Don't forget to pray for, support, and encourage pioneer workers in the Gospel! Some have given up everything this world has to offer to serve the Lord. This letter shares a bit of daily life adjusting to new climate, culture, and the struggles of Gospel work while learning a new language and raising 6 children. It also shares the blessings of serving the Lord and seeing God open doors for His Word to go forth.
~Mark
Humes Family Newsletter ~ July 2011
Lots of New Things
We mentioned in our last newsletter that there was a church, Iglesia Gethsemani, less than a block from our house. We have been visiting this church often since our arrival. The Lord has really blessed us through the saints there, learning lots of Spanish and making many new friends with these brothers and sisters in Christ.
Gethsemani has a food ministry that reaches hundreds of people – there are many poor people on both sides of the border in this area, and unemployment is very high. In San Luis, Mexico, (just across the border from us) those who can find work often receive only 70 to 100 pesos a day (that's $6.40 to $9.10 for a full day's work). Although a few things are cheaper, the prices for things like food and clothing are about the same as here in the US. This food ministry has been a great blessing
to us as well, providing us with large boxes of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, melons and bell peppers!
to us as well, providing us with large boxes of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, melons and bell peppers!
It seems that our family made an immediate impression at Gethsemani. About three weeks after our arrival, the church was having a conference. Well, the Sunday prior to the conference, the pastor asked me if I would be willing to teach about raising children at a session for parents in the church. (Actually, he asked me after he had announced to the congregation that he was certain that I had a message for them on this topic!) Since no one in the church could be found who speaks English well enough to be confident translating, I would have to preach in Spanish. The challenges that the Lord sends our way are sometimes almost unbelievable. It turned out to be an immense project - preparing the hour-long message, then translating the entire thing written out, so I could read it for the group. This is not my usual preaching method, but is the best I can do in Spanish at this point. I received feedback from the group of about 40 parents that it was understandable, as well as being informative and challenging.
We recently spent a day with friends visiting their family in San Luis, Mexico. Not only were we blessed by their hospitality, the trip was very educational in many ways. Not far from where they live is a section of the city that is so poor it is hard to describe. Houses the size of sheds made from pallets, cardboard and scrap wood, separated by droopy barb-wire fences. No electricity or running water. The streets are just well-traveled paths through the loose sand, and are littered with trash. They took us to visit a 'mission' in that area that is an outreach of Gethsemani. The food ministry sends a box truck down there on Saturdays, and they have evening services on Sundays. They've been doing this for five years and were excited to have their first baptism just a few weeks ago. The pastor gave me an open invitation to come and preach the gospel there any time I want. We also briefly visited with an American missionary who for the last 13 years has been leading another church plant. This church has matured to the point where the missionary is in the process of transitioning out, but we hope to be able to spend more time with them learning about their work before they leave.
We also enjoyed spending a day with the Kamstra family, who are missionaries in Guadalupe Victoria, which is about 45 minutes southwest from us. We were able to discuss the work of teaching, discipleship, and evangelism the Lord has had them doing with assemblies in several towns and villages in that area. Treavor mentioned the possibility of me coming to speak at some of these assemblies, but this time it looks like I'll have an interpreter.
Spanish Study
Spanish study has been pretty intense for me, totaling about 30 hours a week. I spend many mornings at the library, making use of a quiet study room and their books on grammar. We are also still using a computer program to make lists of all the new words we learn and to review them. A man from Gethsemani wants to learn English, so we've started meeting to help each other. Another recent addition to the routine is walking across the border to a park in San Luis, Mexico. While there, I sit and practice reading my Bible or the newspaper in Spanish, and talk to people at the park. This requires finding patient people, though, as I speak very slowly, and usually need them to repeat what they say several times before I understand them.
This park is right in front of city hall, and this past Sunday there was a large political rally there. I joined a group of Christians to give out water bottles and gospel tracts to the large crowd that was gathered for the event. There are so many opportunities for sharing the gospel here that I am even more eager to learn Spanish as quickly as I can.
Our Family
As always, the girls are making themselves right at home in their new surroundings. They don't seem to mind the heat, spending lots of time outside each day, even when it's 110°! While outside they tend their garden, use every scrap they can gather to build little playhouses, watch the ant farms they've made, and play with some of the neighbors. Actually, they met the children who live behind us by exchanging presents that they would leave on top of the six-foot high wall along the boundaries of the property.
Caedren, Kierah, and Hadassah have taken on the task of teaching Tzeitl to read, and teaching Laurel her numbers and letters. Shiloh is crawling now, and has become really attached to having her big sisters hold her and play with her.
There are plenty of children at the nearby church, but it seems that our little flock finds it easier to just talk amongst themselves in English rather than to try to talk to the other children in Spanish. We adults tend to do the same thing, so it's hard to blame them. We're thankful that just this past week, we've seen them starting to talk and play more with the other children.
Some Challenges
Moving to the desert in the summer has taken a little bit of adjusting for us. Although we have done well tolerating the high temperatures, our bodies needed some time and help adjusting to the heat and dryness. We all battled dehydration for the first few weeks, despite drinking lots of water and other beverages. Finally, a mineral supplement to go along with all that water we'd been drinking seemed to fix the problem.
The desert also gave us a surprise a couple weeks ago. I awoke one night around midnight to sand blowing in the window into my face. The sandstorm coated the entire inside of the house with fine, powdery sand before I could run around and get all the windows closed. Since then we've learned to closely watch the weather forecast before leaving the windows open at night.
And on an (almost) humorous note, keeping our food cold has proved to be an unexpected challenge. The very old refrigerator that came with the house stopped working. Our landlord was very kind and quickly bought a replacement, which was used but much larger and newer... but it also stopped working after just a few days. The place that sold it eventually sent a repairman who came and fixed it, only to have it stop working again the next day. Finally, they brought us another refrigerator as a loaner while they are fixing ours at their shop. I guess we had taken for granted how important a properly working refrigerator is. With temps over 90° in the house all day, we sure had to buy a lot of ice for the cooler. The loaner may be small and old, but we are very thankful it has been keeping our food cold!
Thank you for your prayers for us!
“and in the wilderness (in Spanish translations this is desierto, or desert), where
you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son,
in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.” (Deuteronomy 1:31)
In Christ our Savior,
The Humes Family
Justin & Jocelin
Caedren, Kierah, Hadasssah,
Tzeitl, Laurel & Shiloh
Our address while in San Luis:
PO Box 13053
San Luis, AZ 85349
phone # and email are the same:
