Missions – Ed & Donna Weckerly – Spanish American Evangelistic Ministries – El Paso, Texas

Description of Ministry:

It is a privilege to give to you and to all who will read and listen, the details of the production and distribution of Christian tracts and Spanish Bibles and New Testaments and doing benevolent work. Christians are real good about giving this mission food, clothing and quilts to share with the poor and needy. These days with extreme violence in Juarez, trips are still made in to Juarez on specific errands, which have been prayed over, leaving off the goods, then returning to El Paso. By the people coming to SAEM to retrieve their materials, we get to meet with them, know who they are and pray with them. We had pretty near 4 tons of a rice dish, put up in plastic bags which from Cherokee, OK. It lasted about 3 months after it was delivered to us. All things are working for good here, God is good, He is giving us blessings, and He gets a lot done, glory to His name.

The generosity and dedication of the Quilters in churches in Minnesota is appreciated. The quilts are made by the dozens as ladies make them. We have hauled 100’s of quilts down here. The quilts go to the largest federal penitentiary in Juarez, to shacks on the most worthless land ‘way up on the mountainside in Juarez, where the need is practically inexplicable. They go to homes for the new-borns where the new Mom has a special, small, heated room as a nursery and Dad and the older kids only go in on special occasions. I get to go in, deliver the baby quilt, hold the baby, and pray, as the parents want me to, that the child will grow to be big and strong, become a Christian and a good servant of Jesus Christ. Our friends in San Juanito, Mexico use quilts extensively while doing hospital calls. Poor mothers from ‘way up in the wilderness, some living at 11,000 feet of altitude ride down the mountain road on top of a load of logs at 8 ½ months pregnant to give birth rejoice that somebody cares and shares a quilt with them at such a time. We also give out quilts to an average of 100 people who live in a Shelter for the mentally incapacitated on the south edge of Juarez where there is no heat and has cement walls and floors.

In these days 100’s of dollars worth of Bibles and New Testaments are being used to make disciples of 2,500 Policemen and Women in Juarez. Christian workers are teaching them and even the Precinct captains practically beg them to keep it up, because a better job is being done out there on the streets because of the ethic, the attitude, the love and peace surrounding the officers. Anyone and everyone who help this mission contributes to the great results for preaching and standing behind the gospel of Christ in some very unique conditions.

Ministry Update:

You are doing such a great job of prayerfully supporting us, here in this Mission for our Savior. Work piles up and we pitch in to the best of our ability, with God’s blessing all along the way.

We are experiencing the co-operation of our friends across the Border who are so willing to come to the El Paso side to receive the Christian literature. This gives us the opportunity to meet them and get a great sense of how the Scriptures are used in their neighborhoods. They are ever grateful to have the materials available. We love it, that we are in the right location to have this evangelism going on, and we are glad they know where to come to get it. I deliver tracts and Bibles part of the time, yet the people we take it to are aware that it puts them on a spot of being “high profile” for robbers and extortionists to take advantage of them. So we are kind of on a tight rope, balancing when it is “ok” to go in, and when it is the better part of wisdom to hold back. Praying and serving, those are the keys.

How gratified we are to be in the middle of Scripture studies for many law enforcement people in Juarez. We have filled requests from Christian leaders who have entered into Bible teaching sessions, that they may have great quantities of Spanish New Testaments. The precinct leaders have come out in favor of the Bible Studies because it helps make a much better work force.

Benevolence work is another category which is a privilege to be a part of. We are given food, clothing, and quilts to share with very needy people. An example of where the fine rice dish from “Kids Against Hunger” in Cherokee, OK is feeding people up on the most remote mountain trails on the side of the mountain in Juarez. It would be hard for you to imagine the shacks up there, no road to go on, no water pipes, certainly no electricity; yet, people, finding a place to become “squatters” have moved in. I am sure it is hard to even get wood for the fire to cook the rice recipe on. Many of the quilts from Minnesota go to those families too. I am thinking that is what Jesus and the disciples did…lend a hand to the poor. Tomorrow morning, got to un-load a big load of this food, coming in by a trucking freight line.

God is helping Donna get stronger in the Vista Hills Healthcare Center. She has such a good attitude, stays in great spirits, eats good and sleeps well. I go in every day to check on her, read from the Bible and bring some of the outside news in to her. We are in a bit of a bind with the co-pay on the Long Term Care Insurance which we bought. It covers $100 per day of the $140 bill. We take the wheel-chair and go to church on Sundays. We like that very much. Our preacher was gone the Sunday before Palm Sunday and I was asked to fill in, it went ok.