MexicoAG.org

On October 9th, incoming Area director Dave Greco met with Mexico’s A/G leaders regarding partnership in ministry to the indigenous and ethnic groups in Mexico.

The meeting in Chihuahua City with Salvador Salazar- National Missions Director, César Casillas – National Missions Treasurer, and Cruz Velázquez – Home Missions Director and pioneer missionary to the Tarahumara Indians, is expected to be a profitable one.

Let’s pray for our leaders and also over this partnership as it grows and develops:

• wisdom – “But the wisdom that comes from God is first of all pure, then peaceful, gentle, and easy to please. This wisdom is always ready to help those who are troubled and to do good for others. It is always fair and honest. James 3:17 NIV
• workers – “For we are fellow workmen (joint promoters, laborers together) with and for God” I Cor. 3:9 AMP; “He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest.” Luke 10:2 NCV
• unity – “And that’s about it, friends. Be cheerful. Keep things in good repair. Keep your spirits up. Think in harmony. Be agreeable. Do all that, and the God of love and peace will be with you for sure.” 2 Cor. 13:11 MSG

In the passing of Harley Vail on Friday, November 28th, the Mexico Missionary Fellowship lost a pioneer, co-worker, and very dear friend. In the following memorial, we remember this man who, at 93 years old, was cheery and joking to the end.

Harley W. Vail was born in Brewster, Kansas in 1915. His family later moved to Nampa, Idaho, where he lived until leaving home to serve in the US Army during World War II. Following the war, Harley attended Bible School at Southern California Bible College and felt the call to Mexico, becoming the first appointed missionary to Mexico for the Assemblies of God.

After thirty years of dedication to the people of Yucatan, Mexico, Harley married Jean Durland of Lyons, Oregon. They were then appointed as missionaries to Nicaragua for five years and held various other assignments in Mexico until retirement. Eventually they settled in Oregon, where he lived his final years in Redmond and Bend, making many new friends.

Known for his humor and always having a joke to tell, Harley’s hobbies included table tennis and then pool as he aged. He loved church hymns and playing his accordion, which he had used for many years in Mexico. He participated in Bible Studies at Harmony House Retirement Center where he was a resident.

Harley is survived by his wife Jean Durland Vail, son Toney Vail of Sacramento, California, sister Lois McWaters of Twin Falls, Idaho, and brother Virgil Vail of Sunriver, Oregon.

Recently, the Mexico Missionary Fellowship bid farewell to friend and co-worker Nick Pino. In the following article, we commemorate the life and work of this faithful servant of Christ.

Nick was born in Italy, and spent childhood years in Argentina. In his early teens, he began to run with the wrong group and began to drink at 13, causing his parents problems. A pastor’s wife intervened, and sent him to a Christian summer camp where he met Jesus. A little later in a missions rally, God called him to be a missionary.

At age 17, Nick and his family moved to the United States where he met Naomi Ruth Taylor at Zion Bible Institute, and they eventually married and went into pastoral ministry. Nick went to Chile with a youth witnessing team in 1974, and his heart was captured. Nick and Ruth Pino, and their three sons, were appointed in July 1975 to go to Chile.

They engaged in evangelism. Impact “76” saw many miracles in the six targeted cities, with up to 2500 people attending nightly. Ruth was active in the Chilean Women’s Missionary Council. In 1977, they added church planting to their job description.

In 1980-81, Nick helped oversee the building of the new Bible school in downtown Santiago which he directed. He used students to plant a church in Linares, and La Reina. He also became associated with international television evangelism. They felt called to plant 10 new churches in 1984-1986, working with John and Glenda Harris. In their last 5 years in Chile, they planted 30 churches.

In 1991 they transferred to Mexico, where these two families soon had planted 30 new churches and an additional four in Chile. Ruth began nurses training, eventually earning her degree. The late 90’s found them engaged in large evangelistic crusades and women’s conferences, with many coming to Christ. They also continued with church planting. During recent years, Nick and Ruth continued to minister in campaigns, conferences, and church planting projects.

