This is the New Iberian Mission Association (NIMA) Update for March and April, 2012.

NIMA is an outreach of Agape Christian Church and friends from around the world. Our main outreach in Guatemala is Community Christian Hospital and Morning Glory Christian School located at the Llano de la Virgen, and village evangelism to the small communities served by Morning Glory near San Raymundo, Guatemala, especially the Christian Church at Sacsuy, and Community Christian Hospital. We also work with other worldwide ministries to help the folks of Guatemala that live in the hard to reach areas that are without modern medical and physical attention.

Inside this edition...

“A Friday Night Sermon...”
    Herb Pinney

“A New Year At Morning Glory”
"Lessons Learned"
    Lori Nij

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New Iberian Mission Association

Our main outreach in Guiatemala is Community Christian Hospital and Morning Glory Christian School located at the Llano de la Virgen, and village evangelism to the small communities served by Morning Glory near San Raymundo, Guatemala, especially the Christian Church at Sacsuy, and Community Christian Hospital. We also work with other worldwide ministries to help folks of Guatemala that live in the hard-to-reach areas that are without modern medical and physical attention.

Shannon gets time-out

Shannon Slee, our Editorial Assistant, in Quincy, Illinois, was in the last days of having a baby as she put together the January-February NIMA Update. She had to have much bed time and she really stretched it to get our update out doing her normal and wonderfully great job. "Numero Uno" Desmond Slee came to keep her up February 29^th, 2012, and Shannon got little sleep for the next few weeks. Desmond was very small and at first was not gaining weight as fast as expected. Then he hit the "turbo button" and has been doing great ever since. I have stolen a few pictures and comments off Shannon's Facebook page to share with our readers. The picture to the left is Shannon in Guatemala with Breanna Ortiz, Nancy Boror and Marta Garcia. Shannon loves Guatemala, and Morning Glory, and they and we love her.

She logged on her Facebook that "Desmond now weighs 6 pounds and 4 ounces...Yaaaaaay, He took his first two hour nap, and mama got one too!...Yaaaaay! Skinny guys always eat the most, That's my baby. A future competitor eater. He is in training now, let me tell you he will be a champion."

Congratulations, Shannon and Jordan, on a beautiful boy. May the Lord bless you and be with you while you rear him in the Lord. I am looking forward to his first visit to Guatemala.

To send greetings and seek more information, e-mail Shannon at slee.shannon@gmail.com. To send cards or snail mail notes, mail to NIMA, P O Box 15133, Las Cruces, NM 88004, and we will forward. To the left a friend is holding little Desmond, with Shannon in hospital bed in the background. Also, Desmond making friends at the hospital. Below, out student body on the recreation field at the campus.

A Friday Night sermon that would set the World on Fire for Jesus

By Herb Pinney

Because what we do is at Morning Glory school and Community Christian Hospital and the local Christian churches that fan out from the Llano is tied together with a number of ministries, I seek to stay busy and involved in all aspects of these Christian outreaches that God is using to bless the world. For sixteen years I have been a trustee of Spanish American Evangelistic Ministries. Actually, since I am just 75 miles from the printing plant and offices, I am the closest trustee. This at times, means that I need to run down and help our temporary director with problems and decisions. I am blessed in that we have two more trustees in Albuquerque, just another 240 miles away and often I make a fast run to Valley Christian in Albuquerque to meet with Bill Morgan that was the founder of Spanish American 48 years ago, and a retired police investigator, Buddy Whitson, fellow trustees to work on decisions and problems. This past Friday, our trustees had their annual meeting on campus in Horizon City, Texas. Lee Roy Cristy, our retired farmer and very active business man and Christian in Oronogo, Missouri arrived to help along with Jimmy Custer, construction Superintendent, and wife Marilyn Custer that has been involved with missions and SAEM for several decades, they arrived from eastern Oklahoma. Bill Burr that has been working with me in ministry since 1958, lives in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Bill was not physically able to come to the meeting, and we honored his years of service by giving him a lifetime trustee emeritus appointment to the board. Bety Garcia that is our office manager, bookkeeper and treasurer has for the past two years been doing triple duty as temporary director since the untimely departure of our last director and his wife. Our fulltime missionary is Edward Weckerly that has been nearly four decades with SAEM and is in his 80s. Buddy, Bill and I joined with this group to seek the Lord’s guidance in the printing of a million gospel tracts a year and getting them distributed to all seven continents of the world where Spanish is spoken as the second most used language in the world. Along with gospel tracts for the winning and growth of people to and in the Lord, we are distributers of the Spanish New Testament, and we stock and deliver complete Bibles. With this, we print and provide a number of Christian work books and manuals.

