Dear Friends,

Joshua 1:3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.

Once again, the Lord has led us into new territory in the vast expanse of the Sierra Madre Mountains of Sonora and Chihuahua. Not without challenge, we successfully navigated the tire breaking, frame-twisting road for 6 hours east of where Bob and Miki headquarter in Sonora. 97 miles, the first 35 miles of freshly surfaced pavement, so you can only imagine the condition of the other 62 miles.

Our destination was Chinipas, Chihuahua situated on the Chinipas River, a few miles east of the Sonora/Chihuahua border. One of several surprises was our encounter with a livestock inspection station high on the mountainous ridge that separates Sonora and Chihuahua. It was surrounded by a beautiful town of approximately 1,000 inhabitants.

Chinaca, not listed on any of our research maps, but nevertheless there it sits.  The people of Chinaca, a naturally timid folk by their remoteness are also afraid of strangers. To them a stranger is there for one of two reasons; either it’s someone there to force them to grow illegal crops at gunpoint or otherwise someone there with government authority to shut down illegal operations.

The drug syndicates working these places have no respect for life. They have been known to terrorize to the point of murder to get their seed sown. Someone out there, please pray to the Lord of the harvest …send laborers… help, help, help!

Back to Chinipas, Chihuahua our destination: we arrived there to find a rather warm welcome by local police and business’. There are no present territorial battles among the narco traffickers, therefore things are relatively calm. In their beautiful town of approximately 2,000 people stands only one church, a large, old traditional church full of idols and paintings depicting many saints and deities.

We found no depiction of a resurrected Christ. We did find Him in many phases of suffering, under His cross, on His cross, and finally filling one whole corner of this grand edifice, we found Him dressed in black, weeping over a glass coffin with His own dead and bloodied body lying in state. The phrase gross darkness again finds new meaning in this preacher’s heart. Isaiah 60:2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  It sounds like their darkness presents our opportunity.

Our prayer assignment there seemed brief and to the point. A very positive note happened during our departure. The Holy Spirit said, You were received in peace, you can now leave your (MY) peace. Don’t shake the dust off your feet for there is still an open door here.

So now I cry all the more, someone out there please pray for Chinipas, for laborers, for finances to send those willing to be sent, for souls, and for a church with a resurrected, living Christ.

In the last 24 years we’ve made numerous investigative/prayer journeys such as this trip to Chinipas, resulting in evangelism and church planting that has not only changed individual lives but changed whole communities. The Word of God is a powerful weapon against the powers of darkness, but never a soul was won without hearing it and accepting it. In our work, we see first hand the vast white-unto-harvest fields and feel the heartbeat of our Lord to reap the harvest.

Like Him we must cry out for your help by asking you to hear this, Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Matthew 9:37-38.

Romans 10:13-15 For whosoever, shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

In obedience to God’s command, our choices come down to this, Go, be sent, or send someone.

To be continued...

Co-laboring with you,
Calvin and Barbara

More About Recent Trip

We just spent 12 wonderful days in Mexico.

We taught 3 nights at El Shaddai in Navojoa. Bob and Miki have 47 students this semester besides previous graduates that often attend as well. Also, their graduates are teaching an El Shaddai in another nearby town and in the prison (for the first time). The times of prayer were powerful. It is so encouraging to see the hunger and response of the students.

The day we left Bob took 28 people on a weekend outreach to a small village 4 hours away. Three hours were on a terrible dirt road. The old Suburban Bob has been driving was ready to retire, so we took him the 04 Dodge Ram  4x4 we have been driving to use in the mountains. After the trip he wrote us, “I hauled 14 people plus the gear in the truck last weekend. I figured I better break her in right and not give her any false ideas that it would be easy around here.”

The town they went to was in dire economic need as their local income depended on their marijuana crops. Last fall the Mexican government destroyed the crop so they have been destitute. Many times these small towns are forced to grow the marijuana by the drug lords. If the local people refuse, they have been known to start killing one child at a time until they agree to grow the drugs. For many it has been a no-win situation. Anyway, however these people started growing the drugs, everyone was suffering including the children and they certainly weren’t at fault.

So Bob took offerings in El Shaddai to buy food and we added HOW money and went to the warehouses and bought food to send to the pueblo.

In Bob’s words, The trip to the mountains was awesome! The whole town is very hungry and receptive to the Gospel. Almost everyone came up for prayer and even the men were lifting their hands when they were prayed for. The people were literally begging me to send a pastor to teach them the Word of God.

One night in class when Bob was promoting the trip, he told the students, I do a lot of different things, but the reason I breathe is to take the Gospel to the pueblos.

Happy Easter

Celebrate Resurrection
 Or Join the Recession?

The Preacher’s word on the recession:
“It’s time to put our $ where our mouth is or change the message.”

Easter memories bring pleasant thoughts to those of us raised in traditional churches.  Sunrise services, little girls in new homemade dresses of pastel colors, the congregational crescendo as they sing great hymns such as He Arose  and of course the Easter egg hunt. Somehow, the Lord’s true message that Jesus the Christ really did rise from the dead, rooted in our hearts, and by it, we have a sure hope of our own resurrection yet to come.  And God has both raised up the Lord, and also will raise us up by His own power.  I Corinthians 6:14 MKJV.

May we always glory in the salvation we enjoy by our belief and confession of a resurrected living Christ.  Because if you confess the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved.  Romans 10:9 MKJV.

Another great truth resulting in His resurrection is this: For He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son. Colossians 1:14 MKJV.

We are now children of a Kingdom not of this world, yet in this world, not of this world, yet effecting this world, not of this world, yet changing this world.

Being in His Kingdom brings abundant blessing upon us today and has an exciting future result. The seventh angel then blew [his] trumpet, and there were mighty voices in heaven, shouting, The dominion (kingdom, sovereignty, rule) of the world has now come into the possession and become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (the Messiah), and He shall reign forever and ever (for the eternities of the eternities)! Revelation 11:15 AMP. Celebrate!

It’s time to make the choice, either join the world wide recession or live according to the believers Kingdom authority  we’ve been preaching.  (I made you think, huh’!)

Summer Vacation Bible Schools

It is time to start gathering money to order material for the summer Vacation Bible Schools. Last year we bought VBS materials for 2800 children in 25 towns. This year we want to order enough to reach 3,000 children.

The VBS lasts for 5 to 6 days for three hours each day. Most of our pastors not only do VBS for their own church but also conduct outreaches in one or two other towns.

To subscribe to our monthly newsletter:

To receive by postal mail only: Postal_News@FaithMinistriesMexico.org Please include complete name and address including postal code.

To receive by e-mail only, send a blank e-mail to: E_News@FaithMinistriesMexico.org

To receive both by e-mail and postal mail: E_Postal_News@FaithMinistriesMexico.org Please include complete name and address including postal code.

You will find information about Missions Trips, Christmas Outreaches and Vacation Bible Schools from previous newsletters by clicking on the Evangelism link to the right under the Main Menu.