The Raymers

Raymer Prayer Letter - January 2009

2009-02-07T23:35:00.002-06:00

January 2009

Dear Praying Friends,

We are thankful for all the faithful people who have supported us over the past years and the many who sent special gifts to help us with our move and for Christmas. We praise the Lord for His continual provision.

These past few months have been full of getting up and running here in Monterrey. It has been wonderful to see how God has led in every aspect of our move.

We are excited about the upcoming summer mission trip ministry. With the changes in our ministry and the departure of the family who was leading up the mission trip ministry, it has come back to us to organize and direct these trips. It is a thrill for us to hear of those who have traveled with us in the past that are now on the mission field. In just the past few weeks one couple who traveled with us several years back arrived to begin their missionary service in the country of Chile. We are thankful for our team members here in Monterrey that will be assisting with the mission teams this summer. We are excited that the trips are filled to capacity for this summer.

The Lord continues to open new opportunities to minister. Every time we feel we don’t have any more time, God seems to open new doors to stretch us a little more. The longer that we are here working with the Christian university and churches the more we see the importance of training future pastors and leaders. Our burden has been and continues to be for helping the pastors already in the ministry, but we are realizing that one way to help these pastors is through the training of the future pastors. I have heard of several pastors and missionaries recently that need or want to change fields of service, but do not have anyone who is trained properly to take over the ministry. The university is helping pastors in this area. Recently a missionary friend had to return to the US for medical reasons and was able to do so quickly because one of our recent graduates was there in the church as his assistant and was able to take over while the missionary was home on medical leave. Another missionary from Chile was recently able to take a much needed furlough since one of our graduates who was from that church was able to return home and fill the pastorate while the missionary was away.

Carena Update

Carena continues to grow and keep our life exciting. She hates to be “lonely” as she calls it. She is definitely a people person and always wants her friends to come over and play. It is exciting to see how she is adapting to life in Mexico and how quickly her Spanish is advancing. Recently Carena has begun violin lessons (Suzuki Method) and is very excited to learn to play. She is learning a lot about the Bible and is full of questions regarding everything that she hears. Please pray that we will have wisdom as we teach her of God’s love and gift of eternal life.

Please pray for us as God continues to open doors of ministry for our family. We are excited about the opportunities to help different churches, as well as, the chance to work with some new church plants. Please pray that God will give us wisdom on which opportunities to follow.

May the Lord bless each of you,

Russell, Debbie & Carena Raymer

Prayer Requests:

• Upcoming pastors conferences in March & May

• Summer Mission Trip Ministry

• Our involvement in different churches here in Monterrey

• Carena’s continual development spiritually & physically

• Debbie as she ministers to different ladies and girls

• Our support level to maintain and increase

• Health and strength to work

• Other helpers for this summer’s trips

Raymer November 2008 Prayer Letter

2008-11-05T21:26:00.000-06:00

November 2008

Dear Praying Friends,

Psalm 20:7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.

The past few months have flown past for us. They have been filled with opportunities and with change.

As we finished up the summer we were able to take one of our supporting churches to Monterrey to help a church with two vacation Bible schools each day. It was exciting to see the children’s reception to hearing God’s Word both at the main church, as well as at another location that the hosting church is considering opening a mission church in the future. It was fun for us to renew friendships and make new friends with the folks traveling with us. During this same week we were able to finalize the purchase of our house in the Monterrey area. We praise the Lord for His provision of this house just 3 blocks from the Universidad Cristiana de Las Américas. We thank the group from Colorado that they had the desire not only to help with the VBS classes, but also had the desire to help us do some painting on our new home.

We anticipated finalizing the sale of our home in McAllen the same week we finalized the purchase in Monterrey, but the Lord had other plans for us. Upon returning from Monterrey, we found out that the sale of our home had fallen through that day. This had been the second contract that had fallen through, but the Lord quickly brought another buyer and about 40 days later we were able to close the sale of our home in McAllen. During this time we imported our household goods into Mexico. We praise God for providing for this move and for all those who helped us move. We ended up having to park the trailer moving our belongings at a friend’s property about 15 minutes from our new house to transfer the items to smaller vehicles because the semi could not fit in our neighborhood.

We have been busy getting our house set up, as well as, getting the new OREMUNDO office set up in Monterrey. I am thankful that God has provided a young man, Elfego Ramirez, who is studying in the theology program to come and assist in the office for two hours each day as part of his work scholarship. It is a special blessing because Elfego and his family have been close friends of ours for 16 years.

