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"Chips Off The Old Block"

News From Marilyn Wood
Serving Christ through:
Spanish American Evangelism
3135 Forney Lane
EIPaso,TX 79935
Volume V Number 1
Summer 1986
Dear Christian Friends,
It hardly seems possible that it's been six months since I last v(/rote.
As a very dear friend once told me, "You are neglected but not
forgotten." I have been keeping busy with the usual routine of all the
activity here at SAE and also at church.
My trip to Denver for Christmas was really nice. Alma especially
enjoyed getting to play aunt to my nieces and nephews, and they
enjoyed adopting her. One of the highlights of the week was taking
part in the "Messiah Sing-In" the Sunday before Christmas. Ifyou like
to sing and you like the music of Handel's "Messiah", than this is a
great opportunity to do both.
On our return to El Paso from Denver, we stopped in Pueblo to spend
the night with one of my ex-roommates, Shauna Newton Copley. She
had also worked in Puerto Rico, so she and Alma are friends, too. We
had a very enjoyable visit-just wish it could have been longer.
From Pueblo we came to Alamogordo, New Mexico, and spent the
night withCurtis and Regina Dickinson. Curtis is a trustee of SAEand
also the minister of the church in Alamogordo. The church there was
hosting the Fifth Sunday Singspiration, so rather than come down to
El Paso on Saturday and then turn around and go back to Alamogordo
on Sunday, we stayed put. Curtis and Regina had been after us for
some time to come up and see them, and this was the ideal time to
do so.
March is the month of the annual Mexican Missionaries Reunion.
Alma, Roberta Burr, and I took the train down to Mexico City a few
days early so that we would have some time to do some sight-seeing.
My sister, Marsha, was vacationing in Cancun at the same time, so
she flew over for the week-end. We had a great time. Neither Alma
nor Marsha had spent any time In the Mexico City area, so we took
in as many sights as we could.
The reunion this year was one of the best ones ever. Our speaker
was Don Richardson, author of "Peace Child." Besides talking of some
his mission experiences in Irian Jaya, he also gave a short seminar
on the "Abrahamic Covenant." It was an excellent Bible study, and
we all profited from it. One of the comments made was that we wished
he could have spent more time on the study. Mr. Richardson has a
way of really opening up the Scriptures that was very helpful.
I was also in charge of the Kids Reunion, which meant I was
responsible for getting someone to come and work with the children
(ages 2-11). Two years ago I contacted Ed Preston, children's minister
at First Christian Church in Dodge City. He and his wife were able to
come and work with the kids. Gordon Clifford from Campo, California,
brought a young couple who worked with Ed and Diana. Several
parents thanked me for having Ed and Diana come. Wherever they
go, the kids fall in love with them, and this time was no exception.
This week I'm leaving for a speaking tour of my supporting churches
and also the North American Christian Convention/National Missionary
Convention. My schedule is as follows;
June 22 First Christian Church, Texhoma, OK
June 25 Lion's Club, Dodge City, KS (noon)
June 25 Wilroads Gardens Christian Church, Dodge
City, KS (p.m.)
^urTe~29^ Irwin Community Church, Irwin, MO (a.rfT)
June 29 Elm Branch Christian Church, Aurora, MO
(p.m.)
July 6-10 The Convention, Indianapolis, IN
July 13 First Christian Church, Wayne City, IL
During this trip I'll be able to spend a few days with my parents while
I'm in Dodge City. I'm also looking forward to seeing friends in the
Joplin, Mo., area and spending a week with some more friends in the
Branson, Mo., area before attending the convention.
During the convention I'll be presiding at one of the workshops
the one being given by Kay Watts on Thursday afternoon. Rosa Baker
and i are also scheduled to play the piano and organ for the Thursday
morning session. As secretary of the missionary convention, I'll also
be involved in several meetings that will take place during the week-
meetings which will start the planning for next year's missionary
convention.
One of the big projects that SAE has in conjunction with the
convention is the putting together of the Latin American Piaza. We
contacted all the missionaries who work in Spanish speaking countries
or with Spanish speaking people about going together and forming
the plaza. There are 22 groups and/or individuals who have gone
together to do this. We are putting the mechanics of it together. We've
blocked off 24 boothsan area 60 feet by 50 feet. Instead of using
the usual curtains provided by the display company, we have made
and painted flats which show a typical LatinAmerican scene. We also
plan to have a fountain in the center and a small theater in which the
missionaries taking part in the plaza may show slide programs of their
work. We're really excited about this venture. I feel it will be a big
drawing card into the exhibit hall. Ifyou attend the convention, be sure
and look us up.
