THE NORTHRUPS

Apartado Postal 306

January 6, 1972

Saitlilo, Coahuila, Mexico

Dear Folkst

The Lord ccntlnues to bless His work with a BAPTISM In Reparo and
last Lord's Day another man here in Saltillo*

CffilSTMAS VACATIONS have ccsne and gone. Sylvia visited her grand parents, \mclos and
cousins in Washingtcn. Anita spent some of her time with Jack and his folks while Mark
was here at hcme.

MOUNTAIN VIBW RAfKJH was a busy place during the vacations.

Dec. 23rd, Susie, the pig,

was sacrificed for an all church tamale feed and gathering...everycne (about 60) went
hcane well fed physically and spiritually. Mark had a YOUTH RETREAT for the SaltiXIo ai^a
Jan. first. Fifty seme youth climbed the mountain, played soccer, football, volley ball,
took part in the social and concluded the day with a singspiration and fireside. Maysel

kept busy with Christmas programs and the womens' group gift exchange.
A TEACHINGr AND ElEVIVAL MSETINGr was held in Dec, by Guillerrao CarcaHo Sr. and Rodney In
the village of Reparo 170 miles south of Saltillo. They and three students ate in differ^
ent Christian's homes and riept In a rocan made of adobe bricks with an earthen floor. Dur
ing the day the same room served as office and class room. While Rodney translated and

typed in Spanish cn Don DeVfelt's book cn the Holy Spirit, Abel, one of the students, was
teaching new choruses with the guitar. This was followed with Bible drills and Guillenno's
class cn Christian Doctrine.. .needless to say there was a continuous state of bedlam.
The first night Gulllermo had a LAMB UHfflR HIS BED t^o gbt^lffovm" but whm
he began to eat the sack of potatoes.

rfif

yy*

CLASSES WERE HELD in the morning and afternoons, Thursday through Sunday.

In the evenings an average of 20 piled into the Missicn Carry All to go and help

Rodney and the students with services in three other villages.

RUG SAMPLES had been given to the Northrups by some folks in Wash.

Each evening the

children were taught Bible verses and the first 12 got to sit on the earthen or cem^t

floor on one of the beautiful little rugs...the next night they had to learn a new verse
and repeat the previous ones,

THE lEVALUATION OF THE DOLLAR may not have much affect on us since the dollar had

already lost about 5^5^ of it's buying power within the last 12 moiths here in Mexico, A
year ago Jan, first Mexico had a change of presidents and the inauguration of the miniiBum

wage law. The average workers wages went up over 50^ and the cost of rents and living
went up AO^. Jan. 1, 1972 the minimum wage was upped mother 18^ and the stores prcnptly
marked the prices of food up 18^. This is illegal but they did it last year and got away
with it so they will this year.

To say it In another way, our total average monthly income of about $1,000 dollars

(vdiich is supposed to payi wages, car repairs, tires and payments, gasoline, support the
school projects, village evangelism...everything) is now worth less than $500 dollars in
buying and working power in Mexico.

BECAUSE OF THE 5^ DOLLAR VALUE LOSS we have had to let Guillerrao Carc^JTo Jr. and his
family go. He was the best trained Bible teqcher and preacher in the Cedars area. Tffe

had to borrow and still owe the banks $900 dollars for Carry All payments and repairs.
We have had to cut our Mexican ministerial training program just when we are needing
more workers than ever. Brethren please pray for us and if at all possible double your
giving for the Lord's work in Mexico.
THE PASSPORT FUND now stands at $778 dollars and we will need the balance of $222.00
dollars by the middle of February.

As we begin the New Year let us remember the words of Paul, "If then you have been
raised with Christ, SEEK the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. SET your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.

For you have DIED, and your LIFE IS HID with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life
appears, thenjou also will APPEAR with Him in glory". Col. 3il to A,

(Sylvia Northrup, 15, is a daughter of

Rodney and Maysel i-forthrup, missionaries
in Mexico.)
August 1972^

ft

Greetings from Sylvia Northrup in Mexico:

It was an afternoon this August in Mexico City and some of our Saltillo Mexican
young people were getting acquainted for the first time with the escalators in the
big city. It was like leading a horse up a ramp for the first ride in a pickup. It
was hilarious and only a movie can describe it like it was I
lA CONVENCION NACIOi^L JUVEI^:iL was held in Mexico City August ? to 11, 1972.
This is our Mexico Christian Youth Convention which brings together Christian young

people and adult sponsors from all of our congregations of the Churches of Christ
(Christian) in Mexico. Quite a few American Christians also attended. Several young
people and one lawyer were baptized during this convention in Mexico City.
The outstanding convention nroiect was distributing Bible tracts in teams of twos

and fours at the different subway stations of the famous "Metro" which transports
Mexico City people ty the thousands in one hour. Our teams were able to hand out
around 50.000 tracts which offer a free Bible correspondence course that this year's

vice president of the convention works on.

the response is good.