The end of September took us to Tampico, Tamaulipas, Mexico, where we were able to hold another one of our Intensive Courses. There was great excitement once again among those who took the course. We had 35 in attendance and they were constantly asking when we were bringing the next course. I am thankful for Matt Bixby and AJ Gibson who each taught 8 hours during these 2 ½ days. We are looking at several other locations for future courses as well as working on editing the courses that we will be offering to pastors on DVD through a new correspondence program. It was a special time as Debbie and Carena were able to travel with me on this trip.

Carena has seemed to make the move very smoothly. We enrolled her in K4 when we arrived. She is quickly learning her Spanish. It is a blessing to hear her converse with others. We knew she had a good understanding but was not speaking a lot of Spanish. Each day we hear her speaking more. She loves having so many of her friends close by and asks everyday who can come over to play. She is definitely a people person. It is hard to believe how quickly she is growing up and will turn 4 on the 28^th of this month.

Please pray for our family as we continue to make the transition here in Monterrey. We are excited about the opportunities that God has already opened for us and are praying for His direction and wisdom in new areas of ministry that we can serve. Today I submitted the forms for my visa. Please pray I will receive a new visa quickly.

Thank you for your prayers and support,

Russell, Debbie & Carena Raymer

Raymers to Mexico - Presentation 2008

2008-10-15T10:54:00.001-05:00

dowload

Mexico Independence Day Celebration at Carena's School

2008-09-14T22:32:00.000-05:00

Carena started out not sure about what was going on and really wanted to be with her Mommy, but by the end she was happily waving her country's flag (Carena and Debbie both carry dual citizenship).

House Sold!

2008-09-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

We just wanted to update all those who have been praying for the sale of our house in McAllen that today we finalized the sale. This has been a very drawn out process as this was the third contract on the house. But we just continued to trust God who continued to remain faithful as always as we have moved to Monterrey. Thank you for your prayers!

First day of School

2008-08-27T23:26:00.000-05:00

We arrived in Guadalupe, NL, Mexico on Thursday evening, and the following morning Carena began school (school had actually begun Monday of that week).

In front of our house ready to head off for school.

My little girl is so grown up. Sometimes I wonder what happened to my little baby.

Carena's school is a short 4 blocks from our house, so as long as it is not raining it is a nice walk to school. It is only 1 block up from where my office will be, so that makes it very handy for walking Carena to school.

Move to Monterrey

2008-08-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

We are officially in Monterrey! Our household goods left McAllen yesterday evening and headed across the border. This morning our truck arrived here in Monterrey and a number of our friends and coworkers graciously helped up unload everything from the semi to a smaller truck, then to the house (the semi would not fit in our neighborhood). We are now very busy putting everything away.
Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to pray that our house in McAllen will sell soon. Our house is under the 3rd contract, so we pray this will go through.

Virtual Tour of New House

2008-08-09T19:50:00.000-05:00

Photos of painting the new house

2008-08-07T21:51:00.000-05:00

Raymer Update - July 2008

2008-07-26T18:06:00.001-05:00

July 2008
Dear Praying Friends,

Psalm 89:11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

We praise the Lord for His goodness and provision for our family. These past few months have been even busier than our normal schedule. The month of May started with a special celebration dinner marking 50 years in the ministry for Debbie’s dad Valente Hernandez. We are thankful for the faithfulness that Bro. Hernandez has shown to our Lord for these years. We were also thankful that Debbie’s sister Karen along with her 5 month old daughter Liana were able to come from Hawaii for the special celebration. We enjoyed spending time with the family.

The first week of May took our family back to Monterrey to continue working on our new program to provide continuing education to pastors. Russell recorded a two week module course taught by Missionary Jim Gardner on Youth and Camp Ministries. The course was well received by the students and area pastors. During the same period of time, we hosted our second Intensive Course for pastors. This was the same course material that was taught last October in Saltillo, but this time we were able to share it with pastors in the Monterrey area. We were excited to have 20 pastors in attendance at this conference, and we are looking forward to more of these conferences in the future, with the next one in Cd. Madero in September.

We were also able to be in Monterrey for the graduation services of the Universidad Cristiana de Las Américas. Over the past several years we have been able to get to know several of the graduates on a personal level, most notably was our close friend Idai Ramirez whom we have known for 16 years. Idai graduated with a degree in Linguistics. She has helped our family with the groups traveling into Mexico with us for the past three summers, and it was a special blessing for us to see her walk across the platform and receive her degree!

In June we were busily working on preparing for the mission teams and packing up our house to get ready for our upcoming move to Monterrey. It has been great seeing how God has brought everything together for our move. We should be closing on the sale our house in McAllen and close on the purchase of our new home in Monterrey within a week. We are excited about our future ministry with OREMUNDO and the university in Monterrey.

July has been busy with mission teams. Our first group traveled to work at the Christian university in Monterrey to assist in different projects around the campus. Our main project was to paint the interior of both dormitories.

