Today, here in Comalapa, Chiapas, the day started crisp and cool – green mountains all around. This small town near Mexico’s border with Guatemala is generally peaceful. For most people the nightlife is an evening in the town plaza for ice cream or a tamale and atole de cacahuate – a drink made from peanuts. Farming and ranching uphold the economy. The dark side is evident in the advertisements for witchcraft and stories of occasional drug cartel murders. One man, an alcoholic, roams the street where the AMO Training is taking place at Bethel Church.

After years of addiction, the man can barely walk. He asked to listen to the training. As he focused on God’s eternal truths about how he was uniquely created for God’s purposes he was visibly impacted, nodding in agreement. I couldn’t help but think if he had only heard God’s vision for life years ago – perhaps as a child – maybe he and his family would be healthy today.

Pray for the team here that is being trained. May they be empowered, protected and determined in the work ahead.

Pray for Doribel, the missionary here who invited us. She is a dynamic leader serving churches and the local seminary. Pray for her complete healing as she recovers from serious illness that threatened her life months ago.

Pray also for next week’s training in Tabasco. We will have exciting news on the new trainers who will be completing their certifications in the coming weeks.

And God bless your new year! We thank you for being with us in your prayers and financial support.

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia

Training in Comalapa, Chiapas

We are very thankful for all that the Lord has provided this year – so much of it by way of your prayers and support. We pray for God’s blessings upon you and your family as we celebrate Thanksgiving.

Things have gone well since our last post. The training in Xonacatlán, State of Mexico, was attended by 74 people – all from Divino Salvador church. Laura, a doctor in public education who attended the training, said she had never been so inspired and now wants to become an AMO Trainer. Francisco, a 22-year-old psychology student, exclaimed during the training that he now senses a calling in Christian education! Pray for this church as they implement the program and discern plans for founding a Christian school using AMO Program as its core.

Afterward, in Mérida, Yucatán, MeXED and San Pablo Presbyterian Seminary hosted Dr. Mark Beliles, author of National Transformation: Strategic Discipleship from the Church to the Nations. Along with our trainers and many others from the seminary and area churches, we were inspired by Mark’s teaching. Using a biblical framework for churches to work from, Christian leaders in all areas of society bring health and hope that transforms nations. Christian leadership in education is, of course, crucial.

From Mérida, Mark continued to Oaxaca where he was received by our partners at Nueva Vida Church. He presented to pastors, AMO Trainers and government leaders in that city teaching them biblical ideas for government.  He then travelled to Cuernavaca, Morelos, where we caught up with him after our stop in Orizaba, Veracruz.

We visited Orizaba to encourage parents and leaders there who implemented AMO earlier this year. They continue to inspire us with their commitment and perseverance. Pray for the teachers there as they work to help parents have a greater biblical understand and practice of their role in the education of their children.

Once in Cuernavaca, Mark introduced us to church leaders at Communidad Cristiana, a very large church. The leaders embraced the vision and teaching that Mark shared and they are now interested in hosting AMO trainings. Please, pray for God’s wisdom for us in those plans.

Finally, our future AMO Trainers are finishing up their 9-month online course with Dr. Elizabeth Youmans and Francelia has scheduled each of the practicums for those in Mexico. Pray for Dr. Elizabeth Youmans as she finalizes the course and for the Trainers as they begin this new and important chapter in discipling their nation for Jesus Christ.

Thank you, again, for your important role in this ministry. Happy Thanksgiving!

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia

Gift from Xonacatlán group, national leaders in stuffed toy production.

AMO Teachers in Xonacatlán

AMO training in Xonacatlán, Mexico

Dear Friends,

We ask you to pray for the following schedule of events. As the number of AMO Trainers increases it becomes a challenge to keep up! We praise God for the growth.

November:

AMO training in Xonacatlán, State of Mexico – Francelia teaching

AMO training in Mérida, Yucatán. This is Mildren Torres’ first solo training!

A MeXED conference for students, pastors, and AMO Trainers at San Pablo Seminary in Mérida, Yucatán with Dr. Mark Beliles teaching about equipping the Church to transform the culture.

After Mérida, Dr. Beliles teaches again in Oaxaca.

A seminar in Orizaba, Veracruz, on strengthening the family with biblical principles, taught by Francelia.

December:

A meeting in Puebla to plan assistance to local churches as they equip parents and congregations for educating the next generations.

January:

Certification training/practicum at Sureste Seminary in Tabasco to certify the first group of new AMO Trainers from the Class of 2019-20. This practicum is the final step after their nine-month online class preparation. Francelia and Chris McReynolds will evaluate the trainer’s on behalf of Dr. Elizabeth Youmans of Chrysalis International.

