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January 1992 Newsletter
COLOMBIAN CHRISTIAN MISSION, INC.
Dale and Jeanie Meade, Missionaries
Preaching Christ from the Amazon Jungle, through the Andes Mountains, to the Caribbean Coastal Regions.
Volume 20, Issue 1 January, 1992
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY EDITION
With this issue of the Colombian Christian Mission, we begin our twentieth year of continuous publication. It is hard to imagine that time has passed so quickly. As I look back, I am amazed at all that God has done for us. I am thrilled that He has given us such an opportunity to participate in this tremendous task of world evangelism. It has been a real joy to have been given this challenging ministry that time has passed very quickly.
There is one other fact that nearly overwhelms me, that is your faithfulness in supporting us. Through thick and thin, in good times and bad, you have expressed your concern for worldwide evangelism by sacrificial giving to the work in Colombia. In fact, in all twenty years that we have spent on the mission field, there have only been two churches that have "put their hand to the plow" and then looked back. Excluding these two exceptions, every other church that has supported us over the years still is a part of the ministry in Colombia today. As I ponder that fact, I am overwhelmed with a sense of gratitude and appreciation. As I think of each of you, my spirit breaks into a joyful rendition of the doxology. You have made this work possible. You are our partners in this exciting outreach. We praise God for you, your generosity, and your faithfulness.
PREPARING TO PART
With my presidency of the Missionary Convention behind us and my Master's degree completed, our clock for departure has once again been set in motion. We had originally intended to leave for Colombia soon after the Missionary Convention. Those plans changed when Wendy, our oldest daughter, wanted to remain here in the States to finish high school. Since she was half way through her senior year, that decision seemed like a logical request. At first I planned on leaving her with relatives and taking the rest of the family back to Colombia without her. When I suddenly realized that these would be the last few months that she would really be mine, I could not bear to lose that time with her.
As a result, we now plan on remaining here until the dorms open at the Bible College where she has chosen to attend. I will speak at our supporting churches through the spring. Then we plan to attend the North American Christian Convention during July. Since it is in California this year, we plan on making it a family vacation as we drive out and back. By the time we return, we should be ready to pack up, drop Wendy off at college, and then leave for Colombia. Given the rapidity of passing time during this furlough, we will soon be preparing to part.
ELECTRONIC OFFICE
In the past, we have made do with the most rudimentary office equipment. Until this year, every office chair we have used came from somebody's dumpster. Our desk was a World War 11 surplus that had been cast off by a local factory. Our typewriters were church hand-me-downs, or K-Mart specials. This allowed us to put virtually all of our support into the work in Colombia as opposed to using it for infrastructure. Requirements and needs change though.
As a result of our move into desktop publishing for our printing ministry and computer accounting in order to keep up with complicated new IRS requirements, we have begun to modernize. Three years ago we bought an inexpensive computer. Last year we purchased a laser printer. (It was then that a generous businessman in Cincinnati helped us purchase a new desk and chair to use with it that we got our first new office furniture.) Now, as we prepare to return to Colombia, we are planning to continue this process.
As a part of this program, we hope to purchase some additional equipment. The next item we plan to acquire is a scanner. This will enable us to take the 100 plus books and tracts that we have already published and "scan" them into computer memory, rather than retyping them all. We can enter printed material from other sources and adapt it to use in Colombia. Most Christian authors permit this use of their work. It will also enable us to include pictures and drawings. The cost of this device will be about $2,000 for the scanner itself, and interface to connect it to the computer, and software to run the whole affair. If you, or your church could help provide for a more effective literature ministry in Colombia through defraying cost of this modern equipment, our ministry there could be multiplied many times over. You would be helping to reach into areas of Colombia, via effective literature, where it is far to dangerous for any North American missionary to travel. Please send any contribution to:
The Colombian Christian Mission, Inc.
P.O. Box 95
Rittman, Ohio 44270-0095
Your gift will be greatly appreciated and very much appreciated. Through it, you will be a team member in preaching the Gospel into the closed areas of Colombia, as well as helping us in areas where we can travel and work.
OUR ADVENTURE IN MISSIONS
This Christmas break Susy and I had the opportunity go take on a mission project with A.I.M. (Adventures in Missions). Although we have lived in a foreign country all of our lives and experienced missions in Colombia we wanted to experience missionary life in a different area. Since I am planning on majoring in Missions in College I thought it a wonderful opportunity to see what is going on in other countries where the Lord has opened doors. We did not use any of the general mission giving, but raised all our own support through family and friends.
We left on the nineteenth of December from Pittsburgh for an eight hour flight to Frankfurt. There was a group of twelve, including Susy and me, that traveled to Germany. While we were working with the Frankfurt Christian Church we stayed in their building in Kelterback. They had rented the basement of an apartment building for their church. We helped our with and led Saturday night service, Sunday morning worship, Christmas Eve, and a New Year's Eve service. We spent our days memorizing skits and coordinating our lessons for the children.
Then on the twenty seventh we packed into two mini vans and headed for Freiburg, for the Mid-Winter rally (European Christian Convention). Missionaries and Christian Service men from all over Europe were in attendance. Our job at the rally was to teach the children while their parents were in sessions. We taught the kids in the morning from nine to twelve and then again in the evening during the adult main session for an hour and a half. We taught lessons on the birth of Christ the first two days and then about His death and resurrection on the third day. In the evenings we performed skits, discussed their meaning, and did worksheets on them. We led the children in singing and also did puppet shows for them in the morning and evening classes. In between morning and evening sessions we had some time off to go sightseeing nearby. I spoke with a few missionaries about their work, and with one Italian man who could speak Italian, French, a little German, and Spanish, but no English. I used that opportunity to practice my Spanish with him that week. Susy and I sang a special in English and Spanish one evening during the main session.
Overall it was a very enjoyable project. The children we taught were great. They were very receptive kids, and I found out some things about missionary work in Europe when speaking to the missionaries. I would like to thank all of your who supported us, and for all your prayers. They were very much appreciated. May God Bless you.
Wendy Meade
Phil 4:13
WHO
Jesus looked at the crowd and said,
"Who will go for me?"
"Not I," said the well-dressed man in front,
"my company needs me most importantly!"
"Not I," said a young girl with eyes of blue,
"all about preaching I haven't a clue."
"Not I," said a young man with hair of brown,
"my friends would call me a heretic clown."
"Not I," said a woman turning quite pink,
"Indian villages; oh my how they stink!"
Jesus looked on with dismay,
as the once large crowd strayed away,
"There are so many who claim to be mine,
But when asked to go out, they all decline.
Excuses, excuses they all give me,
And so many ignore my simple plea.
by Wendy Meade