The Community Christian Hospital on the Llano de la Virgen near San Raymundo, the Morning Glory Christian School and the Christian churches in the area use SAEM’s material as it is provided at the campus. We also warehouse the material for other ministries in Central America. This ministry has had one attack after another the past two years and our people in Horizon City have done well with the constant help of our New Mexico trustees that have made trip after trip, and the constant help of other trustees that have been at the end of a constant phone line, and on the message line of their computers day after day. Satan knows what a power the printed word of God has in the satanic-controlled world.

Several weeks ago, with all of our folks doing triple duty, and finances at a critical place, a memo went out to the trustees that perhaps this year we should forgo the area banquet and just meet, go to a café and share a private meal and go home.

To this frontline fighter in me, that seemed like giving in to Satan and letting him squash the ministry. On a Friday night hour and half prayer meeting that we call the “Calling for the Sun to Stand Still” prayer meeting at Agape Christian, I presented an idea and major mission project to the prayer warriors at Agape. We would finance, fund the banquet as a main dish supplied pot-luck, pay for the promotions and smash the area of Southern New Mexico and far west Texas with blanket promotions. We decided, instead of just giving up and riding off in the sunset with little or no challenge to the area and brotherhood, we would face Satan and his giving up attitude head on. We formulated a plan, and that night with the e-mail, we presented the idea to the Trustees and staff of SAEM. And they said go. Bety got busy and secured the best speaker we could have gotten at any price, David Robertson, overall director of Casas por Cristo. Theresa Roggenbuck went to work with Herb and we planned a meal, the advertizing, the promotion and the place to have the banquet. The plan was coming together. Satan was one mad puppy, and threw every monkey wrench into the way of the program that he could find, and nothing worked; last Friday night we had a record attendance and more food than three times the number could have eaten.

David tied it all together with a great sermon from Matthew 25, all about the theme that we are saved by grace, but judged by works. David was about four years old when Lori taught on the campus of Colegio Biblico on the Mexican border with Texas. The Cary family had build a school for the Spanish speaking countries and churches of the Western Hemisphere that under Dean Cary had become a power house for the Lord south of the border. David’s daddy and mother were teachers on the campus also and the carpenter of Guatemala came to college with dreams of becoming a preacher to keep his hometown church open. In Queno’s words when he introduced David and Casas por Cristo to San Raymundo and Guatemala, “David’s daddy taught me to be a pastor.” Now, Queno is the pastor to Guatemala; he belongs to all Christians everywhere no matter denomination or where they attend church. Queno is their spiritual shepherd. When the community heard that David’s dad was Queno’s teacher, he was instantly accepted and a beautiful relationship began.

At one point, years ago, David crossed Hermana Lori, and like the boy in the story to follow by Lori, he felt the soft wrath of a teacher that they name streets after in every town of America, “ONE WAY.” David and Casas por Cristo have found a home working alongside of Morning Glory, Community Christian Hospital and the churches that spread out from the Llano.

In his sermon to the folks gathered at the banquet at Celebration Christian Church in El Paso, and honoring SAEM that evening, David pointed out how we all work together to accomplish the goal of all our missions--the reach lost souls for Christ.

For years, Casas por Cristo, have centered in Mexico. Last year they had built over 400 wooden frame homes for poor people recommended by their local pastor, across the border from El Paso. Due to Mexico becoming a war zone, it became harder and harder to get the short term mission workers to come into Mexico and build the homes. You have to understand that there were more war deaths in Mexico than in the wars and battles in Iraq, Pakistan, Iran and the area this past year combined.

