New Blog Site

Dear followers,
Once again this is a reminder that I am now blogging at www.steeleonmission.wordpress.com. Please read my latest post and follow me there.

New Blog Site

We have changed our blog site. Please go to Steele on Mission to view our latest blog post and please follow us there.
Thanks,
Tony and Beverly Steele

Confessions of a Missionary

Felt the need to confess this morning. 

Confessions of a Missionary

He is always faithful;

I am faithful on my best days. 

He is always leading;

I, too often, fail to follow. 

He has placed me in the midst of people who need Him;

I fail to notice them at times. 

He has called me to a work bigger than me;

At times I feel I am sufficient to the task. 

He died for a world of sinners;

I, with my choices, decide who gets to hear of Him. 

He loves those sinners;

I don't care so much for some of them. 

I am one of those sinners;

He loved and called me anyway. 

“Oh, Lord Jesus, more of You and less of me.”

"For Unto Us a Child Is Born." Isaiah 9:6

Christmas in Mexico

Tradition Without Knowledge

Christmas in Veracruz

 

  While Mexico, being 90% Catholic, observes the traditional Christian holidays such as Christmas, there is little understanding among the people of the significance of the Incarnation. There are many layers of religion between the hearts of the people and the God who wants to save them.

  In the churches there is ritual and observance. Among the people there is celebration and festivals. But, in the hearts of the people there is a lack of understanding of the relationship that is necessary in order to receive the salvation of the Lord.

  This Christmas there will be fiestas and fireworks. There will be religion and regalos (gifts). There will be displays and drunkenness, but there will be little true worship with understanding of the marvelous grace of our God

The Poinsettia is indigenous to Mexico

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  Pray that the people of Mexico will come to know the Christ of Christmas as their personal Savior and Lord. Pray that He will be more than an excuse to party. Pray that he will bring hope to families and individuals who need Him desperately. 

 Causes For Rejoicing

  During our time in Mexico, we have seen God’s hand working in the following areas:

·          Four new churches or preaching points.

·          Growth and baptisms in our local church in Jerez.

·          Theological training of pastors and church leaders through two formats.

·          Increasing opportunities for partnerships with others in church planting.

·          Doors opening in areas we hadn’t anticipated before coming to Mexico.

Your Help Is Needed

We cannot continue to serve in Mexico without you!! Would you consider partnering with us in the following ways?

·          Financial support

We have fallen short in monthly gifts the past few months. We desperately need your gifts in order to continue. Thank you for your sacrificial giving.

·          Teams

Would you consider bringing a team to Mexico to help with the work here. We will take care of you while you are here and help you have a rewarding experience.

·          Prayer

We cannot continue without your prayer support. Please pray for us daily.

Thank You!!

Your gifts and prayers are greatly appreciated. Would you consider giving to Global Outreach International as well. They are our “Great Missions Family.” You can learn how to give by clicking on "Give" here on our blog.

"You do not have because you do not ask." James 4:2

Something has taken place that has not happened in the three years that we have been pursuing the missions call of God for our lives. For the first time we did not have sufficient funds to meet our living and ministry needs as missionaries. Our expenses did not go up, but giving did not match the need for the first time in the month of September. We try to live on a modest salary and to be frugal but effective with ministry expenses. There have been several months which came close to not meeting the need, but at the end of every month we always had a positive balance of some size in our account. This last month this was not the case.

For us this is kind of puzzling. We have always trusted God to supply our need and He always has. So, the natural question is "Why is this happening now." It causes a great deal of soul searching and challenges the way we have always thought and operated. In the past three years we have not made a direct appeal for funds from the standpoint of lack or concern. Our desire was to present the mission, pray for the need and trust God to provide through His people. We do not have any doubt in God's ability to do that very thing. He has done it over and over again. What we do doubt is whether we are doing all that we should. With that question in mind we are writing this post. We have always said that you are our partners in what God is doing through us here in Mexico. It is our obligation to treat you as partners and let you know where we are and what the need is.

In the Word of God, we see men of God who were called of God asking the people of God for that which is needed for the work. Moses did this when building the tabernacle. Solomon did this when building the temple. Ezra and Nehemiah did this when reconstructing Jerusalem and the temple. Paul did this when seeking to minister to the Jerusalem church. Now, we are doing this to continue the work God has called us to do.