AMO Training in Frontera-Comalapa, Chiapas

Certification training in Comalcalco, Tabasco, for our second group of the Class of 2019-20

February:

AMO Training in Cárdenas, Tabasco

Certification training in México City for the third group of new AMO Trainers

March:

Teaching at the Bible Institute of the Huastecas

Certification training for the final group of new AMO Trainers in Oaxaca, Oaxaca

Biblical Transformation of the Nation ~ MeXED 2019 Oaxaca and Mérida

Dear Friends,

Please see Abraham Hernandez’ ministry update from the Huastecas, below. This is his first update since his wife Susie Frerichs passed away in June and we are so pleased to share it with you. Those of you who supported Susie and Abraham in their work are invited to continue supporting the work through Abraham. Please, click here for specific donation information.

Join us in giving thanks to God for His care for Abraham and God’s providence for all the work that continues in the Huastecas. Many of our AMO Mexico community members attended this conference and were able to visit with Abraham again, for the first time since Susie passed away, to give him encouragement.

All were blessed by Bob Moffitt and Yarley Niños’ teaching which further equips us all in making disciples of the nations. Those of you who donated to the Susie Frerichs Memorial Scholarship Fund at The Antioch Partners made possible the attendance of those from the Huastecas.

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia

(Translation of Abraham’s update)

22 de octubre de 2019, Frijolillo san Martín Chal. SLP.

Greetings.

May God greatly bless each of you.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,…” Matthew 28:19

By God’s grace we recently attended a conference on Biblical Worldview which took place at YWAM Guadalajara with teachers Bob Moffitt and Yarley Niño. This conference greatly encouraged us as we continue with God, extending His Kingdom in the Huastecas.

Ten participants from the Huastecas attended. These consisted of missionaries and students from the Bible Institute of the Huastecas.

Thank you for your prayers and support which makes activities like this possible. This brings many blessings to our lives and ministries. May God continue blessing each of you. Greetings from the Huastecas. (Signed Abraham Hernandez Hernandez)

Ministry Update from Abraham Hernandez

Abraham’s Update from the Huastecas

In Matthew 28:18-20, the Lord Jesus Christ gives us all our marching orders – teach all people to be my disciples. During these summer months, four of our friends and collaborators in this ministry – faithful to His command – were called home by the Lord. With each of those sad goodbyes, the Holy Spirit gave us deep and abiding assurance of His sovereignty and unwavering plan for discipling our families and the nations. We give special thanks to God for His plan and for those who have lived out their lives in faith and perseverance serving that plan.

Recently, I was amused and encouraged while reading a line by the late T. Boone Pickens who shared what his father said to him as an aimless young man. He told the young man, “A fool with a plan will beat a genius without a plan everytime.” Pickens said that was the turning point for him. I thought, we can be fools (for Christ) with an excellent plan!

More and more congregations are awakening to the great potential God has given them to transform communities through a plan for education and discipleship. Pray for churches everywhere to rise up and embrace a serious and inspired plan of action. The coming generations need God’s plan for their lives!

What parents and leaders are learning, modeling, and teaching to their children through AMO Program. With a plan and hard work they are transforming their futures. Graphic by Chrysalis International, publisher of AMO Program.

Please, join us in giving thanks for:

• The Susie Frerichs Memorial Scholarship Fund which will be funding a group of young students from the Huastecas, including Abraham Hernandez, to attend an important teaching conference in Guadalajara in October. For those of you who know Abraham, he reports that he is doing well under the circumstances and is encouraged that God is in the process of raising up new leaders for the various ministries that Susie led. Please, continue to pray for Abraham as he continues his ministry and farming.
• Those who have served with us and “fought the good fight.” (2 Timothy 4:7-8)
• The successful AMO trainings this summer in Orizaba Veracruz, Reynosa Tamaulipas, Guadalajara, Oaxaca and San Antonio, Texas. We are thankful for the hard work and increasing skills of our AMO Trainers of Teachers (TOT’s).
• The dedication of teachers at Isaiah 55 ministries in Reynosa, for their work to bring AMO Program to children who are deaf.
• The progress that the up-and-coming TOT’s are making in Chrysalis International’s online virtual course…only two more months to go! Francelia has been very busy with the Mexican group mentoring them and scheduling dates and locations for their practicum trainings, the final step for each of them to be certified.