(Wood frame home built in San Raymundo area by this team from Casas por Cristo)

David pointed out that they were still building homes in Mexico and this past week, he had finished a new home in Juarez and noticed the children all were passing out Christian tracts printed by SAEM, and while the mother and children of the recipients that received the new home were Christian, the daddy was not. Calling back on the home to make sure everything was okay, the father had a big smile on his face. It was not just about the new home; he was happy to tell David that he had accepted Jesus Christ as his savior, and had been baptized the day before. David went on to illustrate time and again, the work of SAEM in printing material to be used by churches and Christian families was opening gospel doors everywhere and the ministry of building houses, healing at the hospital, or taking special needs children and a parent to the United States as Refuge ministry partners have done all lead to us working together to do the Matthew 25 needs of people, as well as much more. At the same time to soften their hearts and heads and bring them to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and his church. My friend Paul Moreland in Colombia sent me some funnies that we have room for in this Update; a good laugh is good for the soul, and no one has as much to be happy about as a Christian.

(Everyone is getting into high tech!)

Then David kept bringing the stories back to Morning Glory School, and the children and their families that are all learning to walk with Jesus and be what the Father wants. In closing he told of the joint session that the home builders have with Morning Glory and how Rob Courtney explains how the school has some support from interested people sponsoring children in Morning Glory so they have a good education and uniforms and the like.

(One thing for sure, we Christians always have a lot to say, and we don’t send you a blank.)

For the past six months the vast majority of our new sponsors have come from the home builders that come to work for Casas Por Cristo. Here in the office I can sure attest to that, and what a blessing it has been. We are never very far in the black as I wire the salary, budget and expense money every month that amounts to over $15,000.00 American. This month I had less than $20.00 in the account the hour after the wire was cleared. Thank you, Casas, for being a great partner. Thank you, SAEM, for being a great partner. Thank you, Refuge, and the other teams from the USA and Europe for being great partners. By working together we are getting the job done and God is being blessed.

We had a continuation of the trustees meeting after the banquet that was such a success on Friday night. Instead of going back to Horizon City, we met at the Village Inn on Montana and Airway, and continued our business till midnight. It was nearly 2 A.M. by the time I got my sleepy teens home and I got to sit down with Melba and unpack the evening and how everyone had worked together to make a success for the Lord that day.

Bety pointed out to me that Buddy had forgotten to hand out the prayer cards that we had printed up; well, basically, we all had forgotten the prayer cards; we were too excited about how things had gone. Thank you, Lord, that David was right and prophetic; good things happen when we all work together.

Just as our gas prices were going down because of over supply, England in the United Kingdom has just been blessed with an American gallon of gas topping the equivalent of $8.50 per gallon, which ought to make you feel a little better. Here is Queno Nij, the carpenter of Guatemala turned Pastor of Guatemala. He still is the master carpenter that supervises the building on our campus.

Building, remodeling, expanding facilities and adding on has become a monthly part of our operation. David tells me that they have a schedule of 27 new homes in the San Raymundo area already scheduled for being built this summer.

There is a melody resounding from the hills around the Llano, it is the sound of saws, hammers, trumpets, singing, Bible preaching, joyous kids at recess and the sound of school bells all echoing together to make the sounds of worship as never heard before on the altiplano of central Guatemala.

(Students at prayer and worship on campus)

Lori reports on the new year at Morning Glory

We always look forward to the new school year. New challenges, new children, renewing acquaintances with our children and teachers are anxiously anticipated. Vacations are nice but it is really nice to get back to work and our daily routine.

2012 dawned with the promise of great things to come. Our partnership with Casas por Cristo, a great music program, renewed goals and a brand new ten-year plan.

It is incredible that we are four months into the year and the days have flown past so fast that they seem to have been a whiff of air.

We have had groups on the campus almost non-stop since the second week of January. Seven weeks of medical clinics, one of which was a dental clinic dedicated exclusively to the children from Morning Glory and Arco Iris. Twelve houses have been built with Casas por Cristo. Twelve families now have a nice place to live. Dallas Christian College and CyFair Christian from Houston were here for Kingdom week. Carrollton Christian Academy came for teachers’ training, afternoon soccer, dance and art classes and VBS.

