Fear God, and give glory to Him

Greetings!

Dear friends,                                                           (Nov. 7, 2008)

 Greetings from chilly southern Missouri!  We’re taking a little recess right now, and the children are out getting some fresh air and exercise.  Marcus is out in the cold fixing some vehicles at Bro. Chris’ place, in spite of the sore throat and cold that he has.

 Yesterday Marcus went with two other brothers to preach at the University of Arkansas.  They went the last two weeks also.  There are quite a few students who stop with questions, seeming to really want to know.  They go in the morning and spend all day there.  Yesterday a young Muslim woman wondered about the headcovering (one of the signs they said “Christian women cover their heads).  She covers her head because the Koran says to do so, and she had no idea that it’s a Christian teaching.
 
Last evening we were at Chris Hammens for supper, along with a number of other church families.  They served us venison steaks from the deer two of their boys (11 and 12 yrs. old) shot last weekend.  Brian Minter and Marcus had butchered the deer for them, so we got the heart, liver, and ribs. :)
 
 By the way, we’ve moved back to the meetinghouse now.  Wednesday night was rather eventful here.  Sirens woke some of us up around midnight – a tornado had been sighted and was moving toward Monett.  Since we’re right in town, the sirens at two schools nearby were very loud, but the children didn’t wake up at all.  Several neighbors joined us in the basement, with their dog, and the storm raged outside (hail, pouring rain, and strong winds).  But it didn’t last long, and soon after 1:00 the sirens stopped and everyone went back to bed. 
 
(Sunday)  High time to get this finished now… Bro. David preached this morning about Redemption – Ransomed from Whom?  Satan has men bound in sin – servants to sin, but Jesus has paid the ransom and unlocked the prison doors for us all to get up and follow Him.  We were taken captives by Satan at his will.  We didn’t realize we would become his slaves when we chose our own way over God’s way.  Jesus didn’t owe anything to the devil, but we did, and we were needing ransoming from our kidnapper.  He says, “If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed.  And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”
 
One of the main tenets of the modern gospel, that many of us have been taught, says something like this: Our sin has offended an almighty God, and He must punish this sin.  And He can’t even forgive unless someone steps in and takes the punishment.  And so Jesus died, shedding His blood, and as God saw His dreadful suffering and sacrifice, His wrath was appeased or “satisfied”.  This in some way changed His mind about our sin, and He can forgive it, if we just “accept” Jesus’ sacrifice personally, by a “conversion experience”.  In other words, we can get forgiven without ever even changing our lives, without ever making Him our Lord.  “I’m under the blood.  When God sees me, He doesn’t see my sin anymore, He sees the blood.”  This doctrine removes personal responsibility to conform our lives to Jesus’ teachings.  The early Christians never believed anything like this.  This doctrine only came to be widely believed about 900 years ago.  The Reformers embraced it.  Look at the results today!  

 Wilbur and Joanna were here for lunch with us.  The Guatemalan family who had planned to come to the service with them didn’t, since their daughter had a cough.  They said they want to come Wednesday.
 
God bless you!                   

           --Monica

Thanking the Lord for a safe trip

Hello, everyone!

Dear friends,                                                             Oct. 6, 2008

          Greetings from cool and rainy Missouri!  This morning we (Marcus' cousin Wilbur's family and ours)quickly worked together before breakfast to get the firewood off the trailer and stacked in the little woodshed here at Wilbur’s place.  We had worked hard Saturday afternoon cutting and loading the wood, and were glad to get it all in before the rain came.

          After breakfast Joanna and I piled our 10 children in their big van and went up the road to gather apples at the neighbors.  The older children climbed up in the tree and shook the branches and picked some apples from the ladder, and the rest of us picked up the good ones from the ground.  What a blessing to have plenty of apples for fresh eating, and to make into applesauce!  We had gotten a load last week also – the neighbors are just glad if someone can use them, since they have 4 trees, and didn’t want these.

         Last evening (Sun.) all the families from church were invited to Kevn Stewarts’ place, for a hot dog and marshmallow roast.  Brian Gray is up from Peru now, probably for a few months.  His brother Thomas plans to return to Ohio for a while, and Bro. David is to fly to the Philippines on Wednesday.  Then soon it will be time for us to head back to México, so it was special to all be together yet. 