Abel S^chez may be a very busy man if

The population of Mexico City is around 9 million.

Saltillo in '73. Our Saltillo young people came away from the iiational Convention
with lots of responsibility. The 1973 convention is scheduled to be held in Saltillo
August 13, 14, 15, 16 of 1973brother, ilarlsjiorthrup, is the new president and
when he told Mother he'd invited around 100 to stay at our place. . .welllU, this
leads up to the next paragraph.

Mother needs help on her protect of having a mattress maker make about 40 mattresses
at around $10 each. Vfe have been needing more mattresses around for school use, for
camp season, for American visitors and now for the 1973 convention.

August is STATE FAIR time in Saltillo and our young people came back from Mexico
City brave enough to help hand out tracts to the long lines of people arriving at the

Fair entrance gate. Ue were able to hand out around 15,000 Bible tracts which^also
offer a free Bible Correspondence course out of Mexico City.

for a big response from SaltilloJ

Got ready Abel Sanchez,

We then invited all of the young people who helped

hand out tracts to a Birthday party for Mark Northrup at Maintain View Ranch! (August
17th was his birthday).
The 1972 Summer Service Corps was made up of a very nice group of talented Christian

young people. We appreciated each one of them and their share in our summer mission
activities. After a busy time in camps in the bush country and work around Saltillo,
they made a short 3 ciay trip to Mexico City and I was priviledged to be able to accompany
them. I was a "novice" guide and translator but I learned to ask lots of questions and
we only got lost a few times! We weren't really lost, we just didn't know where we were!

The American group included Sheryl Rice, Deryl Titus, Linda Hooton, and Lily Driskill,
Jim Chapman and Judy Hooton, Sue Hooton and myself. Carol Mills joined us during Family
Camp when she served as Gamp Nurse. In Mexico City, we stayed at the Carmen Apartments
recommGnded to us by Dean Gary. Abel Sanchez guided us to a nice supermarket closety
so we were able to cut down on eating expenses by having breakfast in our apartment
kitchen facilities before starting out sight seeing each morning. We were living near

the big Reforma Avenue with its artistic statues and colorful glorietas (circles) and
we did see a few famous sites. lA Catodral, (construction on this started back in 153^

and it was completed in I8I3), Museum of Anthropolo^, (you need a good background of the
thiseum at ChapultepeC' viere .Psocmildan's Coach is on display. If the French had held on we

history of Mexico to appreciate its contents, Ih?. Zocalo and Plaza de la Constitucion, the
might.be speaking Frehc^ on' the streets of Mexico City today instead of Spanish. Our
sightseeing included a view of the city from its tallest building, The Latin America Tower.
Mexico City is known as the oldest continuously inhabited citv and capital in Horth Amer^.ca,

Crossing the wide avenues was exciting and dangerous, especially after Judy bought a shawl
that seemed to reach out and catch a passerby's ring or a man by his shirt button.

Getting

untangled without getting run over is really something! Fun things included a visit to
the Mexico City Zoo and rides at the famous Chapultepec Park. You can come off of a ride
on a Roller Coaster looking a little green! Window shopping in Mexico City, looking
around the Market and watching the people in the subway were interesting pastimes.
The world

smflll after aU and in that city of around 9 million, riding back to

Saltillo on the same bus with the "Americans" were Carlos and "Pope", sons of our family

doctor, Dr. Badillo, who ushered me into this world JuneJL^, 1957*

I will soon be back in school for another school vear in S^tillo.

are all Mexican students and all of our classes will be taught in Spanish.

classmates
I'iy foreign

language class is English. I plan to also take French after school. Mother and I are
already talking of ways that we can have small groups of classmates as our guests so
that we can get acquainted with them nnd have a chance to have Christian influence ovor
them. I accept the fact that this is my mission project. I lost my place in
where I was before iiy school year in Oregon (1971-1972). I was disappointed at f^st but
now I'm anxious for school to start so that I can get acquainted with those who will be

my now friends. This school is only about l/3 of a block from my other school so I wi^
still see vsy old friends as we come out of classes. One day several of them walked out
to Mountain View Ranch with sack lunches. We had lots of fun hiking and playing g^es.
Toward evening'- Mother set a table with cake and candles and she was the speaker. She
talked about the need for young people to lead clean lives, stay away from smoking and

drugs and for us to try for places of leadership instead of lotting the other fellow

do it. She then asked one by one what our future plans wore. Five of the boys plan to
be medical doctors, one of the girls wants to be a Bilingual secretary, there was one
chemist and several who don't Icnow yet.

