dungan norman mary 1979 mexico

8/16/2019 Dungan Norman Mary 1979 Mexico

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hristian

mission

DUNGAN PDO.

POSTAL

741 UERETARO,

QUERETARO,MEXICO

September

17,

1979

Brethren

in

Christ

It

has

been many a

year

since

I last sent this kind of

letter.

But I feel

that it

is

time to do

so

again.

First,

I

want

to

s a y

a

V 7 o r d

concerning the blessi ngs

t h a t

the Lord has

brought into our lives.

Just recently

He sent the means

by

which we

were

able

to buy a home here in town—something that,

humanly

speaking, was an absolute

impossibility

for

us; and He also gave

the means

by which we

were able

t o

trade cars. In

everything, over

the 10

years

that

we have

been here, the

Lord

has

been generous

beyond any telling of it;

a n d

we

are full

of

thanks.

So

what I am going to mention next

does

not

reflect

a

request

for us personally

or

for

our work.

It

does reflect

a

n e e d ,

a challenge,

a n

opportunity

t h a t

involves

the entire ongoing work in Central Mexico.

Some information. Over

a

year ago, we of the congregation here in Quere-

taro d e c i d e d

t h a t

if we were ever t o h a v e

a

building,

we

n e e d e d to b egin with

l a n d . So ; e steppe d

out

on faith and purchase d

two lots

in a d evelopment at

the edge

of

town.

The decision

has

proved

to be

a

good

one, as

property

prices have continued t o soar; b u t t h e congregation is still far from being

ready or able

to afford

putting up

any

kind of

a

b u i l d i n g on the property.

A second p i e c e

of information.

Earlier

this year, one of

the national

Bible Institutes in Mexico d etermine d t o move to Queretaro a n d t o build its

permanent facility here;

so

it began to

look for

land. Hoping t o b e a b l e to

both

help

the Institute a n d

at the

same

time get a building

in

which

to

meet,

the

congregation offered t h e

Institute the

use of the congregation's

land in

return

for

use of one

of

the Institute s buildings. But the property

owned

by

the

congregation was just too sm all for

the needs

of the

Institute, v h i c h

i s

planning for a 100-student~capacity campus.

The

result

i s t h e

following:

the

Institute

i s

in

the

position

of having to

buy property way

out of town—too far

from t own

for the congregation to

use it

in

a n y

way

a n d

too

far

from town for the students to share i n

t h e

work of

evangelism

there or

to

pursue addi tional college

work

with

their Institute

c l a s s e s . But it

i s

willing to

bu y

t h e l a n d b e c a u s e

t h e

price

is

cheap;

for

t h e y do

not

h a v e enough money both t o

bu y

good p roperty and t o begin t o

build their buildings. At the same time, the congregation will be faced with

the

con t i nued la c k

of a building; and

then, when

it

does build,

it

will

probably

have

a typical church house—used

two

or three times

a

week for only

a

few

hours

each time.


2/8

September

17,

1979

page

2

There

is still, however, another possibility—but one which will take a

miracle to bring to pass. Which

is

why I write—to see if you might be

the

means

God would

use to bring about that miracle. You see, there is

still

land

for

sale

in the same tract

where

the congregation

has

land, land which

when added to the property already owned by the congregation would provide

sufficient space for both the church and the institute. If it could be

purchased

by the Institute, then the cooperative

project

could be carried

out, and the

buildings

and the land

could be

put to maximum use,

while

the

Institute s students could

be

close enough to town

to

make an imp act

upon

it.

But

the land costs money, more money in cash than any of us around here—

miss ionaries, congregations and

Institute—have. So the

need

is

for

a

loan

of $20,000 dollars

with which

to purchase the additional land. Repayment

would be

made

by

the

Institute in yearly installments;

and the loan

itself

would

be underwritten by

several

of

us (missionaries) who

labor here

on the

fiel

The need is

for a LOAN

of $20,000.

Please pray about it. Then,

if you

are

led to help with any

part

of that amount, please communicate with me

immediately here in Queretaro.

My phone number

is

4-20-32, and your

local

long-distance

operator

will

help

you put the call

through. What

I

am

talking

about

now

is

a commitment—a statement of willingness to

help, to commit

a

certain amount as a

loan for the

purchase of

the

land.

To

be

sure, yours

would have to be a faith commitment,

for

there

is no

security to back up

the loan other than the word of

the

brethren here, including the missionaries,

that the loan

will

be repaid.

Am

I dreaming

unreasonable

dreams? Is the plan too unwieldy, too

risky,

too expensive? Only time will tell. The Lord may close the door; and

if

He

does,

all

loan money wi ll be

immediately

returned to

the

lender.

