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March 2001
Dear Friends,
The Lord God is merciful and mighty, we bow down before Him
with love.
So many things have been accomplished while we have been on
home assignment it is difficult to know where to begin. I been
visiting churches every weekend and have been overwhelmed by the
excitement I find everywhere about international missions! The
Lord is sending a new missionary vision to the PC(USA)! Several
pastors have shared with me their discovery that a growing, positive
church is built by being actively engaged in mission endeavors.
There is an old formula that describes this. The church is mission
and mission is the church. Would that all the Presbyterian family
hear this. Focus on what we can do to serve our neighbors and
not what we can’t!
We do want to thank a few of the churches we have visited. First
Presbyterian Churches of Greenville, S.C.; Thomasville, Ga.; Newnan,
Ga.; Carrolton, Ga.; Greenville, Pa. and Punta Gorda, Fl. Each
has been a blessing to us as a family. I am always impressed with
the consistency of concern to take the gospel to all the world.
This is tangible evidence that we are led by one Holy Spirit who
lives in each believer’s heart.
Martha has been working part-time in the Worldwide Ministries
Division of the
Presbyterian Center. She has enjoyed getting to know some of the
other people there. She is also a bell ringer at Calvin Presbyterian
Church, where our family worships. I want to tell you about a
wonderful surprise this fellowship gave us at Christmas. They
have ordered three sets of hand bells to send with us to Mexico
so Martha can teach this music to the people there! I am already
hearing in my head the concerts they will be giving across the
Yucatan!
I have finished several articles and sent them off to different
church or missions-related journals. We shall see if they are
accepted. Whether they are or not, I enjoyed doing the work and
feel that I am slowly building a collection of materials that
can help people understand my interest in developing the ministry
of spiritual direction in Mexico. Just in case anyone is interested,
the titles are "Evangelism and the Means of Grace,"
"Apostasy
in Mexico: A Wakeup Call for Missionary Evangelists," "A
Call to Celebrate the Lord’s Supper Awesomely," and
"El Cambio en el Sacerdocio." If your missions committee
is interested, let me know and I will mail or fax a copy to you.
In addition, I have combed through hundreds of journals to pick
articles that might be of interests to readers of Superacion Ministerial,
the leadership magazine that we publish in Mexico. Of course we
prefer to have mostly Hispanic authorship of the articles, but
when that is not possible
I try to have articles that are both practical and interesting
translated.
David turns 10 this weekend. He is of course excited about that.
I am disappointed because I have to be out of town. He is getting
better at his violin and ready whenever a local symphony wants
to present Mary Had a Little Lamb. Valerie has started to study
for her learners permit. That is worrisome, but I guess she has
to learn to drive sooner or later. I would just prefer later!
Kristen is baby-sitting several afternoons a week and dreaming
about the day she can open a kindergarten.
We are going to be in Louisville until the beginning of June.
I will then go to a 36-day retreat in California run by the Jesuits.
Martha will go back to Mexico as soon as her U.S. immigration
papers are in order. In order to keep her U.S. work permit and
live overseas there are some permits that have to be obtained.
Everyone has enjoyed the States but they are ready to go home
to Mexico.
Please keep us in your prayers. Also pray for the continuing
development of the St. John Society. That is the society that
is working to support the work of spiritual formation in the churches
in Mexico.
Your family in Christ,
Don and Martha Wehmeyer
The 2001 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 248
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