Dear Praying Friends,
We trust that you are all well and enjoyed the holidays. Our family is fine and it is a blessing to have Jessica home from college for the Christmas break. It is hard to believe that she has just one more semester in order to complete her second year. Once again, we spent the holidays here in Mexico and enjoyed special times of fellowship with our people. This was our fourth Christmas here on the field, and 2001 will be our fourth year of service here. The time has passed quickly, but has not been wasted. We praise the Lord for all He has accomplished and for each of you who labor with us. God has used you to make possible a fruitful ministry of souls saved and changed lives. Eternal hope is a wonderful gift to give.
As Americans, Thanksgiving Day seems so familiar that we may forget that it is not celebrated in other countries. Many people here have heard that Americans eat turkey each year, but few know the story behind the tradition. This year, we invited many friends and unsaved acquaintances to share in our celebration. We were able to use the wonderful dinner that Deb and Bethany prepared as an outreach opportunity. Before the meal, we all stood in a circle around the table and explained the story of the Indians and Pilgrims, pointing out the special significance the day holds for us as Christians. It was a touching moment as we explained how the Pilgrims left their home land and family and how the Indians received them as their friends, and how our family too, is now in a new land away from family and friends, but how God has blessed us with new friends who have helped us become at home in Mexico. Then, we bowed our heads together and thanked the Lord for His unceasing faithfulness and provision. We all enjoyed the wonderful turkey dinner and built friendships that would not have been possible in a formal setting. We trust that God will allow us to see the seeds planted that day, come to fruition, that these precious people, might be saved and truly experience a thankful heart. Already we have been seeing God work in the life of a young man named Julio. He is a teenager who has been passed between relatives and lived in various towns. He has a drug problem and was living on the streets, having worn out his welcome with his family. We had Julio in our home for the first time on Thanksgiving. Since then, he has visited our services and seems to be more comfortable with us. Julio is a friendly, humorous young man and we know that God can do a work in his life.
Our services continue to develop and we thrill to see all that God is doing. We enjoyed a very special Christmas season with our people. In preparation for the holidays, we have been learning Christmas hymns. Martín, is very shy, but with some help and encouragement, has been helping lead singing. What a blessing it is to see God working in his life. Along with being faithful to our services, God has enabled him to give up smoking and drinking. Praise the Lord! Martín is a real asset to the work and it is great to be able to sit with the congregation and see Martin stand before the people and lead the singing for our services. Along with a special message, we also delighted in having Deb, Jess, & Bethany provide special music.
We would like to say a special word of thanks to all of you for making it possible to provide special food boxes and used clothing to our people this season, especially in light of the current economic crisis. Winter can be severe and we appreciate you caring enough to make a difference. God worked in a wonderful way. We were able to purchase bulk foods at Sam’s in El Paso, as well as here in Mexico. One of our local storeowners even helped by giving us a discount to help in the cause when we told him how the foods were to be used. Because of the level of deception and distrust here, that is almost unheard of. God is Good! Along with all of this, God gave two men a special desire to help and get personally involved. Mark Raby and his wife, Teresa, organized a collection effort in Phoenix and drove through the night to meet us at the border in El Paso with a pick-up and trailer of used clothing that they had sorted and boxed. Then, Marcus Davis, a man who has become a good friend to our family and ministry, organized a collection of bulk food in addition to blankets, clothing and gift packages containing Bibles and other useful items, in his east Texas town of Tyler. He and his daughter, Jamie, arrived here exhausted, at 1:30 in the morning, having waited at the border for three days, being turned away at one crossing and traveling a day’s drive to another before being allowed to proceed into Mexico. It was a tremendous effort on the part of many of our prayer partners and we want each of you who sacrificed to have a part, to know that it is a worthwhile cause. We have had the privilege of seeing the smiles and a sparkle come to the eyes of people as they received these gifts of love. The children are especially precious. We want to echo their “thank yous” and say how much we appreciate each of you. Our vision is to begin other works in the surrounding mountain villages where there is still no Gospel ministry. These gifts have allowed us to plant the seeds of future ministry in the villages of Panalachi and Gonagochi.
God is already blessing and we have four new Indian families who have expressed an interest in our services. In addition, we were invited into an Indian community to view one of their traditional ceremonies the night of New Year’s eve. We were received warmly by some of the people who recognized us, and it was a privilege to have been permitted to attend.
The men wore brightly colored clothing, head dresses and masks, playing music on hand made instruments and making shrill erie cries. We were somewhat apprehensive, being out in the middle of no where at mid-night, and the only non-Indian people in attendance. The music and traditional dance was to last all night, but we left at 2:30 am. We pray that God will use this great opportunity to allow us to begin to bring the Gospel Message into their lives. Praise the Lord!