          Dale and Cindy Lucien were with us yesterday also.  They’ve been attending pretty regularly for a number of months.  They’re good friends of Chris and Kim (David’s sister).  And yesterday Cindy wore a headcovering for the first time – what a blessing to see her take that hard step in obedience! Their 8-yr.-old daughter Katie also had her head covered in the evening.

          Bro. Johnathan Hopper’s mother also began covering her head lately, and dressing modestly.  Now John and Becky are in the Philippines, so we want to do what we can to be family for her.  She has an hour to drive, and doesn’t make it for every service. 

          Marcus has been going to preach with Wilbur and Chris Friday evenings, where they usually go, in Fayetteville, Arkansas.  Two weeks ago there was a big motorcycle rally.

             Marcus is busy working for Bro. Chris, who lives just across the field from Wilburs.  He helped Wilbur with his electrical work one day too.  We’ll probably be here with Wilburs another week or so, and then spend some time at the church yet, so Marcus and Brian Gray can work and talk together.

          It’s really been a blessing spending time together with the brethren and sisters.  Living together we just get to know each other so much better, and can encourage each other on.  It’s a good way to “exhort one another daily, and so much the more as [we] see THE DAY approaching.”  We’re getting anxious to get back to our brethren in México too.  Telephones and e-mail help us keep in touch while we are apart.  Lord willing we will be back with them in a couple weeks.

                                      Our love and prayers, Marcus, Monica and five

September news

                                                                              (Saturday, Sept. 5)

   Hello, everyone!  It's a little past 11:00 PM.  Roger and I just enjoyed ice pops together - he had a late nap, and isn't sleepy yet.  Marcus went preaching this evening with his cousin Wilbur Graybill, and several other brethren.
   We've been staying at Bro. Joe Yoder's place for almost 3 weeks now.  He and his wife Fannie's children are all married, and they have a big house, with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs for us.  Marcus is busy working on Bro. Joe's vehicles.  He finished a car and pickup, and is in the midst of work on a small tractor, I believe.  Several weeks ago Marcus Brubaker, from Versailles, gave my Marcus a motorcycle, to take to Mexico.  So he's working on that some, too.  It sure is nice to have a good shop for him to work in, when it's rainy like it's been the last few days.
   Megan, Maury, and Randall study most days.  Roger walks around talking to and distracting them. :|  Just lately I printed out some new charts for them - that gives more incentive to do flashcards.  Clayton is 10 months old today.  Just yesterday he started clapping his hands.  We also discovered that he really likes the song "Only a boy named David" (especially in Spanish).  He gets all excited and makes his hands go "around and around" too.  :)
   I try to help Fannie with whatever I can.  Today I got mowing done, and made a Mexican supper.  Last week I sewed together a bunch of patches for a crib quilt.  I've also been experimenting with her new embroidery machine.  She wants to use it to embroider verses on the quilts she makes for her grandchildren.  Oh, and another project for this week was to help Sis. Becky Hopper sew some jumpers.  She and her husband Johnathan and two little boys are to fly back to the Philippines next Wednesday.
   Today the neighbor children brought their little pony over for our children to ride.  They sure enjoyed that!  Even Clayton had a little ride with Megan. 
   (Tuesday)  Sisters Liz, Joanna, and I helped Becky do some packing this morning.  They are to fly across the sea tomorrow afternoon, Lord willing.  We will surely miss them here, but we know that the brethren over there will be so glad to have them back.  And what a blessing the communication that we can have nowadays is, through e-mails and telephone, etc. 

   We plan to be with Joe's for a couple more days yet, and then come stay at the church house for a little while.  We also hope to spend a week or so with Wilbur and Joanna before we leave for our home in Mexico again. 

   Time to go.  God bless you!

We arrived!

Praise the Lord!  We made it here safe and sound, last evening a little before 10:00.  The Lord blessed us with a good trip, and today we had a blessed time meeting and fellowshipping with our dear brothers and sisters here. 

We're getting settled into the basement of our meetinghouse, where we've stayed other times, so it's almost like coming home to our own house.   

We don't have a lot planned for the next several months, just whatever the Lord has for us.  Most important is to be with the brethren here, and encourage each other in the Way.

