Here’s a video of our 2011 Christmas  project in Chiapas, Mexico.

Click on one of the share links to show it to your friends.

In my last article I shared with you Photos of Our Christmas Projects.

Today I have some great news and excellent photos to show you.

Although Our Christmas gift giving ministry here in Chiapas, Mexico is still not over we have handed out over 2200 small toys and git packages. Here’s a report:

Pareje Nichen, San Jaun Chamula

San Juan Chamula is the center of a lot of anti-christian conflict.  Many people have tried to minister there but can’t.

We can and did minister less than 10 minutes from the main plaza in the city of San Juan Chamula.

With over 300 kids in attendance we ministered with professional clowns, toys , candies and my daughter Cristi even sang 2 songs with her guitar.

Praise God for 30 or so (older) chamula kids who came to the Lord this day. Special thanks to Pastor Gullermo Jiminez for making this event possible.

Cruz Palenque, Municipio de Salto de Agua

This Chol community is very poor. We minister 3 services in less than 24 hours and handed out lots of gifts as you can see in the photos.

Calvario, Municipio de Sabanilla

Calvario is located in the beautiful mountains near Yajalon Chiapas.

These Chol Indians are very loving and the youth even got involved in ministry here.

Chilon and Chilon San Antonio

This is a very poor area. The people are from the Tzental Indian tribes and the children her are very poor. We shared the riches of Jesus love with them.

See all of the photos

These are just some of the photos and we took many more…

You can see all of our photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/purposemission/

Over the past few days we’ve been busy holding crusades in which we are giving small gift packages to need Indian Children.

We ministered with music, clowns, preaching and even cutting hair in these needy places.

This article will mostly include missions photos because a picture can tell a thousand words.

Mitontic, Chiapas

After driving an hour and a half on some pretty rough dirt roads we made it to this Tzotzil Indian comuuntiy tucked away in the mountains.

This community is special because a Catholic Pries and his Congregation all have given their lives over to the Lord. (Catholicism in Mexico is filled with Idolatry and witchcraft so it’s not the same as in the United States). The new believers are still meeting in the Catholic church building only they took out all the graven images.

I was particularly touched as I saw the small children playing soccer with a soccer ball made out of candy. They’d never seen a piece of candy like this and since it was wrapped in paper they didn’t know what it was. Some of the larger kids played with the real ball that we included in their gift package.

We met  in the public park area of the community and had over 600 people attend the event. I preached the crusade and was also touched when an older gentleman, among many gave his life to the Lord.

Tzemembolom, Chenahlo, Chiapas

This place is one of my personal projects since it’s one of the poorest places I visit and also one of the place making the most progess for the Lord.

We met in an adutorium and had 3 Churches attending in addition to the people of the community (around 500 people attended the event)

Although not a christian, the community leader let us use the auditorium at no cost and actually thanked me for  the event once it was finished.

I’ll give you an update on San Juan Chamula a little later on plus I’ll have missions photos from Yajolon, Chiapas so if you haven’t signed up to get instant updates you’ll want to do so via the forms provided on this website.

View More Photos

You can view more missions photos at  www.flickr.com/photos/purposemission/

Looking for Christmas gift giving advice?

I’m about to share with you how to beat stress this Holiday season by giving gifts with wisdom and joy….

“It’s the thought that counts”, so here are some helpful thoughts when it comes to gift giving ..

Use Wisdom in Christmas Gift Giving

1. Ask God to give you wisdom as to what to purchase, who to purchase for and how to buy items.

2. Keep in mind how it makes you feel when you receive something you don’t really want or need.

3. Agree as a family to not go overboard in gift giving… Maybe just buy gifts for the children or draw names.

Give Gifts Based On What You Have Available

4. If you have money, share with others by buying items they want or need.

Bonus Christmas giving tip: The Presentation makes a difference.. Don't forget the gift wrapping.

5. If you are lacking in funds, don’t go into debt as a result of your gift giving activities.

6. You don’t have to spend money to give a gift. Your time, efforts, skills, and thoughts are often much more valuable than material gifts.