Please, join us in praying for:

• Strength and perseverance for the all the TOT’s in the home stretch.
• Upcoming trainings in Xonacatlan Edo. de México, Oaxaca and Merida, Yucatan.
• MeXED special events in Merida and Oaxaca in November. The purpose of these events is to encourage and equip biblical Christian vision and strategy for transforming families, culture, education, and government.
• Safety for Chris and Francelia as they travel throughout central and southeast Mexico this winter.
• Pray for our TOT’s marriages and for God’s provision for AMO México to become a ministry with greater capacity to provide marriage ministry for our TOT’s.
• Pray for Dr. Elizabeth Youmans and Chrysalis’ online platform and website project. This has been a monumental task that needs your prayers for finalization.

Thank you, for your prayers!

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia

Dear Friends,

Saying goodbye to our dear friend and colleague, Susie Frerichs, was certainly not anticipated by anyone. We learned to an even greater degree that in all things we depend on God and we give thanks for that. Her life and her passing encourages all of us to continue on with even more focus and determination to respond faithfully to God’s Calling on our lives. We now ask your prayers for us and the rest of Susie’s fellow AMO Trainers who will be busy this summer conducting AMO Trainings in different parts of Mexico, including in the Huastecas where Susie lived and served.

AMO Trainer and pastor, Josias Luna, of Oaxaca, will be teaching at the Bible Institute in the Huastecas where Susie was director. Susie and the presbytery had invited Josias on prior occasions, and Susie and husband, Abraham, had led a group of young leaders from the Huastecas to conferences in Oaxaca as late as March of this year. We are grateful for God’s providence and for placing a desire in Josias’ heart to help at opportune times in the Huastecas even before Susie passed. Pray for him as he leaves his family and church in Oaxaca for a week to teach at the presbytery’s Bible Institute. We will follow up with additional AMO Trainings in the Huastecas as needed.

We give thanks to God for our team members who carried out the very first AMO Trainings in Ocosingo, Chiapas and Reynosa, Tamaulipas, earlier this month. Both of these troubled regions are in desperate need for the next generations of children to have God’s vision for life and the character formation needed to live out that vision for God’s transformation of their communities. We also had additional trainings in Oaxaca, Tabasco, and the Yucatan since the first of June. Pray for additional children’s AMO Programs to develop from each of those trainings.

We ask your prayers for the remaining Summer trainings:

• Nacajuca, Tabasco at Sureste Presbyterian Seminary
• Orizaba, Veracruz
• In the state of Mexico on the outskirts of Mexico City
• Guadalajara, Jalisco
• Our first AMO Training in San Antonio, Texas and you are invited! Contact our U.S. mobile at (830) 719-5812 for information.

Let us all continue praying for one another. Thank you for your prayers. Please, let us know how we can pray for you. Send an email to Chris at cmcr12@gmail.com.

In Christ,

Chris and Francelia McReynolds

Susie, Abraham, and young leaders from the Huastecas in the home of Josias and Elizabeth Luna in Oaxaca, March 2019.

Our November 2018 AMO Trainers’ Retreat in Puebla which included Susie and Abraham.

Dear Friends,

A beautiful memorial service was held for Susanne Frerichs Hernandez this past Friday at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Susie’s hometown of Kearney, Nebraska. Her memorial was attended by friends from high school and college as well as many other friends and family from far and wide.

Rev. Chad Anderson, pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church, led the service. Judy Rozema performed a wonderful solo of “In the Garden Medley.” Teri Adair and Chris McReynolds, of The Antioch Partners, shared about Susie’s extensive ministry in Mexico.

Susie’s ministry always had a special focus on biblical Christian education and discipleship for the formation of servant-leaders. Her work began at Proyecto Amistad on the border in Piedras Negras in 1993 and – through those she has discipled – continues on in the Presbytery of the Huastecas and beyond.

Also spoken about was her impact, not just in Mexico but, in the lives of so many individuals and congregations in the United States who supported her work and co-labored with her through the years. Thanks was given to God for each of you who supported, collaborated, and prayed with Susie.

A special message of thanks from Susie’s husband, Abraham Hernandez, was relayed to Susie’s family and to the Church for the love and support they demonstrated for them and their ministry as a couple. Abraham will continue facilitating ministry initiatives between churches in the Huastecas and AMO Mexico.  Please, continue your prayers and support for him.

Many of you have asked about the Scholarship Fund newly established in honor of Susie and the calling Jesus Christ made on her life. This fund will be hosted at The Antioch Partners and will be used to continue, especially in the Huastecas, the kind of work that Susie devoted her life to – making disciples of Jesus Christ with special attention to education. That is, biblical Christian education at all levels that informs and equips people to live out God’s vision for life in every area of life.

