Newsletter – Last Frontiers

Last Frontiers puts out a quarterly newsletter to share about what the Lord is doing in this ministry. Thank you for taking the time and interest to prayerfully read of God’s workings here.

Autumn 2022

LAST FRONTIERS

Autumn 2022

Dear Friends,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Ezekiel 36:26

No truer words of the Lord’s kindness could have been declared as we rejoiced while young and old believers, unashamedly, were baptized in a nearby river. Sometimes with quivering lips, they spoke for all to hear and some with smiles as wide as the river, they declared God’s works in their lives. These lives are in a little corner of the world but fully viewed by the Lord. “You are a God of seeing. Truly, here I have seen Him who looks after me” Genesis 16:13

Jireh was a quiet child who came to church since a toddler. His single Nahua mother decided to go to the States to earn more money. We counseled her not to and assured her God would help her here so as to not leave her son completely alone in their poor shack of a home. The pressures to leave from relatives who had gone Stateside, though, were intense, and off she went. She tried unsuccessfully to cross after borrowing a huge sum of money to pay a cartel. The night before the 3rd attempt she had a dream where she saw her son crying inconsolably. That did it. She came back to the village, found a job, and beamingly held her son in reunion joy.

Jireh, now 13, came to us asking to be baptized. It was as if this turn of events made him see his need for God’s all powerful forgiveness and intervention in his life. As we stood on the banks of the river, everyone shouted for joy as he was the very first to walk down into the water. We have seen him serve and grow in the church since that moment – no longer timid, but with a spirit of power, love and self-discipline.

Andrea was only 14 years old when she became pregnant. Her boyfriend came to church with her and to our amazement, they decided to give their young lives to the Lord. Living together is the norm in the Sierra, but these new believers planned a lovely, simple marriage ceremony attended by relatives and friends who had seen the change in them. Andrea´s young husband has stepped up to the plate ever since, working hard every day to make ends meet. She is at home with their little girl and studying. They have been faithful to seek the Lord. Andrea is 17 now – older, far more mature and committed to Jesus and her family. It really is beautiful to see!

Doña Lina. What is there not to marvel about with this woman? She has a husband who has been the absolute epitome of machismo all her married life. He had the final word on where and when she could go…and IF she could go…ANYWHERE. For decades she was not allowed to go to church. Then suddenly, permission was granted! By then her children and grandchildren had come to Jesus. What a tremendous praise to God we all felt the day she walked into church. She cried during the worship of her faithful Savior with many of her now believing family surrounding her.

On the day of the baptisms, she told her husband simply, “I’m going to the river.” He said sarcastically, “Well then, take a towel and bathe yourself.” Enough said. Doña Lina scurried herself out the door. She arrived to witnesses clapping for her with shouts of victory. One of her grandsons baptized her. Everyone knows what she has been through. Everyone knows she has been submissive even when she could have rightfully stood up to him. Everyone knows that she is working through this dilemma of honoring her husband in Christ but not being a doormat. It is taking time, but she is daily savouring her freedom in Christ, letting that freedom shine through with both respect and determination.

Asael is a beloved young man whom we have known since childhood. He drives a small taxi truck with a frame covered canvas. It has benches in the back for people he transports from one part of the Sierra to another. Sadly, Asael fell into temptation and sin during idle work hours. His young Nahua wife and infant daughter suffered because of his coldness and anger that resulted. However, he repented and has followed through with prayer, counseling and hard work keeping his marriage and family. He thanked the Lord and his wife publicly for their love. With his family he is continuing in the Lord. We have great hope in Jesus for dear Asael!

Anita had wanted to go to church for a long time. She told her boyfriend that she wanted to join him when he went on Sundays. Then he was murdered.

The Sunday after his tragic death there she was- weeping, singing and giving her young heart to the Lord. We feel for Anita. Yet, even in the death of the one she thought she would marry, she is finding, as she wrote in a note to Denise, “new life in the family of God.”

Eduardo had visited her Nahua parents since she was a child and they are noticing the change and devotion of their daughter, despite the hardships she has emotionally faced as a young woman. We pray for her future and trust in the hope God has truly given her.