I need to go and get my children off to bed now.  God bless you!

Reynosa!

Well, we made it to Reynosa the beginning of the week - Marcus' immigration document came the end of last week.  Praise the Lord!  After the worship service with the brethren in Tlaxcala Sunday morning, we headed north, with Tony Barajas and Josuè Moreno. 

We arrived at the home of our brother Eloy Garcìa, and his mother Guillermina, in Reynosa, Monday evening.  Right away it was a blessing to see that Guille had begun to cover her head, a big step of obedience to the Lord! 

The last number of days we've had opportunity to visit in a number of homes, of their friends and relatives, and encourage them to take up the cross and follow.  Last evening we had a Bible study here in their own home, and one of Eloy's cousins came. 

Another cousin of his, Areli, and her 3-year-old son, have been living here with the family for almost a year.  She and I are about the same age, and we've had some good talks (along with Sis. Guille) about submission to our husbands, etc.  One afternoon Eloy's sister Edith came by just as we were about to read 1 Peter 3, so she got to hear and join the conversation, too.  She said Eloy is always telling her that, and agreed that it's true - just hard.

Yesterday afternoon Areli and I adjusted a pattern and cut out a dress for Sis. Guille.  Areli took a sewing class years ago, so I believe she'll make out fine with the sewing.

We want to leave in a couple hours, for the last long stretch - 18 more hours from Reynosa to Monett, MO.  (We made it here in 15 hours, and were glad for Tony's help driving.  Now he and Josuè plan to bus back to Mexico City today.  Wish they could go along with us, but we've never been able to meet the visa requirements.) 

Lord willing, the next time I write we will be with the brethren in Monett! 

News from the month of June, by Marcus

Our Journey to the Sierra Negra

On Saturday, May 24, we left for the Sierra Negra (Black Mountain Range), our family of seven, Marcus’ helper Tony Barajas, and Samuel and Alejandra and their two little girls.  Alejandra is from a village far up in the mountains of the Sierra Negra, and she had invited us to go and visit her family.  She had not been back to visit for three years, so she was anxious to see her family again, and we were looking forward to the opportunity of sharing about following the Lord with the people there.

We traveled three hours on the highway south into Oaxaca, to the town of Cuicatlàn.  Since night had fallen, we found a “Casa de los Huèspedes” (House of Wayfarers) to spend the night.  The next morning, Sunday, we continued on our way, three hours more on a dirt road winding up, down, and around, through the mountains.  Finally we arrived at Zautla, where Alejandra’s parents and two brothers were waiting for us. 

After eating there, her father Demetrio borrowed a few more horses.  It took a couple hours to get all seven horses saddled, our luggage and three crates of mangos, etc. tied on the horses’ backs, as well as our children, two to a horse.  Then we began the climb up into the mountains to La Soledad.  Those of us who are not accustomed to such rigorous mountain climbing got to ride a horse or mule part of the way.  I was glad for my sling to carry little Clayton securely along on the mule.  And yes, riding was much easier than walking up over the rocks, even if we got saddle-sore after a while.  (I had always loved riding horse, but had never ridden a horse up, up into the mountains – you have to hang on good and tight, I discovered.  And never before had I ridden for a number of hours!)  Alejandra’s mother Leticia walked the whole way, carrying her two-year-old granddaughter on her back a good part of the way.  Marcus thought he was doing pretty good, being able to huff one of the steepest parts of the mountain without having to ride, until he noticed her!  Up and up we climbed, following a narrow horse path, through pastures where cattle grazed, through patches of forest where branches and thorns sometimes reached out to grab us, through a cold mountain stream where we all enjoyed a refreshing drink...  Once we were interrupted in our climb when a horse that was loaded with luggage fell and refused to get up.  So the men unloaded it, mended the strap that had broken, tied everything on securely again, and we were on our way.  The horse had a small cut from the rocks on which it had fallen, and would need to be doctored with “agua ardiente” (burning water – cane liquor).  We waved to a family working in their field, planting between the stumps that remained after they cut down the trees and burned off the brush.  Finally just before sunset we plodded into the village of “Loneliness” – five hours after we had started out.  We passed a couple houses scattered here and there, and then climbed up into Demetrio and Leticia’s yard.