Our next trip was with our home church, Tri-City Baptist from Kansas City. We were able to take the group to the north side of Guadalupe where we were able to assist in two vacation Bible schools each day. The first was at the church where we were staying. We had a little over 200 in attendance at this VBS. The second was at a new church that is being started by the main church. We had 100 attending this VBS located in the pastor’s house.

Carena continues to grow and make new friends everywhere she is. She is excited about the move to Monterrey (as long as we bring her toys ). She is looking forward to attending K4 this coming year.

Thanks for your prayers and support,
Russell, Debbie & Carena Raymer

Prayer Requests:
• Last mission team
• Finalizing sales and purchases of houses
• Ministry changes
• Carena as she starts school
• Furniture and household importation to be smooth

Hurricane Dolly

2008-07-23T18:05:00.001-05:00

Today Hurricane Dolly has decided to come for a visit. Thankfully she went a little north, but we are now getting the wind and the rain that comes with a Cat. 2 hurricane. I went out and took a short video so you could see some of the rain here at my folk's place in Mission, Texas. The interesting thing is that the wind is coming in from the West and the hurricane is coming in from the East. This is due to the counter-clock-wise movement of the hurricane.
The wind and rain have picked up a little more since this video was taken at 5:23 PM central time.
One of the funniest things that I saw was a small animal running across the back alley and I was trying to figure out what it was as it was running like a dog, but looked funny. I then saw it was a jack-rabbit that was just scarred and trying to figure out how to get out of the rain.

House in Monterrey

2008-07-21T23:11:00.000-05:00

We praise the Lord that the sale of our home in McAllen continues to move forward. We should close on both the house in McAllen and the new home in Monterrey this week. Here are a few photos of the new house.

South Padre Island

2008-06-12T16:45:00.000-05:00

We were able to take a couple of days as a family at South Padre Island before our summer gets too hectic with trips and moving. We were happy that Ana and the boys were able to go with us.
Here are a few photos from the outing.

International Museum of Art and Science

2008-06-12T15:47:00.001-05:00

We have enjoyed our trips to the IMAS museum here in McAllen. Carena loves to go and do many projects, as well as, play with her friends and cousins.
The museum is setup for children and has lots of activities. They also have a large wooden playground that the kids really enjoy.

[Here on the left is Carena along with her friends Obed & Genesis Ybarra (to her left) and Justin Fabela is right behind Carena.]

Carena and Genesis

School

2008-06-12T15:31:00.000-05:00

Carena ready for School

Beginning this semester Carena began attending school at Faith Christian Academy - Mission, TX for one day each week. She was joining with the K4-K5 class of Mrs. Kim Harris. Carena enjoyed going to school each week and it was a great prep time for getting her ready for school next fall.

Carena and Mrs. Harris

Carena and her classmates!

Justin's Birthday

2008-05-24T17:03:00.001-05:00

We are thankful that we were able to be back in town and spend some time with Justin for his birthday. We were able to take Justin to Mr. Gatti's Pizza buffet along with Ana & Tevi as well as Grandma & Grandpa Hernandez before they left for Mexico again. The kids got into the photo both and we had this picture taken. In the picture from Left to Right: Carena Raymer, Justin Fabela, Estevan (Tevi) Fabela.

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We were also able to go to Justin's soccer game that was held on his birthday. His team beat the undefeated team on this day. These are a couple of photos I took. The boy with Justin is his friend from school Ezekiel.

Carena & Tita

2008-05-24T08:58:00.001-05:00

While we were in Monterrey these past couple of weeks, Carena saw a picture on a billboard of a Chimp named Timo. She thought he was so cute. I told here I knew where he lived, and maybe someday we could go and visit him. A week later we were downtown Monterrey spending some time as a family, and we got to the street where Timo lived. I told Carena we would go see if Timo was home. We arrived in the store and Timo wasn't home but Carena immediately saw Tita, a much smaller Chimp playing and she decided she wanted her picture taken with Tita the Chimp in a little dress wearing a diaper (she thought that was so funny). After the picture Tita turned and gave Carena a giant hug - it was very cute.

Carena's AWANA Presentation

2008-05-04T23:51:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, May 4, 2008 Carena participated in our church's AWANA presentation with her Puggles group. We thought you might enjoy the video.

Raymer Update - April 2008

2008-05-03T17:17:00.001-05:00

April 2008

Dear Praying Friends,

The past several months have been full of activity for us. We thank the Lord for His provision and protection during these days.

As many of you have heard, we are currently preparing to transition our base of operation to the Monterrey, Mexico area. We will be continuing to minister with OREMUNDO, as well as, work closer with our sister ministry Universidad Cristiana de Las Américas (Christian University of the Americas). We will be working on expanding the new area of Advanced Pastor Training Courses that we have begun to record. We will also be expanding the publications area of OREMUNDO and UCLA. We have been busily trying to pack our belongings and get our house ready to put on the market to sell. We ask that you would pray for us as we have our house on the market, and as we look for housing in Monterrey. Our plans are to move once our home has sold.

