Wood Marilyn 1983 SAE

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"Chips Off The Old Block"News From Marilyn Wood

Serving Christ through:Spanish American Evangelism

3135 Forney LaneEl Paso, TX 79935

Volume II Number 1

Spring 1983

Dear Friends,

It's hard to believe that spring is here. Just two weeks ago we hadover 16 inches of snow in a 3-day period. High temperature duringthat time was 38 degrees. Brr! I know in many areas of the U.S. theweather has been more winter-like instead of spring-like. I sureappreciate our warm weather a whole lot more now.

I know many of you must have wondered if I made it to Denver inspite of "The Blizzard". The answer is "Yes." My brother flew to ElPaso and helped me with the driving. In fact, he did all of the driving,much to my relief.

If we had stuck to our original plan to leave on Friday, we wouldnot have made it, but late Thursday morning (the 23rd), my parentscalled to ask if we had been listening to the weather reports. Wehadn't — we were getting ready to go do some sightseeing. (It wasRick's first time In El Paso.) Well, they advised us to get out of ElPaso as soon as possible.

We finally got out of the city at 3:00 P.M. (I had packing to do,bills to pay, etc.) Just north of Pueblo we ran into the blizzard, butwe kept on going. My brother had no trouble handling the car(front-wheel drive), but it was really hard to see. We arrived at mysister's at 3:00 A.M.

It was really neat to spend Christmas together — especially toshare in the joy and delight of my nephew and nieces, who were 6, 4,and 21 months old. I also got in a little extra visit with my sisterssince I didn't come back to El Paso until January 3rd.

On Friday I went with Marsha to Winter Park, a ski resortnorthwest of Denver. While she went skiing with a friend, I stayedinside and watched. I found out later about a train ride I could havetaken to the top of the mountain and back, but it was too late to geton it. All the rides were booked. The Colorado Rockies sure are

beautiful, and Winter Park is no exception.

On New Year's Day I went to Como, Colorado, to visit Bill andGlenda McCarty. They are the camp managers at Colorado ChristianService Camp. We had worked at El Paso Christian College together,and Bill was my forwarding agent when I first went to Puerto Rico.

I left Denver on the 2nd and arrived here on the 3rd. During theweek of January 4-7, I participated in the Week of Missions at ElPaso School of Missions. It was a great week — rather like amini-missionary convention. Some of the speakers were Alan andJanet Bemo, Sam Winger, Bob Reeves, and Bill Loft.

March was a month full of travel. On February 28 I left for EaglePass, Texas, (500 miles down river) to attend the annual Bi-lingualConvention at Colegio Biblico. I was asked to play the organ for allthe sessions. I really felt this was quite an honor and was glad to helpin this way. This was the first time I had ever attended the Bi-lingualConvention. Despite the economic situation on both sides of theborder, the attendance was the highest ever.

On March 11th, 26 of us boarded the train in Juarez and headedfor Mexico City and Oaxtepec to attend the annual MexicanMissionaries Reunion. We had an entire pullman car to ourselves. Thetrip to Mexico City takes 36 hours — 2 nights and 1 full day. Therocking motion of the train wasn't too conducive to sleep, but wesurvived.

Over 100 people attended the missionary reunion again this year.Brother Woody Phillips was the guest speaker and led us in a study ofthe book of Philippians. The highlight for us — and especially forthe Baker's — was Billy Baker's baptism on the last night of thereunion. Bill Baker, his father, is the director of Spanish AmericanEvangelism, and he was privileged to baptize his own son.

I stayed in the Mexico City area for a few extra days and got to doa little sight-seeing. There is still a lot I haven't seen, but it was niceto spend some time in the largest city in the world.

As for the economic situation in Mexico, the peso is now tradingat 150 pesos to 1 dollar all over the country. This is more thandouble what it was the first of December! There is some speculationthat the peso will be devalued again in the very near future. Inflationhas been running close to 100%. Please continue to pray for ourbrethren south of the border, that the Lord will continue to meettheir physical and spiritual needs.

Most of you receive the SAE newsletter, so you know we aretrying to print 2 million pieces of literature this year. Because of thelack of money to buy paper, we are behind; however, over 200,000tracts have been distributed since the middle of January. I personallyhave prepared over 40 orders, totalling over 100,000 pieces ofliterature. These have been sent to Colombia, Chile, Puerto Rico, theDominican Republic, Belize, Guatemala, Mexico, and the U.S.Needless to say, our cupboards are rapidly becoming bare, and weneed to replenish our stock as soon as possible.