Many more were baptized that day. They had waited anxiously for the skies to clear so this could happen. The day was a glorious one – with everyone bringing food afterward where we sat by the water and had so much fun visiting and playing in the river.

The church goes on. Despite ¨many a trial and snare” it goes on. To see the lives of young as well as old standing in their community for the truth of the Scriptures, for the visible love of God and for concern for the lives of their families and neighbors, is a transforming work only the Spirit of God can do. What an honor to be witnesses of this change from death to life, from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh.

Please pray for us as we continue with our team to plant and water – all the while knowing that it is God and only God who can give the increase.

May you be encouraged in your faith in Christ,

Ed and Denise

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Dear Friends,

How can one calculate the value of a changed life? Over the years we have seen that God has used His own adoption of us as His sons and daughters to radically turn our worlds rightside up.

We have also seen the lives of 11 children changed through adoption. From their desperate earthly situations each was given godly upbringings and opportunities to call on His name and be changed in his or her physical and spiritual lives. Only Jesus can do that.

In Mexico there is a beautiful tradition honoring a young girl when she reaches 15 and celebrates her “Quinceañera”. It is usually such a beautiful occasion that the young girl often chooses to have a party with family, friends, godparents and a cake that may be as big or bigger than she is! There are songs, speeches, dances and prayers for her life. She wears a beautiful, long dress – all reminding us that she is a young flower that is blooming. The festivities celebrate the guests’ love for her and honor her value.

Fifteen years ago, a tiny, premature infant was put in an incubator in a rural clinic after her mother died in childbirth. The desperate father, not knowing us, offered the baby to us. He was grief stricken over the loss of his wife, lived in abject poverty and could not care for the child. We paid a dear young, single mother in the village church to go to the clinic to touch, hold, sing and pray for this child through the openings in the incubator. Day and night she kept to the task for one month. We looked for a family that loved the Lord to adopt the infant as their own.

We had a group of 10 men here on a work project when the infant was released and given to us. Each man eagerly awaited his turn to hold the new baby. One friend, Jim, said, “Let’s call her ‘Gloria’!” So Gloria it was. By God’s mercy, we were able to present Gloria to our friends for adoption on Mexican Mother’s Day (May 10th). They have loved their daughter dearly all these years. Little Gloria Noemi turned 15 in April and the party was planned.

The party took place in our yard and was one of the most beautiful, Christ and adoption-honoring events in our lives. Gloria Noemi has grown to love with all her heart not only her parents, but Jesus Himself. The “Quinceañera” was deeply moving.

Gloria Noemi

Yet, only a few steps away from all the happiness of the festivities, another young girl lay on a bed inside our home. She was in great discomfort and her life was far from the joy-filled life of Gloria Noemi.This 14 year old had become pregnant by an evil, obsessed man. While the ceremony was continuing outside, she was being examined by two Christian doctors who had come for the party. They told us she had preeclampsia and needed to be taken immediately to the hospital for an emergency C-section. Imagine, a C-section at 14 years old! She was terrified at the possibility of death with this emergency surgery and bringing a helpless, little infant into the world.

What a sharp contrast of joy and pain, love and abuse, celebration and fear! What would become of the young girl and her child?

Literally shaking like a leaf, young Irene (not her real name) had a C-section two hours later. The little guy wailed for hours into the night in an inconsolable manner as though he had carried all his mother’s pain. Irene knew she could not care for the baby. She had no way of providing for him. She wanted to go to school which her blind mother had denied her from attending. She was so grateful and happy that adoption was a possibility for the care of the life she had carried inside of her.

Then the depression of her circumstances set in. She could not go back to the village and face the danger of this obsessed man who she knew was frantically looking for her. Just the day before the birth, Irene was playing with dolls in our home and drawing pictures with crayons. She was still a child in so many ways!

Her older half-sister, who has custody of Irene, had been the whistle blower in this situation. She brought her sister to our home and asked us if we would help them find a Mexican Christian couple to adopt the baby. The risk of being jailed and legal implications of all sorts were too high for an international adoption to be feasible due to possible child trafficking accusations.

