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Local Outreach
Border to Border
Hope for Hopeless
Agua Prieta
Japan - Tim Boyle
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Serving Families in the Rural Section of Mexico for 30 Years
1977: At Annual Conference in Mexico City, Terry and Muriel Henderson were appointed to establish and direct a new rural development program which the late Bishop, Dr. Alejandro Ruiz, named "Give Ye Them To Eat." or GYTTE for short. It was determined that the program would be located in Puebla, Mexico, so the Hendersons moved from the mission project they had served their first five year in Mexico to the city of Puebla. The Hendersons talked with two agencies in the process of designing this new outreach program as more ministry could be accomplished by networking with other mission agencies. The first organization to join in this effort was Heifer Project International, headquartered in Arkansas and the second was the Gospel Relief Mission, based in California.
1977 - 1990: By networking with Heifer Project International the result was a livestock development program with GYTTE representing HPI in the country of Mexico from 1977 - 1990. HPI covered half of the budget and the GYTTE program raised the rest. The Gospel Relief Mission offered the facilities of their small livestock center on the outskirts of Puebla, rent-free, as the base of operation for the GYTTE program. During those years 10,000 animal units were distributed to an equal number of families who were trained in livestock management practices. This ministry made a great impact in the lives, incomes and diets of families all over the Republic of Mexico.
1990: It was this year that the "Give Ye Them To Eat" program purchased land for a Training Center close to the small community of Tlancualpican. At this point the GYTTE staff and program took on a more integrated approach to development, addressing the needs of resource-poor families in the rural sector by serving people in the areas of Community and Agricultural Development, Community & Family Health, and Church & Faith Development as well as Livestock Development. In 1990 a groundbreaking ceremony was held to start construction on the Training Center that would serve as a window into the world of development, showcasing the various services offered by the GYTTE program.
1991: At this time three GYTTE employees were hired by HPI and Heifer Project of Mexico was incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the country, independent of the GYTTE program. To this day the HPI program continues to serve the people of Mexico. One of the jobs of a missionary is to train national leadership to serve within their own country. The GYTTE staff is grateful to have had the opportunity to help establish Heifer Project in Mexico.
1990 - 2000: While the staff and missionaries continued with GYTTE's integrated outreach program in Church & Faith Development, Community & Family Health, and Community, Agriculture and Livestock Development, work/study teams and volunteers from the USA came to Tlancualpican to build the Center. In the year 2000, The "Tree of Life" Training Center for Integrated Development was dedicated. Even during the construction of the Training Center, tours, workshops, classes and courses were hosted so needy families could receive training that would give them the skills and knowledge to enable them to remain on their land and within their own culture and community, while progressing towards a more secure future.
2001 - 2007: The ministry of the GYTTE staff, missionaries, volunteers and work teams continues! More and more people are impacted by the love and grace of God in their lives as they experience opportunity and a vision of moving from subsistence living to life of dignity open to many possibilities that inspire hope. This year "Give Ye Them To Eat" celebrates its 30th Anniversary of Mission Outreach by continuing to serve the people in the Southeast Annual Conference and beyond. Visit our web site, www.gytte.org to see lots of color photos of the exciting things happening in the state of Sonora in the Northwest Annual Conference as well as in the south-central region and at the Training Center. Thank you for your prayer and financial support during these past three decades of missions. We invite you to join us in ministry for the next decade as we serve God by serving our brothers and sisters in Mexico. - Terry & Muriel Henderson
"GIVE YE THEM TO EAT" is an Advance Special Project of the United Methodist Church. Financial gifts can be sent to the Advance Office of the General Board of Global Ministries. There are two options available to process your gift. · GIVE THROUGH YOUR CHURCH: Make your check payable to your local UMC and write the Project Name & Code Number in the lower left corner of your check. Drop your gift in the offering plate or give the check to your church treasurer to send to the conference, so that your church and annual conference will get Advance credit. Gifts are then forwarded to Advance GCFA (General Council on Finance and Administration), at the address below. · GIVE BY MAIL: Make your check payable to Advance GCFA and write the Project Name & Code Number in the lower left corner of your check. Send to the address below. PROJECT NAME & CODE NUMBER: "GIVE YE THEM TO EAT" - No. 07629A SEND GIFTS TO THIS ADDRESS: Advance GCFA - GBGM P.O. Box 9068, GPO New York, NY 10087-9068 100% of your donation will reach the "Give Ye Them To Eat" Ministry in Mexico.
