NLM Briefings: Summer 2018
Nagle: Rehabilitation/Return to El Papalote, Mexico
Hi, this is Don. Ilene has asked me to write this newsletter. We have been very busy, with 2-3 trips from Christmas Valley to Bend weekly (180 miles round trip) for doctor and physical therapy appointments.
We can see the return to Papalote is in sight! After going through four months of surgeries, hospital stays, rehabilitation and more rehabilitation the doctors, therapists, and prothesis technician have targeted mid-September as an acceptable time to return to Mexico.
I will have a second socket made soon and rehab will continue through the first week of September. Praise God for His strength through these expected and unexpected hurdles.
I have graduated from a wheelchair to a walker and now to a cane. The second socket is necessary because the muscles of the stump have atrophied, and I need a prosthesis that is tighter. There will be a third and final socket Lord willing, in January 2019.
Most exciting for us is that the pain is gone. Yes, there is adjustment to the prosthesis, but the debilitating pain of my left ankle is gone, Praise the Lord. Your prayers and support have been essential to us. We have felt ourselves being uplifted by the brothers daily.
Psalms 147:11
11 the LORD delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.
Seminario BÍblico Baja Graduation
Seminario BÍblico Baja graduated another class of students mid-July. Pray for these young men: Yan Carlos Ruiz, Manuel Ruiz (Senen and Bernadita’s son) and Ramon Ross Jr. (Ramon and Esther’s son), as they move on to internships for the next year.
Church Dedication: Chapultepec, Oaxaca
After ten years of ministry, Pastor Senen of Chapultepec, Oaxaca, has a church building. Senen and Bernadita are thrilled with the outcome. June 29, 2018, a team of pastors (Director of Oaxacan Missions, Pastor Diego Gutierrez and wife Luz Elena, Director of Baja Missions, Pastor Francisco Campos and wife Maria, Ilene Nagle and Elena Hammond traveled to Chapultepec for the dedication of the new chapel, Camino de Paz (The Road to Peace). Ilene and Elena of Foothills Church of Stayton, Oregon represented NLM.
Ilene said it was thrilling and a huge blessing to see many of the neighbors and leaders of Chapultepec who have persecuted Senen and his family these many years for their testimonies, come to the dedication because they wanted to see what this church was like. Many invited Senen and Berna to their homes to begin one on one sharing of Christ.
God is Great!
Opportunities for Intercession
• We thank God for our faithful staff and board. Pray for the annual board meeting August 18th.
• We praise God for the intersession and continued work of our missionary staff…Thank you Hires and Crumrines.
• We are thankful for the seminary mission team that helped with the church in El Roserio in June.
• Thank God for the visiting teams that have come to minister in Baja California, Baja Sur, and Oaxaca this year.
• We praise the Lord for the maturing and leadership of our pastors and leaders in Mexico. It is so exciting to see that they are now anxious to have their churches begin church plants. Pray that the Lord will guide and direct them as they work as a team to bring new souls to Christ.
• Ilene’s mom, Bernice Townsend, returned from hospital and skilled care the end of July. She is with us here in Christmas Valley for a couple of weeks. Pray for her continued recovery and a blessed time together. She will be celebrate her 90th birthday soon.
• My dear friend, Wally Curtis, went to be with the Lord in July. We miss him dearly but know that he is with Jesus and no longer suffering from cancer. Pray for his wife, Carolyn. They were very close and were close to their 50th anniversary. (Photo below taken by Wally Curtis)
• Tim Warkentin continues to press forward with cancer treatments here in Bend. He and his wife Paulette also go back and forth frequently to Bend from Christmas Valley. There have been encouraging signs of a decrease in cancer cells. He needs our continual prayers for stamina, encouragement to move ahead, for complete healing.
• This past weekend, a dear colleague of ours during our Spokane years, Calvin Landrus, went to be with Jesus. He had been diagnosed with cancer only a few months ago but was taken quickly by the Lord through other complications. Please be praying for his wife, Jan and their family who live here in Central Oregon. He will be missed as he was very loved. The ministry he founded is moving on in the hands of God selected men and women.
• NLM needs more skilled retired men and women to partner with us in part-time to full time ministry in Mexico helping to teach men and women who will be future evangelists, church planters and leaders: plumbers, electricians, maintenance in general (they are called “McGaivers” in Mexico), medical workers who can teach, construction, teach cooking, baking, we have even considered starting a pre-school, kindergarten for children. Many needs, many opportunities. Please pray for workers. The fields are RIPE for harvest. Is God calling you? Joy comes from serving.
• There is always a need for financial support for the ministry in general. These funds are spread throughout the missions. We trust in our God to meet the needs.
In Closing…
Ilene and I know the Lord has called us back to Mexico to continue to prepare leaders for reaching souls for Christ. Our roles are more as encouragers, cheerleaders (porristas), and counselors. The future looks exciting at the same time we know the return of Jesus is soon. We desire to remain in the fight till the end.
God bless you all. Please contact us if you wish to know more.
In His Arms and in His Service,