7. Make it a rule to NOT use a credit card to pay for gifts, this will add up to a large debt very quickly.

Give Gifts With Good Motivations

8. Give gifts because you love and care about someone.

9. Don’t give just to get something in return.

10. Don’t give because you feel “obligated” because someone gave you a gift.

Can’t Think of What Gift to Give?

11. Ask yourself, “What does the person “need”?

12. Give based on the person’s passion, interests or hobby.

13. Don’t be tempted by gag gifts or cheap, unimportant gifts, instead give gifts that mean something and improve peoples life

14. Give based on quality, not cost.

15. Keep your gift giving simple but not generic. Say no to socks, ties and soap on a rope.

16. Try not to become stressed out with holiday gift giving.

17. Remember, Jesus has already given the ultimate gift.. His life! This is a time of joy… not worry.

18. Here’s the Bible’s #1 tip about gift giving …

In Acts 20:35 Paul said ..

we ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

The Bible is full of verses that instruct us to give to the poor..

We know we should give but, often times, we don’t know how to give or who to give to. Here are some tips along with questions to ask before you consider giving to a charity or ministry…

How To Donate To The Poor

19. Give with passion. Are you passionate about the ministry?

20. Give based on relationship. Do you know anything about the person or charity?

21. Give to charities who demonstrate integrity. Does the ministry posses character, honesty and humility?

22. Be a good steward by giving responsibly. Did you check out the organization to find out how they will spend you donations?

23. Ask for a follow-up report. Who was helped, blessed or ministered to? What testimonies can be shared?

24. Get tax benefits by taking advantage of tax deductible donations. Will the ministry offer a tax deductible receipt for your gift?

25. Here’s My Last Tip…

Give To Our 2011 Christmas Outreach

The Chrsitmas gift  gving season is our favorite time of the year. Each year at this time we give to the poor. 2 years ago we gave out 2500 pairs of shoes. This year we will be giving a special gift package which includes a toy, sanitary items, school supplies and candy to the very poorest children we have found in the Indian communities.

Our goal is to provide a Christmas that the children will remember for years to come by providing hope and joy.

Click on the image of the little girl to see more photos of the Christmas gift giving projects

These are children who don’t expect to receive anything for Christmas because their parents can’t afford Christmas presents.

One of these places is located in San Juan Chamula where an entire Catholic church, including the Priest gave their lives to the lord.
When we give these gifts we teach the children about the true meaning of Christmas which can only be found in Jesus Christ..

I wrote the above tips and requirements because that is my criteria for our ministry here in Mexico.

Now that you know how to give gifts you need an opportunity to give. I want to provide you with that opportunity now by asking you to give to our ministry using using the donate button or via our missions giving page.

We appreciate your special year end tax deductible donation in any amount.

You may download it in a Printable PDF format by clicking on the link below:
25 Tips for Christmas Gift Giving (69)

May your Christmas gift giving be filled with wisdom and joy!

Over the Christmas Holiday’s we were blessed to be able to give out over 3100 gifts to needy Indian children here in Mexico.

Many children didn’t have shoes– we put shoes on their feet.

Some children weren’t expecting a gift for Christmas– we provided them a small toy.

And one child particularly touched our heart….

Claudia Sotomayor. She’s a 13 year who had a cancerous tumor in her leg.

Although Claudia was week and skinny from weeks of chemotherapy she was courageous.

Claudia’s family, who are from a small town miles away were financially drained.  They were forced to sleep on cardboard boxes at the entrance of the children’s hospital because only 1 family member was allowed inside at a time.

We prayed and we also took action…

We provided our apartment in Tuxtla Gutierrez  for Claudia’s family members. We gave donations to pay for food and we gave Claudia a laptop.

“The smile on Claudia’s face is worth more than the cost of any computer”

Update–

Claudia had to have her leg amputated.

However she and her family are reaching  out to other unfortunate children located in the hospital.

A few days ago, they invited a mother and her 3 year old boy who has also been diagnosed with cancer to stay in the apartment with them.

This isn’t the first time they’ve  reached out to others who are in the same circumstance as them.

That touches my heart…. They understand the pain and are ministering to others.

We want to thank you because you also understand children’s pain.  Your financial gifts and prayers enable us to continue reaching out to needy children here in Mexico.