We have tried to be faithful in letting you know periodically what God is doing through us here in Mexico. Hopefully we have been faithful in that task, but, let us remind you. We are here to take the gospel to communities which do not have it. We are here to seek, as God leads, to plant churches in those areas. We are here to encourage churches and pastors to do what God has called them to do to reach Mexico. We are hear to train pastors and leaders to prepare to better serve the kingdom of God and His church. God is leading us forward on all of those fronts and we are trying to be faithful. Those of you who have been kind enough to visit us here have seen how that works.

Let us say that we are so grateful for you who have given to our mission and ministry so faithfully. Are we saying that we expect you to give more than you are already giving? No. Are we saying that we expect those who haven't given or haven't given lately to start giving? No. It is not ours to ask anything of you that God is not asking of you. What we are doing is presenting the current need and humbly asking that if God lays it on your heart to give something extra or to start giving again or to give for the first time please be obedient to HIS call. Remember also, that whether you can give or not, we desperately need your prayers. Pray for God's continued leadership and blessing in the work here in Mexico. Pray also for every need to be met and thank you very much for your prayers. We are confident that if God's people do as God calls them to do, the need will be met. Thank you for reading this post and thank you in advance for your obedience to God's leadership. Please click on "Give" on our blog to learn how you can give.

Tony and Beverly

Planting Churches - Making Disciples

Busy Summer

This summer has been extremely busy with a visit to the states in late May and early June, including seminary classes for Tony and the wedding of our son, Aaron and new daughter-in-law, Amelia. We are grateful to have Amelia in our family. We returned home to Mexico to teams coming to work and a pastor’s conference to participate in as well as a large Vacation Bible School at our church which had about 220 in attendance each night. During gospel saturations and other outreach efforts we have seen about 15 saved. Glory be to the Lord!

Church Planting

Tepetongo

The church at Tepetongo continues to be going strong. Attendance lately has been around 15-20. The church plant still meets on Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. Those who are a part of the work there feel the Lord has a plan to reach Tepetongo. We know that is correct.

San Antonio la Calera

After gospel saturation efforts by the Caldwell/Lyon Association and Trace Creek Baptist Church, we have great hopes of starting a new work in the El Plateado and San Antonio la Calera area. A Christian brother was found there who has been praying for a church to start there. He even has plans to build a church on a piece of ground he bought for that very purpose. Please be praying for this eventual church plant.

Theological Education

Through the joint efforts of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and Caldwell/Lyon Baptist Association in Kentucky, a new certificate program is being offered to the pastors in Zacatecas state and other states in this part of Mexico. Participating in teaching these courses are Dr. Bill Warren of NOBTS, Carlos de la Barra of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, Jim Collins of Alabama, and this missionary. This has been a vision of those from the CLBA for some time and it is a blessing to see it coming to pass by God’s grace. Thanks to Rick Reeder and the churches of the CLBA for a strong commitment to this vision.

CLBA Pastor's Conference

Tony is also starting training for potential pastors and church leaders in the Jerez area through material provided by the Bible Training Centre for Pastors. Through both of these resources more pastors, church planters and Bible teachers will be trained for greater use in the Kingdom. Please pray that it will be so.

Future Needs

Increased travel expenses over the next year

Furniture for a classroom for Theol. Training

Extra cost for renewing visas this year

Thank You!!

We are so grateful for your continued support. Without your prayer support and financial giving we could not continue. Our budget will increase quite a bit due to the above needs. Your gifts are appreciated. Please consider giving to Global Outreach International as well. They are our “Great Missions Family.”

Mother's Day in Mexico

Overflow Crowd

The Queen and her Court

An Older Mother Sharing Her Testimony

Pastor Ruben Ochoa Preaching

Honoring Mothers

A "Queen of the Home" Found

The Queen of the Home Crowned

Today in our church we had a special service for mothers. The service included a drama about a queen who had a terminal disease who sent her servants searching for the appropriate person to reign in her place. They searched the kingdom and found a number of people who might qualify. These included a musician, a farmer, a businessman, a teacher, and a warrior, all of whom argued their case as to what they could provide for the kingdom. The queen was not satisfied, however, and sent them out searching again. They returned with the "queen of the home," who had suffered patiently and taught lovingly and provided generously for her family. She was the perfect candidate to reign in place of the queen, and after she was crowned the new queen, she instructed all of her subjects to prepare to present themselves before the "King of kings."