We met their other children – one more boy and 5 girls.  Their youngest (3) had a fever, and we were glad to give some children’s ibuprofen, so she could feel better.  (A number of years ago they lost a little 2-year-old boy, when he had a fever for a number of days that just wouldn’t come down.  Leticia had gone the whole way down the mountain with him, and got on the bus to get to a doctor, but on the way she realized that he wasn’t breathing anymore.  So she just turned around and brought him back home to bury him.  Their next-to-youngest girl was born on a strenuous trip down the mountain.  They had only half an hour to go yet when the baby suddenly came, even though it was two months early.  So they had to get help to transport mother and child to a clinic, on a stretcher of some kind.) 

Leticia served us a delicious meal of black beans (which they raised) and tortillas in their kitchen with board walls, dirt floor and tin roof.  Since there are lots of trees all around, all their food is prepared over a fire.  They say, “It’s so much better to live out here in the mountains than in the city, because when you run out of money here, all you need to do is walk out and find many different herbs to make a good meal with tortillas, or shoot a wild animal, and then you have meat.” 

A little later Marcus brought out our Bible story books with lots of pictures, and translated the story of Noah for the children (and adults).  And then they showed us the room they had for us, partitioned off from the main section of their sleeping quarters with a curtain.  We were all very tired and ready for sleep, but when we settled down on the boards covered with a woven mat and blanket, using our folded jackets for pillows, we realized how spoiled we are!  No problem for our children – they can sleep anywhere. J  Demetrio kindly brought us a little softer mat the equivalent of a folded blanket, “for the baby”.  But Marcus and I were the ones who claimed it.  As we went to sleep, we remembered the Anabaptists, sleeping in a damp prison cell, or hiding out in the woods, and we were thankful.

Marcus was awakened in the middle of the night by Alejandra`s brother urgently calling, “Shut the door!  Quick!  Samuel, shut the door!  Shut that door!”  Someone did shut the door and then it sounded to Marcus like he was digging bullets out.  Outside he heard noises on several sides of the house, and imagined a few drunks coming around, trying to get in...  He didn’t quite feel like getting shot, but he knew he would honor the Lord either way.  Neither did he want our friends to defend us with bullets.  (Alejandra had told us that her father had arms in the house.)  Well, needless to say, Marcus was wide awake now, but he tried to cast his care on the Lord, and told himself that it was probably just a “paper giant”.   He committed us all into the Lord’s hands, and went to the Bible for comfort.  The house was deathly quiet, except for the noises outside, which he soon discovered was horses munching and pawing every now and then.  AND the next morning when he asked the others about it, only one other person vaguely remembered the frantic door closing command.  They said it’s nothing unusual for Adolfo (Chango) to talk in his sleep, and apparently that’s what it was.  So it really was a paper giant!

The next day (Monday), Marcus, Tony, Megan and Maury went with Samuel to explore a cave down in a hollow.  The men also butchered a sheep, and we had delicious meat for dinner and supper that day.  Alejandra’s mother, Leticia, told me about a lion that supposedly escaped from a circus and is living around there in the mountains.  She said not long ago it killed 8 of their goats, and another time came and killed 12 sheep.  So that really brought the size of their herd down, and their son isn’t very excited about raising animals after that.  (Somehow that story about the lion would come back to me in the middle of the night, when I needed to venture out to the outhouse...  Even though I knew that it surely would be afraid to come very near the village, it made the trip in the darkness a little more exciting. J )

That evening we all went to visit Alejandra`s grandparents, who live just up the hill.  In their old age, they are caring for 5 of their grandchildren whose mother passed away at the birth of the youngest, who is 6.  The father is far away in Mexico City, and they don’t hear from him.  We gave the grandma Ibuprofen for her awful toothache.  Toward the end of the visit, the grandpa asked Marcus to share the message he had brought, so Marcus shared about Joseph to the group gathered there that evening.  Even though they are Catholic, the grandpa urged his children to listen closely to the story of Joseph, and of how we’re to follow Jesus, no matter what happens.  They are very concerned for their grandchildren, and want them to grow up to be godly men and women.  Later the grandma told us that she wishes we could come every week to teach the children.  I was impressed at the patience these old people have with their grandchildren – the noise of five children playing can get to be pretty much sometimes, but they didn’t seem to mind.  And when one little boy drove his car over his grandpa’s head,  the grandpa just kept right on with his conversation.  J  Since the grandma doesn’t have very much strength to scrub all their clothes, she has the boys scrub their own pants.  It was a blessing to visit with them.