We appreciate you,

The Nemer Family

In my last article I told you about our desire to give a doll to Maria and  toys to 2499 other needy children here in Chiapas during this Christmas season.

I repent.

I can’t in good conscious give Maria a doll for Christmas.

We gave Maria a Doll but she NEEDS some Shoes for her feet

You see, I just got back from a trip to some of the Indian communities. I noticed something that has always caught my attention but really stuck out to me this time.

Many children don’t have shoes.

Since it’s cold, rainy and muddy in many of these Indian villages this really impacted me.

In my last newsletter I wrote ““Your Gift Will Put a Doll in Maria’s Arms and a Smile on 2499 More Hopeful Children’s Faces this Christmas”.

How can we put a doll in Maria’s hands when she really needs shoes on her feet?

Many Indian families have several children and simply cant afford to purchase shoes for all of them.

When I asked the Indian leaders what they thought of the idea of purchasing shoes instead of giving toys to these needy children they smiled at me and said yes, this is definitely what our families need for Christmas.

Because the Children need shoes we wont be giving out toys this Christmas. (unless we have finances left over after purchasing 2500 shoes)

This week I’ll be ordering some inexpensive shoes for the Tzotzil and Tzeltal Indian children.

We’ll be giving out shoes to children from ages 1-14.

Help Us Put Shoes on Needy Children's Feet

Christmas Smiles in Chiapas

We’ve already programmed our Christmas special presentation. Each special day will include Shoes, perhaps a small toy if we have the finances, piñatas, candy, puppets and a special Christmas message. Each day we’ll gather together at least 5 churches in each location,

Here’s our Christmas schedule so far. We’ll add more communities to this list as finances permit:

December 15th- New Church dedication in Tzonjok, Cancuc followed by our first Christmas Presentation with the Tzeltal Indian. We’ll minster to well over 500 children this day since there are a lot of Tzotzil Indian tribes in this community.

December 16th- Pocoinichim. 2 large churches (including Takiukum)will meet here along with 3 smaller mission churches.

December 19th- Acteal. 11 years ago there was a great massacre in this town. We’ll be bringing a message of New life, hope and love to this community. The Zapatista town of Polum is 30 minutes away. Our church of over 250 people will be walking from Polum to Acteal to participate in this event along with 4 other churches.

December 21- Cholchihutal- This is a remote region of Chiapas. Several missions churches will meet with us this day. Pray for good weather since these Tzotziles will have to walk a long time to get to our central meeting place.

December 24- We’ll be spending Christmas Eve in the central Church of the Tzotziles in Chenahlo, Chiapas. In addition to bringing in Churches from las Limas, we’d like to do an evangelistic effort this day to reach out to the community by having each family invite a family to celebrate with us.

Christmas Day, December 25- Tzalhachin. Some of our largest and poorest Churches (Tzenembolom, Cruzton) will meet together for a day of Celebrating the Birth Of Jesus. How will you be spending Christmas? Come visit us.

Will You Help us put shoes on Maria’s feet?

We still don’t have all the finances needed to provide shoes for all the children which we expect to exceed 2500. We made these plans trusting in God to touch your heart to help provide shoes for these needy children during Chirstmas.

We’ll be working hard and traveling long distances to help provide shoes for these childrne’s feet and smiles on the faces of all the Indians we’re ministering to during Chirsitmas.

Will you help us help the children?

Make a tax deductible donation here. (Please specify that you want to make a donation for “Christmas Gifts in Chiapas”)  We could really use the donations before December 7th.

We appreciate you!

“Your Gift Will Put a Doll in Maria’s Arms and a Smile on 2499 More Hopeful Children’s Faces this Christmas”

We are nearing the Christmas season. What will you be getting for Christmas this year? Many Indian Children in Chiapas don’t know.  They’re really hoping for something, but not expecting to receive anything for Christmas.

Last year, thanks to you, we were able to give out 2100 gifts to some very poor children. That is HUGE and we never planned on doing such a big project because it was our first time to do so.

This ministry turned out to be a real blessing to many needy children last year in addition to encouraging 27 Indian Pastors and countless parents who really needed a little bit of Christmas cheer themselves.

Last year many children got a present for the first time in their lives and most of them had never got to even break a pinata.

