March-April 2000
Dear Praying Friends,
Greetings from south of the border. We trust that you are all well and enjoying serving the Lord. We have
been hearing of the severe storms in the US, and here in the mountains of Mexico, we too have been experiencing an
unusual winter with nighttime temperatures below zero, but with no precipitation at all. The snow and ice usually
hold down the flu virus, but without it, the virus runs rampant. This winter, our pueblo has been experiencing one of
the strongest cases of the flu in recent years. Our family has been suffering through it as well. We are exposed to so
many people that if there is a bug going around, we usually end up with it. We hope that we are on the tail end of it
now, with everyone starting to feel better. Please pray for our health and strength.
The ministry is going well, although impacted by illness. Many people have been hitting and missing.
Along with that, the last few weeks have been emotionally charged for us and some of our families. Santiago, and his
wife Ramona, had their grandchildren taken from our town and placed in a correctional school. Ramona left our
service weeping as she explained the situation. For the last several weeks, we have spent nearly everyday counseling
them or working with the family in some way. It has been a heart-breaking situation. The three boys are only 6, 8,
and 12 years old. Their father abandoned them, and their mother works six days a week to earn $30 dollars. They
live in a small adobe house with torn sheets of plastic for windows, and a tar paper roof. It is a very difficult
situation. The boys are thin and we believe that the youngest is suffering from malnutrition. We have known the
boys and have had them in our services from time to time, with their grandparents, but we had never met their
mother. In recent weeks, the boys had stopped us on the street to ask for money for food. We helped them each time,
but also asked why they were not in school and reminded them how important it is for them to go. It was during that
time that the situation escalated. While the mother was working, the boys were running the streets. The neighbors
were filing complaints and finally the president of our pueblo asked that the boys be removed and placed in a
boarding school down the mountain, about 15 kilometers away.
The boys were taken with very little clothing, no blankets for sleeping and no toiletries for personal hygiene.
Their grandparents, Santiago and Ramona, who have been dealing with this for the last three years, were devastated.
As we counseled them in their home, both were weeping. We immediately began to gather clothing and other needed
items to forward to the boys at the school. While trying to sort out the whole situation and understand the underlying
problems, Jesus, the 12-year-old appeared back in town. We were driving down a side street and he ran up to our
truck from his hiding place. When we asked him why he wasn't at the boarding school, he said, "I escaped!" As it
turned out, he had left the school without anyone's knowledge and hitch hiked up the mountain road to our town.
To make things worse, two days later, the two smaller boys, Kevin,6 and Rodolfo, 8 also left the school and
hitch hiked up the mountain. It was the next day before anyone was even looking for them. We were shocked. We
won't even allow our teenagers to travel that mountain road alone. Then, that night about 10:30pm, Jesus was
pounding on our door in tears. His mother was beating him with a belt and he had run away. He wanted us to help
him. We brought him in to calm down and talked with him about the relationship between parents and children. We
told him that we would have to take him home, but we would talk to his mother. Then, there was someone else
outside our door. Jesus' mother was walking the streets looking for him. We thought, at least she cared enough to be
out looking for him so maybe there was hope. She came in and we had a good talk with both of them. When they
left, they were at peace and walked home together.
We realized that those boys were so "at risk," that if someone didn't lovingly intervene, the situation would
soon be irreparable. We decided that we would take it upon ourselves to do everything in our power to help keep
their family together, working, and to bring the love of Christ into their lives. We made arrangements for the boys to
have meals during the time that their mother is working.
They also know that our home and we are available to them at all times. We made money available to their
mother, Oralin, to help purchase some of the boy's immediate needs. Along with that, we are checking on them daily
to make sure they are in school, eating and that everything is all right. They are so starved for love and attention that
they just absorb every second we give them. One evening, we took them for a ride to a hotel on the outskirts of town.
The hotel has two pens, one with peacocks, and the other with a tiger. The boys were so excited, you would have
thought it was the San Diego zoo.