In the midst of all this activity the school year has progressed with as much normalcy as possible. Over ninety students have registered for special music classes on Saturday, learning to play trumpets, clarinets, flutes and other instruments.

(We have lots of music coming from every corner of the campus)

The bands practice twice a week. Choir classes have begun in addition to regular math, science, language, computer and social studies classes. We are working to start a school newspaper with the fifth and sixth grade classes. We want to encourage our students to start a school blog, working on their writing skills.

Rob is maintaining the Morning Glory facebook page. Please make friends with us to get the latest pictures, videos and updates.

And a friendly reminder, if you are sponsoring a child please drop us an email so we can send you a personal update or if your child has graduated; let us know and we can find a new one for you. It’s a click away, mr.rob08@hotmail.com or amglory_lori@yahoo.com.

We are working really hard to communicate better with each of you and keep you all up to date with what is going on at Morning Glory. We have a long way to go but are making progress.

Please continue to pray for us, as this will be one of our busiest years ever.

Music, drama, art, sports, Bible, and all the liberal arts bring our students a complete education

Lessons Learned

By Lori Nij

Each New Year brings new children, and with them, challenges, into Morning Glory. This year brought us Alex. He is a very special child; he came to us three years old. Alex has a smile that lights up the room and eyes that will steal your heart. But there is a problem; Alex has no behavior filter, no idea of what is right and wrong.

Alex was born with a heart defect and had to have surgery within the first few months of his life. From that point on his mother dedicated herself to fulfill his every whim and make sure that Alex had everything he wanted. His uncles discovered that Alex is a born copycat and as smart as could be so they thought it was funny to teach Alex to be bad. Alex learned quickly that a fake faint would get him anything he wanted. All he had to do was cry that his heart hurt and mommy would give in immediately.

I am convinced that children are born with a second sense that teaches them to manipulate adults. They learn almost from birth that if “I cry Mommy will run and pick me up, especially if grandma is around to make sure she does.”

On the first day of school we have a standing rule that mommy can’t go past the fence outside my office. I sit out there to make sure that the rule is followed. The reason is that it is much easier to deal with crying children if mommy is not around. It is amazing how fast children realize that their tears are wasted on the teacher who sits them in the corner in time out until they decide to join the class and totally ignores them.

Alex is a master manipulator. Rob came to me a couple of days into the school year and told me, “I think this little, tiny kid gave me the Guatemalan equivalent of the finger.” I didn’t really pay much attention; although over the next few days I heard the teachers talking about the little boy who fake fainted when scolded. Finally, Miss Patti had her fill and brought Alex into the office. She didn’t know what to do; he threw temper fits, said bad words, hit, bit and kicked her and the other children and when scolded would fake a faint, throwing himself on the ground. So I began to talk to Alex. This first thing I noticed was that he cursed like a seasoned sailor, not just bad words, full flown curses and he spat them out like normal adjectives. So, I informed him that he would have to stand on the time-out wall with his hands above his head each time he cursed. The drama started, his heart hurt, he was dying, he kicked me, he bit me, he hit me, he cried, kicked off his shoes, fake fainted. Each time I calmly informed him that he would stand on the wall four minutes. I had to kick every teacher out of my office, including Queno; they all felt sorry for the poor child, but I knew that if I lost this battle, I would never win. So, my voice just got quieter and I firmly insisted, “you will stand on the wall” as I held him there in force. Each time he fought it; we started over and over and over. Two and a half hours the child fought, kicked, cursed and screamed. Two and a half hours I kept repeating, “you will stand on the wall.” Finally he gave up and spent four reluctant minutes on the wall, asked Neidy nicely to put his shoes on and promised not to say bad words anymore.

Obviously I called his parents into a conference. I knew I had a long haul ahead of me to modify his conduct and I would need their help. Turns out, his dad was desperate, he had just returned from the U.S. to find his child completely out of control. Mom just let him do whatever he wanted for fear of him getting sick again. I reassured her that Alex was fine and as strong as could be and they would have to work with me to correct his behavior or Alex would be a living terror by six years of age. So, we set limits and rules. Dad agreed that the uncles could not see Alex until they agreed to stop teaching him bad words and the same rules of school would be applied at home. Each time Alex did something inappropriate he would have to spend four minutes on the time-out wall.