One little girl’s maturity and courage was really inspiring.

One rainy day little Maria, who I calculated to be approximately 6 years old, was intently viewing the dolls that we gave out. It was obvious that she desperately wanted one.  However when we asked her to choose between the doll and the umbrella she surprised us by valiantly picking the umbrella. You see, she wanted the doll but she (and her mother) needed the umbrella. We gave her the umbrella and a few other little goodies and she quietly went back to her seat.

She very politely looked at her friends dolls… never saying a word. But as I gazed at her my heart also went out to her. “What a mature little girl”, I thought.

Our gifts were numbered since we had plans to give them out to so many needy children.

Without drawing too much attention I picked up a small doll and edged over to little Maria. As I handed her the gift her face lighted up. .

The expression of joy on her face was worth it all.

Although I was tired from all the travel I also felt blessed to be a part of little Maria’s excitement. She never expected to get the doll. This is just one of the many children we ministered too who are just like her.

Share the Christmas Smiles and Excitement

You may not be able to be here in Mexico but you can be a part of the excitement. Last year’s Children’s Christmas ministry put a smile on the face of a lot of great kids just like Maria.

This year we’ve discovered more tribes and isolated communities that are really poor and have NEVER had a Christmas present in their entire lives. It would be great to give even more gifts than we did last year.

Can we give Maria another doll and minister to 2499 more kids during Christmas 2009?

You tell me.

If we spent $10 per child we’d need $25,000.
Earlier, I asked you what you are getting for Christmas. Now I’d like to ask you what you are willing to give to help out a child who may not receive anything without your financial contribution

This money doesn’t go to me. This is a lot of work for us, but it’s worth it.

“I’m asking you to give the best tax deductible donation you can today.
I know times have been tough for some over the past year.  But that’s all the more
reason to prove to God and yourself that you’re a giver who truly cares about
the hurting.

God gave His best (His own Son) as your Christmas gift.  What can you do?

Can you give $20, $100, $500, $1,000, or even $10,000?”

We’d like to raise funds for this project by December 1st. You can make a tax deductible donation here. (Please specify that you want to make donation for “Christmas Gifts in Chiapas”

This content is from our November 2009 Newsletter.

Download it in pdf format: November 2009 Newsletter (127)

Thanks and God Bless

I’ve updated this article here: I Can’t Give Maria a Doll For Christmas!

We just finished a Christmas Video of the activities as we handed out 2100 toys and goodies to tthe Tzotzil and Tzeltal Indians over the Christmas holidays.

Besides the toys, we also had clowns, pinatas, candy, toothbrushes for everyone and a few extra goodies.

We traveled for 5 days in a row and visited 2 & 3 places a day. We took Christmas day off and then traveled for 2 more days in a row.

We were also fortunate to have some gringo friends visit from San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, Mexico

In all we visited 15 Indian tribes and communities.

There are now 25 Indian Churches and missions that we work with. some of the churches met together so it made it a little easier to give out the gifts.

Hope you enjoy the video:

As we near Christmas we would like to inform you of some Great News:

• Some accomplishments this year because of you
• Our Move to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico
• Our Special Christmas project
• A special invitation to help the ministry

"Ana, Cristi and I are blessed by your desire to help share a message of hope and love with the people of Chiapas, Mexico."

Thanks to You!
This past year you have made it possible for us to minister:
*Salvation and Church Planting
*Leadership
*Medical help
*Assistance to the poor
*And ministry to the children
*P.E.A.C.E. Plan
BECAUSE OF YOU, our ministry in Mexico is providing a spiritual covering to 83 churches in Chiapas, Mexico. More than half of these churches are Indian Churches and 12 of these are brand new church plants. What a great way to end off the Year 2008.

You did this!

This not only applies to those who have given financially. If you prayed for us you were a part of our success.

Getting Closer to the Tzotzil Indians

Much of our work this past year was with the Tzotzil Indians. I work closely with these churches and the new Indian leader, Jose Alfredo. We even moved to San Cristobal de las Casas which is located in the mountains of Chiapas to be closer to the Indians.

