An interview with Renee Terrell, daughter of the missionary family with whom the Chiapas Team will be working.

What is the focus of your ministry?
Our mission is to produce the Bible and discipleship materials in audio and video format. There are 280 Indian languages in Mexico. It is estimated that over 80% of the speakers of these languages are unable to read. To have the Scriptures in their heart languages requires that they be in a format that can be HEARD and SEEN.

How can the team help?
In Chiapas, techniques for teaching children are not just for children. Most indigenous adults don’t have the learning style to sit through a seminar or the training to take notes. Adults, though sometimes bashful, understand wonderfully when taught through visual and hands-on methods.

Two-thirds of the world’s population consists of oral learners – people who cannot, do not, or will not learn by literate means. Information must come to oral communicators through stories, parables, poems, songs, etc. In Jesus’ time, most of society was made up of oral learners. Jesus communicated deep truths through stories. You can do the same! In addition to the stories and crafts of your children’s program, come prepared to share testimonies from your own life. These personal stories have a particularly special impact on the people of Chiapas.

What is Chiapas like?
With 60 inches of rain a year, it’s a verdant area teeming with wildlife and blessed with rich soil. The people are diverse, with many tribes of Mayan descent, each with its own sub-dialect and distinctive colorful dress. San Cristóbal de Las Casas, one of the large cities in Chiapas, was once the capital of Central America. It is situated at 7,200 ft above sea level and is considered a “cloud forest.” It is an epicenter for education, marketing, and medical attention for hundreds of outlying Indian communities.

Envy, fear, and bitterness are widespread through the Indian villages. Many live in terror of the spirit world, trying to appease the spirits with sacrifices. Others warm church benches to “pay” their way to heaven.

Fathers are typically absent due to alcoholism or jobs in the U.S. and families suffer heavily as a result. The culture has lost the examples to show the next generation what Godly manhood looks like. Even among the Christian families, there are huge needs, as many of the parents don’t know how to pass on their faith to the next generation. My dad spends a lot of time teaching the men how to be fathers and how to train their own children.

What has been your greatest challenge in communicating the Gospel to the people you work with in Chiapas?
Many people think that they’re good enough for God and they have the veneer of religion to bolster their confidence. Even many “evangelical Christians” use church attendance and good works to earn favor with God.

Can you tell us about someone who has come to Christ recently?
Blanca was so fearful of people she wouldn’t even walk into our house when we invited her for dinner in late December. Over the course of a week she warmed up to our family. My dad and sister shared with her about salvation from Romans 1. Blanca said she understood it all in her head, but something in her heart was stopping her. Sunday afternoon she came to watch a creation video at our house, but wouldn’t enter the room because three other people were also gathered to watch the video. Fear gripped her and she almost returned home. “What good would it do me to go home?” she asked me. “I’ll just close myself in my room and still have the fear.”

We went to another room to talk. A spiritual battle was raging for her soul as she came to grips with her place before God as a law breaker and destitute of the perfect love that casts out fear. She asked me again and again what she had to do to be saved. I told her, “Call out to God to forgive you and give you His perfect love,” but she just couldn’t do it.

I told Blanca a story about a time when I had cried out to Jesus for help when my sister Leah and I were in danger of drowning. He saved us! When, in the course of telling this story, I yelled “Lord Jesus! Save us!” something happened in Blanca. She then confessed aloud her faith in the work of the Lord Jesus and that she believed in her heart! With joy she said, “I’m happy!”

This week she is with her unsaved family out in their village. Sunday she will return to the university seven hours away. Pray for her to find a good Christian fellowship there. Pray that she will keep her armor on all the time!

How long have you been in Chiapas?
We have been in Mexico for 21 years. The first ten years we traveled throughout Mexico in our house trailer, going from village to village to do the Bible recordings. Now, the past 11 years, we have been living in Chiapas in ONE place – which has been a blessing!

The Lord has led my siblings, Nathan (with his wife Julie and kids), Leah (27), Reece (23), and myself, (25) to continue the vision and work of my parents. We don’t speak any Indian languages, but we work alongside Bible translators to produce the Scripture films, audio Bibles, and teaching tapes. There’s a lot more to be done! We wish there were twelve of us! There’s a lot going on, so come join us and help share the Gospel in Chiapas!

Click here for details on the Chiapas trip! Application deadline: Feb. 8.