Birthday in the Sierra Madre Mountains

Celebrating my 26th with the Benders & Arehmi.
Machelle Bender (behind me) & Dennis (taking pic) with kids, Natalie, Lydia, & Brooke.

Happy Birthday!

If Yesterday was my Mom's birthday, that means TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!

It is a fun day. The sun is out again after 3 days of clouds, rain, and hail.

Bad weather does make beautiful sunsets, though!

We're making cake and pizza for tonight.

Birthdays make even normal things special.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday, Mom & Auntie Marge!

Stepping out the Front Door

"For since the Creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." Romans 1:20

This is the world that the Guarijio people live in. By nature, they can clearly see that there is a God who orchestrates all life. The god they worship is not the God of the Bible, but rather the sun. Two families here, Benders & Reeds, are in the end stages of learning the Guarijio language and are preparing to teach the people about God beginning at Creation. Pray for them to be able to consentrate on language and lessons. Pray for the Guarijio people's hearts to be prepared to hear God's Word.

Arehmi & I are here for a month, getting an orientation to missionary life in the mountains. We are visiting the people to build relationships and learn their culture. And, we're learning bits of the language - how to culturally greet people and take leave & how to put words together in sentences. Today a girl is coming to teach us how to make flour tortillas. We'll learn all the words for that process in Guarijio!

Sierra Madre Mountains!

Today Arehmi & I fly to the Mountains.

The Trip

Isaiah 41:17-18 says,

"When the poor and needy search for water and there is none,

and their tongues are parched from thirst,

then, I the LORD, will answer them.

I, the God of Israel, will never abandon them.

I will open up rivers for them on the high plateaus.

I will give them fountains of water in the valleys.

I will fill the desert with pools of water.

Rivers fed by springs will flow across the parched ground."

Pray that the people of El Pino (high plateau) and Polvoroso (valley) and the surrounding areas will thirst for the Living Water.

The group of us: Andrea & Chava with baby Abby; Arehmi Barrera; Myself; Ramon Murillo; and Joe Swanson, our pilot

Polvoroso - our first destination - is located in a valley in the middle of the mountain range. About 1,200ft. We were there a day and a half. It's a town of both mestizos and Cora. The Cora live on the upper and lower ends of town and up the mountain sides, so they are separate a bit from the mestizos.

The Lord gave us Rosa as a friend. She lives right next to the hotel we stayed at and we got to know her the first day. The second day we 3 girls went to visit again before we left and she sold Arehmi this outfit she made for her oldest daughter. Here she is with her younger daughters, Rosita and Nelva Rosa.

We walked A LOT both days. I couldnt wait sometimes to get back to the hotel to take my shoes off. It was very hot in Polvoroso. We walked around even in the hottest part of the day b/c we wanted to make good use of the time we had there.

These are some of the Cora political & religious leaders participating in a ritual of another major religion. The Cora have mixed elements of that religion with their own traditional religion. They do not know the Truth & have never heard the Gospel in their language.

We left Polvoroso at 4:00am and got off the bus at Mitad to wait another bus for El Pino. It was cold while we waited for the sun to come up!

Finally the bus came. Thanks for praying for travel that day. We were just trusting the Lord to be able to hitch a ride. We found out the night before we left Polvoroso that there was a bus to El Pino on Saturday. It was the first we heard about it so didn't know if it was true. But Praise the Lord, it was. We took that bus from Mitad to El Pino.

This is El Pino- our second destination. It is located at the top of a mountain. In this area, the mountains top off with plateaux. It is very interesting. This is at 7,100ft.

The road into El Pino with the bus we rode in the distance.

We stayed at a cabin managed by this woman, Rita, and her husband. It turns out they are "Christians." As we talked them and to some of the others that we met, their testimonies seemed to of trusting in the good works they do now that they are "Christians" instead of Christ's sacrifice on the cross as payment for their sins. Every morning she made tortillas for us out of blue corn. I think they were the best tortillas I've ever had.

The Cora people are a communal people. They are more bold than other tribes that NTM works with here in Mexico. Several initiated conversation to find out who we were and what we were doing there. Rosalma was one of them. She's a 3rd grade at the public school.

I got to fly most of the way home. Joe handed the controls over to me just after takeoff. When we got within sight of our destination he took it back again to land safely. It was really fun.

We had a good trip spending 4 full days out in Cora land. Both places are spiritually dark with no Gospel witness. They need clear teaching in their own language, the Bible accurately translated in their language and literacy to be able to make use of the Scriptures.

Thank you for your prayers with us. We had a safe trip. The Lord paved the way. We had a good reception from the leaders of the villages. And, we only got sick just a little, the night before we left. Thank you, Lord.

Back Home

Well, we got back safely. It was a good & profitable trip.
Both Polvoroso & El Pino are spiritually dark, lacking the Gospel. These people need the Lord & they need to hear it in their own language. Who will go?

