Author: ronwintermissions

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” Psalms 43:5

México: When we left México on furlough, we left a lot of our household things packed and ready to move. With the uncertainty of our immediate future, in June we went down to México to move all of our things into storage, ready for when we are able to relocate to another area of México. While in México we had the opportunity to preach at the “Precious Seed Baptist Church” in Anáhuac where Bro. Gonzalo Garcia is pastor. We enjoyed seeing the folks there again and had a great time of fellowship. Some of the church families also invited us to eat with them and that was a blessing!

We also preached in three other churches on this trip, with several making decisions to serve God, one coming for salvation and another for assurance. Amen!

Our schedule didn’t permit us to attend the graduation of Gabi and Pati from Bible institute, but they have finished their formal studies, and have moved back to Anáhuac to finish their schooling with a year of service in their home church. Amen!

Health update: The doctor in Missouri referred Connie to a doctor who specializes in lymphoma, at the university hospital in Omaha, Nebraska. That doctor is recommending a very aggressive, extensive chemotherapy followed by a bone-marrow transplant.

During the time that we have been making preparations to begin treatment, Connie has been taking some natural supplements. She had another CT scan that has been sent to Nebraska to determine if the lymph nodes show any change. Connie continues to feel well and actually has more energy.

Praise the Lord! We continue to pray for healing and a complete recovery!

The financial part of all of this has been quite an ordeal. We didn’t have insurance coverage from a company in the U.S., but because we had maintained a policy in México, we were finally able to get coverage in the U.S., without any pre-existing exclusions. Praise the Lord!!!

We are still paying on the remaining $20,000 from the splenectomy, but we have two years to pay it without interest.
Thank you so much for the special love offerings and for your prayers and notes of encouragement!

30th Anniversary: May 23rd we celebrated 30 years as “Ron & Connie Winter”. God has been so good to us “For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health”. He has blessed us with four children, three daughter-in-laws and two grandchildren.

The Lord has allowed us a fruitful ministry as missionaries for 23 years.

We are looking forward to being used of the Lord to glorify Him until He comes for us!!

Prayer Requests: Precious Seed Baptist Church & Pastor Gonzalo; Connie’s health

Praises: God’s continual provision and protection; People saved; Gabi & Pati graduation; Insurance; Privilege to serve the Lord; 30th anniversary

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16

Health Update: As many know, Connie has had tests done on her spleen and liver. On April 1st, she had laparoscopic biopsies done on her liver and lymph nodes, and she had her spleen removed. The spleen was very large (8”x12”); about the size of a football (normally it should be the size of your fist). The pictures have been shared between many in the medical profession in the Midwest. Connie is healing from the surgery and feels well.
The biopsies were sent to Mayo Clinic and the results show “Peripheral T-Cell Lymphoma”.
It is very rare so they really don’t know a lot about it. There are a couple of other tests that should show how much it has spread.
We are praying about what our next step should be. We’re trusting God to give us direction and of course, we continue to pray for healing! Thank you for your prayers!
Also, thank you so much to all who have sent cards, called, and to those who have sent special love offerings! Words cannot express our gratitude! What a blessing!

Furlough: We’ve had meetings the past couple of months, reporting back to churches and a few new churches in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma and Kansas. God has granted us safety in our travels and shown His grace as He has provided through His people.
The ministry opportunities have been great and seven people have been saved during the invitation, after church, and on special visits. Amen!
It was a blessing to be in a couple of mission conferences, for the fellowship with the churches as well as with the other missionaries, and it is always great to be challenged by the preaching.
Due to Connie’s health needs, we had to cancel some of our recent meetings. Lord willing, we can reschedule those again.

Plans: Our plan is to return to Mexico as soon as possible. June was the original target date but that may have to be postponed for health reasons. We will let you know.

Prayer Requests: Connie’s health; Continued protection and provision; To be an encouragement to churches and for people to be saved during our furlough; Housing and move to Guasave, Sinaloa

Praise: Souls saved; More opportunities to share the gospel; Provision and protection

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:” 1 Peter 1:7

Anáhuac: The Iglesia Bautista “Semilla Preciosa” has been somewhat discouraged and not unlike other churches in these end days, quite apathetic. Many of our men are working 12-14 hours a day and put in a half a day on Saturday, due to the strained economy. Most of the teens are in school until 8 o’clock as well, so our midweek services and visitation have really taken a hit.
The spirit in the Sunday services has been improving, we are having some visitors, the attendance is picking up, and we have had people saved. AMEN!
We have restructured our Sunday School and are training some new people for teachers. They seem to be excited at the challenge.
We are just finishing a study of the book of Revelation and it is exciting to see that surely it will not be long before the Lord comes for us, but sobering to see the souls that still need to be won!