Although we have been focusing on our upcoming move, it has not slowed down our pace. February began with Russell and Kirk Briscoe making a quick trip visiting a number of churches making plans for our summer trip ministry. We thank the Lord for the folks who will be traveling with us this summer. We have over 200 people scheduled to minister in Mexico with us this summer.

The second week of February took our family to the Tampico, Mexico area for a pastors conference. Russell was asked to assist with the technical aspects of this conference. It was a lot of movement of equipment as Russell sat up the sound and recording equipment in one location during the day, then in a completely different auditorium in the evening. We thank God for the wonderful preaching that was presented at this conference which was focused on different social problems facing God’s people in today’s world. While in Tampico we got to see several of the children that Debbie taught in VBS last August and their parents. What a blessing to see that 3 new families have been going to that church since the kids classes.

March took us back into Mexico for another pastors conference and a special service celebrating 50 years in the ministry for Debbie’s dad, Valente Hernandez. God has richly blessed the ministry of Bro. Hernandez, and there was a large group of people present whose lives have been touched through his ministry. The celebration marked a milestone not a completion of ministry. We thank God for the continuing ministry as an Evangelist that Debbie’s dad has throughout Mexico. As family, we wish that he would slow down a little, but we are thankful for his faithfulness to the Lord. Debbie enjoyed seeing family members that she had not seen in 15 years.

April took us back to Monterrey for a special conference celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Christian University of the Americas. Russell once again assisted with the technical aspects of this conference. It was exciting to hear the testimonies of how God was using the graduates in different areas of ministry. It was a special time of giving thanks to God for His blessings and provision over the years. We are excited about working closer with these students in the future.
Carena continues to grow. Recently she began attending a K4-K5 class one day a week. She enjoys going to school, but does not like sitting down for the classwork. She continues to grow and does not stop going. She is a typical 3 year old. She is excited about moving down to Monterrey, although she keeps asking if we are taking her toys with us.

Please pray for us as we will be spending the majority of the month of May in Monterrey recording a course on youth ministry. This course will be part of the new program for pastors that we are creating. Russell will also be coordinating another Intensive Course for pastors the 8th-10th of May.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and support. We are so blessed to be completing 15 years serving the Lord here in Mexico and realize that it is only through your generosity and faithfulness that we have been able to continue in this ministry.

May the Lord richly bless each of you,

Russell & Debbie Raymer

Raymer Update - November 2007

2007-11-14T10:57:00.003-06:00

November 2007

Dear Praying Friends,

“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.”

In September we finished converting the fourth level of our video courses from video to DVD! As many of you know we have been working on this for many years, and the Lord has given us the strength to finish this project. God has used these courses around the world for over twenty years to train men and women for His service. We continue to send out around 2,000 discs each year to each of the Spanish-speaking countries around the globe. Please pray for the continued growth of this important training tool for churches and Bible institutes in the Spanish-speaking world.

October was an exciting month for us. A number of years ago pastors began to ask Russell about advanced training materials geared towards pastors as our video courses are geared to lay workers at a Bible institute level. God began to give Russell a strong burden to offer continued training primarily for pastors. As we sought God’s direction about offering something advanced, we decided to change our conference ministry direction. We praise the Lord that over the years many churches have begun to host general pastors’ conferences throughout Mexico and the Spanish-speaking world, but there is very little in-depth training for pastors. With this in mind, on October 4^th-6^th, 2007, we held our first intensive course for pastors. The course was held in Saltillo, COAH, Mexico. We had hoped to have between 15 and 25 pastors in attendance at this 3 day course, and we were pleasantly surprised with 15 on the first day, and the 2^nd and 3^rd day we had 23 in attendance! This course consisted of 16 hours of classroom style teaching for the pastors. Matt Bixby and AJ Gibson, teachers at the Christian University of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico, taught 8 hours each on Homiletics and Pastoral Theology respectfully. The pastors left the course excited and encouraged. We already have two more of this particular course scheduled for the Monterrey and Tampico, Mexico areas in 2008. Our goal is to offer this course for two years in different areas of Mexico and Lord willing in other parts of the Spanish-speaking world. Russell is coordinating all these courses and preparing all necessary materials.

