Dear <<First Name>> ,

Here on the farm we are melting out from under the first snowstorm of the year. We accumulated 12 inches on the ground!  All summer the old people said the weather reminded them of the 1980’s when the winters were hard and very snowy. It appears that they were not mistaken. The cold weather has been hard on both people and animals alike. The snow and cold contributed to the deaths of 9 new piglets and one pig on our farm, and that in spite of me making frequent checks on them round the clock delivering corn and dry straw as needed. One of the harder things is watching our neighbors, including children, go about in the snow wearing inadequate clothing. They have the financial resources and opportunity to prepare for cold weather, but do not prepare. Free and affordable clothing is readily available. Chepa appears to have a pretty bad cold today, she often is sick and I worry about her. I shared the dead pig with their family so that the kids would eat well. Chepa’s granddaughter Inez is an adorable, shy, smiling girl, but so painfully thin. I often want to scoop her up in a big hug, and take her home for a good meal, of course that would be quite inappropriate in this culture. After two years of knowing the family, living next door and often working together I still haven’t figured out whom Inez’s parents are. Chepa’s husband, Porfirio, and grandson, Marcial, did most of the work of butchering the pig and we shared the meat. When an animal dies from accidental causes we always keep some of the meat for our own use, so that the people we share the meat with will not feel like we are just giving them trash we don’t want to eat. In our charity we must respect the dignity of the people we are helping, because they too are made in the image of God. By combining a generous gift with work required to benefit from the gift; we honor both the individuals we are helping and the biblical principle that honest work is God’s ordinary means for lifting people out of poverty.
 
The soil testing and fertilizer project has made significant progress since the party we hosted November 4th. When I addressed our guests I gave part of our testimony about how God brought us to their community and I also offered to help anyone who wished to have larger harvests. Noe Cordova, our good friend who just finished his term as mayor, has agreed to help me with the fertilizer project by helping identify people who are genuinely interested, taking soil samples and helping check up on them during the growing season.  At this point we have five men from four villages who have confirmed that they wish to participate. All of them have fields that are readily accessible and visible to their neighbors. In each field we will identify a small portion of the field where we will take a soil test and then plant and apply fertilizer based on the test results. Throughout the growing season I will visit the farmers who participate and offer advice and encouragement. The balance of their field will be managed as they usually do. By asking the farmer to try the new techniques on only a small portion of their land it reduces risk for the farmer and helps protect our credibility in the event of a crop failure. I have two primary goals for this project. First to do as I promised and help people produce more food, I expect to increase their corn yield by 6 to 8 times. Secondly I hope to build deeper friendships with the participating farmers creating opportunity to share the Gospel. Mauricio, one of the young men who have committed to participate in the project, is a Christian with an impeccable reputation. I enjoy his fellowship and look forward to working more closely with him. Mauricio enjoys farming and is always looking for ways to do a better job.
 
Please continue to pray with us. It is our sincere desire to see our neighbors and friends come to faith in Jesus Christ and that their physical suffering be replaced with abundance. We are convinced that this can only happen through God transforming their lives.

                                     -Andrew