Construction: The construction has been slow due to the men working so many hours. We have the windows in, and are getting the building closed up. The church has been saving up to hire some of the work done so we should see better progress soon. The peso lost about 25% of its buying power this last month, so that will hurt us as well.

Survey Trip: We have been praying for the pastor that the Lord has for the church. Although we can’t leave until the church here has a pastor, we feel that we need to “get out of the boat”, and trust the Lord to provide, as well as show us where He would have us start another church.
In November, we are going to a few places in México where we have heard of a need for Bible preaching churches. Please pray for our safety as we travel, and for the Lord’s direction.
After planning the survey trip, we heard of a young couple that has been in the ministry for several years, who are now between ministries. We contacted them and they will be coming to fill the pulpit in our absence. Please pray for Gonzalo and his wife Adela, to know the Lord’s will for their lives and for the church in our absence.

FM-2’s: Our work visas have to be started over from scratch, but it appears that our ten years living in México will count in our favor. Please pray we get them soon.

Prayer: Unity of the church; Pastor for the church; Construction – provision; Our survey trip; FM-2 visas

Praise: Privilege to serve the Lord; Gonzalo and his family coming to fill the pulpit

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.” 1John 4:14

Holidays: We would like to take this opportunity to wish every one of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!! A special thank you to those who gave special Christmas offerings!
We were blessed to be with some dear friends for Thanksgiving!
To be with friends and family on holidays and special occasions, are the things that a missionary cherishes most, as that is often not possible.
We are planning to be in Missouri with Connie’s family and Lord willing with all of our kids for Christmas. We are looking forward to making memories.

Furlough: The Lord has been so good to us in our travels. He has provided for our expenses, and has provided special places to “hang our hat” between meetings. He’s kept us safe from harm, blessed us with good health and has proven himself faithful in every situation.
We weren’t able to schedule meetings for some services, but we still had opportunity to present the work in México, and preach on those days.
We have been able to renew old acquaintances, some of which we hadn’t seen for many years, as well as meeting new people that God used to minister to us.
We are especially thankful for the opportunities we’ve had to testify for the Lord as we have traveled. We pray that the tracts and gospel witness will bring forth fruit.
Furlough phone – U.S. cell 915-497-0084

México: The Precious Seed Baptist Church in Anáhuac seems to be doing well since we turned it over to a Mexican pastor. They have invited us to come and preach their mission conference in January. We are sure looking forward to seeing the church, and being able to challenge them to greater involvement in home and world missions.
Please pray with us that our house in México will sell. Also pray for our housing and move to the west side of México.

Prayer Requests: Continued protection and provision; To be an encouragement to churches; Mission Conference in Anáhuac; House to sell; Housing and move

Praise: Great Thanksgiving; Provision and protection; People God used to minister to us; Opportunities to share the gospel; Good report from the church in Anáhuac

In His Service,

Dear Friends in Christ,

“…The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” Luke 10:2

Furlough: Our furlough is under way, and we have seen repeated blessings of the Lord in our travels with safety and provision. We have also seen God’s presence in the meetings we have been in. It has been a blessing to report to churches that support us, as well as to be in some new churches.

We had the opportunity to preach and present our ministry in Spanish in a couple of churches that have ministries to Hispanics. What a blessing!

In another church I preached to the Jr. Church, and at the invitation, I asked for the children to raise their hand if they wanted to be saved. A dad, who had come in with his little girl, raised his hand. One of the workers asked if his daughter wanted to be saved, to which he responded, “No, I need to be saved!” Praise the Lord!

We left a gospel tract for our waitress in a restaurant, who upon finding it, ran out of the restaurant, into the store in front, to thank us for being concerned for her.

I was witnessing to a man from India, in a motel, and he was so concerned for America because they have so much, but appreciate it so little. He did not get saved but he listened.

Mission Conference: It was a blessing to attend the Mission Conference at our sending church. The emphasis was on Asia, and the tremendous need for new missionaries to surrender and go to countries that have very little gospel witness. Please pray for laborers!

Direction: We have been praying about the exact location where we should go to begin another work. We believe that God is leading us to the state of Sinaloa, Mexico.  Please pray for the Lord’s direction in our lives and ministry.

Prayer: Furlough and traveling safety; Lord’s direction in our lives

Praise: Souls saved; God’s provision

In His Service,