Following a long, well fought battle with cancer, the Mexico Missionary Fellowship says goodbye to co-worker, friend, and leader by example, Dave Cave. Dave will be remembered for his no nonsense but passionate approach to life and ministry and for his willing heart to always to lend a helping hand. He personified the “whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might” view and many lives will bear his mark.

Dave, along with his wife Nancy got their start in missions and their interest in Mexico particularly through the influence of missionary educator Floyd Woodworth. Ignited by a passion to reach the lost, they raised the money needed for their first trip to Mexico in 1976 by literally gleaning piles of cotton bolls discarded by farmers and picking the bolls by hand before dawn until after dusk. Through this work way they paid for a travel trailer and later, language school.

During these first two trips, their desire to serve was evident, a disposition that they maintained throughout their ministry together. They “roughed it” to reach and teach the people. They bathed in the river where the local Mexican people bathed, and did their laundry there as well. They ate what the locals ate and rarely saw meat on their first two trips. Later, the Cave’s spent years living in travel trailers. What is for many a sacrifice, they considered living in “luxury.”

Still, even with their connection with the field, they never lost sight of their need to partner with US churches in the work. In fact, it was this need that moved them to formalize their relationship with the Assemblies of God World Missions Department. Realizing that few knew of their work, and therefore few were therefore praying for them, they applied for missionary appointment, which they received in April 1981.

The passion that the Dave displayed through his missionary career was visible from the start. In a letter to John Bueno upon arrival his arrival in Mexico he said: “ I am ready and willing to do anything and everything the Lord enables me to do. We will do anything we possibly can do to help evangelize these 17 million people among whom we live,” a task he accepted with eagerness and faith. The Caves’ first term goal was to see 10,000 or more accept Jesus through an ICI course, but their exuberance knew no limits. Even before they arrived on the field, they lead their first Mexican convert to the Lord. Their brakes had failed on their trip and the man who stopped to help was told about Jesus.

For the Caves, evangelism was always the “bottom line,” but Dave literally did whatever his hand found to do – often because “no one else seemed to be moving on the matter.” He assisted with church planting and worked with ICI, funneling students who came to Christ into new churches. At the request of National leaders, Dave also established and managed a Christian Bookstore in 1982, a huge assignment. He served as a construction coordinator for teams coming to Mexico, taught in Bible schools, and did prison work. He even served as the “Diplomatic Representative” between A/G USA and A/G Mexico in which he dealt with sticky church legal issues.

Dave’s health battle began in 1994, doctors saying the prognosis was “bleak.” But he withstood aggressive treatment and, in May of 1997, he was given a clean bill of health. He returned to work with fervor, assisting missions teams of all sorts, and focusing on planting new churches. He remained active until his cancer returned in recent years, and even in his weakened condition his continued desire was to return to the work and the people that he loved. He succumbed to cancer and departed to receive his heavenly reward on Monday, June 30, 2008

Dave Cave leaves behind his wife Nancy, who continues as a missionary in Mexico, along with two children Luke, and Cristina, who had been deeply committed and involved in the work that their parents undertook. With them, our hearts are saddened for the loss, but we rejoice in that Dave’s suffering has ended and he is in the presence of the Lord. He will live on as an example to us and all that would long to display Christ’s love to a world in desperate need of it.

Here they come! Youth missions teams from across the U.S. are arriving in Mexico for one and two week trips throughout the summer. A flurry of activity for both the teams and the missionaries hosting them is in progress, some in preparation while others have already arrived and are in the thick of ministry.

Although many reasons abound for such trips, let us never forget the bottom line: the Great Commission. Houses or churches will be built, mimes and puppet shows will have their audiences, medical teams will minister healing, and crusades will be preached to the masses- all to fulfill the simple command to ‘go, share the Good News, and make disciples’.

Excitement is in the air – and the nitty gritty on the ground.

Unique personalities, unfavorable conditions, various levels of maturity (spiritual, emotional, and physical), changing circumstances, and often rigid or culturally irrelevant expectations all converge to influence the outcome of the effort made by teams. Let’s do our part and add prayer to the mix. God hears and answers and even now waits to receive our petitions:

For both missionary and the team, let’s pray:

• John 3:30 – that Jesus will increase as all others decrease
• I Peter 4:8 – that above all, fervent love will be kept for one another
• Zech 4:6 – ministry accomplished through the Spirit rather than by power or might
• Psalm 91 – for safety, peace, and protection
• Mark 16:20 – that the Word preached would be confirmed by signs and wonders

The Mexico Missionary Fellowship Retreat will be held at North Texas District Lakeview Conference Center. Arrival has been scheduled for 4PM on October 9th and the retreat will extend until 1PM on October 13th.