Here’s where we’re located on the map:
View Larger Map

Providing Christmas Smiles to over a 1000 needy Indian Children

This Christmas we are making a large effort to provide a special toy to some very needy little children in the Indian villages where we minister.

Watch this video from last years Christmas ministry:

Last year was great but this year we really plan on going all out. These little Indian children are by far the most needy and the poorest of the poor.

A small doll or toy car may be all that one of these little Tzotzil Indian children will receive this year.

Beginning on the 21st of December and ending on the day after Christmas we will be distributing gifts in the following villages:

• Chenalho
• Las Limas
• Cruston
• Chimix
• Acteal Centro
• Poconichim
• Takiucum
• Zinichil Vo
• Cancuc Pozo and 3 surrounding villages
  • If you give $100 dollars your donation will buy 25 toys
  • If you give $500 dollars your donation will buy 100 toys
  • If you give $1000 dollars your donation will buy 250 toys

From Tzanembolom- Nov 16, 2008

We already have one church who will be helping us finance this Christmas project. Would you please help us also?

I wrote a thanksgiving article on my business blog at Real Life Purpose about how our daughter Cristi gave a special gift to little Isabel and want you to know about it.

The other day, Mari who is a Tzental Indian girl who lives with us invited us to go to her house. Mari is from a small village located near Tenejapa, Chiapas.

After driving on some rough roads to get to her village we parked the tuck and walked another 15 minutes to get to her house.

When we entered her home we immediately noticed the dirt floors, a place to cook in the middle of the room and chickens running around inside.

Mari is one of 9 children. One of Mari’s sisters, Isabel, began playing with our daughter Cristi.
Cristi’s had her favorite stuffed animal with her. Little Isabel was especially interested in the little doll since she her parents obviously couldn’t afford to get her one like this.

We are trying to teach our daughter the importance of giving.



Cristi gives little Isabel her favorite stuffed animal

Cristi gave little Isabel her build-a bear. Although the stuffed animal meant a lot to our daughter it was a very special gift for little Isabel. That gift really made a difference in little Isabel’s life.

Your gift will make a big difference in over 1000 little Indian Children s lives this Christmas.

“Would you please consider making your best investment in the kingdom of God with us?”

Since each gift will cost us around 5 dollars we need to raise $5000. Look at how many choldren you can bless with just a little bit of money:

Here are 2 Reasons Why An investment in our mission’s projects is a wise way to spend your money during this Christmas Season:

1.    It’s the Giving Season. What better way to give than to invest in little children like Isabel.
2.    It’s the end of the year and you can write it off on your taxes. Besides benefiting missions you can also receive some nice tax deductions from your donations.

During this Christmas what can you give to help these poor Indian children…and to be a representative of Jesus to Mexico?

Please pray and ask God what He would have you give to share His love with those who are hurting.

To make a tax deductible donation now click here:



Thank You

If you have any questions or would like to donate offline please contact me at gregnemer@missionswithpurpose.com

We appreciate you,
Greg

The Poorest of the Poor.
Recently we ministered in an Indian village of 400 people called Tzanembolom.
This is one of the poorest villages I have ever visited. Despite the cool weather many of the Indians were without proper shoes or clothing to protect them from the weather.
It was especially heartbreaking to see the children without shoes.  This Christmas we will be giving a toy and personal necessities to these very poor Indian children. You can be a part by sending in your special donations. Don’t miss this opportunity to give a real Christmas experience to some really needy children.
Now, more than ever, These Children need Hope and Love!

From Tzanembolom- Nov 16, 2008

Martyred in Tzanembolom

This is the same village in which Diego Rodriguez Pastors a church of over 200 people which is half the population.
On Oct 15, 1997 the Zapatistas entered Tzanembolom and began to cut up Indian residents with their machetes.  Pastor Diego was strung up to a post and prepared to be killed. However, while his friends were being massacred he managed to escape with his life. As Pastor Diego told me the story he couldn’t help but to weep. Many of his family members and close friends were martyred this day
Sadly, this is only one of the many Christian Indian tribes that suffered the loss of lives and have been persecution because of their faith in Christ.

Click on the image below to view all the photos

Tzanembolom- Nov 16, 2008

Where Tzanembolom is Located:
View Larger Map