A quartet including Steve Benedict, Jerry Chen, Ruben Ochoa, and Tony Steele, also sang a special song for the mothers  called "Mujer, Bella Mujer." A recording was made and handed out to the mothers which you can hear at this link. Click the orange play button at the top. 




What follows are the lyrics with translation.

Más hermosa que cualquier piedra,
(More beautiful than any (gem)stone)
Luchas contra todo, no te rindes.
(You struggle against everything, you don’t give up)

Solo hay una madre como tú.
(There is only one mother like you)

Cuando hablas, hablas con gracia,

(When you speak, you speak with grace)

Cuando enseñas, enseñas con amor.

(When you teach, you teach with love)
Solo hay una madre como tú.
(There is only one mother like you)

Mujer, bella mujer en Dios está tu fe,

(Woman, beautiful woman, your faith is in God)

Mujer, bella mujer, en Dios está tu fuerza.

(Woman, beautiful woman, your strength is in God)

We hope all mothers enjoyed this day and we pray that every child is born to a godly, Christian mother.

“The Churches Strengthened” Acts 16:5

Church Planting

We are grateful for the Lord’s blessings in helping us and our church, “Todas Las Naciones” to start or help with three new works. Thanks to the Lord’s blessings there are new church starts in:

·          Monte Escobedo

Tepetongo

·          Santa Lucía de la Sierra

·          Tepetongo

The church in Tepetongo was started about a month ago after a request by some believers in the town.

Monte Escobedo

The church in Monte Escobedo was begun by Bro. Ben Elliott from Del Rio, TX. He and his family have plans to move to Jerez this summer to continue the work and prayerfully start more churches. Until then we are helping him with the work in Monte Escobedo.

Santa Lucia de la Sierra

The church in Santa Lucía de la Sierra is made up of some individuals who accepted Christ as their Savior in Kentucky. We met them there several years ago and they asked us to come to their village when we moved to Mexico.

 Growth of the Church

The Lord is blessing our church in Jerez, “Todas Las Naciones,” with greater vision and opportunities to take the Gospel to the world. The name of the church means “All The Nations” in English and this is truly the vision of the church. Of course, we are starting with our Jerusalem and Judea, but we are open to whatever God has for us.

 Theological Training For

Pastors and Leaders

We are praying that we can begin theological training for pastors, church planters, and church leaders this August here in Jerez. This is a great need. Tony was trained by the Bible Training Centre for Pastors in March in El Paso, Texas in order to teach their material.

Thank You!!

We are so grateful for your continued support. Without your prayer support and financial giving we could not continue. Know that we are praying for you as you “hold the ropes” for us. 

Feliz Navidad de México - Merry Christmas from Mexico

Poinsettia Story

Also known as the Christmas Star and Christmas Flower, it’s said that this winter flower’s association with Christmas comes from a Mexican legend. The story goes that a child, with no means for a grander gift, gathered humble weeds from the side of the road to place at the church altar on Christmas Eve. As the congregation witnessed a Christmas miracle, the weeds turned into brilliant red and green flowers. Named after Joel Roberts Poinsett, first United States ambassador to Mexico and the amateur botanist who introduced the plant to the U.S. in 1825.

Prayer Requests and Future Plans

Pray For:

•      Summer projects planned or being planned for Summer, 2013.
•      Future plan for our church "Todas Las Naciones" (All The Nations)
•      Church planting efforts in cities that have been saturated.
•      Strength to finish the course on the Doctor of Missiology.
•      Our personal health/stamina/safety.

Shot of the Christmas program on Sunday, 12/23/2012

Some Specifics

Our church, mentioned above, has a number of grand plans which seem to be in the mind of God. A planning team is meeting regularly to pray and plan. Some of the plans include:

•    Building a new building(s) to house increasing numbers of attendees.
•   Building a new building for the children's home - Casa Betania. The building where they are currently is owned by an individual who could ask them to leave at any time.)
•    Increasing the opportunities for the music school to grow, including new building for them. (Jerry Chen is currently teaching music, keyboard, guitar lessons to young people in our church and in the community as well.)
•   Providing theological education for pastors, church planters and church workers. (This is Tony's part of the future plans. Also praying about which curriculum to use. Hoping to start training pastors in the next 2-3 months.)
•    Building dormitories for mission teams and missionaries coming to Mexico.
•    Providing language training (English for locals and Spanish for missionaries.)
•    Providing ministries to senior citizens, women, families, alcohol and drug addicts, etc.
•    Whatever else the Lord leads us to do. 

