Letters From the Missionary

Family Radio Mission to Toluca, Mexico

April 5^th - 16^th, 2007

LETTER #1

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." (1 Corinthians 2:12)

Thursday, April 5, 2007. By God’s wonderful grace, our group of 15 Ambassadors for Christ” (8 men and 7 women) from various parts of the US arrived in Toluca, Mexico, on another Family Radio trip to this country.

We plan to proclaim the True Gospel of Christ to the people here during the next ten days by distributing over 300,000 “Does God Love You?” tracts in the Spanish language, over 600 Spanish Bibles (a King James equivalent), and many booklets and CDs of Bible teaching materials in Spanish that several members of the group brought as checked baggage.

As is customary on these trips, the tracts have been printed locally and contain the current Family Radio broadcasting schedules for this area, School of the Bible information (which offers free correspondence courses in English and Spanish), and a reference to the multilingual website.

Historically, the indigenous people of this area were conquered by the Aztecs in the late 15th century, and then Toluca came under Spanish rule in the early 16th century. It is located in the central part of the country about 40 miles (60 km) west southwest of Mexico City. The population of the greater Toluca area is about 750,000 and over 1.6 million when the surrounding municipalities are included.

This city is the capital of Mexico State and is a bustling industrial, commercial, and tourist hub. The local industries produce many different products such as processed foods, textiles, automobiles, and electronic products.

Despite its southern latitude, the climate here is the coolest of any large Mexican city due to its high elevation of 8,800 ft (2,700 m) above sea level. We expect daily temperatures to range from 40 to 75 F during our visit.

We arrived at our hotel in the center of the city in the early afternoon; and after a short orientation meeting to organize the work, we went out by teams on foot to various locations in the downtown area. The distribution work went very well with all teams reporting very good acceptance (better than 90 %) of the tracts.

We are looking forward to serving our Risen Lord and Savior in this part of the world during this Easter period, and we pray that God will open the spiritual eyes of many of these dear people to the True Gospel of salvation.

"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." (Isaiah 41:10)

In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Mexico

LETTER #2

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Philippians 4:13)

Friday, April 6, 2007. This is Holy Week in Mexico when most of the businesses and schools are closed, and today commemorates the day of Christ`s crucifixion. Thirteen members of our group went by rented bus to an area in Mexico City called Iztapalapa where over a million people came to attend an elaborate Passion Play.

Hundreds of men and boys dragged heavy wooden crosses on their shoulders up a steep hill in a large park to reenact the Roman Catholic version of the crucifixion and their understanding of Mark 8:34 that says, “Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Some even endured mock crucifixions by being tied to crosses and lifted upright with thorn crowns on their heads.

They put much emphasis on Jesus` physical suffering instead of His spiritual suffering under the eternal wrath of God in the Atonement at the Cross, and do not understand the spiritual meaning of Mark 8:34 and other verses like it in the Bible.

By God`s grace, we were able to park in the center of all the activity and distribute over 40,000 tracts plus many Bibles, and booklets to the people attending the ceremonies. They came in a steady stream by cars, buses, taxis, and the Metro from all over Mexico to view the play as it was repeated several times from about 11 a.m. until the event ended at 4 p.m. The acceptance of the tracts was very high, especially as the huge crowd left from 4 to 5 p.m; and the people were very polite and cordial to us the whole time.

The other two members of the group had a similar good day of distribution in Toluca at a large church plaza where thousands of people came for religious purposes.

We thank God for His provision, protection, and guidance for this work and pray that He will grant repentance unto salvation to many of these dear people of Mexico.

"It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22 23)

In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Mexico

LETTER #3

"God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" (Numbers 23:19

Saturday, April 7, 2007. We continued to experience very good acceptance of the “Does God Love You?” tracts everywhere we worked today, and the weather continued to be ideal for our distribution work with temperatures in the 70s F and no rain.

One team went about a half hour by taxi to a city called Metepec (met tay PEK) where there was a large plaza near a cathedral on a high hill overlooking the city. There were many vendors and families enjoying the holiday who took tracts, Bibles, and booklets.

A second team worked at a large bus station in Toluca where buses were coming from and going to all parts of México. That enabled the tracts to travel far and wide to places we could never reach otherwise.

A third team worked at a crowded festival area near a large cathedral and plaza complex in Toluca, where they were using fireworks explosives to blow up large paper mache figures that were supposed to represent demons. The show was accompanied by loud, rock music, and everyone seemed to be in a festive mood. There were many thousands of people watching the show, and the acceptance of the tracts was very good even though we heard that the religious leaders had been ordering the churchgoers not to take the tracts.

A fourth team worked in a large upscale shopping area near the cathedral where the demons were being blown up and experienced similar good results in that area.

Overall, we had a very productive day of tract distribution, and we could hear fireworks exposions all night long which apparently continued the festivities of the day. We thank God that we have not experienced any significant opposition to our work or the Gospel message on the tract, and we pray that God will open the spiritual eyes of many of these people who are snared by the superstitious foolishness that has nothing to do with the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Sunday, April 8, 2007. After a time of praise and worship this Resurrection Day morning, we went out to serve our Lord and Savior by proclaiming the True Gospel of Christ to the people of México.

A different team than yesterday went back to the plaza area in Metepec in anticipation of a larger crowd, but it was about the same as yesterday except for a large wedding party that took many tracts. Because most of the vendors had already received tracts, the amount distributed was somewhat low, but we know that God had a purpose for sending a the team there again today by that fact that more Bibles and Bible study booklets were handed out.

A second team rented a taxi for the day and traveled for two hours to the city of Atlacomulco (at la co MUL co) where they worked at shopping area near a cathedral. They were able to distribute tracts to a large crowd attending a funeral, and the acceptance of the tracts was very high. They also found a big flea market that is only open on Sundays, and it was packed with people.

The same team that worked at the bus station yesterday went back there again today and experienced the same good results. The fourth team went back to the shopping area near the cathedral where they worked yesterday and it was bustling with people again today.

We had our first guests at the Bible study this evening. Five people who received tracts at the Passion Play in México City last Friday drove from there to attend our meeting. They were very interested in learning more about the end of the church age and the True Gospel of Christ. One member of our group translated the study into Spanish for them, and the people were very appreciative of the lesson given, and the Bibles and books they received.

We continue to praise and thank God for His guidance and protection, and we pray that God will raise up faithful men and women who will take advantage of the free resources of Family Radio and continue the work of the Gospel in this part of México after we leave here.

"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." (Galatians 2:16)

In Christian love,
The Family Radio Mission Group in Mexico