But

it

is my belief and hope that the plan

is

workable and that it would benefit

both the Institute and the congregation in their d esire to be good stewards

of God's gifts and to evangelize.

I

will be

prayerfully awaiting His answer.

Thank you for listening.

I

covet your prayers for the situation and

the

need.

Yours

in the

All-Giving

Lord Jesus Christ,

rm

Dungan


3/8

35 7̂

ALuaas

THE

BILL

HOFF FAMILY

APARTADO POSTAL NO. 57

QUERETARO/ QRO. MEXICO

THE

NORM

DUNGAN FAMILY

APARTADO

POSTAL NO.

QUERETARO/ QRO. MEXICO

NEWS

OF

The IHniLinGG F C H R I S T

N C E N T R L

M E X I C O

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY

VOL.

11, NO.

2

OCTCBER,1979

^

RHDIO

PROGRnm

HOTEi

^

since our radio program,"Dulces

Memen

tos"

(sweet

mementos), was first broad

cast almost 10

years

ago,

it

has

become

the means by

which

tens of thousands

have been

contacted

by

the gospel of

Jesus Christ.

The

program has also

been

almost the

only

source of nurture for

many illerate Christians, and has held

forth

sound

doctrine, while others with

loud self-proclamation of being the

voice of

God have come

and

gone.

However,

these achievements do not

mean that there

s

no need to improve

the

program. In fact, the very opposite

is true

and

there are

many reasons

for

this.

The greatest

reason is

that there has

been a

proliferation of religious pro

grams

i n the p st few years. (Some di

rectly opposed

to biblical

teaching).

This

clamor for the listener's attention

has reduced the specific interest in

Dulces Mementos.

Another reason is

cost

effectiveness.

Prices

have tripled

in

the past three

years, and if

we are

to justify the

ex

pense there must be more contacts made

with

the non-believer.

Still another reason is that our pre

sent

format which consists

of a

hymn-

sermon-sandwich,

appeals mostly to -

Christian listeners, while our prime

purpose is

to

contact

the

unevangelized.

A

final factor which has made us con

sider changes

is

that the people we

visit

respond better

to

men

they already

know.

If an evangelist

goes

to a home

to

teach the Word, he

will

be better

re

ceived

if

he has been

in

the home pre

viously via radio.

So

using the voices

of men who work here seems advcintageous.

H opefully thi s would improve their out-

reachr.

At

a meeting,the evangelists presented

a number of concrete ideas for our new

format which should

place

Dulces

Memen

tos head and shoulders" above the

rest.

We

will start a

week with Tomas, who has

been

the voice

of Dulces

Mementos for

the past

10

years, preaching

a

sermon.

The next day

will

be

a

program

of

music

and commentary; then

one

of letter read

ing

and

prayer?

the

day

afterward

one

of the evangelists will preach a mes--

sage;

and the last day we will try to

have three short devotional programs,

which

we

hope to get put into

prime

time.

Radio still is an effective tool, but

it must be used

wisely.

|bh


4/8

She's

my

pretty baby

sister. This

is the

phrase

Hark

has used

over and over

c

o

n

c e

rning

Rebecca Marie

who joined

our family on

July 18

weighing in f o j

at 7 lbs. 4

ozs. She

has

light

eyes

and

dark

hair

and is a real

joy to

us.

Bill's

mother

and my

slater and

her family {the Bedcers) came to see

Rebecca and help us for

a

couple

of

weeks. We had

a

busy time in owe

small

house

but

enjoyed the fellow

ship.

Rebecca

has

logged

many miles

as

we

went

sightseeing

and shopping,

Mark is now attending

a

kinder-

garden that

is

only a block from our

house.

He

has already made

new

friends. Within a couple of

weeks

I

will be teaching

him

reading

and

writing in English though a corres

pondence school. Mark is a

real help

in the house

and talks

to

Rebecca

in

order to keep her entertained.

We are

looking forward to

our trip

to the States.

We

plan

on

attending

the Missionary Convention in

El

Paso

and hope to see many

of

you there,

From the

convention we

will

be

going

to Phoenix

then on to

Calif, and

Nevada before returning to

Mexico

the

last part

of

Novtanber. Lord

willing Hark and

Rebecca

will be

seeing three ^Mak-grandparents

dur

ing our stay.

Let's

thiutk jaflw for

his

love.