Guess what? There´s a cyber cafe here in Polvoroso! They even have high-speed internet.
We arrived safely yesterday morning by plane. A truck passed just then by the airstrip and we got a ride down to town. We got a nice hotel right next to where the Cora live. It is extremely hot here. Everyone goes outside in the later afternoon after it cools off abit. We had a better time meeting people and talking at that time when it is much cooler.
We´re here until tomorrow morning early. We´ll go part way by bus then hitch a ride the rest of the way. We´ll have all day to try and people say that there´s trucks and pickups passing all the time. There´s a bus that goes on Monday if all else fails.

We´re looking forward to El Pino´s cool weather.

Thanks for praying, we´ve been able to meet quite a few people and are doing well. The Lord has opened up doors.

The Lord has us in the palm of his hand. Keep praying.

Cora Trip

I wanted to let everyone know a bit about this trip to survey the Cora tribe so that you can be in prayer for us. There are 5 of us going (well, 6 with the baby):

Ramon Murillo - his wife is Vanessa, she's not going because she's pregnant. They will be finishing mission training with NTM this summer.

Chava & Andrea Nuñez with baby, Abigail- They are also in mission training, but they have another year and a half left before they graduate.

Arehmi Barrera - She's a missionary with NTM here having finished the training last year. She & I are praying about partnering together. Our time with the Guarijio will be a time to see if we can work together.

And, myself, of course! :)

First, we will be driving south- an 8 hour trip! Please pray for safety in driving, sureness for the vehicle, and good attitudes being together for so long!

Then, the next morning we'll fly into the mountains to where the Cora live. There are 3 dialects. We'll be visiting 2 of them. The 3rd group is a little harder to get to. The two groups are both ethnically Cora, but linguistically are supposed to be distinct enough to warrant two missionary teams.

Our plan is to fly into a valley town, Polvoroso 1,200ft , which has an airstrip. We'll be there a few days, finding out about the Cora who live there and getting recordings of language. Then we will catch a bus to the other area which sits on a plateau, El Pino 7,200ft. It's a 7 hour trip and people who have been there before say that the buses are nothing to write home about. So, it will be an interesting trip! There is no way to know the bus schedule ahead of time. We will not know until we get there. So, please pray that a bus will run halfway during the trip. Or we will be all our time in one place!
Polvoroso is actually a mestizo town with the Cora living in a community adjacent to the town. We plan on staying in a small hotel there.
In El Pino, we'll find out about the people there, get language recordings, etc. A few years ago the government built cottages for tourists as a way for the Cora to make money. I don't know how many tourists make it up there in the middle nowhere, :) but, it will be a place where we should be able to stay! The pilot will pick us up there and fly us back to civilization. Then, we'll drive back up here.

--Pray that God might already be preparing the hearts of the Cora people for the True Gospel.
--Pray for unity as we travel together and work together.
--Pray that, we might be a good testimony of Jesus Christ, who these people will one day hear about in their own language. Pray that all our actions and what we say may glorify God.
--There are lots of unknowns and things that will come up that we are not yet aware of. Bus schedule. Please pray for wisdom.
--Pray for safety. We will be in a truck, a plane, a bus, and walking. All this will be in an unknown environment, at least for me.
--Pray for health. We'll be eating local food. Pray that the Lord would fortify our stomachs to withstand anything we might eat that might be unfriendly.

Well this is long, but I covet your prayers and wanted you to be able to pray specifically. Thanks for standing alongside us as we make this trip. It is the Lord who protects us and provides for us. You are vital. Thanks for standing in the gap. I'm looking forward to seeing what God has in store on this trip!

Cora from El Pino

Cora child

In heaven

This is a picture of my Uncle Paul at his 63rd birthday, two months ago. It's after he was diagnosed with cancer and after he got saved. I love it because there is such joy and such peace in his countenance. And, now, he will bear those always in Christ's presence. He met Him face to face on Monday at 2:15 in the morning.

What rejoicing in His presence,

When are banished grief and pain;

When the crooked ways are straightened,

And the dark things shall be plain.

Face to face he has beheld Him,

Far beyond the starry sky;

Face to face in all His glory,

He will see Him all the time.

The funeral will be tomorrow.
Thank you all who have been praying for the family.

Final Days

I've been traveling of late, thus the delay in updating the blog. Here is what I sent out tonight to friends, family, and people who pray:

Thank you for continuing to pray for my family & my uncle Paul. He continues to go downhill & it looks like he will be seeing our Lord Jesus Christ soon! From our perspective, that will be a sad time as we grieve for our loss, but at the same time, from God's perspective, what a joyful reunion. Uncle Paul will see the God of the Universe face to face. I'm so excited for him in that respect.

