Three times a month, missionaries Barry Wingo and Andrew Ferguson load a truck to its limits. Then they make a 13-hour trip over rugged roads through the mountains to a Tepehuan village in southern Mexico.
There, they work on the houses they hope to soon live in, so they can minister effectively among the Tepehuans.
They could just work in the city where they live now.
But the Tepehuans who live there do not trust outsiders, and hide their unique beliefs and customs. So Barry and Andrew would never know if their attempts to communicate God’s Word clearly were successful.
And they could just teach in Spanish. All the Tepehuans know Spanish.
But it’s not the language they grow up with, the language they think in – the language they completely understand.
That’s why years of building relationships, getting permission to move into the village, and working to construct houses is so important. And why it’s followed by years of studying the culture and language, and years of Bible teaching and discipleship.
The Great Commission is about making disciples, and that takes time and work.
And expanding the reach of the Gospel to remote places like that Tepehuan village takes a support team, one that missionaries like Barry and Andrew appreciate.
“Thanks so much for the great work you are doing in keeping folks posted,” Barry wrote to us.
And after the story I wrote about their work went out by e-mail, we received this response from a subscriber: “Thanks for sending us the info on the Tepehuan work. We appreciate it.”
Our ministry connects people like you and your friends and neighbors with the work God is doing through people like Barry and Andrew. We’re giving people opportunities to be involved at whatever level God has for them. And we couldn’t do that without you.
So I think Barry and the subscriber would join me in saying thanks to you.
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