March 14, 2008

Greetings from Yucatan!

What a joy to share with you the great things the Lord is doing in Yucatan. As we come close to Easter, it is only right that His name be praised in all corners of the earth.

Martha is hosting a group of women from the church every Monday morning from 8:00 to 10:00, and I am participating with a men’s meeting every Wednesday from 8:00 to 10:00 at night. Both of these groups have been wonderful for the people as they learn to work through some of the hurts and scars they have from growing up. One of the greatest lessons from these courses is the need to tell your children—and it is never too late to do so—that they are good at something, you are proud of them, and you love them! Three things that will change the world! Certainly our Lord tells us this when we are called into His church, but we can never hear it too much. They are wonderfully healing words.

Gethsemane, the retreat center in Chablekal, continues to improve. We had a nice work group from Mt. Dora Presbyterian Church in Florida and a second will arrive in a couple of weeks from Stanley, Kansas. These short-term mission teams are a blessing to us. In addition to the Mexican churches that rent the facilities, I hosted a couple of retreats with students from the seminary. We have also begun a service with the city of Merida child custodial services. Some youngsters who have had a “brush with the law,” as they say, when discharged from their detention have no family to return to. Since they are minors (12 to 18), the city cannot just leave them on the street alone, so they are brought to Gethsemane to stay for as long as they like. We cannot keep them by force: if they choose to leave they are free to go, but we are trying to make a safe and healthy place for them.

To give you an idea of who is arriving, one the boys is named Julio. He is about 15, but he doesn’t know his birthday or the town in which his was born. Please pray for this ministry and especially for Deborah and Juan Carlos Yamamoto who are members of the Door of Salvation Church and are in charge of these young people.

At the San Pablo Seminary I am teaching a course in ecclesiology. Each year I am amazed at how little the students have understood the role of the holy church in God’s plan for their individual lives and to redeem the world. It seems large numbers of believers are members of the church, but without a clear sense that to love Christ is to love His Church, and to love His Church is to love Him. Could it be these things are also neglected in the U.S. church? I heartily recommend reading chapter one, book four of John Calvin’s Institution of the Christian Religion. Then if you would like more, talk to your pastor or write me.

I just want to include a couple of lines about my trip to Chile with representatives of the Presbytery of the Pines. We visited the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Chile, their partner church, and among other things, set up the curriculum for a two-year extension seminary. Next January, the Lord willing, we will return and lead a two-week spiritual retreat with all the students enrolled.

A request

Last October, I participated with 50 other missionaries in Mission Challenge 2007. One of the places I went was Puerto Rico. There I visited a small church that also has rooms that serve as the town library. Their books are quite old, so if you have any books to donate, especially stories for children, please mail them to Puerto Rico. All the schools in Puerto Rico teach English so English books are fine. The address is:

Doña Virgen Martinez
Biblioteca Comunitaria Cristo Redentor
Apartado 725 
Rosario, Puerto Rico  00636-0725

Please keep Martha in your prayers. She has a couple of kidney stones in both kidneys and they are sometimes quite bothersome. After I send this letter I am leaving for a 10-day trip to Belize and Chiapas. I will tell you about that, the Lord willing, when I return. May the Lord bless you and keep you all, may His face shine upon you and your ministries. We are very grateful for your love and support.

Don and Martha Wehmeyer

The 2008 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 256