I do not believe in violence as a deterrent to bad behavior except in the rare instances when a child places himself or another child in the risk of harm. The reason is that if we as adults teach our children through our actions that we resolve our anger and frustrations by hitting them, then what they learn is that when they are angry and frustrated they hit others. Most of my children come from very violent homes where they learn quickly that if daddy comes home angry or drunk then he is going to hit mommy and me. “If I bug mommy when she is busy she is going to hit me.” Discipline in Guatemala is not a thought out process but more than likely a reaction to anger. So, I spend an incredible amount of time teaching the children that we resolve our problems with words and not fists. So, if I resolve my problems by hitting them I have totally negated my teaching. So, daddy agreed and mommy even though reluctant, agreed to help.

And the process began, I was sure it was going to take a long time, but the next day the battle was reduced to a mere half hour; each day it was easier to put Alex into time-out. He finally got to where I could just point at the wall and he would tearfully walk over and put his hands up and wait for the four-minute buzzer.

Pretty soon he would slip into my office to inform me, “Today I not say bad words.” And he didn’t. But we were constantly finding something new that Alex needed to correct. He learned to not hit, kick or bite. He learned that temper fits are not correct. He learned you don’t steal other kids’ food, you don’t ask for money, you don’t take money out of the teacher’s purse, you don’t touch inappropriately, you don’t lie and the list continues. Alex is smart, once or twice punished for an action and he learns that is not right. He always apologizes and begs for his forgiveness hug after timeout. He now just comes into my office and straight to the wall when sent by the teacher.

A few weeks ago, Alex came in to say hi, just as I was scolding two preschoolers for fighting. He stood and listened for a minute, then went up to them and said these words: “Just go to the wall!” Get it over with, “Just go to the wall, you can’t get out of it.” I wanted to laugh but at the same time I realized, what a lesson!

The scripture tells us that God disciplines His children because He loves us. How many of us are like Alex? We kick and scream and fight God every step of the way. He works on our sin trying to remove pride, and the rough edges of our lives. He chips and carves but we resist. Years ago I learned that when things began to fall apart and we meet problems and obstacles every step of the way, often God is trying to teach us a lesson and is carving on the rough edges of our life, forming us into what He wants us to be. We can fight it, or we can learn. We can resist or we can be moldable like the potter’s clay.

But like Alex, I too learned, it is so much easier to: “Just go to the wall.”

So, when God is working on your life, chipping off sin and the rough edges, listen and learn, ask Him what He is changing, what needs to be changed and do it. Like Alex “Just go to the wall and get it over.”

The Church in Sacsuy

By Lori Nij

These last few months have seen change, problems and growth in the church work. The local pastor, Eligio Pérez, resigned leaving the leadership of the church entirely to Queno. They are still working on the legal recognition; the papers have been turned into the lawyer who in turn has filed them with the government. We are waiting.

The church is growing slowly. The process of forming a new church and training leadership is very time consuming and a constant battle.

Rob is now teaching Sunday school each Sunday. (Ed. note: Video is posted here on Web site.) The children love his classes and as his Spanish continues to improve he will take more and more of a leadership role in the church ministry.

This weekend the church is celebrating with special revival services it's anniversary. On Friday night the church was filled to overflowing and the final service is this afternoon.

Our sister congregation under the leadership of Gregory Soc in Cerro Alto continues to grow as well. This church is literally the church on the hill. You have to climb about 100 meters up a steep hill to get here. Last year a really strong wind downed a huge pine tree on the roof of the shack where this congregation met. With great effort they have rebuilt the shack, but they are growing faster than their budget allows. Morning Glory donated some old desks so that they have something to sit on. Currently about twenty adults are meeting in this congregation; they are trying to build a place to meet but it is a slow, slow process because of lack of funds. We really need help with this. Funds are slow coming and the congregation is really poor and their offerings and tithes barely cover expenses. The most pressing need right now are funds for the roof.