Now for a health up-date: My "irritated bowel syndrome" turnedout to be a duodenal ulcer, j found this out on December 22nd.

Medicine, to begin with, cost me $60.00! What a Christmas present!But I must say, the medicine was very effective. On February 14th Ihad another Upper Gl test run and found out that the ulcer hadcompletely healed. By March 14th I was no longer taking medicationof any kind.

Of course, all the tests that were run and all the medicine that Ihad to buy ran a big hole in my budget. I'm still waiting to see if theinsurance will pay for the tests. If not, that's a bill of almost $300.00that I have to pay. I spent close to $200.00 on medicine over thethree-month period, but the Lord provided the funds for that asthey were needed. I'm sure He'll do the same for the medical bills.

One thing that helped me to get the ulcer under control so quicklywas I dropped almost all of my extra-curricular work, except for thechurch bookkeeping. (That's so simple; it hardly takes any time.) I'mstill planning on getting Into some kind of exercise program, but Isaw the difference, almost immediately, in not having to fit in thechurch secretarial work and piano lessons into my busy schedule. Ifound out the hard way I'm not "super woman." I just can't doeverything.

More exciting news. I have finally found a roommate, so aroundthe end of May/first of June I will be moving to another apartment. Ihope to save around $100.00 a month by making this move. The costof rent, utilities, and food has averaged around $500.00 a month!And then there's a car payment, gas, tithes and offerings, etc. tocome out of my $750.00 - $800.00 a month. Needless to say, I'vejust barely been making ends meet. At the last trustees' meeting,celling limits were set on what we could raise for our persona!support. I'm authorized to raise up to $1300.00 a month. As you cansee, I'm a long ways from that goal. I do need additional support,even with this move. If you would like a detailed financial statementon receipts and expenditures, please feel free to write and ask forone. My insurance just went up this month about 40%, so you cansee that every penny I save by this move will just go somewhere else.I'm not worried though, because the Lord continue to bless and meetall my needs.

/

As was mentioned in our last SAE newsletter, all of us areavailable for camps and Vacation Bible Schools this summer. So far, Ihave only one VBS scheduled — that's the VBS here at EastsideChristian Church where I attend. They are my main supportingchurch, and I'm under the eldership of this particular congregation.This is quite a change from last year. By this time a year ago, I hadfour VBS's lined up. So if any of you are still looking for amissionary speaker, I am available. The only week taken is July25-29.

I'd like to take this time to especially thank you for your prayerson behalf of my health. I'm really grateful to the Lord for the quickrecovery I have had. Also, I want to thank you for your support andfor your prayers on my behalf and for SAE. Without you none of uswould be able to do the work that we are doing for the Lord here.

May God richly bless you as you serve Him.In Christ,

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"Chips Off The Did Block"News From Marilyn Wood

Serving Christ through:Spanish American Evangelism

3135 Forney LaneEiPaso,TX 79935

Volume II Number 2

Fall 1983

Dear Friends,

Where does the time go? It seems as though it was just last weekthat I wrote, but actually it was April. Now here it is September. Aswe all know, time surely does fly.

My summer turned out to be a little busier than I had thought itwould be. Shortly after I wrote my last letter, we received a phonecall about supplying a missionary speaker for a week of camp atAshland Christian Camp in Ashland, Kansas. Since this was the campI had attended, I asked to go.

The camp was for Grades 6 & 7 with children coming from mostof the Christian Churches in the southwest Kansas area. There were70 campers. The offering for the week went to the Literature Fundof SAE to help print more tracts.

The week-end before camp and the week-end after, I spent withmy parents in Dodge City. Then I went to Denver and spent five daysvisiting my sisters, brother-in-law, nieces, and nephew. My youngestsister, Marsha, came back to El Paso with me and spent a few days ofrest and relaxation before returning to her job. It was nice to haveher along to help with the driving.

We had a beautiful drive down from Denver. We drove at nightbecause the air conditioner had gone out on my car. (As of thiswriting, it's still not fixed, but I hope to have it ready before I leaveon my next trip on September 17.) There was a full moon that night,and we had the privilege of seeing a partial lunar eclipse. Not manysaw it, I'm sure, since it was about 2:00 a.m. Also, the sunrise on thedesert and the moonset (full moon) was something I rarely see. Theywere just beautiful.

In July Bill Morgan called and asked me to come back toClearview Christian Church in Dallas to be their missionary speakeragain. (This was one of the churches I was in lastyear.) So the weekof August 1-5found me in Dallas for the VBS. (This time I flew. TheClearview congregation paid for my flight.) They had an enrollmentthis year of about 50. The total offering was almost 3 times lastyear's, and it also went into the Literature Fund.

