Befriending Mexican Farm Workers

I saw this in an old newsletter - clearly there is a need for Scriptures in Spanish not just in Ontario.
I'm thinking that Peter and Jake are Kroeker brothers from Rosenort, Manitoba

http://www.lifelightministries.com/pdf/news/2007/news2007-06-news.pdf

Two brothers, Jake and Peter, shared some of their experiences in distributing Spanish Scriptures:

 

P. Jake, I hear that you are planning to go to Itsky River Farms again this summer. What is that all about?

 

J. Every summer Itsky Farms hires more than a hundred Mexicans to take care of the vegetables on the farm. The men come without their families, so they are eager to connect with us. For four summers we have befriended them by providing music and refreshments and sharing God’s Word with them. Every year we have a welcome party and give them easy-reading Spanish New Testaments.

 

P. What kind of music do you offer them? I understand Spanish-speaking people have a much more flamboyant taste in music than we do. Can you provide them with music they appreciate?

 

J. We are very fortunate to have a group from a Spanish church in Brandon come to lead the workers in worship. You know some of the people in that group, right?

 

P. Yes, Anne and I taught English to some new employees at Maple Leaf Pork. Most of them were from El Salvador and were hoping to become Canadian citizens and bring their families after working here for a year.

 

J. Were you able to share your faith with them?

 

P. We tried to respect their rights not to have a new religion imposed on them, but it did not take long for a few of them and us to recognize each other as Christians. We got some NIrV Bibles from LifeLight and read portions of Scripture with them as an English exercise. This small group of El Salvadoran Christians later joined a group of Mexican Christians, who also worked at Maple Leaf, for regular services. That is the group that now serves the Itsky Farm workers with music, testimonies, worship and invitations to accept Christ. Jake, how do the workers respond when you offer the Spanish NTs?

 

J. They all seem happy to receive them. We hand them out at the beginning of the summer so we can have Bible studies with them.

 

P. It seems that throughout the world there are many people who are eager to get Bibles. In our school in Mexico the kids almost fought to hand out the Bibles for our daily Bible studies. In another school, a Grade 5 boy had just received a New Testament. At recess he sat at his desk reading the Bible stories. At the end of recess, he remarked, “The Bible must be one of the most interesting books to read.”

 

J. We will never know all the results and changes that the Bibles from LifeLight will produce in the lives in the recipients. It would be exciting to observe the effects God’s Word in their lives.

--   Raymond Dueck  President & Founder