ALuaas! DED 1THE BILL HOFF FAMILYAPARTADO POSTAL NO. 57QUERETARO/ QRO. MEXICO

THE NORM DUNGAN FAMILYAPARTADO POSTAL NO. 741QUERETARO/ QRO. MEXICO

NEWS OFfhe IHRUEIIGE OF CHRIST IN CENTRAL MEXICOPublished Quarterly Vol. 14 No. 2 FaH 1983

Hdios Dungons"Norm, would you lead songs today? ""Norm, would you help me move some thingstonight? " "Norm, would you be able toteach this class? " "Norm, do you have anidea or project in mind? " "Norm, I have aproblem." Teacher, creator of plans, counsellor, song leader, constant workerthese area few of the attributes that Norm possesseswhich we all miss because he has left Mexico.

"Mary, would you decorate a birthday cakefor me? " "Mary, would you help me planthis series of Bible school lessons? " "Mary,would you help Mark on his English? ""Mary, would you babysit for me? " Cakedecorator, teacher, helper, problem-solver-these qualities we miss because Mary is gone.

Eleven years ago this past August Bill andMargy came to Mexico to work with theNorm Dungan family. During this time wehave worked as a team in Central Mexico. Wehave worked together in camps, visiting, thefilm ministry, men's retreats, church services,the correspondence school, teaching in theBible Institute, etc. Our main goal has beennew-church evangelism and the strengtheningof Christians.

This past July the Dungans (Norm, Mary,Heather, and Nathan) returned to the U.S. to

begin teaching missions at Johnson BibleCollege. It was with sadness that we bid themgoodbye with God's blessings for their newwork. Although they are not in Mexico, theywill continue to be involved in the work,through speaking engagements, fund raising,and summer trips back to Queretaro.The Dungans will also continue to support thework here through their funds for the correspondence course ministry, the churchbuilding loan fund, the film ministry, andsupport for a Mexican evangelist.

As friends, co-workers, and family of God, wesay, "May the Lord bless you. We love youand will miss you. Thank you for sharing atime in our lives." MH

REACHING OUT

The Cultural Communications Center is reaching outand the result'is that people are accepting the Lord.The CCC -program has always had the goal of proclaiming the gospel message fo the masses of Mfexicp.But we believe that prqclamation and teaching-arenot "all important." There-is something more important; that is, a life-long commitment to the Lord andan association with a body of believers.

Recently in Central Mexico"CCC has placed a series ofnewspaper ads in twelve major cities. .The results hwebeen heart-warming. There are between 35 and 50letters, a week arriving at the postbox asldng for theBiUe correspondence course. This' represents agreater response per dollar than was possible evenwhen radio was being used. The responses are alsomore encouraging than those derived from radiobecause those who have written are more literate andtherefore tend to complete the course. Previouslyonly 1 in 10 returned the first lesson; now about halfof the first courses are returned.

Another step has been taken which appears helpful.Previously, calls on students were almost social visits;now the visits are made with the student's response toa question in course no. 7 as the central theme. Thequestion is, "have you been baptized in a Biblicalfashion? " And the student is asked to change frominterest in Christ to a commitment to Him. Recentlythere have been 6 baptisms in Queretaro, 2 inHidalgo, and 5 more in Michoacan as response to thisnew approach.

At the present the only problem facing CCC is, "Howwill the calls and visitation be made? " In cities wherethere is an evangelist or preacher, they are asked tovisit the student. In cities where there is no one else,CCC's small staff (Francisco and myself) must do thevisiting. This included 6 major cities and numerous"ranchos" and villages.

Besides the visitation, CCC offers helps in living theChristian life such as a rotating library of selectChristian books, and a service of answering Biblicalquestions. Still another evangelistic program is theshowing of Christian films.

"The fields are white unto harvest." bIi

THE FLOOD

In the past few years the office of the CulturalCommunications Center, which is located in a halfbasement at the Dungan's house, has shown a tendency to fill up with ground water after hard rains.So the Dungans went to a lot of trouble and expenseto have the walls sealed. Now water does not seep in.

There, however, is another way water can enter theoffice. That is through the front door. But the"colony" had never had that much water until twomonths ago. Two days before tiie Dungans were toleave for Knoxville, a canal broke. Water rose a footinside the house and the basement had four feetof water.

