Culture, theological seminaries, shared with peasants (campesinos), talked to people on all sides of the issues. That was Nicaragua in the 1980s. I remember his intense and passionate reaction to the experience. His soul caught fire, and the fire of love and commitment burns to this day.” (Juan Stam, veteran missionary/theologian with the Latin American Mission).
“…it is such an encouragement for us to have partners on the ground that we know and that we can trust with literature resources, so I am grateful to know that you are there and able to use them well.” (Benjamin Homan, President of John Stott Ministries).

Thank you for your consideration to partner with us in this vision to support national missionaries/ministries serving the indigenous local church of Mexico. Support needs: $1000/month for personal support, $5000 to plant a seed for Pedro’s vision of a new kind of Bible School, and $10,000 to trade in our 1990 Ford for a newer all terrain vehicle.