These plans depend on some government permission as well as funding, but mostly on the Lord's blessing and leading. The vision is big, but our God is bigger!

Piñata Time!

Thank you!

We are grateful for your commitment to pray for us and to give. Your partnership makes it possible for us to continue the work that God has called us to do. You may or may not be able to come to Mexico to help, but your prayers, encouragement and giving make you a part of the team. Beverly and I wish each of you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Preparing to eat

Fellowship around the table

• 
  

Full Summer/Future Plans

Below is a summary of what has taken place this summer and what is coming up, Lord willing.

Summer Projects

Tlaltenango: After arriving on the field here in Mexico on May 26, the first project team arrived one week later. The Caldwell/Lyon Baptist Association in Kentucky brought a team of 20 to Mexico to saturate the city of Tlaltenango. In 3 days, we took the gospel to over 6,300 homes in a city of 25,000. The picture at the left is the map we used to do the saturation. During this week, 12 people were saved.

Tepetongo: Two weeks later, a team of 5 from Northside Baptist Church in Mayfield, Kentucky came to help us with the saturation of Tepetongo, a smaller city of about 2,500, In three days we covered over 500 homes and 3 people professed faith in Jesus Christ.

Pastor’s Conference: In August, we enjoyed a great pastor’s conference in Zacatecas City with pastors from many of the churches here in the state of Zacatecas and some from Durango as well. The Caldwell/Lyon Association has been providing these conferences for 6 years and the pastors receive a great blessing as well as many useful resources. Please pray for a growing sense of partnership with pastors in Zacatecas for reaching their state and country for Christ.

Follow-up

Since the summer of projects have concluded, we are working on follow-up in the cities we saturated the past two years. Attempts are being made to start Bible Studies in Tepetongo and Villanueva. Pray for individuals or businesses who are willing to provide a place for these studies.

The prospects discovered from the Tlaltenango project were given to a local Baptist pastor who has been following up on them. Also, Tony and a brother from Jerez are doing a monthly worship service with the men at the jail and a drug and alcohol rehab center in Tlaltenango.

Future Plans

High in our hopes and prayers for the next months is the possibility of starting pastor training here in Zacatecas. There is nothing available in this area for continuing education for pastors to provide them with skills and resources for their ministries. Please pray for these doors to open in God’s timing.

Tony is currently working on a Doctor of Missiology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to better qualify him for these plans as well as to open doors for partnerships in theological education.

Thank You!

We are so grateful for your continued prayers and financial support. You are our partners in this mission that our Lord has called us to. Please keep us in your prayers

Now We're Cooking With Gas!

Not being accustomed to cooking with gas and on a stove made in Mexico that has the temps in Celsius, I decided last night I'd better read the instruction booklet before I attempted to use the oven.  Plus, I thought our landlord would not take too kindly to me blowing the place up! I find the instructions, in Spanish of course, difficult to understand due to a lot of technical terms so I resorted to using an on-line translator.  This particular one gives three translations Be sure to read each one:

1. “Turn a match and place it close to the hole of the Pan from the oven. At the same time push and turn to position 5. Visually check through the hole in the tray to the oven burner has been turned on.”

2. Turn on a knurled wheel and place it near the hole in the tray of the oven. At the same time press and turn to the position 5. Visually verify through the hole in the roasting pan to the oven burner has been turned on.

3. Light a cerillo and place it close to the hole of the tray of the stove. At the same time press and turn to the position 5. Verify visually across (through) the orifice of the tray that the burner of the stove has lit.

So, first of all, I’ve never been able to get a match to light by turning it!  Secondly, what in the world is a “knurled wheel?”  Thirdly, my stove, has no “position 5” so I had to guess at where to turn the knob.  After praying it wouldn’t be ME that got baked instead of dinner, I struck the match, followed the instructions and it lit, without any flames OUTSIDE the oven!  Thankful!!!!

Since ovens here are not known for cooking accurately or browning, I wasn’t sure how dinner would turn out but it was delicious, and browned!