Since the basement was now waterproof, shelving hadbeen set up floor-to-ceiling with the heavy articles,such as printed materials low, and lighter articleshigh. Thus it was that viewing the disater one vrasimpressed by Bibles, New Testaments, and correspondence courses, a sofa, and hundreds of otherarticles floating around in a pool of foul smellingwater.

After buying a pump and some hose, the clean up wasbegun. There was a half inch of mud in the rest of thehouse. The pump slowly lowered the water level inthe office and the process of throwing away, whatwas thousands of dollars worth of literature wasbegun. Many articles were completely lost, otherssuch as two tape recorders, and a Thermofax copierwere repairable. The most heart-stopping find wasthree rolls of 16mm movies whose total valueexceeded $1000. The films were washed and carefullydried and have suffered no damage. That was notthe case vrith hundreds of fiknstrips which were badlydamaged, nor a file of Sunday school lessons whichwas lost.

Now the office has been completely painted and theonly reminder of the flood's presence are the emptyshelves where there should be literature. Slowly thestock is being replenished But one permanent effect isthat never will any CCC staff member enter and set abox on the floor. The nightmare of Bibles floating hascured that habit. BH

Prayer and PraisePRAISE THE LORD:

* that there were 2 baptisms in San Juan del Llanito.

* that the Missionary Chairman and two elders from the Las Vegas church were able to visitthe Hoffs for a week last April.

* for the help of missionaries in Mexico City who loaned literature so that the Biblecorrespondence school could continue in spite of the flood.

* that Amy Luisa was bom to Humberto and Becky Ramirez on June 2nd.

* for the many responses to the newspaper ads and the recent baptisms that are a result of theBible correspondence course. *

* that Chen Avalos was able to purchase a truck for his ministry.

* the Glendale Christian Church in Arizona plans on taking a fifth Sunday offering in October tohelp toward the purchase of a new truck for the Hoffs. Your help in this project would beappreciated.

* that there were over 240 campers in the three weeks of camp this summer.

* that the Hoffs house is now finished except for carpentry work.

* that there were about 1000 Christians at the "Confraternidad" (a national convention) inGuadalajara. The theme for the week was "Church Growth."

PRAY:

* for the Dungan's success in their new ministry.

* for this coming school year at the Bible Institute. Fourteen new students are enrolled.

* for the second and third generation Christians in the state of Mexico that are not presentlyliving their faith.

* that a teacher might be found for the Queretaro Valley Community School.

tirecT truckIn late 1973 the Hoffs bought a new Chevy Suburban. The truck has since then been over almost300,000 miles (mostly on rough roads). The truck's body has rusted through, the frame has broken infive spots, and most of the moving parts have been repaired or replaced. But it has seldom let themdown.

Now economic reality makes its replacement necessary. Used Suburbans hold their value well andseldom have the necessary equipment, so purchasing a new one seems most practical. The Hoffs hopeto purchase a new one in 1984. BH

PERSONAL GLIMPSES"Dirt! Gravel! Cement! Plaster! " This is what I have had to put up with in our house.Each day (sometimes several times a day) I sweep and clean part of the house and then preparefor the workers to continue in another part of the house. The workers have included two menwho do the basic construction and a plasterer.

The latest projects have been the tiling of one of the upstairs bathrooms and the cementing ofthe other in preparation for tile. The plasterer has completed the upstairs and is currentlydoing the ceilings in the downstairs. This all makes for a grand upheavel in the housebut, atleast, the end is in sight. We praise the Lord that our house is about finished and we can prepare for another school year.

Another school year means that Rebecca will be entering kindergarten (she is very excitedabout that), Bill will be teaching again at the Bible Institute, and Mark will continue in hisstudies in the Alpha-Omega program. This year finds the school without a teacher so it lookslike I will be spending a lot of time with Mark.

We spent a month and a half traveling this past summer. We enjoyed the visits but it is alwaysgood to return home. The first two weeks after returning, we spent in helping the Dungansbecause of the "flood." One day Bill commented that our house looked like "a flood reliefcenter." We were glad to help and some of our belongings were involved also.

The remainder of the summer has been spent in a concentrated effort to get as much of thehouse finished as possible. I think we have accomplished that.

It has taken a lot of patience to live in a house that is being constructed, but with God's helpHe has given us peace in the midst of disorder. j.,

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