We had planned to head for home Tuesday morning, since Samuel needed to be back at work Wednesday morning.  But Demetrio was really tired (Monday he had to make the long trip back over the mountains to Zautla, to return the horses he had rented, and only got home an hour or so after dark).  He urged us to stay another day, so Samuel went home by himself, by bus. We visited in another home, and Marcus fixed Demetrio’s big chainsaw, and went with him to saw up a log and to look at his crops planted pioneer style among tree stumps and fallen logs.

That night it rained, and Wednesday morning it was still raining.  They say that when it starts raining there it hardly stops, and now is the time for rainy season to begin.  So we wondered when we would be able to leave.  Wednesday morning we were able to visit in the home of Alejandra’s cousin Bulmaro, a young man who has a wife and two small children.  Later Marcus worked on some other appliances for the families.  We also had a good talk with a woman who stopped by.  She was dressed modestly, with her head covered, and no earrings or other adornment.  When we shared about what it means to really follow Jesus, she said, “What you’re saying is true.  Come back again, and don’t just stay here – get in all the homes to tell what you’re bringing.”  (By God’s grace we want to.)  She wanted literature, and we gave the messages on paper that we hand out.  In the afternoon the sun came out and dried things off a bit, but Demetrio urged us to wait until morning, since it was still threatening to rain.  Alejandra was anxious to go, since her husband had already gone back to Tehuacàn, and we were minded to, too, thinking that it would probably rain more in the night, and make things muddier yet...

So we decided to head out, and by 5:00 we were heading down the mountain.  We took only four horses this time, since it was mostly downhill, and we had less things to take back.  Our children were tied on the horses again, and we adults walked most of the way.  Well, it was quite an adventure...  It rained some, and they tied big sheets of plastic around the children, to keep them dry.  The rest of us got wet, but then the rain stopped and we dried out, at least our top half.  The way was muddy and slippery and rocky, and then the sun went down and we still had a long way to go.  Those of us who were walking had gotten ahead of the ones on horseback, trying to get as far as we could before dark.  But then we waited for them to catch up, and sure enough, when we finally heard them coming down the neighboring mountain, we heard Roger crying in fright.  He needed his daddy’s firm voice to calm him down.   He just didn’t like the jolt of the mule’s steep stepping downward.

Well, we finally sloshed into Zautla around 9:00 (it seemed a lot later than it really was J ).  We were muddy and wet up to above the knees, and our feet didn’t want to cooperate very well anymore.  We bedded the children down on the mattresses in the back of our dear old suburban, and got changed into our dirty, but dry, other clothes.  A man there wanted to talk to Marcus yet – turned out that he wanted Marcus to check his bus, so we decided to sleep there that night.  Our family slept in the suburban, Tony in the cab of a nearby truck, and the others in the house.

The next morning Marcus fixed the bus, they served us a good breakfast there, and then we came on our way home. 