After the convention and my speaking date in Wayne City, III., I will
be returning to El Paso and trying to catch up on all the work that will
have piled up on my desk. Also, the weeks of July 21-25 and July
28-August 1 will find me helping withthe music at Vacation BibleSchool
at Eastside. We're having an evening VBS again this year. Inthe middle
of August I, along with my brother and sisters and their families, will
be returning to Dodge City to help my parents celebrate their 40th
wedding anniversary. We're all looking forward to this family reunion.
Tract production got underway after Christmas, and with it, tract
distribution. So far Bart has printed over 425,000 tracts since the begin
ning of the year. He expects to get another 200,000 printed in the next
six weeks. I've been doing my best to get caught up, but we got so
far behind when we didn't have tracts for seven months, that it is going
to take a while. I hope to get caught up by the end of August. A lot
now depends on having the money to pay the postage for all the tracts
that are sent out. So far this year I've taken care of over 120 requests.
Over 300,000 pieces of literature have been sent out, and another
25,000 pieces are ready to go. More and more people are writing us
-and letting us know how useful the tracts are to them and their
ministries. One letter we received was really interesting. The person
writing told us he had received some of our tracts about baptism.
Because what he had previously been taught about baptism did not
agree with what he read in the tract, he became angry and did not
want to use the tracts. (The tract contains nothing but scripture
concerning the reason for baptism, the method used, who instituted
it, etc.) He finally asked himself why was he afraid to read what the
scripture said. Upon reading the scriptures he became convinced that
he needed to be immersed. He wrote and told us of his decision and
asked for more tracts. Letters, such as his, make this ministry
worthwhiie.
The work at Eastside Christian Church continues forward. As you
are aware, I work with two choirsrthe adult choir and the Eastside
Angels. The Eastside Angels presented the musical "Daniel, Darius,
and DeLion" this last April. They were a big hit and did an excellent
job! They're already after Jeanie (my co-director) and me to do one
next fall.
In May the adult choir presented the cantata "Then Came the
Morning" by Bill and Gloria Gaither. The adult choir continues to get
better and better, and I'm thankful to be a part of the group. Next fall
I expect to have around 25 members in the choir. Last year at this
time we had only 12 members, so it is growing in more ways than one.
I do want to take this time to thank all of you for your support. Your
help, through your prayers and giving, means a great deal to me. The
work we are doing at Spanish American Evangelism could not be
accomplished without you. May God continue to bless you and guide
you as you serve Him.
In Christ,
Marilyn Wood
P.S. If you come to the convention, don't forget to come by the Latin
American Plaza. I'd love to see you.
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Volume V
1
"Chips Off The Old Block"
News From Marilyn Wood
Serving Christ through;
Spanish American Evangelism
3135 Forney Lane
El Paso, TX 79935
Number 2
Fall/Winter 1986
Dear Christian Friends,
By the time you receive this, Thanksgiving will have come and gone,
and we'll all be preparing for the Christmas holidays. So let me be
among the first to wish you a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 1987
working for the Lord.
This summer was a busy one filled with a lot of good happenings
making for some wonderful memories. Myspeaking trip and time spent
with relatives and friends on my way to and from the convention went
really well.
The convention was very good. I was thankful to have had a part
in the planning of it. The main speakers were excellent. I wish all of
you could have attended. The Latin American Plaza in the exhibit area
was a big hit, and we plan to do it again this next year. As usual, there
was never enough time to visit with everyone.
Our family reunion in August was great. It was just too short, (n
addition to all the "Wood" kids being home, my parents' brothers and
sisters and their spouses were all there, so we had wall-to-wall people
for a day. It had been almost ten years since we were all together,
so we had a great time. It had been almost four years since my brother,
sisters, and i were together, and since that time my brother has married
and my sister has had another child, so the family is growing. The
reason for the get-together was my parents' 40th wedding anniversary.
In this_.day_and_age I am mpre_and rnpre grateful for my parents^d_
the Christian family upbringing they gave us. (My parents' anniversary
is in September, but we celebrated early since my nieces and oldest
nephew are in school.)
The work at Spanish American Evangelism continues to go forward,
though not as fast as we would like it to at times. I have finally gotten
caught up on processing the requests for literature but not all the
packages have been mailed. We're working on that, but it does take
money for postage, as you well know. The cost of postage in Mexico
is high, even for printed matter. One box of New Testaments (about
38 pounds) costs over $10.00 to mail. This is at the current exchange
rate of over 850 pesos to one dollar. (There is no book rate in the
Mexican postal system.)