The last two weeks of October took us to Monterrey, where Russell recorded a block course being taught four hours each evening by missionary to Venezuela, Gary Queen. Bro. Queen taught a course entitled, “The Administration of the Local Church.” This was a necessary and informative course, as Bro. Queen filled the course with personal experience from his many years serving in Peru and Venezuela. We were excited that two of the pastors who had attended the intensive course in Saltillo attended this course also. There were several other pastors who expressed interest in attending, but with the short notice were not able to attend. This course was the third block course that we have recorded. We are thrilled that we were able to announce to the pastors in Saltillo a new program that Matt, AJ and Russell have been working on to offer even more continuing education classes for pastors. The University in Monterrey is opening a new division under its Theology department which is called Institute of Christian Ministry. This institute will have several different programs and one will be a way for pastors to take courses that we are recording at the school to receive credit towards a diploma. The intensive courses are part of this program also. The pastor will take 7 courses on DVD, take quizzes and tests online and then take the intensive course live to be eligible to receive the diploma. Please pray for this new area of ministry. Our goal is to begin offering the courses on DVD in January. Russell is currently editing the first of these courses and preparing the online testing modules.

It is hard to believe that on the 28^th of this month Carena will turn three. We praise the Lord for her growth. She is such a joy to us. She continues to amaze us with her vocabulary and her understanding of both English and Spanish. She loves to sing, put on puppet shows, read, color and play with her dolls. Debbie has her hands very full keeping up with Carena each day, but she is doing a wonderful job teaching her.

Russell has reapplied for his Mexican FM3 visa. Please pray for a smooth process. Also, please pray for a personal request for Debbie’s family.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support. We thank the Lord for the your faithfulness that allows us to serve here in Mexico.

In His service,

Russell, Debbie & Carena Raymer

Raymer Update - September 2007

2007-09-21T15:26:00.003-05:00

Raymer September 2007 Prayer Letter

September 2007

Dear Praying Friends,

Our theme for the past few months has been “God’s Plan and Timing is ALWAYS Best.” This summer has been full of many activities which have kept us busy and trusting in God.

The end of May brought the 2^nd Annual Pastor’s Conference at the Christian University of the Americas in Monterrey, Mexico. Russell was asked to teach a workshop on Church Finances. The reception to this workshop was very exciting as pastors are seeing the importance of making sure that God’s finances in the local church are handled properly. Russell also was responsible for the technical aspects of sound and recording at the conference. The conference was a great time of fellowship and learning for many pastors from around Mexico.

After the conference in Monterrey, we made a quick trip to Kansas City where we were able to attend the high school graduation of one of Russell’s nieces. It was nice to see family and friends as many had not seen Carena for some time.

Our June was a very unique one for us, as we were not scheduled to take any groups into Mexico during the month. This allowed us to help organize and run the Vacation Bible School at our church in Mission, TX. About six months ago we began attending and serving at the Iglesia Bautista del Valle in Mission, TX. The church wanted to have a VBS but had not had one before. This church has recently changed from a mission of a local English speaking church to its own church. We saw God bring nearly 50 children in for the Bible schools. This was very exciting since the church only runs about 15 children on Sundays. We saw many children come to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ during the week. Debbie taught the older children, while Russell coordinated all the activities and events surrounding the classes. It has been fulfilling to see the excitement that the adults in the church have had to continue ministering to those children. This month we plan on expanding our AWANA program to reach out to the community children.

The first day of July took us with our first group of the summer to Guadalupe, Mexico where we ministered at the Christian University of the Americas. Our trip began on a different note. On Sunday morning as we were obtaining our permissions to enter Mexico, Russell received an urgent phone call that the youth pastor’s father had just had a massive heart attack. We quickly made arrangements for him to cross back over the border to return home to his family. We didn’t know why we had been delayed at immigration until receiving that call – God’s timing is always best. With the group’s other sponsors we continued to Monterrey where we worked on a variety of projects at the university. We worked on painting a guest house that would house a new teacher and his family for the upcoming year. We also helped the Christian day school associated with the University on a project of getting ready to put a roof on a new building for their kindergarten. On late Thursday morning a load of over a thousand clay blocks for the roof arrived. The contractor was very upset because he had told the company to deliver them on Friday morning. They had to be unloaded and stacked on the roof. Once again we saw the hand of God in this because with our many hands available this was able to be done quickly and efficiently – what the contractor didn’t realize was that our group was leaving Friday morning, so God had them delivered early.

Our next trip took us back to the city of Guadalupe to work with a different church. This week we were working at two different Vacation Bible Schools each day. In the mornings we worked at the main church and in the evenings we were at a mission church about 30 minutes away. It was exciting to see the children arrive and arrive. We ran nearly 200 children in the morning VBS. We helped organize the young people to help out in the different classes and prepare the craft project each day. Russell ran the puppet stage and with the help of his puppets asked the children lots of questions. Now imagine a room 10’x12’ and imagine 100 children crowded into that space. That was our evening VBS. We were pleasantly surprised at the number of children that the Lord allowed us to work with at the mission. The Lord blessed and the two churches who traveled with us brought a lot of prizes and crafts that were a great blessing to the churches.

