Download - November 2008
Regional Window
Middle America and Caribbean
Win
dow
On
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Wor
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Issu
e 11
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r 200
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Fast Facts: Mexico, Central America, Pa-
nama, non-US Caribbean islands,
Guyana, French Guiana and Suri-
name
257 Unreached People Groups
178 million lost people
360 IMB missionaries
Religions: Roman Caltholicism,
Hinduism, Islam, Santeria, Voodoo,
animistic tribal religions.
The deaf in Mexico are the largest
UPG
Southern Pocomam of
Guatemala
Population: 42,000
Lang: S. Poqomam
Religion: Animism
Evangelical: 1%
Status: Formative
or nominal church.
Announcements:
November 13th- 7:00pm- Missions Informa-
tion Conference with IMB Candidate Consult-
ant, Joel Sutton
November 18th- Operation Christmas Child
@7:00pm, Bring a shoe box and filler items
and the WMC will provide wrapping and
snacks. For more information about OCC,
check out page 3 of this newsletter.
November 21-22- Missionary Garage Sale-
8:00am-2:00pm- Come support SWBTS stu-
dents as they leave for the Missions Field.
Unless otherwise noted, all events are at the
WMC. Contact Amy Perry ext. 7500 or
[email protected] for more information.
Facts and map from http://www.macregion.org/ People Group Profile Taken From: www.joshuaproject.net
Open Window
Please be in prayer for the former SWBTS students who
recently finished IMB training and are now beginning life in a
new country and ministry.
Pray for the lost people of inner-city Mexico City who are
enslaved by drugs, violence, prostitution, and pornography.
There are few people there working to bring them hope.
Pray for the Hindu population of Suriname. If they convert to
Christianity they are ostracized and rejected by their families.
Pray for boldness of local believers.
Pray for the financial situation in the United States and in the
world, as this can greatly affect the IMB budget and
overseas spending power.
As the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering gets underway this
month, pray that people will give generously, in faith that
God will supply all of their needs and multiply what they give
for His purposes.
Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike... It has been a very wet and windy
hurricane season for the island of Hispaniola. Haiti and the
Dominican Republic have experienced flooding, power
outages, and damage to houses, businesses, trees and crops.
But the Lord God has the incredible power to turn affliction
into hope. Pray for God's love to be poured out through His
people on the island of Hispaniola, changing affliction to
hope.
"... but we also rejoice in our afflictions, because we
know that affliction produces endurance, endurance
produces proven character, and proven character
produces hope. This hope does not disappoint,
because God’s love has been poured out in our
hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to
us" (HCSB). Romans 5:3-5
Window Blinds The Horse Whisperer
A church planter and a horse whisperer team up to reach cow-
boys in Mexico
On opposite sides of the border, two cowboys heard
God‟s whisper. Down south in Agua Prieta, Mexico, it
took a while for Andy Hill to figure out exactly what God
was saying to him.
“I‟m not the sharpest knife in the drawer,” jokes Andy, an
International Mission Board missionary in this Mexican
border town across form Douglas, Arizona.
When God started speaking to him about reaching
“vaqueros” - Mexican cowboys—Andy tried to push the
idea away at first. “I thought, „Wait a minute. That sounds
like too much fun,‟” he says. “I was afraid it was too much
my idea and not enough God‟s.
But Andy couldn‟t ignore what he and his wife, Lori, no-
ticed about Mexican culture after they arrived in Agua
Prieta as new missionaries four years ago. “Here in Mex-
ico it‟s been said that all men are cowboys at heart,” Andy
relates. “Mexico has a very diverse population, but at the
heart of this country are those roots that they‟ve come
from—that „vaquero‟ culture.” He couldn‟t ignore, either,
the fact that local believers weren‟t reaching the many
“vaqueros” who live and work around Agua Prieta.
Among Christians, “there‟s been an attitude that once you
become a believer, you have to leave anything they con-
sider worldly behind. And that includes things you enjoy
doing,” Andy says. “So if a man is a „vaquero‟, if he has
horses or enjoys those sorts of things, he has to leave all
that stuff, all his old friends, behind. He has to completely
separate himself from that.”