May news

   Hello! I really don't have much time to write, but I guess I'll just take a little time. :) We were in Tlaxcala or Mexico City three weeks out of the past month, and just came "home" to Tehuacàn Wednesday evening. Thankfully, we were able to get a bunch of paperwork done, and now we're waiting for Clayton's birth certificate and passport to come in the mail, and also Marcus' document, making him an immigrant here in Mexico. Josuè's visa application to go to the States was denied - to get a visa, he or his father would need to have a bunch of money in the bank and a big business going, or have a registered church in the States to sponsor him, which we are not interested in, so they couldn't give him the visa.
   The morning after we got home, a young mother (18-year-old) named Alejandra came needing some tortilla money. She'd come a number of times before and helped with housework, and we were able to give her some money so she could go to the doctor, some clothes for her children, etc. She and her "husband" have two dear little girls, ages 2 and 3 1/2. She said her husband was sick for quite a while, and unable to work, but now he has a job and they're trying to get their debts paid off. Well, this last time when she needed help, we didn't have money to give her, but we did have a sewing machine that hadn't sold yet. So Marcus took that to her house, so that she could leave it with the woman who gives her tortillas on credit, until she would be able to pay. But today she came and helped me a while, and then wondered if we could show her how to use the sewing machine. They haven't left it with the other woman yet, and Alejandra was anxious to use it. So anyway, I spent a couple hours with her this afternoon, helping her sew. She and her husband and sister-in-law plan to come for the service on Sunday, they said. I've already had opportunity to share with her what the Lord says about fornication (she and her "husband" are not married), wifely submission, modest dress, child training, etc. She is very helpful and thankful, and willing to share what she has, also. One day she brought me a bag of little boys' clothes, since she doesn't have any boys, and this afternoon she brought a little container of oatmeal atole, since she knew I liked it when she served me some in her house. She is from a town in the mountain range two hours or so from here, and hasn't been able to go back to visit her family for three years, for lack of funds. We're hoping to go soon and take them, and preach there.
   Bro. Daniel Barajas and family plan to come tomorrow and be here over Sunday. The brethren want to go and preach outside a big evangelical church on Sunday, also. I guess Sis. Paty and Erika will get to help me clean tomorrow - I've been busy doing wash, making food, helping the children with their schoolwork, etc. So the house is dirty and suitcases still aren't all unpacked... :) I'm glad they like to clean - things will get into shape pretty fast that way, and we can visit while we work together. (Later - looks like they won't be coming tomorrow after all - it's postponed till next weekend. Hopefully Raùl and Gaby and Josuè Moreno can come along then, too.)
   Marcus just got off the phone with Bro. Daniel, and among other things, Bro. Daniel mentioned that there's a little girl (maybe 9 or 10 years old) and her mother that were with the brethren in their service last evening. She had come to B. Daniel's apartment a few times after learning to know them in the play area of their development. They shared with her about following Jesus and not loving the world, and dressing to please the Lord, too. She told her mother, "Mother, I've got to dress modestly. It's time to seek the Lord!" She begged them for a covering and modest dress, which they gladly gave, and she began wearing it right away, saying, "I don't want this world anymore! I want to follow the Lord." She badly wanted to come along with Bro. Daniel's to Tehuacàn this weekend, but her family had other plans. Apparently she and her mother listened attentively in the service last evening.
   As far as our trip to the States, we're planning for it in a few weeks, depending on when we get our paperwork back.
   Well, this got pretty long. I'd better stop and get my wash folded now. God bless you!
                                    Monica

April Newsletter

   Dear family and friends,

   Greetings of love from Tlaxcala, Mexico.  Right now I'm using the internet here at the Moreno's house.  They just got it installed this week, which is nice for us others who can use it too.
   We've been in Tlaxcala for two weeks now, enjoying time with the brethren.  Last evening the brethren went out preaching together, and this afternoon they are too. 
   Sis. Gaby came over to the Barajas' house while the men were away, and Erika helped her sew a jumper for herself.  A week ago I helped her with another jumper.  She's getting more encouraged about sewing, and says she might be brave enough to try one by herself next time. 
   Tomorrow our family plans to go to Mexico City to be with the Aragòn family.  Two of their children, Angèlica and Jacobo, spent almost a week with us in Tehuacàn, the middle of March.  We were glad to get to know them better, and encourage them in following the Lord. 
   Roberto was with us most of that week, and Toni Barajas also.  Hopefully soon we will be able to visit Roberto and his family in the little town where they live an hour and a half away from us.  His mother and siblings came to services a number of times, and his mother seems to have a desire to walk in the light, but it is hard with all the pressure from family and friends. 
   We are thinking of making the trip to the States in about a month.  But before we can do that, we need to get some paperwork done - birth certificate and/or passport for Clayton, etc.  Josuè Moreno is hoping to go along with us, also.  So we will see how the Lord works things out for us.
   Clayton is 5 months old today.  A little over a week ago he got his first tooth.  He really likes to eat from the table already - tortilla, black bean broth, orange juice, milkshake, etc.  Also needed a couple spankings when he got mad because his food didn't come fast enough.  He can sit up pretty well by himself too - seems to be growing up faster than the other children, for some reason.
   The brethren just got back from preaching now.  God bless you!
                                      --Marcus and Monica and all

March newsletter