None of them are Christians and no one sai

they plan to be a priest or nun!

It has been a big summer and we hope the young people who spent some time in fexico ^11

Jtiavcian opportunity to share some of their Mexico oxporiences with others, ^low we arc
listing the names aiid addresses and some telephone numbers of young pebpXe who-ni^be
contacted to speak and share their summer experiences in Mexico.

Love from your "Teen" missionary in Mexico,

Sylvia jlorthrup (Signed)

Apartado Postal 3O6

Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

SJN/mn
Sheryl Rice
2nd

.Coos Bay, Oregon 97^20

Lily- Jean Driskill .
Rt. 2-, Box 125

Mapleton, -Oregon-97^53
(Tel. 268-4350):

Tkiryl Titus

Judy Hooton

21801 SB 289th

Sue Hooton
Linda Hooton

j-Ient, Washington

(Tel. 206-GB4-4507)

4220 Sunyview Road I

Salem, Oregon
97303

Jim Chapman

(Tel.

5217 "B" Street

Springfield, Oregon 97477

(Tel. 7^7-7412)

197^^yiQmer.~Service Corps in Mexico

\fith the Northrups^.
LR/T:

T-PM

EISENHOWER.USA

Horn^ons

Editori-al Office
Box 177

Kempton, Indiana !46049

fi.

Ci-

THE NORTHRUPS IN MEXICO^'"

LA CONVENCION NACIONAL JUVENIL was held

Apartado Postal 306

in Mexico City Aug. 7 to 11, 1972.

This

is

the Mexican Christian Youth Convention vfhich

Saltillo, Coahuiia, Mexico

draws together Christian young people and

adult sponsors from all of our congregations

of the Churches of CSirist (Christian) in Mexico.

Several young people and one lawyer were

baptized during this convention.

The outstanding convention project was distributing Bible tracts in teams of twos and
fours at the different subway stations of the famois "Metro" which transports Mexico City
people by the thousands in one hour. Our teams were able to hand out around 100,CXX) tracts

which offer a free Bible correspondence course.

Abel S^chez, this year'.s vice presidentof

the convention corrects the lessons and sends out the new material. Abel may be a very busy
young man if the response is good. The population of Mexico City is around 9 million.

SALTILLO in '73. Our Saltillo young people came away from the National convention with
lots of responsibility. It is scheduled to be held in Saltillo next Aug. 13 to 16, 1973*
Ify brother, Marie Northrup, is the new president and vdien he told Mother he'd invited around

100 to stay at our place,....welllll, this leads up to the next paragraph.

Mother needs help on her project of having a mattress maker make about I4O mattresses

at about $10 dollars each.

We have been needing more mattresses around for school use, for

camp season, for American visitors and now for the 1973 Christian Youth convention.

August is STATE FAIR time in SALTIUX!) and our young people came back from Mexico City
brave enough to hand out tracts to the long lines of people arriving at the Fair entrance
gate. They were able to hand out around 15,OCX) Bible tracts, Abel Sanchez wrote the other
day that he was receiving lots of requests from Saltillo for the Bible correspondence coursoi
We th'='n invited all of the young people vdio helped hand out tracts to a Birthday party

for Mark Northrup at Mountain View Ranchl

(August 17th was his birthday).

I am now back in school for another school year in Saltillo.

classmates are

Mexican students and all of our classes will be taught in %?anish except our foreign lang
uage class which is English, I accept the fact that this is now my mission field.

Ifother

and I are already talking of ways that we can have groups of the students as our guests so
that we can get acquainted with my classmates outside of school and have a chance to

have

Qiristian influence over them.

The other day a group of my foimer classmates, before I want to Oregon, walked out to
our place with sack lunches. We had lots of fun. Toward evening Mother set a table with
cake and candles and she was the speaker. She talked about the need for young people to
lead clean lives, stay away from smoking and drugs and for us to try for places of leader*
ship instead of letting the other fellow do it.
Then she asked one by one
our futuis plans were. Five of the boys plan to be med
ical doctors, there was one who wants to be a Bilingual secretary, one chemist and several
who didn't know yet. None of them said they plan to be priests! or nonsl
^

RECIPE FOR BUILDING AN ADOBE CHURCH BUILDING IN MEXICO...the mountain^vliiage"s",'^

when the Christians decide they want to build a "house of wbrship," they make about 2,000
adobe bricks. The bricks are made of adobe dirt and straw just about the way the Israel*
Ites made them in Egypt long ago, and then they are dried in the sun. When dry they weigh
about 25 pounds and will last almost indefinitely if they don't get soaked in water.
First of all you put down a rock foundation with lime and sand mortar or you can. use
th6 same adobe mud to bind the recks together.
Next the bricks are laid up cress ways, using the adobe mud for mortar.

a nice cool wall about one foot thick.