The end of July found us traveling back to the other edge of the city of Guadalupe to work with a church for the first time. In 1993, Russell’s first year here in Mexico, we had visited this church when it was a mission. It was new and renting a small house. Now the Lord has blessed and the mission is now a church with its own building, and it rents a house down the road for additional Sunday school space! The plan for this week was different than normal. During the morning and early afternoon we worked on painting the outside of the auditorium and worked on some remodeling inside for a new office. Then in the early evening we had a special youth outreach. We went to a park about a half block from the church and held a soccer tournament on two days. We then had a challenge from God’s Word and saw many young people make a decision for Christ.

Our final trip of the summer was to Tampico. The plan for this week was to hold a special children’s camp program for 3 days. Russell and the pastor of the church have desired to do this program for a couple of years. A few days before the trip was to depart for Mexico, we received a call that the group we had scheduled to travel with us would not be able to come. Russell called and talked to the pastor in Mexico and they both felt that God was leading to go ahead with the planned children’s program. We went ahead as a family and traveled down to Tampico for the activity. Russell organized the entire program and ran the opening, games and closing, while Debbie taught the 11-14 year old class. We saw God work in mighty ways and saw 89 children the first day, 95 the second and 96 on the final day! This was more children than the church had ever had for a children’s class! Debbie had the privilege of leading three boys to the Lord out of her class, and there were several other children saved in other classes.

On our way home from Tampico we stopped by Monterrey so that Russell could meet with Matt Bixby and AJ Gibson from the Christian university. Russell, Matt and AJ are working on a new program of continued education training for pastors. We are excited about how God is working and opening doors for this new part of our ministry. We would appreciate your prayers as we continue finalizing the plans for this program.

Carena continues to grow and expand her world. She loves to sing and talk. She made friends with all those who traveled with us, and usually learned the names of all the girls in our van long before mommy and daddy did. She does not like to see anyone leave. She has a hard time saying good-bye. She enjoyed teaching the girls songs in Spanish, while they taught her new songs in English each week. Carena enjoyed being in the children’s classes this summer and learned many new Bible verses. Very soon she will be able to be another translator on the trips as she is picking up both languages very quickly and knows the difference between the two.

We would appreciate your prayers as Russell continues to finish the conversion of the videos to DVDs. The project has taken much more time than we had originally anticipated, but the end is in sight as the fourth year of the videos is nearing completion. Lord willing, this month this step will be completed. Also, October 4-6 Russell will be organizing an Intensive Bible Course in Saltillo, Mexico. This is a new program that we are working on. Please pray for Matt Bixby and AJ Gibson as they teach at this course.

We have had several different churches in Mexico ask us to help them find some toys for their toddler nurseries. We would appreciate your prayers for this that God will provide. If anyone would have some toddler toys in good condition that they would consider donating to these churches, we would appreciate it. They can be sent to us at OREMUNDO.

Thank you for your continued support and prayers. We praise the Lord that over the past year several of our churches have increased our support level. Please pray for us as we will be traveling in Mexico most of the month of October.

Thank you,

Russell, Debbie and Carena Raymer

2007-09-17T09:54:00.000-05:00

Carena loves to give puppet shows!

2007-04-11T23:28:00.000-05:00

This week we are taking a couple of days to visit San Antonio, Texas. A couple of our dear friends Rene, Tina, Lukas & Mikah Saldaña were going to be in San Antonio for a convention where Rene is promoting his new book (see his blog).
Both families arrived on Tuesday Afternoon to San Antonio (us from McAllen & the Saldaña's from Lubbock). We enjoyed a nice dinner together on the River Walk that evening.
Wednesday the ladies enjoyed shopping at the outlet malls. Then some more friends from McAllen Albert & Patricia Ramos and their girls arrived in time for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. Below you will find some photos of our evening.

Tina & Micah Saldaña
Carena, Cassie, Lukas, Mikah (with Tina)
Albert & Patricia Ramos
Russell, Debbie & Carena
Ramos'
Lukas Saldaña & Carena (Daddy isn't so sure about this ;) )
Rene Saldaña and Mikah
Carena sharing "I Love Yous"
Lukas
CarenaMikah

2007-02-02T22:32:00.000-06:00

2006-12-11T23:19:00.000-06:00

December 2006

Dear Praying Friends,

Study to shew thyself approved unto God,
a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

Approved Workmen was the theme for our 18^th Annual Pastors, Leaders and Workers Conference. The Lord truly blessed during this conference. A number of pastors from various parts of Mexico attended. We were blessed with workshops on Homiletics, Preaching Styles, Children’s Ministry, and Ethics in the Ministry. God brought together a sweet communion in the conference. We are excited to see how God will continue to use these teachings in their lives. If you understand Spanish and would like to hear the preaching and teaching from the conference, please visit our website where we have all the workshops available for listening. (www.oremundo.org)

Our last newsletter mentioned that we were in Monterrey, Mexico working on my immigration paperwork. Many have asked how the process is going. We are still working on the paperwork, but we are confident that the Lord will open the doors for the middle of December to finish the process. Please continue praying for this process so that we can continue ministering here in Mexico as God has directed.