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March 5, 2007
Hola Amigos (Hi Friends): From all the cards, letters and e-mails we've receive it's obvious there is a lot of mission interest back home in the USA. We are so very grateful there are people and congregations that pray for missions and missionaries. Prayer is ALWAYS good and needed. Thank you for your prayers and mission support. We want to share some of the recent happenings with the "Give Ye Them To Eat" program. It is a busy life at the Tree of Life Training Center for Integrated Development where the GYTTE program staff host a variety of activities. Staff members also supervise village groups where rural families have started their own development projects and teach workshops and classes in villages, schools and churches. The winter schedule has been a full one and we anticipate this spring will follow the same pattern. A Christian Education workshop on learning styles and age-appropriate teaching was taught at a Methodist church in Veracruz. The staff also hosted several groups at the Center for the daylong introductory class on appropriate technology. As the people listened to the theory behind the technologies, toured the Center and saw low-tech methods put to use for agriculture and livestock endeavors as well as for home use, they had a lot of questions. Many people signed up to take courses this spring so they can learn how to put some of these technologies to use on their land and in their homes. Villagers living in the vicinity of the Center have been coming for monthly classes on health issues and hygiene. The men and women are very enthusiastic about taking these classes that help their families have improved health.
A two-day workshop on the construction and use of Solar Cookers was given to students from a rural vocational school. This technology is simple and eco-nomical. They are made from used cardboard boxes from appliance stores and re-purposed for home cooking. The total cost to make one solar cooker from used boxes, newspaper, tin foil, glue, cotton cord and a pane of glass is only $15.00 dollars. On a sunny day water can be pasteurized and food cooked without searching for firewood or spending money on gas. So you can see why these students are eager to teach this technology in their own communities. A medical team from California came to serve at the Good Samaritan Clinic at the mountain village of Tatoxcac. GYTTE-trained health workers went along to teach about heath issues to the patients waiting in the lines to see the physicians and dentists. There will be three more medical teams serving at the two conference clinics this spring so more community-based, primary health workers will be invited to share health information with the villagers who come in need of health care. In January and February volunteers from Pennsylvania and South Carolina and teams from Nebraska and Kansas came to the Training Center to serve and thaw out from the cold winter weather back home. Everyone worked really hard on a number of construction projects. They also worked on contour terracing on the hillside and garden plots that not only will produce vegetables and feed for the livestock but will serve to demonstrate soil conservation methods and gardening options for agricultural development classes. Two staff houses and a small shop were painted and a ceiling plastered. The natural paint made with quicklime, water, prickly pear juice and yellow soil gave the new shop a warm mustard color that looks great and looks great and cost next to nothing!
