Please click on the link below to read about what the Lord is doing in Chiapas, Mexico!

Merry Christmas from the Cooks!

PAM newsltr December 2012

Part of our ministry in Puerto Madero, Chiapas, Mexico, is to help others and give them shelter.

We are currently housing Veronica and her four children: an 11 year girl and three boys ages 9,4,2. We do not know how long they will be with us.
They had been living in with her husband/father in a small one-room house. Veronica left her husband since he was a very lazy and irresponsible man, who simply did not look after their needs and does not want anything to do with the Lord.

Veronica has accepted the Lord into her heart and is very happy here with us. She helps at the mission, and her two eldest children are going now to school. We, Pan American Missions, are able to help her with a a salary of $40 dollars a week. Here at the mission home, she and her family get all their meals and she does not pay rent.

Please, help us pray for Veronica and her children. Also help us pray for her husband so that one day he changes his life and accepts Christ. It is a blessing to see Veronica getting discipled here at the mission, and seeing her relationship with the Lord grow!

We also have Agustin, 23, living at the mission. Agustin is deaf in one ear due to child negligence by his parents when he was a child. He’s so dynamic at our church! He has a deep love for God. He too receives all his meals and helps at the mission and Emmanuel Church.

Thank you because through your support, we are able to provide refuge to those that need it, food, an education, and most importantly, share the love of God while taking care of their basic needs! Families and people come and go from our mission home, and it is our only hope and prayer that once they leave us, they will not look back at their old lives, but embrace their new life in Christ!

Mission trip temptative schedule
Puerto Madero and Tapachula, Chiapas, Mexico.
Dec. 27th – Jan. 9th

Thu Dec 27th: Leave from Tijuana in the morning, arrive to Tapachula in the evening. Travel to Puerto Madero, where we will be staying at Pan American Mission’s home for the most part.

Fri Dec 28th: A day to settle, get ready, and explore!

Sat Dec 29th: Visit Peniel Baptist Church in Tapachula, where we will have a mini festival with the members of the church. Our festival will consist of a small devotional, sharing testimonies and worship in English and Spanish, clowns, face painting, and food! We will also be sending a donation ahead of time to this church for a construction project, so we will get to see what was able to be done with our donation!
On our way back to Puerto Madero, we will stop by “Jesus the Good Shepherd” shelter to drop off all the medical supplies, clothing, personal hygiene articles, shoes, blankets and what not, that we gather for them. We won’t get to interact much with the people at the shelter, so this will be mostly a humanitarian project for us to do, if we choose to do so!

Sun Dec 30th: We will attend Emmanuel Nazarene Church in Puerto Madero for a welcome service, in which we will also share some of our testimonies with the congregation, followed by lunch with the church members and activities.
In the evening, we will leave to downtown Tapachula and stay in a hotel to prepare to leave early the next morning to a coffee farm.

Mon Dec 31st: Leave early morning to Finca Irlanda, a coffee farm 3-hours deep into the tropical forest! Settle in, scope the area, go on a tour through the tropical forest, plan our activities and distribute flyers advertising our festival the next day.
In the evening, have a nice New Year ’s Eve dinner with the team and a time to fellowship to welcome the new year, 2013!

Tue Jan 1st: Prepare for our festival. The idea here is to have some awesome-looking clowns, gather all the children up and share the gospel with them using an Evangecub for children, which presents the message of salvation in a unique way. We’d like to share songs with them, hopefully distribute toys and candy, play some games, perhaps a soccer-match (watch out for these kids! They are GOOD), do face painting.
After the festival, we will have a tour through the coffee farm’s factory and learn about how coffee is grown.

Wed Jan 2nd: Leave back to Puerto Madero, visit small pre-mayan ruins on our way there, grab some carne asada and go souvenir shopping!

Thu Jan 3rd: Start our day camp with the youth of Emmanuel Church at 9:30 a.m., until 1:30 p.m. Alongside with the youth ministers of the church, we will put together some cool, team-building games, also share in small groups with them, and have a small devotional. The theme of the day camp still needs to be assigned by the Pastor of the local church. We need two speakers per day to be our guest speakers 
In the evenings, at 6:00 p.m., we will have evangelistic services to which everyone in town will be invited. We will share a message, worship, and our testimonies with the congregation. Be prepared, these services last at least 2 hours long. 

Fri Jan 4th: Day camp in the morning, and evangelistic service at night.

Sat Jan 5th: Day camp in the morning, and evangelistic service at night.