This makes

As the walls get higher you also mix in generous

ciuanities of sweat, good humor and times out to eat cactus fruit, roasting ears and to
drink plenty of sodas and Coca Cola...since the water often is not very safe.

Four by fcxirs are placed over the windows and door openings
find then when you reach the height for the beams they are leveled
and mortared in on top of the bricks.
On top of the beams you put a layer of wood, like shakes,
and then a layer of adobe raud. Last of all a layer of dirt that
needs to be checked occasionally to make sure weeds have not grown
throTigh or a mouse dug in.

You will need about 19 beams for a room 12 by 36 feet.

The walls can also be plastered with adobe raud and then with
regular plaster which is then white washed or painted.
This is the way we helped to build the "house of worship" in Reparo, Mexico the first
week of August. While we were building Agripina Garcafio and the ladies of the church were
having VBS. In Beparo they still lack windows and doors and the money for the cement or
tile floor.

35 hours of classes were enjoyed by Rodney and Mark in the ADVANCED LEADERSHIP
INSTIiUTE in Wheaton just outside of Chicago. This institute was conducted by Bill
Gothard from Institute In Basic Youth Conflicts, Haxico was also represented by Gerardo

Martinezj an elder from Mexico City who rode up with us, and missionaries De^ Caiy and
Richard Ho^en. There were 1,200 ministers, missionaries and "lay men" from~^l over the
States registered. We highly recommend this program and we are constantly using the mat
erials we have learned in the Lord's woric in Maxico.

GBTTIHG READY FOR THE FALL PROGRAM is always expensive. The summer program of camps,
VBS and the youth convention took a heavy toll on tires. We now need two new tires for
the GMC van and two more for the Chevy Carryall. Each heavy duty tire costs $/iO dollars.

We are also low on Spanish Bibles and hymn books ($1*60 cents each). A Danish New

Testteent co^s ijO' cents.

With the enlarged youth program and the beginning of the Pi^ll

Bible classes for the training of the church leaders in the mountains all of these things
are needed especially the tracts for the evazsgellstic meetings.
This year as often happens when summer finances are low several emergencies came up

and we had to borrow 4500 dollars.

These loans must be paid within the next two months

so please remember us in prayer and help as you can.

MANY OPPORTUNITIES are opening up for this fall. The Young Peoi^e in SaitlUo are
very active under Maik? s leadership and are ready to work for the Lord.
In the mountains the villagers have good harvests and the church leaders are anxious

for us to begin the Preacher Training Classes in the different villages. This we plan to

do just after the Mexican National Convention of the Churches of Christ (Christian) in
San Luis Potosi, Oct. 10 to 13* We will be holding evangelistic meetings at the same time
as the classes so the men will get to put into practice what they are leanii^. The folks
in Reparo are especially anxious to_have_elftsee-a--i3i -their new building.

We want to thank each of you for your faithful help and support.
remember us in prayer as we begin the fall program.

Please especially

God bless you.

Rodney, Miiysel, Mark and S|ylvia

NOSTHBUP

3^

THE NORTHRUPS
IN MEXICO
_
, .
Apartado Postal 306
^

A WISE CHOICE:

Choose you this day whom ye

win serve...but as for me and my house we

Saltlllo, Coahulla, Mexico

will serve the Lord.

Joshua 24:15.

YOUTH RETREAT HELD ON MOUNTAIN VIEW RANCH.

One of several youth retreats to be held during the fall was held Oct. 20-^1.

Young

peonle from four youth groups in the two cities of Monterrey and Saltxllo attendedo

Ear3y risers attended a sunrise service on the mountain, then gathered for a breaiuas

of scrambled eggs, refried frijoles with chile, flour tortillas, cafe or hot choco^te

and a banana. Camp style classes and recreation ending with an outstanding fireside
service Saturday night under a full moon filled the retreat program.

To become better acquained, mealtime seating arrangements were changed each meal.

