Most recent update:
God is at work around the world in some areas that historically
have been very dark spiritually, and they are becoming
areas of light. Only God can do that. That is certainly
true in areas of Mexico. It seems that the areas that
were once dark, are becoming light, and the areas that
were once light, like our own country, are fast becoming
very dark. Following are some praise and prayer request
of what God is doing in our corner of the world.
PRAISE #1
I just returned from one of the most exciting events that
I have had the privilege of being involved in. The event
is called Aventura Misionera Infantil (Children's Missionary
Adventure), and was held in Guadalajara on June 7th. Guadalajara
is in the middle of what has been called the “circle
of silence”, but it was not silent on that day. I
stood there watching, with tears in my eyes, as over 800
kids, ages 6-14 filed in for this event. I couldn’t
help but think that we are standing in one of the most
difficult and spiritually dark areas of Mexico, and yet
I’m witnessing an event that I doubt has ever been
equaled in the States. Only God could do this. They came
out for this action-packed, fun-filled event designed
to get kids to think about the possibility of being involved
in missions. They learned about many of the countries
and peoples around the world where missionaries are needed
as well as the many different skills and gifts needed.
It would take me too long in this letter to explain how
it was organized, but it was the most well run, organized
event that I have ever been a part of. We gave our presentation
24 times in a row, to groups of about 35 each. The next
event is going to be August 30th in Chihuahua. They are
expecting 1500 kids at that event.
The man responsible for organizing the event in Guadalajara
was Ismael. Ismael left his professional career in Chihuahua
to plant churches in the Guadalajara area. He has been
pastoring a small church in a very poor pueblo for the
past 5 years. He is also president of UIM’s Mexico
board. He has recruited, discipled, and trained 5 other
couples, some from his church, to go out as full time
missionaries. Pray for these couples as they go out. As
hard as it is for missionaries to raise support in the
U.S., raising support in their home area, humanly speaking,
is next to impossible. I am so encouraged and impressed
with what they are doing, that if I could get all of you
who support us financially now, to switch and send your
support to Ismael and these 5 others that are being sent
out, I’d stay home.
PRAISE #2
A while back I let you know about Valentine & Cuca,
Nacho's parents, in a small mountain village accepting
Christ. There is now another believer in this village,
Toribio, and as you can see Nacho was involved again.
Praise God. That's what it's all about. Keep in mind,
Tim and Janet Roberts, and Ted and Sharon Wingo have lived
in this village for 17 years to get to this point. Praise
God! But now, once again we see native people reaching
out to their own, and the results are awesome. Are you
(am I) reaching out to our native environment? Here is
a little except from Tim and Janet Roberts’ letter:
“Nacho asked yesterday on Sunday if I was going
to teach Toribio again today. I said yes and he told me
he wanted to be here. When Toribio arrived, Nacho was
right there with him. As we started to talk and teach
Toribio didn't want to quit. He wanted to know more and
before I knew it we were at the Crucifixion lesson with
Toribio listening intently and Nacho adding in as he felt
it necessary to ensure that Toribio was understanding.
When we got through teaching and asked him what he understood
he said he understood that Jesus had died to save sinners
and he said he realized he was a sinner. We prayed together
and he admitted his sin and asked God to forgive him and
save him.
Nacho was about to bust and prayed and thanked God for
His grace, and for saving his little brother in the Lord.
He told God he was so happy. I presented Toribio with
a new Bible and Nacho immediately got up and went to him
and started to show him things in the bible that he should
know and where he could look for strength from the word.
What a day!!!
Thanks for praying for Toribio and the church here in
Rocoroyvo. God is building it and the gates of Hell cannot
prevail.
What an honor it is to partner with and support the Roberts
and Wingos, and others like them. God has allowed us once
again to see a little of the fruit now, maybe just to
keep us motivated and encouraged, but I’m convinced
that most of it we’ll not know about till eternity.
PRAISE #3
Hector Martinez is another one of those dear brothers
in the Lord, that I would gladly give up my financial
support for, if it could be funneled to him. Hector was
working with a ministry called EduVenture, which we support
with the airplane. You may remember me talking about them
in past letters. EV was one of those ministries that I
got really excited about working with because of the discipleship
that was taking place there. A while back we learned that
EV in Mexico was closing its doors and I was very disappointed.
EV may be done, but God is not. Hector now feels God is
leading him to continue. I couldn’t be more excited.
Hector loves the Lord, and has a burden for discipleship.
Here is a little excerpt from his letter:
“We feel led to start an all Spanish discipleship
program for college-age youth from Mexico and all of Latin
America, which we are calling Exus. The Huapoca ranch
owners are allowing us to continue using the facilities
at Calandria for this ministry. And the EV board of directors
has also been very supportive, donating all the class
and adventure equipment--even the 4x4 van! We are very
thankful for all this support and love, and we pray that
God will give us the strength and wisdom necessary to
make this support count for His kingdom.
In short, Exus is a spiritual formation program that challenges
Christian young men and women towards integral growth
using intentional discipleship, extreme adventures, and
community life. Just as it was with EduVenture, we want
this experience to be a life-changing semester (Aug-Dec)
for young people who want to go deep in their relationship
with Christ and to live it out in practical ways. But
now we will offer the program all in Spanish, which eliminates
the previous language issue that was a deterrent for Latin-American
students. We would also like to devote more efforts to
helping those who graduate apply what was learned after
the semester in the mountains.