We found out that one of the reasons that Jesus didn't like school was that he didn't have paper or pencils
and his mother never had money for such things. One evening, we took him shopping for school supplies. We found
a spiral notebook with 200 sheets of paper and a removable plastic ruler. He was so encouraged. In the store, he
also asked, "Hermano, (brother) could I have a pencil?" We bought him a whole package of pencils and a pen as
well. It is with a lump in our throats that we relate this story, as we recall how happy and how grateful he was for
such small gifts. He smiled from ear to ear. When we returned to his house, he was so excited that the first thing he
asked his mother was if he had clean clothes for school the next day. They have a long way to go and life isn't easy
for them, but by God's grace and with your help we would like to continue to invest ourselves in this family. Oralin,
will be attending our Sunday services and we will continue counseling with her. Please pray that we will be able to
lead her to Christ, that she like us, may drink from the well that never runs dry.
Another family that needs our prayer is that of Tito, the man who was recently released from prison and
accepted Christ as Savior. We have been counseling with him the last few weeks as well. He is not struggling with
his faith, but is trying to rebuild his life. Finding work, paying the rent, providing food for the children and his
relationship with his wife are all challenges. This last week, Tito showed up at our door practically in tears. His
landlord wanted their house back and Tito was to have his family and their things moved out that day. He didn't
have anywhere to go. He said he was desperate and that we were the only ones he could turn to. We have been
counseling with him concerning prioritizing life's demands and were able to speak with his landlord about the
situation. We prayed that God would undertake in his behalf, and when we explained the situation, he was given an
extension. Praise the Lord! Please continue to pray with us for Tito. He will need a new place to live and he is
having a hard time finding stable work. He worked for several weeks doing very difficult manual labor, loading tree
trunks by hand onto trucks bound for saw mills. When payday came, the boss didn't have any money and told him
"next week," that was over a month ago.
The mission base building project is progressing, but has slowed. With all the things happening in people's
lives, we just haven't had the time to do all that we would have liked to. The buildings are greatly needed, but the
ministry is people and we are thankful to be able to make a difference in their lives. We are applying the plaster to
interior walls, but with all of the special needs, this has been one of the most financially challenging months we have
faced. We are happy that our daughter Jessica, is back at college, but that too is a financial challenge. Each of the
next three months, she has a tuition payment of $650.00 dollars due, which leaves us uncertain about the future. We
borrowed money to meet the first month's obligation, but without the Lord's help, we will be facing an impossible
situation. As for the building project, we will still need more than $5,000 to finish necessary work, before we can
plan on moving to the property. At the time of this writing, we have only three bags of cement to work with, our
money is depleted and we have ten days until our next deposit by the mission board. It sounds discouraging, but we
are happy. We know you are praying for us, and we are trusting that God will work out the details in His time.
Please continue to pray for this building effort and us. We are in the process of trying to obtain legal documents for
the property and buildings. Just today we went to the county seat to meet with an engineer that can help us with the
required plans, and a lawyer who will write the needed documents. It is imperative that we have these in order to
have legal stability. With the recent governmental inquiries into our presence here, we are trying to cover all the
bases. It is a very demanding task and we found out it will cost several hundred dollars.
At the same time, we are in the process of applying for a renewal of our work visa. Foreign nationals are not
permitted to enter Mexico as missionaries. But, the law does make provision for us to work at the request of an
existing Mexican church. An entrance visa is issued for one year at a time. This is also an involved and expensive
legal matter, but absolutely necessary. Please pray that the Lord will guide us through the approval process.
Sometimes it feels like God is using us to weave a tapestry. There are so many things that we do, like
threads, a little here and a little there. It seems like they don't all fit together. But we know that in God's plan they
are all affecting people's lives for Christ, and are coming together to accomplish something that is of God's design
and pleasing to Him. Thank you, for your part in the work, and for making our part possible. It is a privilege to
serve the Lord with you.
Sincerely, For Souls Who Have Not Heard,
The Chambers