Family Affairs

Our

summer really flew by,

but

it

was an enjoyable

one. After

two

weeks

of

camp

here, we

spent

a

couple

of

weeks in the States where

Nathan

and I visited with my folks while

Norm and Heather

spent

one week in

camp in Prescott, Arizona and another

in V.B.S. in Phoenix.

The

gas crunch

in the U.S.

also

allowed

us

to

get

a

good deal on a

new station

wagon be

fore we

came home.

What a pleasure

it was to be able

to

relax as we

drove.

Norm's dad and sister accompanied

us

hone and

spent

10 days with

us.

After their initial nervousness at

the border, all went smoothly during

their stay. So you

see, the

water's

not so bad herel

We

certainly en

joyed their

visit.

Now Nathan says,

Granpa bye-bye,

every

evening when

he^s

handing

out

good-night kisses.

School

got off

to a beautiful

start this year. Heather is in the

sixth

grade,and

I

am

a

teacher's aide

once again. We've

had

the additional

pleasure

of

having Becky Ray

stay

with

us for

these

first few weeks.

She is planning to move out

next

week

to house-sit for Bill and Marge while

they

are

in the

States,

however.We're

going to

miss

having her around*

Our

Thanksgiving theme

for

this

summer, then,has been

for

families—

our physical families and our

family

in

Christ.

What

a

blessioc both

are

in our lives

ssrng both

UMMAI«

DUNGANS' FINANCIAL

SUMMAR'

On

Hand 3/31 /79 1481 .29

Income

4 / 1

-

/ 30/79

Expenses 4/1 - 6/30/79

Balance 6/30/79

6179.17

6003.97

$1656.49


5/8

n Ray

of ope

Why

do

m ssonari e s

leave

their

field

of

ser

vice? One of

the most fre

quently

cited

reasons is the

absence of ade

quate schools

for

their chil

dren.

That certainly would apply

to

the situation in much of

Mexico,

where a mushrooming population re

sults in

overcrowded

classrooms (70

to 80

students

per room),

a break

down in discipline, and a reticence

to

admit foreign students

to

the

program

beyond

primary levels, these

in addition to the universal problem

of the absence

of

the classes neces

sary to prepare a

child for U.

S.

colleges—or

even

to be able to func

tion adequately in English.

Since national schools

are

usually

inadequate

or

unavailable, and

be

cause

private

schools

are

either non

existent

or prohibitively expensive,

the missionary family is

often

faced

with

the options

of teaching their

children at home, sending them away

to a boarding school,

or

returning to

the States until the children gradu

ate

from high school. In Queretaro,

however, we have found another solu

tion:

create

our own school.

Now in

its

third year

of

operation,

the Queretaro Valley

Christian

School

has

provided

quality education in

English, and

at

a reasonable

cost.

The key

to

the school has been the

teacher.

In the

three years,

the

Lord has provided two excellent

teachers, Mr. John Huffman

got

our

program moving beautifully the first

year;

and then

last year

Becky

Ray

came to take over the work.

Becky,

a

1976 graduate

of

Johnson

Bible

College

and a 1978 graduate

of

Fort Hays

Kansas State

University,

has

18 students this year, ranging

from second through eleventh grade,

so her job is

a

real

challenge. But

she brings to her work both skill and

dedication; and she and

her

six vol

unteer helpers (mothers of

the child

ren,

who

work in teams of 2

a

week

at

a

time)

are able to provide indi

vidual

attention

to each student,

and

each student progresses at his own

pace,

according to

his

abilities.

Yet

for

all its quality,the school

has been able to

hold

costs to a

minimum.

The key is

that

Becky is

a

missionary,

a

missionary helping

missionaries. Because several

con

gregations and individuals have

underwritten

much of Becky's

living

needs—seeing

her work

as

the

missionary

labor that it is—tuition

here need cover only rent,

utilities,

supplies

and

a

portion

of

her salary.

In the

classroom, Becky has been

both a mentor and

a friend to

our

children.

And

even outside the

teaching situation, she has been a

positive addition to the

work.

She

has

been

active

in

the

English-speak

ing

congregation.

And

this

summer

she

took two

intensive Spanish

courses to

enable

her to work

more

fully with the

Spanish-speaking

people.

We are

grateful

for the

Lord's sending her to be a part

of

the Missionary team here in Cen

tral Mexico. And we

praise

God for

those who have seen

her

ministry

as

worthy

of

their support.