So far this year we've sent out over 220 orders totalling over 520,000
pieces of literature. By the end of the year, we should have distributed
over 550,000 pieces. Considering the fact that Bart has printed a little
less than 600,000 tracts this year, you can see that once again we
are out of stock. We do have paper on hand to print several more,
and he'll be getting started on printing some within the next week or two.
One thing we've done this year is to add another country to the list
of where we've sent literature. Costa Rica is the newest. We've sent
literature to every country in Central America except Nicaragua and
Panama. That makes a total of 11 countries that we've sent literature
to in the last five years.
For quite some time we've been out of New Testaments, in August
we heard through Christian Gospel Distributers of an opportunity to
buy New Testaments from the American Bible Society for 35$ each.
It was quite a savings. (They're usually 60$ each.) We have a New
Testament savings fund, and at that time we had $10,000.00 in the
account, and so we were able to buy 30,000 New Testaments. They
arrived the first of October, and we've been sending out New
Testaments ever since. Bill Baker plans to go to Central America next
spring and take 8,000 New Testaments with him, so we we expect to
have all 30,000 distributed within a year.
Acouple of years ago SAE entered into an agreement with College
Press in Joplin, Missouri, in which we would translate and typeset
books, and they would print them and handle the major distribution.
The first book, "13 Lessons in Christian Doctrine" by Denver Sizemore,
was ready for distribution in March, 1985. The second book, "That
They May Be Won" by Frank Winder, became available inAugust this
year. Since then two more books have been typeset. One of them is
almost ready for distribution; the other has a little more workto be done.
Both of them should be ready soon after New Year's. There is a great
need for Biblestudy materials inSpanish, so we hope to see this project
get bigger and bigger.
As most of you are aware, I'm actively involved with the Eastside
Christian Church here in El Paso. We're really excited about the way
the church is growing. On Sunday, November 16th, we started having
two worship services. We've had close to 30 additions since the begin
ning of September. We recently held a revival with Roy Wheeler from
Amariilo, Texas, and he talked to us about church growth. We are in
great need of an educational building, and on November 23rd the con
gregation voted on the financing to get started on the building.
I continue to work with both the Eastside Angels (children's choir)
and the adult choir. We are spending a lot of time right now working
on Christmas programs. The Eastside Angels, along with the other
children in the Sunday School, are putting on the Christmas musical
"Three Wee Kings" on December 14th. It is a great musical, one which
points out that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Lion of Judah, the Star
of David, the King of Kings, etc. The children are enjoying doing it,
and Jeanie and I plan for it to be the highlight of the Christmas season
at church.
The adults are doing the cantata "The Reason for the Season" on
December 21st. Musically, it's much easier to do than the ones we did
last year, but the message is tremendous.
The first week of December I'll be flying to Memphis for a continuation
committee meeting for next year's missionary convention. We'll be
meeting for two days, trying to get the workshops lined out, speakers
for the workshops, etc. Much of the preparation has already been done,
which makes it easier to get a lot of the program lined out during the
two days.
Plans for Christmas call for me to go to Denver once again to spend
a few days with my sisters and nieces and nephews. 1 really enjoy
spending time with them, and I wish I could see them more often. All
the family will be there except by brother and sister-in-law.
As most of you know, I try not to talk about money, but it is a must.
Through June, 1986, my monthly average Income was $1,050.67 (which
just covers all my expense): however, in July I received $754.00;
August$808.00; and Septerrrber$848.00. Needless to say, with a
drop in income like that for three months in a row, I fell behind on some
of my bills. In October the Lord richly blessed me with enough income
to bring the monthly average for the year to a little over $1,000.00;
however, I still had two bills that did not get paid. As I write this
(November 24th), I have received a little more than $500.00 for the
month. I have a few more bills that are now outstanding. As I've men
tioned before, the trustees have okayed a salary of $1,300.00 monthly
for single personnel. As you can see, I'm nowhere near that. Part of
the difficulty has been that some of my supporters have had to drop
their support altogether, and there has been no one to take up the
slack. I do know that some will start supporting me again after the New
Year, and that will be a big help, but some bills, like insurance, won't
wait two months. I'm grateful for all the help my supporters have given
me in the past, and I look forward to our continuing association as we
serve the Lord.
As we approach this special holiday season, may we truly be thankful
for all that the Lord has done for us. May we be reminded that the
"babe in the manger" became the "Christ of the cross" and that it
is only through Him that we have life. May God bless each one_of.you
with an extra-special season of love and joy.
In Christ,
Marilyn Wood
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