That attitude didn‟t sit well with Andy, who grew up
around horses and cattle on a small farming and ranching
operation near Haskell, Texas. “We‟re told in God‟s
Word to be in the world but not of the world, and you
can‟t be in the world unless you‟re interacting with it,” says
Andy. You can‟t win the lost to Christ, you can‟t live your
testimony in front of them, if you‟re living apart from
them.”
The more Andy lived around „vaqueros‟ in Agua Prieta, the
more he realized God was up to something with them.
Then one day the phone rang. It was Andy‟s missionary
supervisor.
”Andy, have you ever thought about starting „vaquero‟
churches in your area—reaching out to the cowboys?”
Allen asked. . .
For more of this story and how God is using ordinary people‟s gifts
and talents to further His kingdom, check out www.macregion.org.
*
World Events Please use the events to pray appropriately for the participants
Pushkar Camel Fair in India usually takes place for three days surrounding the November full moon. It is now a tourist event,
but at the heart of it is the religious festival, as many saddhu’s bathe in the sacred waters of Pushkar’s lake.
Day of the Dead– November 1st– this holiday is celebrated in many Catholic countries, largely in Mexico. It is a day to vener-
ate the dead and pay homage to them. The real action happens in the cemeteries, where graves are decorated with flow-
ers and sweets, as whole villages descend upon them.
Fireworks Night– November 5th all over England. In homage to Guy Fawkes inability to redecorate the interior of the houses
of parliament in 1605, amateur pyro-enthusiasts set off fireworks displays in practically every garden in England.
St. Martin Festival– November 11th– Catholics and some Protestants all over Europe celebrate in honor of this canonized saint
who is known for giving part of his cloak to a cold beggar and resisting being made bishop by hiding in a goose barn. This
festival manifests itself differently in the customs of different countries. In some countries the children march through the
streets with lanterns, in some they practice ancestor veneration, but in all they eat goose.
The Mombassa Carnival– November 15th in Mombassa Kenya– All of Kenya`s myriad tribes and cultures come together in
one big festival- a celebration of Kenya in all its varied diversity.
Operation Christmas Child
Since 1993, more than 61 million shoe boxes have
been packed, shipped, and delivered across the
globe to children in desperate situations.
OCC Gift Ideas
TOYS
small cars, balls, dolls, stuffed animals, kazoos, har-
monicas, yo-yos, jump ropes, small Etch A Sketch®,
toys that light up or make noise (with extra batteries),
Slinky®, etc.
SCHOOL SUPPLIES
pens, pencils and sharpener, crayons or markers,
stamps and ink pad sets, writing pads or paper, solar
calculators, coloring and picture books, etc.
HYGIENE ITEMS
toothbrush, toothpaste, mild bar soap (in a plastic
bag), comb, washcloth, etc.
OTHER
Hard candy and lollipops (please double bag all
candy), mints, gum, T-shirts, socks, ball caps; sun-
glasses, hair clips, toy jewelry, watches, flashlights
(with extra batteries)
DO NOT INCLUDE:
Used or damaged items; war-related items such as
toy guns, knives or military figures; chocolate or food;
out-of-date candy; liquids or lotions; medications or
vitamins; breakable items containers; aerosol cans
A PERSONAL NOTE
In a separate envelope, you may enclose a note to
the child and a photo of yourself or your family.
www.samaritanspurse.org
Local Missions
Filled with a heart for the lost and a desire to learn more about
the Buddhist world view, seven members of the SWBTS family journeyed
to the far land of Arlington, TX to engage in a day of learning and seed
sowing. On Saturday, October 18th, Art Savage and Dr. Keith Eitel led
four students to the Kadampa Meditation Center of Texas in order to
learn about Buddhism and begin establishing relationships with the
monks at the center. The group arrived at the center to find the monks
out gilding Buddha statues to adorn the old church building they had
purchased in order to convert it to a temple. As the group had con-
tacted them before coming, the monks were expecting them and wel-
comed them warmly. Within the center, a monk who had recently con-
verted to Buddhism from a Southern Baptist background kindly shared
with the group about the beliefs of Kadampa Buddhism and the activi-
ties of the center. The monk expressed that they believe all religions
lead to Buddha and that Buddha calls people to himself through differ-
ent religions. He stated that they do not engage in evangelism, but are
willing to teach people about Buddhism as they come into their center.
