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1/5
Bill
Baker,
07:26
M
1/14/99 -0600,
Update
from th e
Baker's
Sender
From: BillBaker
To: ALVisser
Cc: Billand Carolyn Eagan ,
Belinda Landry ,
Bart & Kathy Morse
,
Barbie
and
T.J. ,
Baker, Thomas (Thomas Or Tom), CCARE ,
Anita Pacheco ,
Amy Lau ,
lvin
Kuest ,
Alfredo & Lupe Jose ,
Albert Schmid
Subject: Update from
the
Baker's
Date: Thu,
14 J an
1999 07:26:04 -0600
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Dear Friends and Supporters of
the
Baker Family,
This is a rather lengthiy update, it recaps
the
progress
the
Lord
has
made
through us In our ministry in Dei Rio. i pray that you will enjoy and be
enlightened by It.
Rosa
and I picked Dei Rio specifically
because
the
work of
the
Independant
Christian Churches was very
weak that
area.
Just
60 miles away in Eagle
Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Mexico, our brotherhood ha s numerous
ministries, a Bible College, an orphanage, several evangelistic ministries
and
approximately 20
churches.
Four years ago, we
saw
potential in Dei Rio/Acuna for
the
work of
the
Lord
but,
the
potential
was
hidden very deep. God opened doors
and
we were able
to
relocate
easily.
We
were able to find and finance property easily.
Del Rio had no independent Christian Churches. There were two
weak churches
which were affiliated with th e Disciples of Christ. Acuna had a small
struggling Christian Church which had history of problems.
I began working on re-establishing a publishing ministry. Through my own
efforts, we made progress in developing
the
physical facility needed fbr a
printing ministry. But the Lord did not open that door. I kept knocking, but
it
appeared
to
me that
in order to
get that
door open. Itwas going to be on
my effort alone
it was then that the Lordbegan opening other doors for us. Iwas given the
opportunity to serve
as
interim
pastor
at Dei Rio Christian Church,
one
of
the Disciples of Christ Churches in Dei Rio.
Rosa and
i continued to work
with First Christian Church, th e other Disciples of Christ Church in Dei
Rio. At
one
point inworking with both
churches
simultaneously, I even had
dreams ofgetting both churches to reunite their efforts
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BillBaker, 07:26
AM
1/14/99 -0600, Update from
the
Baker sl
Tliese two churches had a veiy bittersplit many years earlier.We were
seeing
growth
in twthchurches. InNovember of1995, bothchurches were
scheduled to vote to leavethe sciples ofChrist on the
same
day. One vote
was taken, the other was postponed and has yet to be taken.
Following
a
unanimous
vote
to
leave
the disciples, First
Christian
beganthe
struggleofbecoming an Independent Christian Church..
Thedooropenedto a newministry in
Acuna.
IIbund a small nucleus which
was
stmggling
to becomea newChristian Church and beganworking and
encouraging them in theirministry.
They
wereworshiping in a pallet,
cardboard and tar paper roomabout 12X18 feet insize. We havenow
relocated them into an unfinished concrete block building which ha s two
stories a functioning bathroom and a dream of
evangelizing
Acuna for
Christ.
During the
annual meeting
ofthe Christian Churches, wewerethe only new
independent
Christian
Church
congregation
in all of
Mexico
to receive
certification
under Mexican
as an
official
churchi
The church inAcuna
sent
it s minister
Mario
Lara)to Scottsbluff, Nebraska
to be a missionary to the United States Thanks to
funding
by the Nebraska
Evangelistic
Accosiation) Hehas
begun
servicesand the prospectof
establishing a permanent work inSpanish there is
very promising.
The
church in
Acuna
continues to have around 40 in services
The school situation in DelRiowas deplorable. We had an opportunity to
place
both
FrancesandCaleb ina struggling
private
Christian
School.
The
school was Insuch bad shape financially that Itcouldnot find a churchin
DelRioveiling to take it
over.
Ithad been inthree different rented
facilities all churches)and hadcreated hard feelings
with
each ofthem.
We
were able
to s tart
school this
fall in
our
own facility,
and
are
now
debt free
First
Christian Church
is experiencing
growth
which has beendescribedby
miraculousby many ofthose who haveheard ofour story.
The
Lord
is moving. Wewent through a period oftimeinwhich the attendance
dropped
to 10orless. A
new minister,
Frank
House,
was
hired
andthe
turn-around
was
completed.
Today attendanceis averaging about ICQ to 110at FirstChristian, weare
experiencing regular conversions
and
baptisms. The
ministry ofthis church
is
taking off
inareas inwhich we
could
only
have
dreamed3 or4 years ago.
As a result ofthe flood inAugust of1998,we havebeen
given
the
opportunity to constmct several
houses for
someofthe
members
ofthe
congregation
in Congregation
in
Acuna
who
lost everything
the
flood.
We
have five houses started. We recently ran intoa problem purchasing block.
Ithas become almost impossibleto purchase cement blockinAcuna.
The
largest
plant has the capacity to make 10,000 block a dayand has it s
entireproduction purchasedfor the next three months.