As the ministry continues to develop, many things are simply beyond our control. Satan is always on the attack and often our greatest burdens are emotional. Due to the economic problems that our pueblo is facing, people have had to leave the area to find work. Antonio, the man who had been such a blessing to us helping in the services, has had to relocate to another state to take a construction job. Then, our friends, Mario & Lulu, whom God gave us the privilege of leading to Christ, left to relocate in southern Mexico. Another man and his wife have had to take a job in a village several hours away. This past week, two other men had to miss services to be in a meeting at the sawmill to discuss the problem of not being paid. When several adults along with their children are gone it leaves quite a void in our humble service, but more than that, their absence leaves a void in our hearts. While it temporarily leaves us feeling deflated, we thank the Lord, that much more, for allowing us to touch their lives. They not only take a part of our hearts with them, but they go with Jesus in theirs. We will be eternally grateful to you for making this ministry possible in the lives of these new brothers and sisters in Christ. Please remember them in your prayers as they go and us as we remain. We know the work is the Lord’s and that His ways are high above ours. While we don’t always understand, we never forget that He loves us and we will keep on doing all that He allows us to, as we watch for our Savior’s return.
We praise the Lord for His goodness to us. His unceasing faithfulness is sustaining. On one hand, the past few months have been some of the most difficult and yet rewarding at the same time. Not only has He seen fit to expand our ministry, but also He has met needs in marvelous ways. He allowed our family to enjoy a wonderful Christmas. He has met physical needs in the lives of our people. He has provided for our daughter’s travel expenses and registration fees for college this January. He has granted us legal permission to do the work of the Gospel ministry and provided documents to legalize our truck as a Mexican vehicle. What a powerful God we serve! He is also allowing us to gain even greater community acceptance. We will always be foreigners, but as with the Indian people, more and more, we are being accepted as members of the community. The local CB radio club has invited us to join their meetings. Craig, being a licensed “Ham”,J (that’s amateur radio operator) has become friends with several of the members. Also, we have been asked by several people to join them in meeting with the representatives of the office of urban renewal concerning issues of importance to the people of our community. What wonderful opportunities to witness and develop a foundation to share Christ with these people. It is just amazing what God can do as we acknowledge Him and allow Him to direct our paths.
The mission building project continues to be a source of blessing. We have tried to do everything legally and with permission and we are so glad God led us in that way. It has been demanding and expensive, but we are on more solid ground. Some property owners around us are loosing their land, and others are facing having their homes demolished for the development of roads, because they were built without permission. It has been a long struggle, but thankfully we now have a letter of agreement with the government that our parcel is to be deeded as surveyed upon receipt of a special permission from the state of Chihuahua. We are simply waiting on one document to be approved and the permission will be granted, Lord willing. It is amazing what a little friendship will do. We were having a hard time getting an engineer to come out to survey the land. In talking with him, we found out that he would like to have a pair of Reebok tennis shoes. We had some shoes sent down from the US for him and the next time we went to the office, he jumped up and said “we are on our way to your land right now.” Then, we were having a problem getting physical markers put in place along one side of the property. When the engineers were gone during the Christmas break, we left a small gift of a mechanic’s tool set neatly wrapped at the office, with a simple tag that read, from the Chamber’s family. The day after the men returned from their break, we discovered that surveyor’s markers had appeared on the property. Only in Mexico.J The physical work is also progressing between snow and cold spells. We now have the main building primed and ready for paint. This past week we installed a gate at the main entrance of the property and also the main door of the building. Mario and Julio, built the door and gate for us for little more than the cost of the materials. We look forward to God doing great things through the mission and are excited about possibly being able to put the building in service this year. In our Bible services, we often have to literally step over children to move through the room. We believe God will use the mission as a magnet. In the last couple of weeks, we had the opportunity to witness to a man who lives near the property and comes over to visit when we are there working. He is looking forward to having us there, and is interested in our services. We are praying that God might allow us to lead this man to Christ. His name is Jesús. Also, we recently met an Indian man who lives on the other side of the road from the mission property. He is very friendly, but timid and has asked if he could help us paint. Wanting to build friendships with our neighbors, we told him that we would really like to have his help and asked how much he would charge us per day. As an example of how desperate times are, fearing we might reject his request, he said he would be glad to work for twenty pesos a day, about $2 dollars. His name is Antonio, and he obviously has some serious needs. Perhaps God will allow us to point him to Christ and to see him become a part of our fellowship. Please pray for both of these men.
Thank you, once again for all that you do to be an encouragement to us and for laboring together with us. We wish we could share more of the exciting opportunities this new year holds, and thank the Lord for all the great things that He is doing. We appreciate you and pray that God will richly reward you for your labor in the Gospel ministry.
Sincerely, For Souls Who Have Not Heard,
The Chambers