 The rock, reinforcing wire and barbed wire used to fence the front of the property have given the entrance to the Training Center an esthetic and effective boundary to protect the grounds from open grazing. Hungry livestock wandering through the area during these months of drought have destroyed the lands and agricultural endeavors of many farmers. Although labor intensive, this fencing method clears acres of excess stone, and provides an economical and effective protection for productive farmlands. Flagstone from Tlancualpican was laid on the seating area cut out of the hillside surrounding the sports court and paving stones were laid around the four sides of the court. Basketball backboards and hoops were made and put into place. Possibly there has never been a court as striking as the Samuel Hartman Memorial Sports Court! Another project this winter was the palm branch-thatched roof that was built over the mud oven that was constructed last fall by another team. Although the oven was made for bread baking it is bound to have a Mexican style pizza made in it occasionally. The oven and roofing system are two more technologies that villagers can adopt and adapt for their own needs. Besides the various work projects and learning experiences at the training center the teams and volunteers repaired a church parsonage, visited a livestock project and observed a class on High Blood Pressure taught by GYTTE-trained health workers. While visiting a primary school the Kansas team noticed the backboards and hoops on the playground were broken and in danger of falling on the children. Being the team now had experience in making basketball backboards, they decided to make new ones for the school. A couple days later they installed them for which the students and teachers in the village of El Limon were very grateful. These are just some of the activities in which the GYTTE staff and we, your missionaries, are involved. Thank you for helping us to continue this outreach ministry in the rural sector of Mexico. We are grateful to you and for you. Your Mission Partners, Muriel and Terry Henderson
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December 2006
Dear Friends: Christmas Greetings! Feliz Navidad! We didn't want this year to come to a close without thanking you for being so gracious and generous again this year. Actually, we felt that 2006 was one huge Christmas gift! God is so good, and consequently we can't think of 2006 as anything other than a gift from God. In the year 2006: Cancer was concurred and Muriel returned to the mission field in Mexico. The GYTTE staff hosted the first of three Health Courses in Sonora, Mexico, for women in the Northwest Annual Conference. It was quite the trip from Tlancualpican to Agua Prieta. GYTTE scholarship students continued their studies to prepare them to serve their country, church and God. The GYTTE staff demonstrated dedication, creativity, and compassion in meeting the needs of the people and churches served through this ministry. Work/study teams and volunteers came to complete the multipurpose building and continued to work on the Samuel Hartman Memorial Sports Court at the Training Center, as well as a hundred other projects. The "Give Ye Them To Eat" program received financial support from generous donors to keep the GYTTE staff involved in twelve months of outreach ministries in health, church and faith development, agriculture, community and livestock development. Terry experienced some hiccups in his health that required time with the doctor. Evidently we needed just a little more excitement to close out the year so we are spending December in Arizona. We trust God has everything under control, as God always does! Thank you for keeping the GYTTE program, staff and missionaries in your thoughts and prayers and helping to make 2006 so very special. During this season we read the following in our Upper Room Devotional Guide: "God's promise of a savior comes to us anew each Advent season. With fulfillment of the divine promise also comes God's call to us -- a call to live in love, to walk in the ways of peace, and to fill our lives with the truly good qualities that our following Christ can nurture within us."
As we prepare for Christmas and a new year we anxiously await God's call to new beginnings and continued service in 2007. We pray that you will experience the Christ as your greatest gift. In Him who came, who comes and will come again, Terry and Muriel Henderson
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September 2006 Dear Friends in Christ, You who support the ministry of the "Give Ye Them To Eat" program are very generous donors! You sustained this ministry during the past conference year of 2005-2006, AND provided the funds to purchase a 15-passenger Van for this outreach ministry. We are grateful to you and for you. ˇMuchas Gracias! Que Dios les bendiga. (Thank you! God bless you.) The next mission emphasis is to train thirty women, in the Northwest Annual Conference of Mexico, as Community-based Primary Health Workers. This is quite a challenge for you, the program sponsors, and us. GYTTE's Community and Family Health Program, "More Than A Bandage," has been so successful in the Southeast Conference that we have been invited to take the program to other conferences. Bishop, Rev. Jaime Vázquez of the Northwest Annual Conference, has invited GYTTE to bring the health program to his part of the country, which includes the states of Baja California, Baja California del Sur, Sonora and Sinaloa. We will need your help in achieving this goal. Each woman will attend three courses over the next two years: The Basic Health Course, the First Aid Course, and the Advanced Health Course. The cost of a scholarship for each woman is $333. Dollars per course. It will cover her meals and lodging plus all the instructional materials and first-aid supplies necessary for her to teach preventive health measures and treat injuries once she returns to her community. Over the next twenty-four months we will need a total of $1,000. Dollars for each woman trained, totaling $30,000. The good news is that the immediate need is for $10,000. Dollars for thirty women to take the Basic Health Course this coming December. The investment in these women will make a great difference in the health of their family, church community and village. We invite you to join us in this challenge for change. The church leadership is actively recruiting women for this outreach ministry. The GYTTE staff has an effective curriculum and is making all the preparations for the course. Our work is to raise the necessary funds so the church can offer "More Than A Bandage" in meeting the health needs of the people of northwest Mexico. Come join us in this mission priority. Your Mission Partners, Terry and Muriel Henderson
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Dear Friends: What does a 15-passenger van have to do with missions? The people served by the "Give Ye Them To Eat" (GYTTE) program do not own vehicles and are limited to bus travel between their villages and major towns. Often it is necessary for them to walk out of their communities in order to catch a bus in a near-by town. A mission vehicle is a necessary tool for a rural development program. The 2001 van will get quite the workout as it is pressed into service with GYTTE's outreach ministry in south-central Mexico. It will be used in all aspects of the program.