The Lord continues to expand the Video Course ministry. During the past month courses have been sent to many different countries around the globe. This past week we received a request for 120 DVDs that will be taken to Cuba during the month of December. It is exciting to see how God continues to use this ministry in churches. We are continuing to finish the transferring of the videos to DVD. The Lord has truly blessed in this area and we are over three-fourths of the way finished with this project.

Several months ago I received an invitation to preach at a Pastors Conference in Managua, Nicaragua. The day after Thanksgiving I traveled from Kansas City, MO to Managua to participate in this conference. I preached on the subject of Biblical Stewardship, as well as, translated for one of the other speakers two times each day. We are excited to see how God is furthering our ministry to new areas. It was a joy to get to know over 80 pastors from Nicaragua and Honduras who attended this conference. You can see some photos from this conference or listen to the audio at:

http://www.oremundo.org/ES/predicaciones/managua_nicaragua_2006.htm

Carena continues to grow. She turned two on November 28^th, and we continue to praise the Lord for her. She is speaking more each day and is grasping both Spanish and English well, and she seems to distinguish the two well.

Thank you for your faithful prayers and financial support. We trust you will enjoy a blessed Christmas season.

May the Lord richly bless each of you,

Russell, Debbie & Carena Raymer

2006-11-28T22:33:00.000-06:00

Pastor's Conference
Managua, Nicaragua
27-30 November 2006

Here are a few photos so far of Russell's trip to Managua.

Flight to Nicaragua
Managua
Baseball stadium - Managua
Lake in Managua
Managua - Lake Managua
Pastor Herbster talking with one of the Nicaraguan Pastors
Shops
Market
Bro. Braswell at the Conference
Market
Some of the Pastors from Nicaragua and Honduras
Pastor Noe Mendoza

Raymer September 2006 Prayer Letter

2006-10-03T14:15:00.000-05:00

September 2006

Dear Praying Friends,

Php 2:11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Thank you for you prayers and support as we continue to serve our Lord here in Mexico.

God has blessed us greatly over the past few months. It has been a very busy time, but we have seen many blessings come from the Lord.

Carena is 22 months now, and continues to grow, and her vocabulary continues to expand in both English and Spanish. She is able to count to 5 by herself in both languages and knows which is which. She loves to make new friends. We thank God for the health that He has given Carena throughout our many travels.

This summer we took several groups into Mexico on mission trips. Our first group went to the church that we attend in Reynosa. We painted the entire auditorium a nice shade of yellow. We were also able to work on a new office space for the church’s assistant pastor.

Our next two trips were to new locations for us. At the first of these locations we were able to help sand some pews for the church and also level some property on the side of the church to extend the sidewalk. Then each evening we helped with the Vacation Bible School classes. We were able to see many children come to a saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our next group went to another new location where we were able to hold two VBS classes each day. The first class was held from 9 till 1, and then the next class started at 4 and lasted till 7 at a mission church about 30 minutes away. At each location we saw God’s hand working in lives. Once again we saw a number of children saved. The mission church we were helping had just been started this year, and the Pastor asked us to pray for men to come to the church because up to that point they had no men attending. A couple of weeks after the trip, I received an exciting e-mail from the pastor that stated since the VBS classes two complete families were now attending the church! To God be the glory!

We are thankful that God allowed us to have the help of Idai Ramirez this summer. We met Idai about 14 years ago when we took a group to her father’s church in Cd. Madero, Mexico. Idai is now a linguistics student at the Universidad Cristiana de Las Americas in Monterrey. She was a great help to us, and Carena adopted her as her best friend.

Between trips we have continued to advance on the project of transferring of the videos to DVDs. I am now working on the 4^th of 4 levels. The requests for the videos and DVDs continue to come from all around the world.

After the summer trips ended we were able to travel to Loveland, CO for a missions conference at Gateway Baptist Church. We are so thankful to Gateway and the many others who have faithfully supported us for many years.