One more adventure in this missionary life!

~  Bev

Mexico, at last!

Well, we have been a long time in writing on this blog. We apologize for that, but our time has been busy since we left Costa Rica. We spent nearly a month in the states getting ready to move to Mexico and then drove for three days from Kentucky down to Zacatecas. We arrived here on May 26, very tired and road weary. We are thankful to the Lord that the trip was uneventful. We did have a 3 hour wait at the border, just waiting in line behind others (mostly Mexican) coming back into Nuevo Laredo. I am glad I don't have to cross that border every day. There are quicker places to cross, but for some reason, I wanted to experience the downtown Laredo crossing. I assure you, I don't need to do that again, unless required to. Thanks go to Steve and Amber Benedict here in Jerez for their hospitality in allowing us to stay in their home until ours was livable.
We were in Mexico one week before our first team of about 20 people came down from the Caldwell/Lyon Baptist Association in Kentucky. It was a great team and we saturated the city of Tlaltenango (about 25,000 in population) with the gospel. We took a copy of the gospel of John and book of Romans plus the plan of salvation to over 6,300 homes in that city and covered it all. In addition, we had an evangelistic service at the prison outside of town there. Bro. Raul preached to the men and gave an invitation. 10 men responded to a strong and clear appeal to receive Christ and said they had given their lives to Christ. Bro. Nicolas also gave his testimony about his past life of crime and sin and how the Lord had changed him. Bro. Luis also gave a strong word to the men about the need to give their all to the Lord. The team had also purchased some food and necessary clothing and hygiene items for the men. If people do not bring food in for them, they do not get much more than soup and tortillas to eat. We know of two other people who were saved on this trip, including an 83 year old man who was very sick and may be close to eternity. Thanks to Bro. Rick Reeder and all of the team from the Princeton and Eddyville area of Kentucky for your hard work and commitment to the people of Zacatecas and to the Lord's desire to see them saved.
Finally, we have another team coming in from Northside Baptist Church in Mayfield, Kentucky tomorrow. We will be saturating the city of Tepetongo in the same way. Please pray for this team as they come and as we work here for the salvation of souls in Zacatecas. More word on this project after it is finished.
We continue to get settled into our home here in Jerez, Zacatecas. If anyone would like to know our address or phone numbers here in Mexico, we would be glad to share them on an as needed basis through email. For security reasons, we are not publishing them. Just write to us at gozacmission@gmail.com. Thank you for all of your prayers and financial gifts that keep us in the work that God has for us. We love you all.

Farewell, Costa Rica!

Today, a little after noon, we will board a plane here in San Jose that will take us away from a country that we have called home for over a year now. We have, in the mean time, acquired a better understanding and grasp of the Spanish language and, hopefully, an ability to share the good news of Jesus Christ.

There have been sorrows and joys, frustrations and blessings, hellos and goodbyes, tears and laughter, humiliation and success (in learning Spanish). But, especially, there has been growth in discovering how good and faithful our God is. He has provided for every need (using many of you) and loved us and nurtured us through a challenging year.

It has been a blessing not only to attend, but also to serve the school here. Tony served as chaplain one trimester and as student council president another. Beverly, in addition to studying, has been part of a women's Bible study group, served as cashier for the student council and as a friend and mentor to many. We have had challenges in learning a language that really likes to do strange and mysterious things with verbs and pronouns, but I think we are at a place where we can talk with people here in Latin America with some degree of dignity and something beyond a kindergarten level of communication.

We are thankful for the school and individuals such as Julie Chamberlain, director and Graziela Arguedas, academic director, as well as our teachers, Ana Silvia, Dixiana, Eugenia, Laura, Maritza, Marlene, Oscar, Patricia, Sandra and Tahiri. We appreciate the staff here as well who have been an encouragement and blessing to us. Finally, we have made lifetime friends who are going to all the world to share the good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We love and will miss you all.

And now it's on to Mexico - the goal and purpose of all of this. There are more friends and more challenges ahead for us and there is and always will be the same God over all of our experiences. It is such an adventure just to be obedient and watch God work. (You don't have to be a missionary, by the way, to experience that.) It is always worth the sacrifice and hardship to experience the blessing of saying yes to God's will.

Thank you again and again, to all of you who lift us up in prayer and with your support. We love you all!

Tony and Beverly