Agriculture, Community and Livestock Development Groups from many parts of the country come to the GYTTE offices in the City of Puebla where a staff member drives them two hours south to the program's Tree of Life Training Center in Tlancualpican. Once there the people experience the training course they petitioned, be it in agriculture, community or livestock development. They also visit communities where families have put the technology into practice. By the time they return to Puebla to travel back to their villages they have learned to use a technology that is environmentally safe and appropriate for their communities and resources. They have also learned how to teach these technologies to others. Two training events will take place this month, March, with villagers from the state of Veracruz. Community & Family Health The van serves as transportation for the women training as community-based primary health workers. Over a period of eighteen months the women are driven to GYTTE's Tree of Life Training Center three times for their Basic, Intermediate and Advanced Health Courses. The vehicle is also used to transport health workers to the four regional meetings held twice a year for ongoing education classes. This type of transportation is also needed to carry the teaching materials and health workers to the 4 to 6 medical teams that visit the two rural clinics in the Southeast Annual Conference each year. While hundreds of people are waiting in line to see the doctors and dentists, the women teach preventative measures that address many common health issues. The medical teams and regional meetings for this semester take place between the months of January and May. Church & Faith Development The van carries GYTTE's teaching staff and teaching materials to training events in the three districts of the Southeast Annual Conference. In these workshops clergy and laity learn how to use and teach Christian Education Curriculum developed by the program staff. Age-level teaching and participatory teaching methods are taught so churches can insure learning takes place in the classroom setting. The next workshops will be held in April and June. The A.W.A.R.E. Program The 15 passenger people-mover is the mode of travel for the work/study teams and volunteer groupings that come to learn, work and experience rural Mexico. In fact, the van is in use at this time with the last group of the season. Ten volunteers have come from Indiana and Pennsylvania to work with the GYTTE staff by offering their construction skills at the Tree of Life Training Center. Work-study teams come to serve each fall and winter. At the Tree of Life Training Center the donkeys are great at plowing the fields and terraces as well as for hauling agricultural supplies and tools, but when it comes to transporting fifteen people at a time, between point A and point B, the van does a much more efficient job. Thank you for taking the purchase of this 15-passenger van into consideration in your mission giving. Your Mission Partners, Terry and Muriel Henderson
GBGM-UMC Missionaries in Mexico Field Address: Apartado 2-72 Puebla, Puebla 72130 Mexico Tel. 011.52.222.248.1802 Fax. 011.52.222.249.2158 E-mail: GYTTEphm@aol.com Website: www.gytte.org |
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February 2006
Dear Family and Friends: We are writing to you from the Tree of Life Training Center in Tlancualpican, Mexico. Muriel has returned to Mexico to work alongside Terry in the ministry of the "Give Ye Them To Eat" program. This is an exciting time after dealing with breast cancer for twelve months with Muriel living in Arizona for ten of those months while under treatment for the disease. In mid-January 2006 she was given medical clearance and returned to her mission assignment with her first workday being February 1, 2006. In 2005 we did not know if the diagnosis for breast cancer with its subsequent surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation would allow us to return to our beloved Mexico or if these medical procedures were just a temporary fix on a trip to heaven. The truth is that 2005, like the rest of our life, was a process of moving toward eternity. The beauty of it is traveling with the Lord on one's life