Over the last few years, they had suffered a number of serious health issues, but soldiered on, Nick finally succumbing on November 13th. Only eternity will reveal the extent of the influence of their ministry.

Dave Cave Street Witnessing

Following a long, well fought battle with cancer, the Mexico Missionary Fellowship says goodbye to co-worker, friend, and leader by example, Dave Cave. Dave will be remembered for his no nonsense but passionate approach to life and ministry and for his willing heart to always to lend a helping hand. He personified the “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” view and many lives will bear his mark.

Dave, along with his wife Nancy got their start in missions and their interest in Mexico particularly through the influence of missionary educator Floyd Woodworth. Ignited by a passion to reach the lost, they raised the money needed for their first trip to Mexico in 1976 by literally gleaning piles of cotton bolls discarded by farmers and picking the bolls by hand before dawn until after dusk. Through this work way they paid for a travel trailer and later, language school.

During these first two trips, their desire to serve was evident, a disposition that they maintained throughout their ministry together. They “roughed it” to reach and teach the people. They bathed in the river where the local Mexican people bathed, and did their laundry there as well. They ate what the locals ate and rarely saw meat on their first two trips. Later, the Cave’s spent years living in travel trailers. What is for many a sacrifice, they considered living in “luxury.”

Still, even with their connection with the field, they never lost sight of their need to partner with US churches in the work. In fact, it was this need that moved them to formalize their relationship with the Assemblies of God World Missions Department. Realizing that few knew of their work, and therefore few were therefore praying for them, they applied for missionary appointment, which they received in April 1981.

The passion that the Dave displayed through his missionary career was visible from the start. In a letter to John Bueno upon arrival his arrival in Mexico he said: “ I am ready and willing to do anything and everything the Lord enables me to do. We will do anything we possibly can do to help evangelize these 17 million people among whom we live,” a task he accepted with eagerness and faith. The Caves’ first term goal was to see 10,000 or more accept Jesus through an ICI course, but their exuberance knew no limits. Even before they arrived on the field, they lead their first Mexican convert to the Lord. Their brakes had failed on their trip and the man who stopped to help was told about Jesus.

For the Caves, evangelism was always the “bottom line,” but Dave literally did whatever his hand found to do – often because “no one else seemed to be moving on the matter.” He assisted with church planting and worked with ICI, funneling students who came to Christ into new churches. At the request of National leaders, Dave also established and managed a Christian Bookstore in 1982, a huge assignment. He served as a construction coordinator for teams coming to Mexico, taught in Bible schools, and did prison work. He even served as the “Diplomatic Representative” between A/G USA and A/G Mexico in which he dealt with sticky church legal issues.

Dave’s health battle began in 1994, doctors saying the prognosis was “bleak.” But he withstood aggressive treatment and, in May of 1997, he was given a clean bill of health. He returned to work with fervor, assisting missions teams of all sorts, and focusing on planting new churches. He remained active until his cancer returned in recent years, and even in his weakened condition his continued desire was to return to the work and the people that he loved. He succumbed to cancer and departed to receive his heavenly reward on Monday, June 30, 2008

Dave Cave leaves behind his wife Nancy, who continues as a missionary in Mexico, along with two children Luke, and Cristina, who had been deeply committed and involved in the work that their parents undertook. With them, our hearts are saddened for the loss, but we rejoice in that Dave’s suffering has ended and he is in the presence of the Lord. He will live on as an example to us and all that would long to display Christ’s love to a world in desperate need of it.

From January 10th until January 13th the Kazim and the Godzwa Families with assistance from the Mexico Missionary Fellowship and several students and ministers from the Yucatan District took part in a medical brigade to help some of those affected by the November floods in Tabasco. This post, written by David Godzwa, recounts some of what they experienced while they were there:

“Leave if you can!” That is the translated name of Salsipuedes one of the two towns that we visited on our medical relief trip to Tabasco. The village of Salsipuedes is situated on the Grijalva River in the Centla of Tabasco, a wetlands region of the state that’s three hours from the capital, one hour on good roads and two on what many would consider “off-road conditions,” but even more overwhelming than the distance to reach this place was the need that we met when we arrived. Sandy Kazim, the organizer and one of the medical providers of the trip told us that for much of the time she felt as though she was running an ER instead of a medical clinic. Four children in the same home with bronchitis and a woman who had recently miscarried were some of the most difficult cases, but case after case of skin infection and other diseases kept the medical providers working long past sunset, the time that we were told we had to leave for the sake of our personal security. Equally as tragic was the spiritual condition of the site. There were reports of active witchcraft taking place and a general look of hopelessness on the faces of many. “Leave if you can” –the name seemed to fit.