ND


6/8

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7/8

November j j 1979

P 06 Box 628

luma^ Arizona 8536A

Dear Christian

Brothers and

Sisters:

We a r e

N o r m a n D i i n g a n ' s f o r w a r d i n g a g e n t s ^

a n d are w r i t i n g t h i s to a d d

i n f o r m a t i o n

w e

t h o u g h t

m i g h t be

I m p o r t a n t t o

y o u c o n c e r n i n g t h e

e n c l o s e d

l e t t e r of

p e t i t i o n d a t e d

S e p t e m b e r

17•

N o r m s e n t

u s

h i s l e t t e r l a s t m o n t h

as

a s p e c i a l

m a i l i n g

to

all t h o s e w h o

a r e

i n t e r e s t e d in

t h e

L o r d ^ s w o r k

in

M e x i c o « H o w e v e r , d u e

to v a r i o u s c i r c u m s t a n c e s i n c l u d i n g

i l l n e s s a n d

f a m i l y e m g e r g e n c i e s h er e in Yuma,

t h e r e has

b e e n

a d e l a y in g e t t i n g t h e

m a i l i n g

out, a n d we a p o l o g i z e o W h e n we

f i r s t

received

Norman^s

letter Joe

and I elt that recipients

might

want

c l a r i f i c a t i o n

on

some p o i n t s that r a i s e d

a q u e s t i o n

in

our

own m i n d s *

We

w x * o t e to Norman,

and

e x c e r p t s

from No rm's reply

follow:

O c t o b e r 23,

1979

•

ueretaro,

Mexico

• •• Reg arding the Institute

letter:

isn't it

strange

how a letter can seon so

complete at the

time of

riting and so

inacequate

after an 'outsider' has had

the

op por tunity to r ead it?

Your

questions are absolutely rig ht and nec essary*

I t w as

just

that w e

are

so

close

to

the s i t t i a t i o n

that

w e forgot

that

nobody else knew abo ut

the

Institute,

its history, its

potential,

its

problems, etc*

• •• The Mexican Bible Institute was begun four years ago in San

Luis Pdtosi, by

M e x i c a u i s , to

pre pare Mexican pre achers for the interior of

the

country* At

the

time

of its beginning, the only preacher training school for Mexico was Colegio

Biblico,

Eagle Pass, Texas,

nearly

1,000 miles from the

Bajio*

This excellent school is just

too

far

from

us

to attract

the number

o f

students

needed (or

who can

afford

to go so

far away to leam) o beg in to evangelize here in this vast country*

So

the Institute filled

a

very necessary vacuum* Unfortunately, early

in

the

work there was

a

disagreement

that

caused a split

so that

two Institutes began

to

operate in San

Luis

Potosi*

One

was

basically

a issionary-style program on

the

orphanage grounds, with missionary-teachers

and sponsors, and one

basically a exican

pr ogr am, with Mexican teacher s, Mexican congre gation supp ort, etc* V T e here

in

Queretaro

maintained a

neutral stance

and refused to

take sides*

The Mexican evangelists

in the

area, however, w e r e solidly with the

Mexiccm-style

Institute*

For 2 ears, both Institute s existed in the same city** *Pinally, last year, the

Directors of the

Mexican

Institute determined to move from San Luis and into the

Bajio

-

nd Queretaro

was

selected because

of its

ce ntrality, bec ause o f the abundance

of

vangelistic

fields nearby,

and because of

the

availability of part-time

teachers in

the area (6

Mexican

men and

3 issionaries potentially)*

• T ^ h e

Institute

has had an

enrollment o f

30

tudents,

although

this year it is

possible that

the

number will be less because of

the

uncertainty

of

just where

U i e

Institute is

going to be* •• •L ast year the Institute tumed out A g raduates

in

its

se c ond

graduating class*

'^Financially,

I

o

not

know just what the I nstitute's monthly incom e is* I o

know

that the

bulk o f the

support for the

school itself

comes

fro m Mexican congregations.


8/8

a l t h o x i g h t h e P r e s i d e n t is s u p p o r t e d b y a g r o

a n d

K e n t u c k y

t h r o u g h

M . E , N «

( M e x i c a n E v a n g i i

u n p a i d

by

the s c h o o l ^ that

is,

they

r e c e i v e

sources, a s I do, and donate time

t o

teachiii

> u

p

of independent

churches in

Virginia

sm

N o w ) »