journey We have read and quoted Jeremiah 29:11 many times, "For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope." We trust that God knows best what we need to experience for our spiritual growth and faith. After all, our life here is temporary as we prepare for eternity. The year 2005 will always be very special to us as a time like no other. We were surrounded with God's love, grace and care as expressed through the actions, words, messages, cards, gifts and prayers of God's faithful servants, our brothers and sisters in Christ, in Mexico and the United State. How fortunate and blessed we are. Thank you for your kindnesses. In closing we paraphrase Philemon, verses 4 - 7: ?As we pray for you, we thank God for your lives and witness. We know of the love and faith you have for Jesus, which brims over to other Christians. Our prayer is that this faith we hold in common will be evident in all the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. Friends, you have no idea how good your love has made us feel? Your servants and His -- Muriel and Terry Henderson |
Advent 2005
Dear Friends and Family:
Greetings from the Hendersons. We wish you well as the month of November comes to a close and December is upon us. As we write you we are enjoying the Thanksgiving weekend here in the USA. After several decades of being in Mexico this time of year, we were able to share this holiday with family, which was very special. We have so much for which to be thankful that we could make a long list but we'll summarize by saying we thank God for improved health, family, friends, mission colleagues and supporters, the church and the faith, We trust that you too enjoyed a special time with family and friends and that you have much for which to be thankful this year.
The season of Advent is here and carries us toward Christmas. This four week period is a special time when we can dedicate ourselves, not to just buying, decorating and fellowship but, to preparing to, once again, celebrate He who comes continually in Word and Spirit, and whose return in final victory we await. May God soften our hearts so we might be about the business of peace and justice in a world of need where love, acceptance and forgiveness can prevail.
In order to help people prepare for the celebration of Christ's coming, the program staff of "Give Ye Them To Eat" spent two months in the preparation of Advent Materials for the local churches in Mexico. The Advent package includes Sunday School Classes and activities for the children, Advent Devotions for the Sunday Church Services, an Advent calendar and devotional guide for families, and a cassette and CD with the music for the various classes and services as well as other program materials for the season.
The staff member who heads up this ministry in the area of Church and Faith Development is Mirna Mendoza, GYTTE's program coordinator. Many years ago, Mirna attended a weekend Christian Education Workshop. While there God gave her a nudge and she felt a great desire to serve God and the Church through Christian Education. Her education, workshops, and experience gave her the necessary preparation to become the main writer for the GYTTE curriculum. God gave her a vision of how she could be involved in extending God's kingdom and that was converted into a ministry and mission as Mirna directs the works of GYTTE's Church and Faith Development program. She is assisted by Jocabed Casique, Eunice Marquez, Ivonne Mendoza, Martha Nava, and Clara Palacios, who are the very capable secretaries working with GYTTE. Their combined efforts have been a blessing to churches, families and individuals, adults and children, as they make their way in their faith journey. The blessing is for those involved in the creative process as well as those who teach the materials and those who learn from them. The GYTTE staff and we are grateful to you, our mission partners, who give us the privilege of serving the Methodist Church and the people of Mexico. We pray that you will also be blessed in knowing that you are involved in extending God's kingdom. May this time of preparation during Advent bring you closer to the One who brings light and love into our world. And may you experience a blessed Christmas.