Still, that’s the funny thing about the God that we serve. Of all of the needy places that we could have gone, He sent us to the town of Salsipuedes. I think perhaps it was because, even though others had given up on that “Godforsaken” place, He hadn’t. He sent us there as an extension of His love in a tangible way.

I had the chance to enter into homes with several of the students of the Bible Institute while the medical team treated the sick. And as we passed from house to house, entering into their world, I thought of what Christ did for each one of us. He left His glory to live among us, to experience what we experience and to give us the hope that comes from a relationship with God. We in turn were serving as his representatives, offering the same hope that we now enjoy in a place where hope seemed for many to be a distant memory.

I spoke to many and told them that, although they might not have expected it, God had sent us to them specifically to let them know that He had decided to stay in Salsipuedes and that he was looking for hearts in which he could live. We prayed with many as they wrestled to take those first steps toward a relationship with their Creator.

What will happen is hard to determine. The routine of the life poverty has a grip that is relentless. C.S. Lewis once said it this way:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

So is the work in Salsipuedes; the population is run down, too tired to hope, too tired to dream of something better, and perhaps easily placated with the counterfeits that false religions or momentary escapes like drugs and alcohol can provide. Still, I believe that something began in the heart of those that we touched on that Friday. They received a taste of the love of God, and I believe that through the persistence of the pastor and the congregation that is serving that town, together with the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit, the very character of that town can change. In fact, I’m looking forward to the day when they invite us to the official name changing ceremony.

The Mexico Missionary Fellowship is made up of three teams, Builders, Equippers, and Compassion. In this “In Focus” article we’re reporting news from the Compassion team.

The words of Steve Shoop, leader of Engage Ministries, are full of excitement as he describes what is happening in his team’s feeding program in Guadalajara, Mexico:

“Every week, we see anywhere from 50 children and mothers to as many as 150 individuals. It has been incredible to see how God has enabled us to not just open the door slightly, but He has flung the doors of opportunity wide open.”

Basically, the students go to a very poor area of the city and give a meal to the children and the moms that gather around for the event, but as Shoop adds, “we believe we are feeding not only their stomachs, but also their souls.”

The feeding program provides the essentials in order to satisfy physical hunger, but the aim of this ministry is to give them something that will last much longer than a sandwich and bag of chips. Every week children and their moms are presented with the Word of God. It is in this part of the program that the Engage in Missions team believes that they are presenting spiritual food that will be of eternal value. In addition to the meal and the message, children are taught the scriptures while playing uplifting games, utilizing puppets, dramas, and skits.

The vision for this ministry began because Engage in Missions wanted to have a way to share the love and message of Jesus to unreached souls in the Guadalajara. Beginning in January of 2007, students began to go out the colonia of El Coli with one mission in mind: to demonstrate the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through serving the community in this manner, they have seen anywhere from 50 children and mothers to as many as 150 individuals, and they have seen many lost souls come to know the Lord as their personal Savior.

Currently Shoop and his team are working with Julio Ceasar Andrade, the pastor of “La Smyrna” in order to plant a church in this same location. He adds, “We believe that our faithfulness in the small opportunity that God gave in January has led to His outpouring of blessings in this new opportunity for a church plant. It is our prayer that this church plant will serve to reach even more lost souls, and we look forward to the next location that God would have us feed lost souls that we might continue the mission to which He has called us.

Steve and Amy Shoop are Missionaries in Guadalajara, Mexico. Having served as a youth pastor for 22 years, Steve had a burden to see young men and women grow in their relationship with Christ. As appointed missionaries, Steve and Amy have developed the Engage in Missions program which connects university students with practical experience in a missions setting. Amy adds her medical training as a nurse to the team as they use their unique gifts and talents to see youth reached in Mexico and throughout Latin America.