Conversation was in SpanishI

Maysel Northrup had a music class using

the yoiig ^6pi:^eahg~ChriBtma6 Carols in Spanish. Rodney made a trip with^ the van be
fore and after the retreat to help transport young people from and back to Monterrey,

a city of more than one million people. Mark Northrup directed the retreat with help
from the local young people. Sylvia Northrup was on hand to help with hospitality.
The next retreat scheduled on Mountain View Ranch is to be held Dec. 2-3.
J^
to be the young people from Reynosa, Tamaulipas. The Saltillo youth had attended their
retreat Oct. 28-29*

MAYSEL NORTHRUP was soeaker for the Womens' Meeting in Monterrey, Monday afternoon

Oct. 25. Speaking in Spanish, Maysel presented a map of Mexico with 20 years of the

Mexican Church of Christ growth marked with stars*. At the same time she challenged
them with the need of the Gospel in the city of Monterrey and with training their own

families. Of great interest was their present mission project. The women are gather
ing together the pesos needed to buy a horse for a young Mexican preacher in the south
ern Mexico state of Oaxaca. He will use the horse in the mountains where vehicles can
not enter.

. ^

..4

4.u

The NORTHRUP EVANQELISTIC TEAM has .just returned from a week of special meetings in tne
western Mexico state of Sinaloa.

The green mission van was loaded with camp cots,

frying pans, the accordion. Bibles, music books, and a few other supplies. Rodney
and Mark Northrup were the evangelists, Maysel played the accordion and planned the
music used. Jose Angel Romero, from the church in Saltlllo, was an assistant and
Maria Cru Sabehez was in charge of children's work. Rodrigo Kataura, graduate of
Saltlllo Christian School and Guadalupe his wife were hosts. Six meetings were held

over 200,000. Evening meetings were held Sunday through Friday and again Sunday.
Afternoons were devoted to personal evangelism by the men^and womens* meetings by the
women. A camp style retreat was held Sat. afternoon and evening on the river bank for

the young people of the area.

This is the area where the area Christians plan to hold

their second Easter Christian Camp. The Northrup Evangelistic Team is invited back at
Easter C1973) to hold another evangelistic meeting, VBS and be camp evangelists.:

During the last meeting Maria Cruz held childrens classes each morning. Maysel
had 6 different meetings with the women helping them to reorganize their womens groups.

Each morning from 6 to 9 Christians had special prayer for the meetings. Ten persons
made their confessions of faith and one was baptized in the river.

Getting to Culiacan requires our crossing over a Mexican version of the Rockies,
or the "Sierra Madre Occidental". The total trip takes about l8 hours since there are

approximately 3*090 short switchbacks or sharp curves between Durango and Mazatlan.
We blew one tire.

The scenery is fabulous.

relaxing swim in the Pacific.

one is working wide awake.

Arriving in Mazatlan you are ready for a

The market place is open at 4 in the morning and every

In the bay you can see fishing boats going out since life

is built around the fishing and tourist industry. Fresh fish from the Pacific taste
delicious where we bought them off the fishing boats and fried them over a camp fire
on the beachS

PAST EVENT: Rodney and Maysel attended the Mexican National Convention of the Churches
of Christ (Christian) in San Luis Potosi, Oct. 10-13- The President, Benito Soliz,
had lived with the Northrups. With us he had received some of his basic training be
fore going on to graduate from Colegio Biblico in Eagle Pass,_ Texas.
_

COMING EVFNTS TO PRAY FOR:

1.

The Youth Retreat on Mt. View Ranch, Dec. 2-3* 1972.

2.

The Easter Evangelistic Meeting and camp in Culiacan, Sinaloa.

3.

The Christian Youth Camp on Mt. View Ranch, July 8-13* 1973-

4.

The Christian Family Camp at Cedars, July 22-27* 1973-

5o

The Mexican National Youth Convention (CONVENCION NACIONAL JUVENIL), is t-o

be held in Saltillo, Mexico, Aug. 13-16, 1973*

Mark Northrup, president.

'v
MAYSEL

RODNEY

}.

^^oAdau-

SYLVIA

MARK

Lv

%
<-

>N

ANITA
Mr, and Mrs.

Jack E. Matt-.eson

Touth Ministry

Box

503-^75-2128

Madras

_*i

#
*

Oregoni 977^1

Tor tha NOI^TTfREP FAMILY 1972 was an eventful year. It was tha year in ahich Maysel

Mark, Anita end Jack graduated from Bible College and Anita and Jack were married.
Rodney and Mayeel also celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary. It was also a
year in which it seemed the Gospel surged ahead here in Msxico. We thank you for
sharing with us.in the Lord's work.

WE PRAY THE KEVf YEAR OF 1973 will be a wonderful and happy year for us all. From
all indications tha coming year may be one of the beet for the Gospel here in Mexico

We ask you to continue to uphold us in prayer and financially as we begin our 23rd.
year in the Lord's service in Mexico.