In the grip of God's grace,
Muriel and Terry Henderson
UMC Missionaries in Mexico The "Give Ye Them To Eat" Program Code No. 07629A E-mail: GYTTEphm@aol.com Web sites: www.gytte.org |
August 25, 2005 Greetings Dear Friends: We trust you are well and have enjoyed a good summer. Hot sunny days and thunderous rainstorms have been part of this summer's offerings in both the USA and Mexico. Over all it has been a good summer for the "Give Ye Them To Eat" program and staff and for us as well. Terry was with the GYTTE staff in Mexico for five weeks. There is never a dull moment there with a lot going on at the Puebla office and at the "Tree of Life" Training Center in Tlancualpican. The rains have been good for crop production at the Center. Organic farming is one of the agricultural practices that are taught as well as the importance of manure usage, composting, contour terracing, erosion control methods, and many other environmentally sensitive practices. One night out at the Center Terry woke up with it raining on his back as well as outside. So he made some furniture adjustments and went back to sleep. The next morning it was discovered that the iguanas, on the roof of our home, had moved a couple tiles when crawling under them to escape the daytime heat. The tiles are now back in place. The General Board of Global Ministries has come to Mexico three times in the past four years for audits of Advance Special funds coming to projects in the country. This has been a good experience for the GYTTE program. This month we had our most recent audit and again passed with flying colors. We are so very grateful to those people and churches supporting the GYTTE program. Your mission donations are used to offer people ideas, technologies, and training so they can live a dignified life within their own culture and country. The dedicated GYTTE staff is hard at work to provide these development opportunities. In Arizona Muriel has continued her battle with cancer. She is staying with her sister, Robin Gavin, in Phoenix (Tel. 602.234.2855). Being Muriel has only about 100 hairs on her head now, Robin and Muriel went shopping for a wig. That was a hoot! In one wig she looked like Martha Stewart and in another she was Dolly Parton. After trying on 20 wigs they finally settled on a look that was close to Muriel's own hairdo at the age of 16. The thought was that it might take a few years off a 58-year-old face. Unfortunately not all the cancer experiences are as fun as wig shopping! After Muriel's second and third chemo treatments she became neutropenic, which means there is a decrease in infection-fighting white blood cells called neutrophils. The big risk with Neutropenia is infection when one has a compromised immune system. This is in addition to the other nasty side effects that seem to be worse during the second week after each chemo. Fortunately Muriel had only one four-day hospital stay where she was in isolation with doctors and nurses using gloves and masks. One exciting moment was when blood started spraying Muriel and her hospital bed. It was less exciting when she discovered that all that blood was coming from the tiny hole in her arm where the IV fluid had previously flowed into her vein! This was due to a low platelet count. When it was time for chemo again Muriel was well aware of the signs of Neutropenia so she stayed confined to home and notified her oncologist as soon as the symptoms started. Ten days of antibiotics and rest made it possible to avoid another hospital stay. Now that we understand the chemo game plan better we are up to taking on the next chemo treatments. Terry is in Arizona for a couple of weeks and will return to Mexico the first of September. Even though Muriel's outings are mostly limited to doctor appointments, we are enjoying each other's company as we share all that has happened in two different countries during our separation. Thank you, dear friends, for your e-mails, cards, and calls. Although Muriel's low energy level doesn't permit her to answer all your communications you have assured us that we remain in your prayers. You have surrounded us with your love and God has blessed us beyond compare. Terry an Muriel Henderson. UMC Missionaries in Mexico E-mail: GYTTEphm@aol.com Web sites: www.gytte.org www.gbgm-umc.org/gytte |
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July 2005 UPDATE
Dear Friends:
It has been a month since we last wrote and a lot has happened that we want to share. Most importantly we want to thank you for your continued prayers for our health and the ministry of the "Give Ye Them To Eat" program and staff.
Although Muriel continues in the USA for health reasons, Terry is back in Mexico with rural reality taking little time to remind him of the other world he lives in. No sooner had he arrived at the "Tree of Life" Training Center then the rain started pouring and the electricity went out. Over the next week the electricity was inter- mittent but the work continued. Electricity is a blessing but not a requirement for the foreign mission field!
In early July, GYTTE hosted two VBS teacher-training sessions. Approximately 120 people attended. The staff taught people how to use the new material the GYTTE staff produced and how to involve their students in participatory learning. We are pleased with the response.
VBS Teacher Training Session
Mid-July was Annual Conference so Terry and the GYTTE staff were busy attending the sessions and hosting the booth for Christian Education and VBS materials as well as manning the Clergy Closet. Each year we try to collect enough lovingly used suits, shirts, ties and dresses to provide new attire for our clergy. We are grateful to the people and churches in the USA who have made this possible. Annual Conference was a blessing for everyone involved.