The

bulk of the f a c u l t y i s

their

support indivi duall y from

other

o s i t i o n

r e g a r d i n g t h e s c h o o l i s l A i s s I s u p p o r t

a n y

a t t e m p t

t o

e s t a b l i s h

a n ^ d i g e n o u s s c h o o l -

n e t h a t i s M e x i c a n u t l o o k , i n s u p p o r t ,

i n

d i r e c t i o n . . o I

c o n t i n u e

t o

s u p ^ r t

b o t h i n s t i t u t e s j

b u t

i t

h a p p e n s t h a t J u s t o n e

o f

t h e m

i s

c o m i n g

t o

^ e r e t a r o i a n d I c a n s e e

b o t h

a g r e a t n e e d

t o

d

a

g r e a t f u t u r e f o r t h e c o l l e g e h e r e

i n

t o w n . T h e

s c h o o l

c a n b e a b o o s t

t o e v a n g e l d . s m

in

t h e B a J i o j a n d

w e

h a v e

t h e o p p o r t u n i t y

o

l p t h e s c h o o l g e t t h e f a c i l i t i e s i t

n e < » d s

t o f u n c t i o n t o

i t s

v e r y t o p p o t e n t i a l

* T h e s c h o o l is g o i n g t o

buy

p r o p e r t y

locati ons, one

i s

far superior to

the

other

the work of

evangelism^s needs

here i n town

church

has

property,

i t wi ll be

close to

t h ^

the he art of growth

-

n

a

place wh ere i t s

Institute t od - > r t i e r e t h e y can evangeliae^ t o

d

from

town can go

to

take classes and share

sci:

m e w h e r e i n

Queretaro.

Of

the t wo

possible

o t h for t h e

I n s t i t u t e' s

ne e ds and for

If

it locates

on

the

land

where the

University,

close

to town itsel f, i n

students can both take

classes

beyond

t h e

s e r v e

as

t h e y s t udy ,

a r a l

toe r e C hr i s t i a n s

t h e program

of

t h e

s c h o o l . . . .

n

How

solven t

i s

t h e

Institute?

I

don't

w i l l contê o grow for t h e school,...An

back t h e school, as

do

a number of

other

m i i s

w e

h a v e J u s t l e a r n e d t h a t B e t h a n y F e l l o w s h i p

training institute here i n Queretaro also.

know.

I elieve

that

Mexican

support

of us w h o a r e m i s s i o n a r i e s h e r e

in

town

sionaries

in t h e country....Incidentally,

i s preparing

t o

establish

a

preacher

T h e y are basically

Pen tecosta l i n outlooks

In

all,

I r e c o g n i z e that by

t h r o w i n g

there i s

a risk. The school

may not

do

eve

Since

i t i s Mexican, and since i t i s a ew

along

the way. But I personally believe tha

a

'The s c h o o l w a s

g i v e n

l a n d in a p l a c e q

t h e process now of trying t o s e l l t h e

land

t h e m s e l v e s . T h e y e x p e c t t o g e t a b o u t 2 0 ,

Institute

there, as the

location i s

u n s i z i t a b L

a

to

So, t h a t ' s w h e r e t h i n g s s t a n d J u s t n o w

rented facilities

about

3

il es from

our

h o i i s

September

1980. So

t h ere i s s t i l l t im e

t o

purchase

t h e good propei^yi ~

We

earnestly recommend that you consider

w i l l l e a d s o m e o f y o u t o h e l p

i n

t h i s w o r t o ^ i

from you

in

r e g a r d t o

this nee d,

w h e t h e r

or

As

forwarding

agents, we would l i k e t o

h e a r i n g f r o m

y o u in a d v a n c e

c o n c e r n i n g any

w i t h a

c h a n g e

of a d d r e s s

c o s t s 25^.

Also,

d i r e c t l y

t o

J o e

G r e e n , P. 0. Box 628, Yuma,

less

risk

of d e l a y a n d / o r loss. T h a n k you

love

and concern.

y support to

a

school

t h a t

i s 'Mexican')

pything

Just

the

way I ould

do

i t .

ênture,

there may

be many

mistakes

made

I t

the risks need

to

be taken....

ile d Sandia e l

Chico,

and t h e y

are

i n

g e t

additional

funds

for the

buildings

for

t h e land. They could not put t h e

T h i s

year,

t h e school is meeting i n

e. T h e p lan

is t o

bu y

and

build

before

py t o ra i s e t h e n e c e s s ary funds t o

In C hr i s t . Norm

t h i s a p p e a l , a nd t rus t liiat t h e Lord

i l e

project.

Norm i s

hoping

t o h e ar

hot

you can he lp

financially.

remind

you once agai n

t h a t we do appreciate

Îdresa change . Each returned Saludos

Iv i s b e st t o

send

any support check s

i b r i z o n a 8536A,

for prompt banki ng and

for

your

cooperation, prayer, and Christi an

In His

service,

n

dungan norman mary 1979 mexico

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