Hermosillo, Mexico

We appreciate the prayerful interest of the Lord’s people as He faithfully preserves and furthers His work around the world. It was over fifteen years ago that my wife, Stephanie, and I were commended to the grace of God from Canada, and, in response to His call, arrived in the northwest of Mexico, to engage in language study and gospel activity. We have since made our home in Hermosillo, our state capital, of around one million souls. The Lord has blessed us with six daughters and one son. The country itself is immense and represents many areas still unreached with the true gospel. For example, it would take us forty hours to drive to Cancun, on the extreme opposite side. We are located about 300 km south of the United States border, and 115 km east of the coast of the Sea of Cortez. The region is semi-arid desert, with temperatures reaching 50 Celsius during the summer months.

The little assembly here had been recently planted when we arrived. By God’s grace, it has continued on, and we are thankful for good signs of spiritual maturity and growth. There is a nice mix of younger and older believers, of saved couples and other believers who continue to pray for the salvation of their spouses. God has been gracious to equip men with shepherd care, who are engaged in guiding the assembly. Please pray for their preservation and encouragement. The next nearest assemblies are three and six-hours’ drive away, so fellowship with other saints is a challenge. Sadly, this has resulted in several young single believers marrying unsaved spouses, rather than waiting on God’s provision for them. Others have grown cold through discouragement, or gradual distancing from the Lord and His people. However, we are most grateful to God for the encouraging growth of devotion and conviction on the part of a number here, and we would value your prayers for their preservation.

While the physical climate here is mostly sunny, the spiritual climate is much more dismal. Roman Catholicism has lost much of its influence in recent years to other religious elements of Christendom. Unfortunately, this has often caused further challenges to the spread of the gospel. So much twisting and distortion of the gospel has made it easier to witness to a Catholic person than the average ‘evangelical’ contact here. The ravages of ‘another gospel’ have taken their toll, with much emphasis placed on tithing and ‘persevering’ in order to remain saved. Emotional experiences take precedence over the reading and sound preaching of the scriptures. The fact that we never ask for money leaves some wondering whether we are ‘actually a church’, since that is one of the most expected features of such here.

In addition to the weekly gospel meeting, gospel witness has also taken the form of children’s classes in various parts of the city; preaching in rented buildings; drug rehab centres; house meetings; hospital visits; literature distribution; and community suppers. We are encouraged by several who are attending with interest at present. After a large-scale Seed Sowers text distribution, in which a large part of the city was covered with 120, 000 texts, Jesus started attending a nightly gospel series, thinking initially that he was a believer. After about three weeks, he became convicted of his sins and was gloriously saved. Rarely have we seen such clear and abiding evidence of divine life in someone in such a short amount of time. His hunger for the word of God and submission to its claims have been so refreshing for us to witness in the years since. He has won the respect of the believers, and his effective witness among non-believers has made him a useful vessel in the Lord’s hands. He has recently accepted the responsibility of sharing in the work of the oversight here. Please pray that his wife will soon be saved as well.

We stay active in writing a monthly article for Mensajero Mexicano, a digital magazine for Mexican and other Spanish-speaking believers around the world, in addition to occasional gospel tracts for Publicaciones Pescadores, an online and printed publishing ministry supplying gospel and Christian teaching materials at accessible prices.

We are currently preparing for our sixteenth annual conference and looking to God for His guidance and blessing. As a family, these are proving to be bittersweet days. After much prayerful consideration of the Lord’s will for us, we have made the difficult decision to transition back to Canada, at least for this next chapter of our lives. There are two main factors that have motivated this planned move. First, our older daughters have begun, or are about to begin, their post-secondary studies, and we feel the need to be present to support them in this next phase. Second, we have felt for some time that the assembly and work here is now at a stage where it would be beneficial for us to step back and allow God to work with us out of the way.

We would value your prayers for us as a family, and for the work of the Lord in Mexico. We pray that God might ‘equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen’, Heb. 13. 21 ESV.