March-April 1999
Dear Praying Friends,
We hope this letter finds you well and happy in the Lord. Our family has had an exciting and challenging time serving the Lord and watching Him work in this new year. All of the families we are working with have been sick, as well as ours, with flu, colds, and upper respiratory problems. We have had an unusually warm and dry winter. The lack of cold temperatures causes the viruses to thrive. With no rain or snow since early December, the viruses are at epidemic levels and water is in short supply. Barbara, the three year old daughter of one of our ladies, almost died at the health center last week. After winter, we usually don't get significant rain until July. With the current dry spell, we will probably face a serious water shortage over the next several months. Right now, we have water for only a few hours on some days and none at all other days. It can be very unnerving. Our family needs to install a water storage system, like many people here use. Our people who also depend on rain for crops, will probably be facing a difficult year. Please pray with us concerning these very basic needs.
The ministry has been very exciting. At our last outreach meeting we had a good group. We met several new people and had a good time in the Lord. The weekly Bible study in our home is going well, with a group of faithful people and we also have personal discipleship classes in the evenings that are a real blessing. Clara, who began coming to our Sunday meetings a couple of months ago, recently prayed to receive Christ as Savior. Praise the Lord! Since that time, she has not missed a meeting and is usually the first to arrive. Please pray as we continue to work with her. She is unable to read and must rely on listening during our Bible studies.
You remember, we asked you to pray with us about God raising up a man to help us in the village outreach and church planting work. God has been answering our prayers through Antonio. Since he received Christ as Savior, he has been like a sponge with the Word of God, coming to our house to study with us nearly every evening. His sincerity and eagerness to learn and serve are a real encouragement. Antonio is Tarahumara, and understands the language and culture and is excited to help reach the people in the villages. This is really exciting as we look forward to village outreaches in the future. Along with Antonio, we would also ask prayer for a young man in whom we have been investing ourselves for about a year. Miguel, is almost 18 and at a very pivotal time in his life. He trusted Christ as Savior and is very special to our family but lacks direction in his life. We would like to see God really get a hold of his heart, and that God might use him as well. This is a critical time as he makes decisions that will affect the rest of his life. His father is drunk most of the time, and often leaves home for weeks. Within his own culture, there are few positive influences or roll models. We have been counseling with him, and want God's best for his life.
Our building project continues to progress in between everything else. While we wait for the ceiling beams to arrive, we are finishing up the plumbing and starting to put in window frames. God has been good to allow some of our friends to help us with the material costs and we probably only lack about $2,000.00 to be able to complete the roof. If the materials are available, we would like to finish the roof by the end of April.
Some other prayer needs...
-Our visa paperwork has cleared immigration and we are awaiting approval from Mexico City.
-We have a school material order which needs to be placed and a payment due for the previous order.
-A water storage and pumping system needs to be installed as soon as possible and will cost about $475.00.
-We need a used window van or similar vehicle that is road worthy for transporting people and highway travel.
Thank you for your faithful prayers and financial support. It is a pleasure to serve the Lord together with you, and we praise the Lord for allowing us to have you as part of our team. You are making a difference!
Sincerely, For Souls Who Have Not Heard,
The Chambers