Many people come to the center to learn breathing techniques and
proper forms of meditation, but few convert to Buddhism. The group
learned a lot about this form of Buddhism from the hospitable monk and
were able to leave him with a tract before they left.
The rest of the afternoon was spent in the Hong Kong Market
shopping center on Pioneer Pkwy. After eating lunch in a Vietnamese
Noodle Shop, the team divided into two groups and spread through the
center passing out tracts and New Testaments and talking to shop keep-
ers and shoppers. The materials were well received by most, though the
group was only able to have a few deep conversations with people. Dr.
and Mrs. Eitel received a surprise when they ran into an African man and
were able to share with him in a pidgin language.
Overall, the mini-mission was a valuable experience for the
SWBTS participants and for those they came in contact with. Keep your
eyes open for more events like this through the WMC!
MIRror
Santeria & Roman Catholicism
Written by: Lorri SeGraves
Inseparable For More Than 500 years
It was the first day of class in the fall of
2007 at the Universidad Arturo Michelena
in Valencia Venezuela, when one of my
students arrived dressed completely in
white. He had white shoes, white socks,
white pants, a white shirt…white
everything. It seemed odd at the
moment, but I just thought white was his
“thing” for that day. I quickly realized,
however, that it was his “thing” every
day. For the entire semester, whenever I
saw this young man, he donned his
colorless attire as a testimony to his new
faith. He had become a Santero, and was
fulfilling his vow for a year of
“purification” as part of the discipleship
phase of Santeria.
Santeria is not a new phenomenon. It is
a voodoo based religion whose origin in
Nigeria among the Yoruba people dates
back to the time of Christ. As slaves
were brought to the New World, their
religion came with them, but in most
cases, slave owners quickly required
them to convert to Christianity. Because
of this, many slaves, in an attempt to
retain some of their indigenous beliefs, found a way to fuse elements of Santeria with Catholicism. The result is the
modern day syncretistic combination of religious systems, which allows adherents to worship demonic forces with black
magic under the protective umbrella of the Roman Catholic Church. Santero “Orishas” have conveniently been re-
named for Catholic Patron Saints, and each new convert to Santeria is required to have been baptized first in the RCC.
Santeria is increasing in popularity not only in the Caribbean, and Central & South America, but in the US as well. It has
become such an issue in the US that in 1993 the Supreme Court in the case The Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye v. City of
Hialeah ruled against laws that would prohibit the ritual of animal sacrifice in Santeria practices.
Planning to minister in the Caribbean, Central & South America, or even in the United States? Better freshen up on
modern day Catholicism. For a more practical explanation of Santeria practices, beliefs, etc., check out this website
http://w3.iac.net/~moonweb/Santeria/Intro.html. It will put you on the road to better understanding modern Catholicism
and Santeria. It‟s always a good idea to try to gain understanding of a worldview as you design an effective evangelism
approach.
Written by MIR: Lorri SeGraves
Background Photo Taken From: www.ics.uci.edu/~eppstein/pix/aa/dv-swr2.html
c s a a i n a r b a c c r r l r
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p i c r a i p g x i r o d r r p
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m o o w a t e m a l a i c n h c
o a r n t r r c p n r e f u n i
d o n f a t a m u i a i x n r i
Mexico Guatemala El Salvador Honduras Nicaragua Costa Rica
Panama Cuba Haiti Dominican Republic Martinique Trinidad
Suriname Guyana French Guiana Caribbean
Swag