CULTIVATING JOY: THE BIGGER PICTURE #2: Growing up

TRAINING FOR SERVICE ~by Mrs. Betty Ediger ~1964ish

1987-At Hotel in Zacapoaxtla,Pue.

As the Christian church in Mexico matures, the work of the missionary becomes more and more one of teaching, counseling, and encouraging the brethren.”

II Tim.2:2
And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
To this end in Cuautempan we have a Hostel for girls and one for boys. Here as the boys and girls attend the public school, they are challenged to accept Christ as their personal Saviour (even though most come from Christian homes), they participate in weekly Bible classes with written exams, they are taught organ or accordion if desired.

Mother at the organ for the young peoples choir

The older ones are taught to take part in the weekly bible classes and often lead the singing, render special music and play the organ, etc.
There is opportunity for this too, in the local church. Many of these go back to their own churches and are active lay workers.

Organ & Accordion Lessons

Especially is this true of those who feel no special call to go on to Bible School.
A few, whom the Lord Himself calls, enter our central Bible Institute.
In each congregation there are those who are not able to go on to Bible School. Many of these have a love for God and want to help in the work. Our answer to this problem has been the Short Term Bible Institute of from 3 to 5 weeks duration.

We believe this is opening up a new door of service. The day when most of the villages and churches are opened by missionaries is passing and we are putting this responsibility on our Mexican brethren. They, with their complete knowledge of language and customs can do the job much better than we can.

Also, they have the contacts with relatives and business contacts. We read of Andrew in John 1:40-42 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas”.

At The local Public School

So it is here. The fruit here in the isolated mountains is hand-picked, and many unbelievers have been won by the consistent testimony of Christians.
Our “children in the Lord” are growing up.

Miguel & Aurelia C.

May we be able to inspire them to “preach the Gospel to every creature.” Ours is to encourage, to pray, and to… (Again I was unable to find the end to this as it was photo copied from the MIM news letter.)

Silvestre & Carmela Q.

The Children~The future

Mother at the pump organ during song time

As the Christian church in Mexico matures,

That is Tommy in the middle

So Becky here now, I will be sharing from Dad’s Journal and editing here and there. The decision to begin a Hostel ministry after observing how successful that ministry was at the headquarters in Tamazunchale prompted Dad & Mother to start one in Zapotitlan.

The Mexican back country that they were assigned to had few schools and teachers. The Catholic church had never encouraged the Indians to get ahead, study, and improve their way of living. The Indians at that time were considered inferior.

So with determination they began a ministry there in our Sierra Sempoala of Puebla. Facing that aspect of the work in faith, sacrifice, and responsibility for those in charge.
From the beginning the Lord provided excellent help. One of our best and most trusted Director of the boys home was Silvestre Quintero. He had been one of our boys in the early days in Zapotitlan, and now he had grown in the faith and in his desire to serve the Lord. He married Carmela, one of the young girl who had washed and cooked for our family from the time she could work at age 14. This couple would do almost anything for us, shown by a deep commitment to the Lord. Silvestre and Carmela were live-in house parents/directors for many years.

Emma M.,Girls director, helping out with homework

Emma Manzano, a girl from Zongozotla who we knew as a little girl selling flowers in the Zapotitlan market was with us for several years directing the girl’s work. She later married Andres Ponce, a graduate of the boy’s Hostel. He was one of the most advanced music students, playing both the organ and accordion.
The children were kept busy in the local public school as well as extra classes of music, Bible, health, sewing, cooking, housework etc. The children represented more than 20 different villages in the area at one time or another.
My brother, sister, and I would always involve ourselves in one way or another while home on vacation from our boarding school for missionary children. My sister and I would frequently help out in the Friday night Bible classes. The boys, my brothers were always ready to go with Dad on recruiting, visitation or evangelistic trips to the various villages.

The Boys Taking a break during free time

Each child in the Hostel was given the opportunity to study music including me, however, I was not gifted in that area to the disappointment of my mother. My sister though showed her musical talent to my mothers delight and she in turn passed it on to her children
Silvestre used this musical talent more than any of all of my mothers’s promising students. He played at conferences, Institutes, and evangelistic meetings.
Mexican people love to sing. The remote villages especially appreciated the music. They would send carriers to bring the accordion and pump organ where the village did not have their own instrument.

There goes the accordion

The classes in the Hostels were especially helpful for those who wanted to further their education. Several pastors received their early training in our Hostel.
Joaquin Gomez graduated from our Hostel, later went on to high school in the nearby town, and then to Bible School to become a pastor.
One of our Aztec Indian boys, Sebastian Vasquez of Hitzilhan attended our Hostel. His father was one of the elders of the Hitzilhan church, a very godly man with a desire to have his son get an education through our Hostel. The family was very poor, having been exploited by the rich. They hardly had the basic necessities of life.

Sebastian was not blessed with a sharp mind. Never expecting him to amount to anything, he plodded along to finish school. We never expected that God would use him in such a wonderful way later. His love for the Word in his Aztec tongue and in Spanish was a wonderful help to Dow Robinson of Wycliffe Bible Translators who was attempting to translate the Word into Aztec. His main ministry was an Aztec radio program which aired weekly and reached a wide area of the Sierra Azteca all while serving as pastor in various congregations.

Accordion Lessons

In summary, there was a lot of Bible teaching and lots of music instruction that my mother gave on the accordion, pump organ, and guitar. Although she did not play the guitar herself, she was able to instruct her students to play it.