You can donate to the Susie Frerichs Memorial Scholarship Fund in these ways:

Write a check, payable to “The Antioch Partners.” In the memo line write “Preference for Susie Frerichs Memorial Fund.” Mail to:

The Antioch Partners

7132 Portland Ave, Suite 136

Richfield, MN 55423

Online donations can be made by clicking this link…  https://secure.qgiv.com/for/TheAntiochPartners/restriction/ProjectSupport/SusieFrerichsMemorialFund

Thank you, for your prayers of thanksgiving for Susie’s life and for God’s consolation for her family members and her many friends in Mexico and the United States. Let us all honor Susie by continuing the work!

In Christ,

Chris McReynolds

P.S. Regarding donations, please, note that 4% card/bank/online fees are taken out of each credit card donation, 2% is taken out of each e-Check, but e-Giving and regular checks don’t have those fees. A form to be filled out for e-Giving can be obtained from Hope Whitney by emailing her at admin@theantiochpartners.org.

P.P.S. You can read obituaries for Susie here and here.

Dear Friends,

The funeral on Saturday for Susie Frerichs Hernandez in Frijolillo, San Luis Potosi, was beautiful and the the church was overflowing with people who knew and loved her. Many of the children she discipled were present, with tears of sadness, saying goodbye. One young pastor, Ricardo, in whom Susie and Abraham have invested much time and teaching, delivered the sermon in Nahuatl honoring Susie and encouraging the Church to begin the path that God has set before us all – to continue the work started through Susie and follow God’s lead for the future.

Abraham’s sister, Amalia, led the women in singing some of Susie’s favorite hymns in Nahuatl. During the time for testimonies, we were able to share with everyone that so many of you have written to send your condolences and love. We let them know that many congregations in the United States were praying for Abraham and for them all and giving thanks for Susie’s life.

Please join with us in continuing to walk together with our brothers and sisters in the Huastecas. The Antioch Partners, who sent Susie and continues sending Abraham and the McReynolds, are considering a memorial scholarship fund in Susie’s memory. We can keep you posted on that as well as other activities and plans we make with Abraham and leaders in the Huastecas. Pray for tentative plans that are evolving to send instructors to teach at the Bible Institute that was under Susie’s directorship and for carrying out an AMO training that Susie was planning with some of the presbytery’s mission churches located in Veracruz state.

Susie strived for excellence and grace in all she did. Her focus on discipling children, parents, and leaders to equip them to live out their faith in every area of life and to pass that faith on to the next generations continues to enrich lives and give glory to God.

Your continued prayers for Abraham and family bring comfort and strength from the Lord. As a reminder, a memorial service for Susie is planned at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Kearney, Nebraska, July 12th, at 2 p.m.

Below, are various photos of Susie with the people, and in the place, God called her to. Many of these photos are courtesy of our friend Jerry Cass.

In Christ Jesus,

Chris and Francelia McReynolds

Abraham and Susie on their wedding day in 2011 with Juvenal and Landy Ortiz

Abraham and Susie tending their bees

Attending burial

Funeral service at La Santisima Trinidad Presybterian Church in Frijolillo

View from cemetery

Amalia and women singing hymns

Dears Friends,

We ask for your prayers for God’s work of transformation in Chiapas, Mexico. Pray specifically for protection, wisdom, and discernment for the AMO training team in the neighboring state of Tabasco who have begun serving in Chiapas through their visits. The team walked through the door God opened to them by way of a “misionera” working in Chiapas who was trained by them last January.

After her training in Tabasco, the misionera returned to the indigenous community where she serves and met with a local pastor and a few of the church leaders to tell them of her experience. They became very interested. Even with the church’s limited funding and knowing how reluctant the members are to anything outside their routine, the leaders ventured an invitation to the team in Tabasco for two days of conferences around the biblical principles taught in AMO.

In order to build relationships and show testimony of the impact God’s Word has had on their own families, the team responded by taking their families with them on the long arduous drive to visit the congregation. The pastor interpreted for the group from Spanish into the local language. They taught about God’s vision for life and education and about the great potential and calling the congregation has for discipling their children and the community for Jesus Christ.

The congregation was deeply impacted. God’s Word evoked tears and expressions of gratitude and praise to the Lord and thanks and encouragement to the team. Completely unsolicited, the congregation gifted each of the three families represented with one thousand pesos to help cover their travel expenses. The significance of this three thousand peso gift should not be overlooked. It represents profound gratitude, hope, and determination to continue receiving the team for future visits to learn more and to be equipped for transforming their future for Christ.

Again, please, pray for wisdom for the team, provisions needed to continue the work, and for sensitivity to the special circumstances they face in Chiapas.