Don and Martha Wehmeyer - April 2017 Update

Mérida, Mexico

Greetings from Yucatan,

Oh, my goodness is it April already? I know there are still Christmas cookies in the refrigerator, what is happening to the speed of time?

Time has flown by because we have been busy. We had a wonderful trip to Covenant Presbyterian Church in West Lafayette, Indiana. This church has been supporting missions in Mexico faithfully for many years. While there our hosts Alan and Barbara Bartelt took us to the LOUDEST Christian rock music concert this side of Jupiter – a group called Casting Crowns. To give you an idea of the number of decibels hurled towards us, we watched the man in front of us take out his hearing aids then stuff cough drops in each ear. Not satisfied, he then added half the printed program and a sock to each ear. That seemed to help because many others seemed to follow the example. In all seriousness, we were happy to see the enormous Purdue Auditorium sold out to people wanting to see a Christian band with a strong evangelistic message. Casting Crowns shared the gospel very well.

We recently had a great visit from Eileen McAvoy of Westminster Presbyterian in Durham, NC. She led a two-day conference on Non-Violent Communication (NVC). The conference was given to a combination of city lawyers and social workers and a few non-profit agencies – all people dealing with the difficult day to day work of serving dysfunctional families. Please look up the work of NVC online. They have a lot to offer. The results were impressive. Eileen knew how to get the group to talk about their problems, then provided useful tools to help. There is now an effort to establish an NVC support group and look for ways to continue the training. To give an idea of the scope of the problem here in Mérida, I spoke to the lawyer Eileen McAvoy uses to sign off on the removal of children from dangerous domestic situations. Just in Mérida she has over one hundred cases a month! How desperate the world is for the Gospel of Jesus the Lord.

The little church we are serving in Sitpatch has been doing well. We are finishing a small wall in the front and repairing the bathrooms. I am preaching from the Lectionary there, and it seems their spirits are high. 

Now we need to make a BIG request. Look at your calendar for the week of August 7 to 11. We are going to sponsor the first ever English Immersion Camp (everything in English) at the Gethsemane Retreat Center for kids 12 to 14 years old. So, if you speak English, pray about coming to help. We are looking for four or five volunteers; we can provide room and board for those days and for as long as you want to stay. 

In March, I taught a course for pastors and seminary students during a week-long trip to Margaritas, Chiapas (March 20 to 25). It is a town I have been to many times before. It is a long 20-hour bus ride (half of which is really curvy roads), so eating a packet of Dramamine is highly recommended. Recently, however, there have been road blocks put up by different protest groups, so we expect it to be a challenge now to move from A to B in that state. 

Please remember us in your prayers and with your support. May the Lord bless you and keep you, may his face shine upon you and give you peace.

In Christ’s service,
Donald and Martha Wehmeyer

Read more about the Wehmeyer's ministry by clicking HERE.

THE NEED
Outreach is seeking gifts totaling $30,000 for support and program funds for the Wehmeyers.