On Saturday evening, we will have a HUGE festival at the central park of Puerto Madero. There we will also share testimonies, our talented people will be able to be a part of a talent show and skits, and other activities. The purpose here is of course, to bring Jesus to the streets as well to try to reach out to new people to Christ! We expect hundreds of people to be there.

Sun Jan 6th: Attend morning service at Emmanuel Church, conclude our day camp, and enjoy of the good-bye program planned for us.

Mon Jan 7th: Leave at 5am to San Cristobal de las Casas. It’s 7 hours away from Puerto Chiapas.
We get the day to explore the colonial-style town, souvenir shopping, etc.
San Cristobal, believe it or not, gets ridiculously cold in the winter. PREPARE!

Tue Jan 8th: Cielo y Tierra Tours will take us on a phenomenal and one-of-a-kind Tour to San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan, Chiapas. Here, we will get to experience first-hand how the indigenous communities of Chiapas still live today, and will get to interact with them. A
San Juan Chamula and Zinacantan, considered to be part of the highlands of Chiapas, is where the persecution of Christians takes place today. (Don’t worry, we will not be in danger, since we will just be tourists!).
If you want to read detailed information and reviews from worldwide tourists that have visited these places about what this tour has to offer to you, I strongly encourage you to read ALL the reviews provided to you in the “Cielo y Tierra Tours” handout. It’s also in our facebook group page! This will give you an idea of what to expect when you visit these places.

Wed Jan 9th: We have the morning to enjoy San Cristobal. We will flight out of Tuxtla Gutierrez in the afternoon, and head home!

August, 2012
Pan American Missions, Inc.
In Chiapas, Mexico!

Dear Friends and Brethren in Christ,

We are back home now! It was a great blessing for all of us to see all of you, especially for Esther and Elizabeth as they had not been in the U.S. for a few years.

( From left to right, Charlie & Miriam, Claudia, Esther, Lisa, Raymond & Anita Cook in the picture.)

This summer two of our dearest family members went to be with our Lord, Esther’s younger sister, Rosa Ruth Narvaez, and Claude’s younger brother, Byron D. Cook.

Rosa Ruth, 75, went to be with our Savior in June. She had suffered with epilepsy most of her life and with Parkinson’s disease the last 12 years of her life. Although she suffered much she never complained and was faithful to God until the end. Aunt Rosy had been under Esther’s care since 1989. She is now under the care of God. We miss her but how great to know that she suffers no more as she is with our Lord! “Those who have been ransomed by the Lord will return. They will enter Jerusalem singing, crowned with everlasting joy. Sorrow and mourning will disappear, and they will be filled with joy and gladness.” Isaiah 51:11

Byron Dwight Cook, 89, was Claude’s younger brother. He was a man of integrity, compassion and love; a faithful collaborator of Pan American Missions for decades. We had the opportunity to attend his memorial service while in the San Diego area this past summer where we celebrated his life. He was a great blessing to all of us. He lived a life based on 2 Corinthians 5:20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Last June, before traveling to the U.S. Esther fell and broke her right arm. She will have her cast taken off in the next week or so.

Elizabeth’s health has deteriorated a little more. It has become difficult for her to swallow when she eats. She sometimes takes up to 2 hours to finish eating. It appears that she will have surgery in the next weeks to put a valve or tube in her belly where she will be fed. Despite her illness and difficulties, Elizabeth always shows a positive attitude and as she says, “I’m in God’s hands.” Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

We are also working on moving their room downstairs so that it is easier to come and go. It is difficult sometimes to carry Elizabeth up and down the stairs. It is also difficult for Esther’s knees. Adaptations need to be made to the restroom and bedroom. We will also work on a kitchen and dining room downstairs. Thank you for all your continuous prayers for them.

This summer we rejoiced with the news that our daughter Stacy and son-in-law Stephen are expecting their first child in March 2013. We give thanks to God for their lives and His gift from above. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. James 1:17

This last July we had the visit of the Beallwood Baptist Church in Columbus Georgia. As always, they were a great blessing to three churches and one mission where they visited. During the week they were here they held VBS, conferences for men, women, youth and married couples. They also did a lot of needed carpentry work at some of these churches. May God continue to bless all of them! “No eye has seen no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9b

(The team of missionaries from Beallwood Baptist Church ministering to Peniel Baptist Church in Tapachula in the picture above.)

We look forward to all the work we have ahead of us the rest of this year as we trust in Him in everything we do with those that need His love, compassion and message of salvation.

As always, we are very grateful for your prayers and support. It is encouraging to hear from all of you, dear friends.

In His Name,
Esther, Elizabeth, Charlie, Miriam and Emily Cook.

This is the March update from the Cooks, in Chiapas!
So sorry for the late post.

Enjoy!

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