Linens and towels will be provided and meals are included. For more details about the Lakeview Conference Center facilities you may consult their website: http://www.lakeviewconference.net/

Unrest has been brewing for some time along the border as a result of the government crackdown against narcotrafficking and corruption. This week the U.S. State Department has issued a travel alert due to the increase of violence by heavily armed cartels, kidnappings and homicides. Also, reportedly unconnected to narcotics-related violence, armed robberies, public shootouts and carjackings have been on the rise.

Cities mentioned in the alert include Tijuana, Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua City, Matamoros, and Nuevo Laredo.

• Pray for God’s intervention
• Pray for believers and churches of these cities
• Pray for the protection of missionaries living/working in these areas:
• Art and Joyce Stoneking - Tijuana
• Nickie and Janie Rider - Chihuahua City
• Mike and Peggy McDonald - Ciudad Juarez
• Mark and Sandy Smith family - Reynosa/Matamoros
• Mike and Becky McGee family - Reynosa/Matamoros
• Bruce and Bonita Thomas - Nuevo Laredo

Picture courtesy of Wikipedia and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License

Chihuahua, known for it’s beef, ranchero music, and Pancho Villa, is home to the Tarahumara Indians and also hosts the largest of eight settlements of Old Colony Germans in Mexico (similar to the Amish). Its largest border city, Ciudad Juarez, has been dubbed ‘the killing fields of Mexico’ for its number of murdered women over the past decade.

Coahuila, birthplace to nachos and cheese, shares the Chihuahua desert, the largest in North America, with its neighbor to the west. Due to the diversity of featured springs, mountains, lagoons, forests and white-sand oasis, it is evolving into a leisure hotspot.

Although both states have a strong established church, we must pray for growth and new converts as the percentage of evangelicals still averages around 8%.

Let’s Pray:

• for the people groups found within these states – to be delivered from paganistic or empty religious traditions
• for the church leadership to have continued vision and wisdom in evangelism and church planting strategies
• for pastors to be encouraged in their faith through a fresh anointing
  for revival among God’s people
• for salvation of the lost
• for a diminishing of drug trafficking and murder in the border cities

Missionaries’ Needs:

• Dave Cave – healing from cancer
• Nick Pino – healing from cancer
• Ruth Pino – continued strength and recovery from hip surgery
• Carolyn Huneycutt – healing of infection that resulted from dental procedure
• Bonita Thomas – broken leg is not healing properly

Campeche, whose waters were once populated by pirates, today has the most picturesque port town on the Yucatan Peninsula. Various Mayan ruins are scattered inland among a fascinating biosphere.

Chiapas: Home to the Zapatista rebels, this state suffers from the highest rate of malnutrition in Mexico, estimated to affect more than 40% of the population. Another social issue involves illegal immigration from Central America, including the increasing presence of the gang known as the Maras. Chiapas is still recovering from devastation brought by the “Tabasco Flood” in November.

Missionaries in these states:

Jason and Roberta Roberts – discipling young people in Chiapas
Dave and Nancy Cave – for many years involved in multi faceted ministry in Campeche and the Yucatan peninsula. Currently in the US for cancer treatment.
Mike and Ilona Hadinger – pending arrival to Campeche to begin ministry to the poorest settlement in Mexico of Old Colony Germans.

Let’s pray:

• for the inhabitants of these states to hear the Good News of Jesus Christ
• for the pulling down of spiritual strongholds
• for healing for Dave Cave of cancer and for Mike Hadinger of a seizure disorder
• for the pastors and the spiritual leadership of these two states – to be encouraged in their faith and refreshed in the Holy Spirit

Continue to pray:

• for complete healing for Nick Pino, undergoing chemo treatment for cancer

Praise Report!

• Joyce Stoneking is cancer free!

