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March 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 3 March, 1992
OLD MEXICO
Most of this past month was occupied by a trip to old Mexico. Since I am on the editorial board of the Christian Mission Press, the only publisher of Spanish Sunday School and VBS material in our brotherhood, I needed to be present for a working meeting. For the last three years we have met at the North American and the Missionary Convention. Each year the board also meets at the Mexican Missionary Reunion. The editorial board originally was formed at that gathering, since the materials were an outgrowth of the Mexican work. As a result, the major meeting was held there each year.
I had always skipped the Mexico meeting because of the expense involved. The problem with that was the need for repetition at the other editorial meetings held at the conventions. As the volume of work increases, the need for more meetings of the full board is much greater. The fact that we plan to be back in Colombia by mid August meant that I will not be present for the meeting that will be held at the Missionary Convention this fall. That reality, added to the need to have everything functioning smoothly before our departure, made it important that I travel to Mexico this year. Money was a concern until a special offering from one church provided travel funds.
To economize, I drove to Mexico, leaving on March 12. The first day I made it to St. Louis, where I stayed with Larry Doggett, the missions professor at St. Louis Christian College and former missionary to Zaire, Africa. We had a profitable time discussing our common interest, our churches' missionary outreach. On Friday morning I headed for Joplin, Missouri, to meet with Chris DeWelt. Ever since he returned from ten years of missionary service in Chile to head up College Press, that company has demonstrated a world vision and, as a result, has published a number of very useful books in Spanish. Those texts are the first and only teaching books published by our brotherhood at this time. We both eagerly shared our ideas and dreams for the publication ministry in the Spanish language. Chris went a step further by projecting the efforts into many different languages.
We shared our vision for a central depository for all translated works and for a consortium of the different publishing ministries. By coordinating efforts, we hope to diminish the duplicity of effort in the printing ministry. (One doctrinal book has been translated and printed at least three different times, at considerable expense each time, only to be lost to the brotherhood when the sponsoring missionary left the field.) The depository would insure that translation work, and the investment it represents would not be lost with missionary attrition. Even through Chris had to leave rather early the next day for a speaking date, our discussion waned only at the coming of the wee hours of the morning. We were both up early (Chris and his wife had graciously invited me to stay with them) to tie up loose ends before he left for his speaking date and I headed south towards the Mexican border.
I drove all day, not even stopping to eat. I had hoped to make it into Eagle Pass Saturday night, but as midnight approached, I realized that I could not make it. After a long day on the road, I stopped at a motel south of San Antonio, Texas. Sunday morning I was up early and on the road to Eagle Pass. I was to meet up with Gordon Clifford at Colegio Biblico by noon. I arrived somewhat earlier and rolled in just in time to catch part of the church service at the bilingual church there. It was a pleasant surprise to find Gordon Clifford also there. That saved trying to track him down. I packed my bags in Gordon's ancient, 400,000 mile Chevy Suburban and we were off. We had some problems crossing the border but a cooperative insurance agent and a fax machine saved the day. By midnight we arrived in Monterey, Mexico, where we stayed with Dr. Lonnie Pacheco. The next morning, together with Anita Pacheco, Lonnie's daughter and another member of our editorial board, we headed on south. By evening we had arrived in Celaya, located about two hours to the northwest of Mexico City.
In making this trip, I was retracing the first half of our original odyssey to Colombia some twenty years ago. I was amazed at how much things had changed. The roads were well paved. Many were four lane highways. They even had road signs to indicate the direction to the next city. I was amazed at all of the changes in twenty years! The biggest change though was in me. I could now speak Spanish and was comfortable in the Latin American culture.
For the next week, we attended the Mexican missionary reunion. Dr. Eleanor Daniels, of Christian Standard fame, delivered an excellent series of lectures. In the afternoon I met with every different missionary involved in translating, publishing, or printing. Our editorial board met twice. One day I was treated to a trip to Guanajuato, the ancient silver mining town about two hours away from our meeting site. The week passed quickly and we delayed our departure on Friday morning in order to finish work on our last book.
By noon we were back on the road, heading north. It was again close to midnight before we again hit the sack at Brother Pacheco's house in Monterey. We were up at four a.m. to begin our long drive north. We drove hard that morning in order to make it to the border by noon. After some delays in crossing we were back in Eagle pass, Texas, where we transferred my things from Gordon's car to mine. We ate lunch together then I was off. It was already afternoon on Saturday and I had a Sunday a.m. speaking date in the Oklahoma panhandle. Plans called for me to arrive for a fellowship dinner Saturday evening. That time passed and I was not even close to my destination. I drove till midnight but after eighteen hours on the road I had to stop for a rest. Once again I paid for a motel and slept for about five hours. In order to finish my drive to my speaking date, I had to leave early on Sunday morning. I was on my way by six a.m. and that was none to soon. I rolled up to the front door of the church building just as services were starting.
I preached four times and did a little calling with the minister. It was a full day after a long trip on the road. Needless to say, I slept well that night. On Monday morning I was up early and on my way home. After seven hours on the road, it was a welcome break to stop and touch base with Chris DeWelt. But I could not tarry long, since a sizable journey still lay between Joplin and Rittman. The rest of Monday and most of Tuesday I drove east. After twelve days on the road and nearly five thousand miles I was finally back at home. I was exhausted but jubilant.
The trip had been tremendously beneficial. We had two more books ready to publish. We had accomplished a great deal towards a more coordinated literature ministry among our churches and the depository idea was well on the way of becoming a reality. All of this would greatly increase the availability of Spanish literature while reducing the cost of producing it!