The money that will come in from student fees will not
be enough to cover the costs of running the semester,
so we need to raise funds to be able to run the program.
If any of you would like to participate by making a donation,
please contact us at your earliest convenience. Or if
you would like us to come to your church / ministry to
make a presentation, please let us know too. And if you
would like more detailed information, let me know and
I’ll email you the estimated budget for the semester.”
They have a web-site, (if you can read Spanish) www.exusdex.com.
They are looking for people who could invest just $100.
each per semester. If you would like to invest in what
the great commission is all about, making disciples, just
let me know and I’ll get you in touch with Hector.
PRAISE #4
Another ministry that we support with aviation services
is Ron and Pat Hamilton, with United Ministries Fellowship.
Ron has been church planting, and leading Mission trips
into small mountain villages in the Sierra Madre mountains
for many years. Most of the missionaries that he takes
are Mexican men that he has discipled. It’s been
a very difficult, and slow work, but Ron has been faithful,
and we are seeing fruit. Here is a small excerpt from
his last letter:
“Because of your help and the help of our UIM pilots
we were able to send Hermana Quica from the village of
Nuri, Sonora, and Hermana Josefina from the village of
Palmarito, Chihuahua to a hospital in Samachiqui, Chihuahua,
for cataract surgery. They are both doing well and have
recovered their sight. Both of these women have been a
great blessing to us. They have received missionary teams
into their homes and have prepared meals for us for many
years. Please pray for Hermana Josefina and her family.
Her husband, Hermano Lupo Hernandez, went home to be with
the Lord a few weeks ago.”
PRAISE #5
For a long time now, UIM aviation has been in need of
another airplane. Raising money for another plane is a
daunting task for a small mission, as it takes all we
have just to maintain overhead. About a year ago, a foundation
based in North Carolina, said they were going to raise
the money to buy another Cessna 206 for our use. Well,
this past month, thanks to Harvester’s International,
we were able to purchase a new (1977) Cessna 206. We now
have lots of work to do to modify it for use in the mountains.
Praise God for his provision! If you, or your church,
SS class, Youth group, or fellowship would like to help
with a modification just let me know. I can explain what
is needed and how much each mod will cost.
There are also a few prayer needs
PRAYER REQUEST #1
Safety: On the road, as well as in the air. Praise god
for a safe road trip to Guadalajara and back, over 2500
miles. Several UIM families are also traveling all summer
on deputation. Lot’s of miles, and at $4. per gal
for gas that’s a huge expense. It also leaves a big
hole in the ministry while their away.
Safety in flight is always a concern. God has been very
faithful, but we never take it for granted. Please pray.
The monsoon season will begin in about a month which adds
another dimension to an already difficult flying environment.
Also, there has been a large increase in the violence,
murders, and kidnappings from the drug cartels. In April
thirteen young girls were kidnapped from their junior
high school in a village in Chihuahua. This past week,
there were threats of random murders near another place
where we have missionaries based. A U.S. pilot and his
family (not a missionary plane or pilot) was forced out
of his plane at gunpoint while they stole his plane. Many
officials murdered as a result of trying to stand up to
the drug industry. We have received a lot of official
warnings from government sources warning of a new level
of threats and violence. At another location recently,
the army even had to bring out tanks as the “war”
escalated (just after a couple of missionary families
drove through). Humanly speaking, the source of the threats
and violence are drug related, but I am convinced that
Satan knows of all that God is doing in areas that have
historically been his stronghold, and he doesn’t
like it.
PRAYER REQUEST #2
Pray for Hector, and the Exus discipleship ministry as
they start their first semester in August.
PRAYER REQUEST #3
Funds to equip our “new” airplane and standardize
it with the rest of our fleet.
Talk about funds: If you currently support us, THANK YOU!
We have had some of the most faithful givers that we could
ever imagine. Please skip reading this section. But If
you have thought about it, but haven’t had the ability
or burden in the past, maybe you could pray about getting
involved financially now. Personally, our account is in
the red by over $2000. for the first time since we have
been on the field. That was before my last trip to Guadalajara
which was close to $1000. This deficit is not due to a
decrease in giving, but rather just an increase in our
budget due to everything from insurance to gas. We know
God will provide, He always has and always will, but we
felt we needed to mention it to you also. UIM has told
us they will not allow us to continue like that for long.
PRAYER REQUEST #4
UIM Aviation is currently going though a strategic planning
process. This is a big task, and there are lots of variables,
but we need to set and revise some long term goals. We
need wisdom in this process so that we can be good stewards
of our time and efforts. Our plan is to base a plane and
two families in Guadalajara. Pray for the Lord’s
timing. The door may also open up to work in a new village
in Chihuahua. Again, pray for open doors there and His
timing.
PRAYER REQUEST #5
Pray for Mike and Rachel as they move to Tucson and get
settled in to work and school. Pray for a job for Rachel
where she can get some good nursing experience. Praise
the Lord it looks like Mike received a $10,000. scholarship.
They have also been provided a place to live, rent free,
if they house-sit, maintain the house, and pay the utilities.
We thank God for MCC and your faithful support.
The Gospel on Wings,
Tim & Ginnie Ried
6335 W Velvet Senna Dr., Tucson AZ 85757 336-909-0897