A personal friend and pastor recommended a childless couple who had been praying for 11 years for a baby. They loved the little baby from the start! The legal process of adoption has begun for the infant.

But what of Irene´s future?

She had lost hope of an education. Irene had no idea of where her future food, clothing and shelter would come from. We are so happy to say that she is now in a loving, caring home that assists children whose lives are in danger. We have been assured that she cannot be traced or reached by anyone who would want to do her harm. Denise visited her last Saturday on the Mexican “Day of the Child”. Waiting for Denise at a picnic bench, Irene´s eyes brightened when she saw her. Irene shared that she is happy, and has already made 3 friends; she likes the food and her lower bed on the bunk. There are 10 girls in the room. She has to recover a little more but cannot wait to go to school and play sports with the other girls. “Estoy contenta” (I’m content) she said with sparkling eyes. “I am too!” Denise replied joyously, giving her a hug. Her older sister talked to Denise by phone and said, “I can already tell she is different – so much happier and free!”*

We look forward to seeing her come to faith and grow. God makes new and makes “beauty from ashes”. How grateful we are for His continual redemption in the lives of those we work with, as well as His redeeming and teaching us daily.

Blessings to you all and we ask for continued prayers for this situation.

We also say, “Happy Mother’s Day” to all you beautiful Moms, Grandmas and Mothers of the heart,

Ed and Denise

Winter 2022

January 2022

On Christmas Day, we went to visit several widows – some so destitute that their supply of corn had completely run out.

As God would have it, we planted and harvested by hand 2 tons of corn to give to those most in need. We only required that each bring a sack to put the corn in.

One of the widows looked at us in disbelief. She raised her hands and pointed to heaven. “How I thank God for this!” she said. “I was at the point of needing to buy corn, and with what could I do that?” She broke down in tears.

Another told us, “I was so discouraged. I went into my room, shut the door and knelt on the ground. I told the Lord, ‘I won’t ask You for much, but I have one need, Lord. I have one great need.’ And look! He heard and answered this very day!”

This verse becomes real, “Open thy mouth and I will fill it.”

Psalm 81:10

Video above of a widow receiving her corn

Why does the Bible talk about widows and orphans so much? It is not only because they have to depend completely on Him for their deepest needs, but it is also that God wants to use His people to meet those needs and forges ties of kindness, love and provision for them, in Christ’s name.

We not only visited widows but other women who were alone with profound inner needs.

As we came to Aurora’s (not her real name) cabin, we saw her round the corner, a tumpline on her head and firewood on her back. She leaned back and dropped her load squarely on the ground as the perspiration drenched her face and back. It was the perfect time to speak with her. No one else was there other than her young half-brother.

Aurora has a tragic past – at only 23 years of age. When she was 14 her wicked step-father raped her. She didn’t even know what was happening. Months later she gave birth to a baby in the cornfield.

Overwhelmed by fear, anger and shame, Aurora walked into the hut of the family’s kitchen with the baby hid behind her back. Suddenly she revealed the baby and angrily threw the newborn down on the dirt floor in disgust. Her bitter hatred of the step-father’s repeated abuse was shown in one terrifying outburst.

Aurora’s sisters saw the infant was still alive, took her to a hospital but the baby did not survive. From that point, Aurora became dead inside too.

On this Christmas Day, we knew God was at work when we found Aurora home alone. We wish you could have seen her there in a single wood cabin with dirt floor. She received not only our fresh corn but also our words of acceptance. We spoke of assurances, not judgement, of being worthy and loved by God the Father. We shared the truth that God would never, ever defraud her.

She looked down the whole time we spoke with her, fiddling nervously with a paper in her hand. We prayed for her and as we went to leave, she looked up with tears and hugged each of us so tightly that we thought she was not going to let us go. Yes, the Word will not return void even when it appears that the person we speak to is cut off. The Lord, in this new year and every year continues to reach for the lost.

Thank you for praying, supporting and believing,

Ed and Denise