“Leave if you can!” That is the translated name of Salsipuedes one of the two towns that we visited on our medical relief trip to Tabasco. The village of Salsipuedes is situated on the Grijalva River in the Centla of Tabasco, a wetlands region of the state that’s three hours from the capital, one hour on good roads and two on what many would consider “off-road conditions,” but even more overwhelming than the distance to reach this place was the need that we met when we arrived. Sandy Kazim, the organizer and one of the medical providers of the trip told us that for much of the time she felt as though she was running an ER instead of a medical clinic. Four children in the same home with bronchitis and a woman who had recently miscarried were some of the most difficult cases, but case after case of skin infection and other diseases kept the medical providers working long past sunset, the time that we were told we had to leave for the sake of our personal security. Equally as tragic was the spiritual condition of the site. There were reports of active witchcraft taking place and a general look of hopelessness on the faces of many. “Leave if you can” –the name seemed to fit.

Still, that’s the funny thing about the God that we serve. Of all of the needy places that we could have gone, He sent us to the town of Salsipuedes. I think perhaps it was because, even though others had given up on that “Godforsaken” place, He hadn’t. He sent us there as an extension of His love in a tangible way.

I had the chance to enter into homes with several of the students of the Bible Institute while the medical team treated the sick. And as we passed from house to house, entering into their world, I thought of what Christ did for each one of us. He left His glory to live among us, to experience what we experience and to give us the hope that comes from a relationship with God. We in turn were serving as his representatives, offering the same hope that we now enjoy in a place where hope seemed for many to be a distant memory.

I spoke to many and told them that, although they might not have expected it, God had sent us to them specifically to let them know that He had decided to stay in Salsipuedes and that he was looking for hearts in which he could live. We prayed with many as they wrestled to take those first steps toward a relationship with their Creator.

What will happen is hard to determine. The routine of the life poverty has a grip that is relentless. C.S. Lewis once said it this way:

Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.

So is the work in Salsipuedes; the population is run down, too tired to hope, too tired to dream of something better, and perhaps easily placated with the counterfeits that false religions or momentary escapes like drugs and alcohol can provide. Still, I believe that something began in the heart of those that we touched on that Friday. They received a taste of the love of God, and I believe that through the persistence of the pastor and the congregation that is serving that town, together with the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit, the very character of that town can change. In fact, I’m looking forward to the day when they invite us to the official name changing ceremony.

We currently have two families serving on opposite ends of the peninsula:

1. Baja North- Art and Joyce Stoneking have established a children’s home in Tijuana and a boy’s home in Mexicali; they also assist with construction of new churches.
   • 2,844,469 inhabitants in the north
   • 92-94% of those inhabitants do not know Christ as Lord and Savior
2. Baja Sur - Ed and Jeanette McAllie currently live in La Paz and have served as missionaries since 1981. They have planted numerous churches throughout the peninsula that are ongoing indigenous works.
   • 512,170 inhabitants in the south
   • 94-96% of those inhabitants do not know Christ as Lord and Savior

Let’s Pray!

• for laborers
• for revival
• For the saints throughout Baja to be filled righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit
• for our two missionary families: for health, healing (Joyce Stoneking cancer), God’s protection and favor

We invite you to join us in fasting on Friday, February 8 for these needs

“Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried…the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” Isaiah 53:4,5 NASB

We invite you to join us this Friday to pray and fast for the healing and encouragement of several of our missionaries with critical needs:

Nick Pino - healing from cancer
Ruth Pino - recovery from surgery
Dave Cave - healing from cancer
Joyce Stoneking - healing from cancer

Words of encouragement can be sent to their respective e-mails attached to their directory pages linked above.

They need drinkable water, powdered milk, towels, diapers, canned food, and lots of other basic items. However, what the church leaders have asked for specifically at this time are medical personal with medicines and vitamins to come and offer care. This is extremely important as the floodwaters begin to recede and diseases resulting from contaminated drinking water and inadequate services begin to appear.

For this reason, we are appealing to you to consider sending a one time offering to provide the finances necessary to buy the medical supplies and pay for the trip of several Christian doctors from the Yucatán to Tabasco to provide front-line relief as well as the peace of Christ in this critical situation. An on-line giving form is accessible through this link.

Note: Funds are being channeled though the account of Missionary Paul Kazim. Be sure to enter “Tabasco Relief Class 50″ in the comment section of the contribution form.

To mail in your contribution please address your envelope to:

Assemblies of God World Missions
1445 N Boonville Ave
Springfield MO 65802

Make the check out to:

Assemblies of God World Missions

Enter “Account #243357 Class 50″ on the memo line.