Three of the pastors and leaders who came under Queno's leadership last year continue to work with him, learning and praying together but we are fast coming to the place where we are going to need help to build churches to keep up with growth. Two moved on to greener pastures. We are open to the idea of work groups to help us build these congregations.

In March, Professor Mark Worley from Dallas Christian College taught a seminar on the mark of a leader. It was well attended and impacted the lives of the forty plus leaders that attended. We need more seminars like these; pastors and elders who would be interested in spending a few days in Guatemala teaching and training leaders and preachers in the congregations around us. We can provide translation for those who don't speak Spanish.

Queno, the carpenter of Guatemala, is right at home working with Casas por Cristo, and Herbert Pinney Nij is now working for Casas por Cristo, and they got him a truck to haul lumber for the jobs and he is helping as a supply clerk to see that the jobs are supplied as they go to work.

Lori sent some new and special pictures to liven up the update report. I did not get a lot of text with the pictures so I am just going to give them to you as a pictorial of the work in Guatemala around he campus and in the area.

This winter we had a harsh wind storm that blew this large pine tree over on the church where our minister Gregprio Soc ministers.

Another blessed family with a Casas por Cristo home near Morning Glory. These are workers from the United States and locals helping with the construction and set up of the home.

Can you imagine the blessing to a Christian family that one day is living in a cane and tin shack, and the next they are living in a frame home with doors and windows.

A blast from the past, this is Lori in the middle with her half-breed baby bob cat on her lap. Sister Linda on our right and brother Dale on our left. Dale is a prominent business man in New Orleans LA., and very active in the Boy Scouts. And Linda after years as a missionary in Colombia, South America, is working in the public schools in S.E. Texas. Melba’s and my 10 children, 28 grandchildren and 17 great grand children are spread over the hemisphere and heaven.

(Egyptian history that you may have missed in the Exodus. But most likely, likely! The artist missed the century by ten. But, who’s counting?)

This picture is especially for Lori. She has always loved cats. I got into more trouble with my wife over helping her hide a pet from her mother, than anything else. Lori and I and the other kids all loved animals, Melba loved kids. We made a deal; she got all the kids that she wanted and we got some pets to share. Lori would adopt every stray that came along, and I was in the middle.

But the main reason that I wanted to close out with this picture is that Morning Glory, and all of our work for Jesus Christ and his people, is a partnership in every direction; we are walking for the Lord, side by side. There is no other way to make it. We are 100% dependent on the Lord and His people to make it through every day. Lori and I, and our staff cannot make it on our own. We must work together with our sister ministries, we must pray for each other, we must reach out and help each other over the rough spots of life. God is not looking for any heroic Lone Rangers today; he is in great need of team players. My dad told me when I was a small boy a number of those gems that Dads and sons share sitting on the river bank, or prospecting in the desert together. Dad told me that, “You would never meet a man that was so ignorant that he did not know something that you did not know, so learn from everyone.” Dad never finished high school; he was indentured to a farmer in Oklahoma when he was 14 and served as slave farm labor till he was 18. He was well read, a man that never had to raise his voice to animals or humans, an Elder in the Lord’s church for over 50 years, and was the best people pastor-elder I have ever known. I learned at an early age to work side by side with him. He was the vanilla that blended everyone together, and he was so proud of his children, grandchildren, great grand children and great-great grand children by the time he went home to be with the Lord. Very early on, I learned team work from my father.

We are stretching our income to cover a first class school that has a 100% rounded education. We are needing every dollar that you can spare. Take care of your local church first, then remember us with your blessings. As we walk side by side we will support each other. Call us for prayer at any time. Let our prayer team know your needs as well as we let you know ours. Some of our churches go several months between figuring what to send in the way of blessings to us. If that is how you do that, this would be a great month to tally up and help out. God bless you and keep you as we serve our master side by side around this whole world. I am so glad you are on our side.

Love and blessings// Herb Pinney

Update 2012-05-07: Read A Cry For Help from Lori Nij and Herb Pinney.