We quickly returned home from Colorado in time to pack for our next trip to Monterrey, Mexico. We are currently in Monterrey at the Universidad Cristiana de Las Americas (a sister ministry of ours). Over the next two weeks we will be recording a block course that will be presented to the Theology students at the University. This is a trial recording to see about the possibilities of recording more courses that are offered at the University, as we have had pastors asking us for more in depth studies. We are at the same time working on my immigration papers. Over the past few months, the immigration has been telling me that because of the frequency of our trips to Mexico that I need to obtain some different papers. The process is a two to three week process if all goes smoothly. Please pray that the papers will be processed quickly.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

May the Lord richly bless each of you,

Russell, Debbie & Carena

Russell, Debbie & Carena Raymer

Info about the Raymers

2006-08-20T22:50:00.000-05:00

Russell & Debbie Raymer

Missionaries to MEXICO

Serving with OREMUNDO Ministries

Reaching Mexico and the Spanish-speaking World

Who We Are:

q Russell

Russell grew up in a Christian home and realized at the age of five that he must personally accept the Lord Jesus Christ. It was also as a young child that the Lord began to touch his heart for missions. Throughout his junior and senior high days, his love grew for missions. In 1986, his first trip into Mexico, the Lord strengthened his desire to serve as a missionary. In May of 1993 he received a degree in Missions and a minor in Accounting. While in college, he spent three weeks in Africa and another week in Mexico on mission trips.

During Russell's last visit to Mexico the Lord showed him that He wanted him to serve with the missionaries making up the OREMEX team. Russell submitted to Gods will and ten days after graduating from college, he began serving in Mexico.

q Debbie

Debbie is the oldest daughter of Valente Hernández, the founder of OREMEX. She grew up in the ministry of OREMEX, and was saved at the age of fifteen. The Holy Spirit had been working with Debbie for a number of months. After hearing a message about pretending to be a Christian, she realized that she needed to be saved. At the age of seventeen, she surrendered her life to Christian service. In May of 1994, she received a degree in English Education.

q Carena

After eight years of marriage, the Lord blessed us with the birth of Carena Sofia on November 28, 2004. We are excited to see what God has for this new addition to our family!

What is OREMUNDO Ministries:

OREMUNDO is a group of independent missionaries working as a team under the authority of Tri-City Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri. We are a ministry designed to assist national pastors and missionaries in church planting and the training of laborers for the ministry. The OREMUNDO is composed of several missionary families who together strive toward the goal of seeing the Spanish-speaking world evangelized. Our name was OREMEX until January 1, 2006 when we expanded the name to better fit our vision of the world (mundo).

Areas of Ministry:

q Video Bible Courses

OREMUNDO Video Bible Courses is a program designed to take Biblical training to those who need it. Our program consists of more than 300 videotapes and DVDs and is being used in 25 countries around the world. Many men and women in Spanish-speaking countries desire to learn more about Gods Word, but are unable to go to a Bible College or Bible Seminary to receive more training. This is where the Video Bible Schools help. Local pastors or missionaries can take the courses and use them to train their people in their own local churches. Russell is the head of this program and records, edits and duplicates these courses. All of the courses are taught in Spanish by pastors or veteran missionaries.

q Missions In Action Trips

Each year several hundred young people and adults have the opportunity to see missions first-hand through our Missions In Action Trips. We take church groups into Mexico for approximately one week to experience missions. While in Mexico, we strive to minister to local churches through evangelism, childrens classes, construction projects and many other service areas. Russell is one of the trip leaders. He also translates and interprets for the group. Debbie usually runs daily childrens classes, helps with the cooking and translates for those who need it.

q Pastors & Leaders Conferences

OREMUNDO hosts several Pastors and Leaders Conferences throughout Mexico. These conferences are a great time of encouragement to pastors and missionaries alike. We bring in special speakers to challenge the pastors and leaders. These conferences are a great blessing to pastors. Many look forward to the conferences with great anticipation. We also try to make Bibles and study materials available at greatly reduced prices to those who attend the conferences. Russell coordinates the conference with the hosting pastor, as well as does any audio and video recording that needs to be done at the conferences. He takes care of the Bible table and miscellaneous other jobs. Debbie assists where she is able and often teaches classes about childrens classes to the ladies who come to the conferences.

q Publications

Russell is responsible for any publications for which the ministry has need. These include devotional books, Spanish publications, brochures, flyers, newsletters and a host of other items needed for the expansion of the ministry.

q World-wide Web

We believe that technology can be greatly used for the Lords work. The OREMUNDO team has decided to use the method of the World-Wide Web to further Gods ministry to the Spanish-speaking world. We have set up a web site that offers all the information that we have in writing about our Videos, Conferences and Trips. It also offers information about each of the missionaries serving with the OREMUNDO team. We have received many positive comments from missionaries and pastors around the world who have received information without waiting for weeks for the mail to arrive. Russell has the responsibility of maintaining and upkeeping the OREMUNDO web site. The address is www.oremundo.org.