Thursday, June 30, 2011

July update

Dear Friends,

This month we celebrate our first year in Chiapas and what a year it's been! First, going back to the Spring of 2010 when we made the decision to affiliate with Palm Missionary Ministries, Inc. This mission agency came to our attention at just the right time and their vision of supporting national missionaries/ministries has helped us to focus our ministry goals. It was after joining Palm that we made the decision to leave the Center in Angelica's hometown to others in her family and move to Chiapas to help a Mexican pastor with his vision of an itinerant Bible school.

As we highlight some of our ministry in Chiapas over the past year we also want to give thanks to God for Jubilee Economics Ministries (JEM) with whom we had visited Chiapas many times over the past decade including the church we currently attend and the Bible school where we have rented a house. God has opened doors here for us to work in medical outreaches to indigenous villages, a ministry of reconciliation among groups in conflict, evangelism and discipleship through radio programs and teaching in our local church and finally theological education.

Medical Outreaches

It was 13 years ago when Angelica and I first came to Chiapas together, before we were married, to work with a young pastor from Oaxaca who was planting a church and working especially with persecuted indigenous Christians. This month we will be celebrating their 15th anniversary of the church where we are involved. Angelica has organized two medical outreaches to an indigenous village where the church has started a mission outpost and another outreach to a region where JEM has been involved. Our church has also made available a small room for Angelica to receive patients and provide medicine at low cost.

Ministry of Reconciliation

From our first visits to Chiapas during the 90's we have been struck by the complexity of the conflict with political, economic and religious ties all combining to make a solution very difficult to find. But because of our decade long experience here we have been able to gain the confidence of groups from many sides of the conflict. We have begun the process of inviting people from different sides to share a common experience with us as a way to see each other in a different light in the hopes of breaking down the walls that divide.

Evangelism and Discipleship

Our local church organizes evangelistic campaigns throughout the year and we participated in one in an indigenous village though we concentrate our efforts on our radio programs reaching out through medical themes and marriage counseling. We also have helped to solidify some cell groups from our church through a balance of prayer, praise and Bible teaching. Dan especially enjoys meeting young people who come to Chiapas interested in the revolutionary atmosphere as he did 30 years ago in Nicaragua trying to convey the idea of the Gospel of Jesus Christ as the most revolutionary idea in the history of humanity.

Theological Education

This was the main ministry that initially brought us to Chiapas last year and Pedro's vision for the itinerant Bible school has expanded with groups in three cities, intensive courses with visiting profs., theological forums and book presentations as well as collaborating with our church's newly formed residential seminary. The Bible school where we are now living also has 15 years of experience with popular theological education among indigenous villages and we hope to have a closer relationship with them this coming year.

With gratitude in our hearts

When we look back on this first year in Chiapas gratitude is what fills our hearts as we have seen so many doors opened to us to use our callings and gifts in the service of national ministries. Please continue to scroll down this blog to see more of what God has provided for us with pictures as well. We thank all of you who have entrusted to us from your finances allowing us to experience God working through us in so many ways. We also continue to seek your prayers especially for: 1.) Pedro's precarious financial situation supporting his family as he launches the Bible school. 2.) The increased incidence of violence in indigenous communities due to the complex mixture of political, economic and religious affliliations. 3.) The fledgling theological groups that have been started that they might solidify with consistent students and more educators to teach classes.

As always, we love to have visitors and in true Latino fashion we say with an open heart that "Nuestra Casa es tu Casa" (Our home is your home).

Muchas gracias,

Dan, Angelica & Jacob

Wednesday, June 01, 2011

May/June update

First, we are very excited that due to a generous gift from La Villita friends we were able to put a roof over our Centro in Angelica's hometown in Puebla. This will allow us to open the Cafe which can host concerts, seminars and workshops for the benefit of the community. Gracias!






This month we moved into this brand new construction on the grounds of a Bible school that we are helping with our rent. It is beautifully done inside with three bedrooms 1 1/2 baths and large living/dining area downstairs with a good sized kitchen. It should also be warmer during the winter months. This is the view from our front door with the large yard and a vegetable garden. Volunteers are scheduled to come this summer to clean it up and make it more fruitful. The Bible school is just below us thru the open door. The mountains are so beautiful!










So we also obtained a puppy since we have the large yard and as a friend for Jacob. Since he is the color of smoke I suggested calling him "humo" but Angelica thought the English translation sounded better..."smokey."