The Lord provided a inexpensive ticket from El Paso to Winnipeg to visit my family and see my mother (who came back from Papua New Guinea to be with my aunt & uncle.) The timing was perfect (as His timing always is!) as I was finished with Spanish but not yet making trips into the mountains to visit different tribal areas. Please continue to pray for my aunt & uncle & family. My uncle sleeps most of the time now. Every once in a while he wakes up and is lucid. He cannot communicate or move the right side of his body. But, he has given a few one armed hugs since I've been here. It is difficult for him to eat & take his medicine. My aunt has been by his side for the past 3 months & takes care of him everyday. Please pray for good rest for her.

As soon as I get back to Mexico, I will be traveling for 5 weeks. The first week, I'll be going with a group from the mission training here in Mexico. We will be visiting the Cora tribe that lives in the mountains of central Mexico. Then, for 4 weeks, I'll be in the mountains of northern Mexico visiting in the Guarijio tribe. Look for more info in the coming days on my blog.

Please pray for the Lord to be glorified here in central Manitoba through my uncle & his going to glory.
Thank you for your faithfulness in upholding my family in prayer. The Lord is faithful & will bring them through. He is the God of all comfort & I pray that they will see Him through this time.

In Christ,
Rachel Chapman

Mission Conference

This last Saturday, the youth group at church had a "Mission Conference." The whole focus was missions, therefore they asked me to do / be in charge of the speaking part. What an opportunity! Many churches are still unaware of the immense job of missions or feel that it is a "white man's" job themselves being the recipients of mission work.

(Kelsey Middleton, Caleb McLellan, not shown: Isaac Middleton, JB Dunn)

A band of 4 missionary kids started out the time with worship in Spanish. They did a great job.

Then, Arehmi Barrera gave her testimony of how the Lord saved her & then later challenged her to missions. She's a Mexican from down south close to Mexico City. She came up here to Chihuahua about 4 years ago to attend NTM's national mission training. She just recently graduated & is looking to the Lord to open up a place in a tribe. We're praying about working together.
Herself being Mexican, she challenged the youth that this is not a job for only the "white ones", but it's a job that God has given to all Christians. It's the church's responsibility to spread the Gospel.

Then, I did an activity that shows the different necesities in missions and that no matter what gifts/abilities/talents someone has, that there is a place for them in full time ministry. I pray that it opened their eyes to full time ministry and at the same time challenged them with the role that the local church plays in missions.

It seems like the Mexican church is starting to wake up to this realization of the part that the Lord would have them play in missions. They have been the recipients for so long. It is so cool to see them take the responsibility to send and support missionaries themselves. We are praying for people in our church here to be raised up to go.

Update on Uncle Paul

Hello everybody...just wanted to let everyone know Auntie Lena (my mother) arrived safely. She had some flight delays but eventually landed in Winnipeg to be greeted by -44 degree weather. Bit of a shocker for a tropical lady. I know mom will be glad of the company.
Dad is holding his own...he had another seizure (the second since his arrival in Steinbach) but still has some more alert days now and again. Mostly he sleeps and when he is awake he's drowsy. Although there are times he holds your hand and stares in your eyes as if there are a thousand things he would like to say but can't....the stream of company continues and I wonder if dad even knew that this many cared about him....the prayers and flowers and well wishes of so many....We continue to treasure this time with him....The doctors and nurses are kind to all of us and we are grateful also for this as the constant stream of family and visitors must be disrupting for them at times. Thank-you all ...we know there is so many who have included dad in their daily prayers...take care...Lori

Abraham's faith tested

Today is my turn to teach at the orphanage again. Today's lesson is about the sacrifice of Isaac & Abraham's test of faith. This story portrays Christ's sacrifice on the cross for us. Just as the lamb was sacrificed in place of Isaac, Christ took our punishment and died on the cross, taking our place. This is a key lesson on subsitution that we will be refering back to later, so please pray that I might communicate clearly today.
There is a lot of complex stuff & tangents to get lost in. I pray that it will be simple & understandable.

Update on my Uncle Paul

Well...Dad was moved to Steinbach Hospital (about 1 hour closer to where most of the family lives) on Tuesday and somehow in the transfer his meds were not administered on time. Dad suffered a seizure that lasted over an hour that has set him back greatly. It will take some time for his body to bounce back. He is exhausted and sleeps frequently.

On the good side his room is pleasant and private. It is a lot easier for all to travel to and find parking so we are able to spend more time with him. Mom is able to stay with him...they even provided a cot so she can sleep by his bed. Mom says the nurses are very nice...although we miss the wonderful staff from the Health Science Center.
Lori (Paul's daughter)

Thanks for praying, and please keep it up. My aunt says they are doing well right now and very thankful for all the prayers on their behalf. It is God that is sustaining them and keeping them going day after day. May God bless you.