Stateside Once Again

"Brakes give way...over a cliff they go...and they're dead...instantly...and I asked my people, "Is this a tragedy?" I found myself quoting this part of Piper's sermon "Boasting Only in the Cross" often as we traveled through the mountains in Oaxaca state to get to the Coicoyan people. He is referring to two elderly women missionaries, Ruby Aliason and Laura Edwards, who served God faithfully overseas as medical people. As they were driving through the mountains of Cameroon their brakes gave way and they died instantly. In the eyes of the world this would be a tragedy but not for the gospel's sake. They died serving the Lord and in an instant they were in the presence of the Lord! To die really is gain when all our joy and hope is found in the person of Christ because we will instantly be in his presence!! Anyways, these are the kinds of thoughts that pervaded my mind while traveling through mountains that were home to 13 villages or so of people who have never heard the name of Christ or a true presentation of the gospel. We did a medical and dental clinic in two villages, Jicaral and Trinidad, and another part of our group did a dental clinic in two other villages. The need for laborers hit me the most as we set out from Jicaral to travel further into the mountains to Trinidad. We literally drove right through one village. The road went through the middle of the village with houses just feet from our vehicles on either side. There was a huge catholic church on the edge of the village. As we drove on through the mountains beyond, the village would come in and out of sight, reminding me of how unreached they are! Who is going to live among them and tell them about Christ? Who will go? Well, that is David Sitton's aim in starting this missions training school, the Center for Pioneer Church Planting. He desires to train laborers and launch them to the nations. That has been the most sobering sight in every place we have been so far...the magnitude of unreached peoples and the thought of 'who will go?' I am only one person!! If you have the slightest desire to do missions then do as we say here at To Every Tribe Ministries..."Pull the trigger!" Just do it! We have a clear mandate in scripture to go to peoples who don't know Christ and tell them about Him. You have a desire to go...what else do you need? "Pull the trigger!" I just so happen to know of a great training school for missionaries and several places where unreached peoples dwell. Please pray about what the Lord would have you do next in your life. I make this call out of a constant need I have seen everywhere we have gone...a plentiful harvest and few laborers. So, will you join me? If not then consider how you can support those who are taking the gospel to the unreached. Every missionary needs a support system back home. That could be you. And that is no less of a noble task. It is equally part of taking the gospel to the nations. And there is so much joy in both the going and the sending aspect of mission! So, what will you do?

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest."
Luke 10:2

Our prayer here at TETM has continually been for laborers and we have seen the plentiful harvest which only fuels our prayers more for laborers. You can find out more about TETM at their website: www.toeverytribe.com. You can listen to Piper's sermon, "Boasting Only in the Cross" at http://www.desiringgod.org/Search/?search=boasting+only+in+the+cross. Click on the sermon and a box should come up and you can listen to the sermon.

I do thank you so much for all your prayers thus far and thank you to those who have sent money to TETM for my schooling here at the Center for Pioneer Church Planting. I can't express to you how grateful I am for this training and the opportunities I have had to take the gospel to people who have never heard. I can't imagine what kind of missionary I would have been now that I know what I have learned through this school. This experience has been priceless to me! Thank you. I love you all and pray for you often. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you.
Side by side
Phil 1:27
Cara

Pray for Coicoyan!

We head out tomorrow morning for Coicoyan in Oaxaca State. The Coicoyan people are among the most unreached people groups in Mexico. They are unreached because they are among the hardest to get to with the gospel. They are very hostile to the gospel and have run out some missionaries already. They are in desperate need of the gospel! We plan on running a medical clinic as well as a dental clinic. Hopefully this will open up doors for the sharing of the gospel. Their native language is Mixteco but some speak Spanish. However, they don't like to speak Spanish because they view it as an inferior language. They are also very superstitious about everything. They are very syncretistic in their beliefs as well. They live out Roman Catholicism to some degree but they also have their own "saints" that they pray to for rain.

PRAY:

• opportunities for the gospel to be shared
• salvation of the Coicoyan people/church established
• wisdom/knowledge for medical and dental clinics and strength to endure
• unity among team members
• travel safety

Thank you so much for your prayers! I pray I will return with news of salvation or at least seeds planted! Thank you and I love you all!!

Phil 1:27

Cara

Home, Sweet Home

Where do I begin? We headed out Sunday the 29th of April and arrived in La Barra Tuesday morning. In times past the leadership of the village would have a meeting on whether or not we could camp on the beach. This has always been an issue because they have a rule that nobody can camp on the beach, not even their own people. This has also been a source of conflict in times past because some of the leadership do not want us there and it would be at that time that they would give us permission to sleep on the beach and do our clinics but not bring our religion. This year, a man named Jose Luis, the shortstop for the baseball team, said we could camp around his house where there was a toilet and a shower. So, we set up camp. The leadership ended up not having to meet at all. They did inform us that they would be having a fiesta May 2nd and 3rd so we probably wouldn't want to do our dental clinic then because everybody would be at the fiesta. So, that Wednesday we drove an hour to another city set back in a mountain called Chacalapa. There we were warmly received. We set up clinic on the front porch of the Agencia and saw about 45 patients that day. The following day, back in La Barra, we got a great taste of culture at the fiesta. We also saw effects of their bondage to sin. People of all ages were drinking beer and getting drunk. The following two days were filled with drilling and filling teeth! We opened clinic around 9 am and went until 6 pm or so. Saturday, the last day for clinic, we stayed open until 9:30 pm because we just couldn't turn people away. One of the last patients we saw said she was so grateful because she saw how we were tired and stayed anyway to see everybody. I pray she recognizes that as the love of Christ! Throughout the time we were in the dental clinic, our translators spent some time with the people in the village, visiting homes, and whatnot. There were many conversations regarding Christ and the gospel but the people of La Barra are still resistant and hardhearted. They want to continue in their sinful way of life. There is a family of a believers though. Roberto and his wife are fairly new believers. They held bible studies in their home for awhile until one of the men that came was threatened with a machete not to come back or that would be the last time. Roberto and his wife have quieted down under the persecution. Please pray for their strength, boldness, and endurance in preaching the gospel and that God would open up the unbelieving eyes to see the futility of their ways and their need of the Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that our team was of some encouragement to Roberto. It is strange writing these things about persecution in that place because these people are our friends. There is a feeling of spiritual darkness there that we didn't feel in Chacalapa but they are our friends. David Sitton explained this to me as the "Palm Branch" phase. One day the people are laying palm branches down before Jesus and the next they are crucifying Him. I don't know how long this "palm branch" phase will last but I am sure as soon as the gospel is boldly and lovingly preached in that place the persecution will come. Please pray that God would raise up a team to go to La Barra and to go to Chacalapa where the name of Christ is not known and is not exalted. Pray that the gospel is preached no matter what the cost! The following Sunday we hung around La Barra to watch the baseball team play a game against another city. La Barra won and soon after that we headed out for the trip back home.
I want to thank you for all your prayers for me on this trip. Many times during the clinic I could feel God giving me strength to see another patient. Two days in a row my first patient took me about 3 hours due to so many cavities. God sustained me through those three hours and the following patients who had difficult cavities to get to and fix. I know without a shadow of a doubt that that was an answer to so many people's prayers. It truly is amazing when you know your attitude isn't quite right and you think you just can't go on and then you pray, or you know someone else is praying (thank you Mark!!), and that attitude is gone and you suddenly have this source of strength and endurance that only comes by God's grace. He is so good and able to sustain his children through any situation in life! Praise Him!! So, thank you again for your prayers. You are greatly appreciated!
Philippians 1:27
Cara