The Mexico Missionary Fellowship is made up of three teams, Builders, Equippers, and Compassion. In this “In Focus” article and in the monthly updates that follow we’ll be featuring profiles, news, and insight from each team.

With a population of youth ages 10-29 that equals 31.7 million or almost 30% of the total population of Mexico, it is clear that ministry focused on this demographic should be an essential element in the plan to reach this nation. Builders Team Members David and Kristen Speer are providing an answer to this need with their youth-focused ministry located in Mexico City.

Former pastors from the state of Michigan, David and Kristen, along with their children Talyor and Hudson, are reaching out to this receptive age group through two specific ministries:

Vive al Máximo

Vive al Máximo is a team of Mexican young people committed to reaching their generation for Christ. The ministry is carried out by training and equipping the youth of the local church, preparing them for the campaign. During the week long campaign, school assemblies are held in as many as forty schools, reaching up to 2400 young lives with a values-based message (it is against the law to speak about God or Christ in public schools in Mexico). In every school youth are invited to a nightly fiesta that is thrown in a local park where there is a live band, attention grabbing Stomp routines, dramas, and most importantly, a presentation of the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. David says that, “Hundreds of lives have been changed for eternity through this relevant ministry.”

Street Kids Ministry

There are approximately 30,000 street children living in the streets of Mexico City, and half of them are little girls ages 7 to 18. The Speers are planning to begin to reach out to these “throw-away kids” with a three-phase plan to rescue them from the streets, show them the love of Christ in a tangible way, and see them reintegrated back into society.

In addition, the Speers are partnering with the Ann Sanders Bible Institute, which is committed to training the next generation of ministers in Mexico city as well as teaming with local pastors as they plant churches in the Huatla area of Mexico.

True the need to reach the youth of Mexico is great, but Builders Team Members David and Kristen Speer are taking the challenge head on!

MexicoAG.org has gotten a new look. We’ve shed the old wrapping and come up with a style that we feel adds to the user experience and has potential to take us much further than our old version. However, the changes go much further than our home page. With our updated look we added features that will help you to keep informed about Mexico and aid you in your desire to get involved with what God is doing here. Some of the new features include:

Of course, none of these features are worthwhile without content. We’re planning to feature news, project listings, prayer requests, and much more each month.

So welcome to the new MexicoAG.org. We hope that it becomes your tool to stay on top of what God is doing through Assemblies of God Missionaries in Mexico. Of course, as with any site change, there are bound to be comments, and we welcome you to send us feedback through our contact page.

Have you ever had the opportunity to design a dream house? Hours are spent putting together the plans, poring over details, and visualizing every room. Experts, from architects, contractors, and kitchen designers, to interior decorators and landscapers, are called in for advice and help. There are often obstacles that need to be overcome. Finally, after months of dreaming, planning, and working, the house is finished and the dream complete.

Larry and Melodee Gruetzmacher, missionaries to Mexico City, feel privileged to be a part of the process of designing and developing a new church. The purpose of their Campamento church planting seminar is to bring together pastors and leaders who feel God’s call to start a new church, helping to guide them in their dreams to design and develop the most effective church plan to reach their community.

The Campamento is a three-day seminar using interactive workshops and personal coaching to help each church planter design and develop a unique plan for his community. The topics: Core Values, Vision & Mission; Putting Together the Leadership Team; Assimilating People; First Impressions; Planning for Implementation; and many others. This training provides a firm foundation for the new church project.

Isidoro Hernandez is the pastor of a new church in northern Mexico City that is evidence of Campamento principles in action. In four months they have seen their church grow in attendance from 0 to the 70’s.

Isidoro says that he attributes the rapid growth to a strong leadership team and a guiding vision/mission statement that have helped to provide clear direction and purpose. Their strategy has been a heavy focus on community outreach. Their goal is to contact every household in their section of the city.

Isidoro is also a member of the Campamento leadership team. His experience is a blessing to other new church planters.