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Bill Baker, 07:26
1/14/99-0600,Update from the Baker's
Thereare a lotofsmaller momand pop builders inAcuna, but the
quality
varries widely They havebeen requiring that we pay for the blockin
advance and then pickupthe blockswhile still green . Ifwe don't get
them
picked
upontime,they end upselling our block to somoneelse.
As a result ofthis, we havepurchased a small block-making machine. Once we
make 2,500 blocks, our
initial
investment
will
be recovered. I havetalked
to
the
leader of one of th e card-board cities and we are working out an
arangementwhich
will build
morehouses. Since we don't havethe funds to
build
10,000houses, we are goingto
offer
the equipmentand materialsto
men who need blocks and can work. Theywill receive 2 blocks for every 10
blocks they make. Ourtotal costs will be less and wewill be helping those
who genuinely want to better their ownsituation.
In closing, let me take some liberty
vwth
Paul's statement in ICorinthians
16:8 9:
But wewill stay on in Del Rio
until
God leads us elsewhere, because a great
door foreffective workhas opened to us and there are many whooppose us.
PLEASE KEEP OUR
MINISTRY INYOUR
PRAYERS
May the LordRichly Bless - Bill Baker
E-Mail [email protected]
Web Site
httD://www.delrio.com/~bbaker
Snail Mail:
P.O.
Box 420926, Del Rio, TX 78842
Phone 830 774 1543
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Bill Bake>, 09:48 AM 4/10/99^-0400, Update from
th e
Baker's
Date: Sat, 10 Apr 1999 09:48:18 -0400
From: Bill Baker
Subject: Update from
the
Baker's
Sender
To: Rob Halvorson
Reply-To:
Bill
Baker
Sender: [email protected]
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To: Rob Halvorson
Subject: Update
from the Baker's
Date: Sat,
10
Apr
1999 08:25:12 -0500
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e r Friends:
We have just sent back our fourth Short-Term missions team In 5 weeks. Spring t ime is aiways busy with us
in Del Rio. This year was no exception. The groups we have worked with In Acuna were from, Enid, OK;
Craig, CO; and Grayson, KY. In addition to
these
three, we
assisted
a group from
Ozark
Christian College
in arranging and transportation for a teaching seminar in
Nuevo
Rosita, Mexico.
The
Lord
Is indeed blessing our ministryalong the border in both cultures Here Is a quick
run-down
of
some
of our
recent developments:
HOUSE CONSTRUCTION (Benevolent Relief in Acuna)
Two families
are
now
living
in
new
houses
which were built
as
a result of funds received for benevolent
evangelism following the flood in August. Four additional houses are under constmctlon and two of these are
ready for
the
roof.
THE NEW CHURCH
IN
ACUNAIsexperiencing grov/Ing pains. Since the loss ofMario Lara last fall, there
has
been a struggle fbr leadership withinthe men of
the
church. My philosophy of missions
will
not allow me
to
assume
dictatorial power In
the
church
so
It Is interesting to
see
how
the
local men are dealing with
leadership problems. I am striving to
provide
as much guidance as possible while still allowing this new work
to be a Mexican church. We have completed the floor fbr the new auditorium. Blocks are being made and
the
wails for this addition
will be
going up next week. As funds
and
manpower
are made
available, we
hope
to be able
to have it
seniceable
by
th e end
of May.
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BillBaker, 09:48 AM 4/10/99 -0400, Update from the Baker's
THE MINISTRY IN DEL RIO withFirst ChristianChurch continue to amaze and encourage everyone
involved
Rosa is incharge ofcoordinating the entiremusic
program
Baptismare almost a weekly
occurrence and attendance is averaging130 since the firstof
the
year. Our Resun'ectlon Day sen/ices were
diffsrent. Rather than a resurrection drama, Idid the Sermon on the Mount from memory incostume. (The
picture is on
the
WEB SITED We were celebrating
the
teachings of a risen Savior (even though
the
Sermon
on
the
Mount
was
early In
the
ministry ofChristDFor
th e
main worship service, Rosa directed a
Resurrection Drama which took the place of a traditional sermon.
AMISTAD CHRISTIAN ACADEMY
(a local Christian high school inwhich Billserves on
the
board)
will
become a part of the ministry of First Christian Church as soon as
the
papenArork is completed. This is a
win win situation fo r
tx th t
church and
t
school .
Itis exciting to see what the Lordis doing and even more exciting to lookto the future as we consider
the
possibilities ofwhat he can do to continue to expand His ministry in the Land ofAmistad . (Land of
Friendship)
Our WEB-SITE has been completely revamped. Ifyou have not visited it recently, you willfind many new
features, including current updates with pictures ofour work teams. Duringthe visit ofthe team from
Grayson, we were able to baptize two team members in LakeAmistad
May
the
Lordcontinue to
Bless
and
please
keep us inyour prayers
May the Lord RichlyBless - Bill Baker
E-Mail [email protected]
Wetr Site httD://www.delrio.com/~bbaker
Snail Mail: P.O. Box 420926, Del Rio, TX 78842
Phon e 830 774 1543
AutofiwdUodate from the Baker
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