The last week of July I was the missionary speaker for the VBShere at Eastside Christian Church. The offering went to mepersonally, and I'm using it to buy newtires for my car. The offeringwon't cover the complete cost, but it will come close, and I'm sograteful for this help.

The week after I was in Dallas, my folks came for a few days visit,as part of their vacation. It had been several years since they hadbeen here, and I'm sure they saw a lot of changes.

At Spanish American Evangelism the summer was not slow. Weordered a special shipment of paper and have printed several hundredthousand tracts. Already several thousand of the new tracts havebeen distributed.

Also, Bill Baker, director of SAE, had the privilege of meetingwith the vice-president of the International Bible Society. They hadjust finished printing a limited edition of a Spanish New Testamentin the New International Version and were getting ready to do asecond printing. The end result of that meeting was we purchased25,000 New Testaments from the IBS. They were printed with the2nd printing, and the Bible Society allowed us to have our name,address, and logo printed on the title page. The New Testaments costus 50 cents each and are very well done. We received the shipmentthe end of July, and already almost 2,000 have been distributed.

The third week in July found us busy preparing and printing,among other things, the following: the Spanish Directory of theMinistry (which I compiled and set-up for printing), a book onmission work and prayer, and a songbook to be used at the NationalMexican Christian Convention the second week of August. Sinceboth Bart, our printer, and Bill were going to be gone the end of Julyand the first of August, it was imperative that all of that was donebeforehand. We weren't sure we'd get it all done in time for theconvention, but we did!

September 1st a friend of mine. Alma Zuelli, from Levittown,Puerto Rico, arrived to spend a couple of weeks. I'm really enjoyingher visit. She'll be travelling with me to the National MissionaryConvention. In the meantime, we've put her to work here in theoffice, and she's proven to be a big help, doing a lot of typesettingfor us.

Alma and I will be leaving here on the 17th for Des Moines andthe missionary convention. On the way up and back, I'll be speakingto my supporting churches. My itinerary is as follows:

Sept. 18 First Christian Church EveningTexhoma, Oklahoma

Sept. 20 Swing Shift Division 7:30 p.m.First Christian ChurchDodge City, Kansas

Sept. 21 Wilroads Gardens Christian EveningChurch, Dodge City, Kansas

Sept. 25 Irwin Community Church MorningIrwin, Missouri

Oct. 2 First Christian Church EveningWayne City, Illinois

I plan to return to El Paso by October 8. I'm looking forward tobeing in these churches again and giving an up-date of the work here.If you live close to one of these churches, I encourage you to cometo the service. I'd love to see you.

To give you an up-date on some of the things I wrote about in mylast letter:

1. My insurance came through and paid almost 2/3 of the bill for themedical tests made back in December and February. As of thisdate, I owe only $50.00.

2. The peso has continued to stay close to the 150 pesos to 1 dollartrading rate. There were some fears that it would be devalued lastvyqek,:.but it Wasn't. Inflation fs still at 100% or more, and theUjhgmploynpierTt situation is really bad.

3. My; support -has not increased; in fact, last month it was down./\nd-it's off to a sioW start this month so far. Financial reports areavailable for those who ask. To add to the problem, before I leaveSaturday I have to have my car serviced, including some work tobe done on the radiator. All of this will take money that I don'thave, but I trust the Lord to provide.

4. Total literature distribution so far this year is way in excess of300,000 pieces. I personally have prepared for mailing over280,000 pieces. Several thousand pieces of literature have beentaken to conventions in Mexico, retreats, etc. Others have come inand taken some with them. It's safe to say the total figure is closerto 500,000. Our cupboard is no longer bare, but we still have along way to go to fill it up. Cuba is another country to add to thelist of countries to which we have sent literature.

5. As mentioned before, almost 2,000 New Testaments have beensent out. This represents over 38 cases.

I want to thank ali of you for your help — both for your prayersand your financial help. As always, the Lord continues to supply allmy needs through you.

I know it's late, but if you would like for me to come and presentthe work of SAE, while I'm on this trip (I do have a few days open.),you may get in contact with me through SAE — (915) 592-9292 orthrough my parents — (316) 225-4215. They will be able to get intouch with me.

Please continue to pray for all of us here at SAE as we try to doour best to spread the Gospel to those in the Spanish-speaking world.May God bless you all in your labors for Him.

In Christ,

y?^i.ctMarilyn \NoDd

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