GYTTE Booth at Annual Conference
Providing VBS Materials for Local Churches
Clergy Closet at Annual Conference
The first half of the summer has gone very well and there is much ministry yet in the making. For now, we request your prayers for the following needs:
* Those affected in the Caribbean, Mexico and Texas by hurricane Emily;
* The pastors and their families moving to new churches for ministry;
* The VBS teachers who will be reaching out to the children in their communities, for Christ;
* The planning and work involved for the GYTTE training events for the rest of the summer;
* Terry's travel between Tlancualpican, Puebla and Arizona; and
* Muriel's health and stamina during the next chemo treatments.
As we have been blessed by God's mercy and grace, we pray that you experience God's embracing love in your life.
In Christ,
Muriel and Terry Henderson |
HALLELUJAH MOMENT FROM MEXICO GIVE YE THEM TO EAT As an Advance Special project of the GBGM, Give Ye Them To Eat serves rural families in south-central Mexico by providing training in agricultural, community and livestock development, community-based primary health care, and church and faith development. There is also a small scholarship program to prepare rural youth for future leadership; students have graduated from training centers, colleges, universities and seminaries. As graduates serve their families, churches and communities, they give others similar opportunities and thus the circle of health and faith strengthens and expands. Raquel Balbuena and Maria Calixto had each received God's call into full-time ministry, yet their rural backgrounds and financial realities were not promising for seminary preparation. Their studies were made possible through GYTTE's scholarship program and the faithful support of U.S. sponsors. Raquel and Maria both graduated from the John Wesley Seminary in Monterrey, Mexico on June 20, 2004. Four years of hard work and commitment, as well as God's constant care, love, and direction, have given them the privilege of serving God and community in local Methodist churches. At the Southeast Annual Conference Raquel Balbuena was appointed to serve as pastor to two congregations and two missions in Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca. Maria Calixto was appointed to serve in the Northwest Annual Conference as pastor of the Church of the Good Shepherd in Agua Prieta, Sonora, on the Mexico-Arizona border. --Muriel & Terry Henderson Give Ye Them To Eat: Advance number 07629 |
January 27, 2003
Dear Mission Partners, In 2002, we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the "Give Ye Them to Eat" program. We praise God for the multiplication of ministry! The GYTTE staff and trained community volunteers have t ouched the lives of more than ten thousand people in the past twelve months. The results are families and communities experiencing improved health and nutrition; successful development projects to address community needs; the use of sustainable agricultural methods; the successful raising of quality livestock; and Christian witness and instruction in the faith. Instead of hosting a grand party to observe this occasion, the celebration took on the form 'of continued ministry with marginalized families in the villages of south/central Mexico.
Community Development: In 38 training courses, 231 people received instruction on composting toilets, dehydration of fruits and vegetables, fuel-saving mud stoves and solar cookers, and recycled paper.
Agricultural Development; 477 people were instructed in sustain- able agricultural methods
Community and Family Health: 14 women received scholarships to attend their third health course and graduate as Community-based Health workers. All 78 health workers were invited to participate in regional meetings each semester for on-going training. And 9029 People were taught classes on health issues and/or received first aid from the GYTTE health Workers.
Livestock Development; 41 families received animals and training in environmentally-sound livestock management practices. 141 families received on-going training for their projects in process.
Church & Faith Development; Materials were produced and distributed to the laity, clergy and churches of the Southeast Annual Conference for the seasons of Lent/Easter and Advent/Christmas. 81 teachers were trained and materials were compiled and distributed for Vacation Bible School to 129 congregations.
A.W.A.R.E. Program: Mexican and American students, volunteers and teams participated in the Alternative Work/study And Reality Experience at the "Tree Of Life" Training Center for integrated development. The numbers include 15 Students from the Mexico City Baez Camargo Methodist Seminary, 10 volunteers from the USA and 1 GBGM mission study group, and 5 work-study teams representing the states of Arizona, California, Pennsylvania, Kansas and Indiana.
Being part of a ministry which trains yet others for service is a wonderful way to celebrate GYTTE's 25 years as a social outreach project of the Methodist Church of Mexico and an Advance Special program of the General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church. As a donor to the GYTTE program this too, is your celebration. Thank you for being an integral part of this ministry.
Together in Christ,
Muriel & Terry Henderson
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