An Open Door: Moving away from the border

[Daniel White Family]

Dearest Praying Friends, Family, Loved Ones:

I am so very grateful for your prayers, your concern, your faithful support of our ministry and our family. When God called us to First Baptist Church of Eagle Pass, I questioned God and did not understand why he was not opening any doors of new ministry for us in Mexico. We continued to minister in Mexico for a time, but then stability began to deteriorate and cartel violence escalated. During one of our visits with Br. Pelayo and his family, they were very concerned for our safety and related several incidents of cartel beatings and killings in Nava. Under his advisement, I decided to not take my family back into Mexico, but I continued to cross and minister as God allowed. This was a very hard and difficult decision for us emotionally, as our hearts were (and are) still for Mexico. However, we believed that things would settle back down, and we would once again be able to minister in Mexico.

To this date, gross violence is worse than ever in Mexico. Killing, torturing, beheading, and rape are rampant throughout the nation; Mexico is at war and under siege. Federal, state, and local governments are powerless against the cartels and corruption is the rule, not the exception. It is not safe in Mexico, nor in the cities along the border. Many of the local governments on the US side have been compromised and the cartels have gained a stronghold in our cities. Eagle Pass is no longer a safe place to live, and I have been concerned for the safety of my family for over a year. All my hopes and dreams of returning to Mexico have been shattered and the reality is that many people are moving away from the border cities on the US side.

After much prayer and too many closed doors to count, God has finally answered and given me an open door to leave the border. I had been talking to a little country church, close to Abilene, for nearly a year. Sylvester Baptist Church is in a community in Fisher County, about 25 miles Northeast of Sweetwater. Sylvester has the Baptist church, a post office, and a community center. It is 10 miles to the closest gas station, and 15 miles to the closest small independent grocery store. There were several other options that we had been considering, other churches and other jobs in the secular world. I really did not have much hope for the little church being the direction that God wanted us to go. However, a series of events allowed me to preach for them one Sunday back in September. My heart was touched, and I began to believe that this might be the open door for which we had been praying for so long. The church had been considering several others and had another candidate they wanted to hear again. I went home and shared my heart with my family. We began to pray earnestly that God would give us clear direction, that he would clearly close doors and open the one he wanted for us.

I heard back from Sylvester Baptist Church, and they wanted me to come back and this time bring my family. During this time, I had not heard back from the other positions I was hoping for, but had a suspicion that God was doing something that only he could do. Another series of unlikely events allowed us to visit the church much sooner than we had originally planned. We drove up one Saturday and toured the county. D'Ann's heart melted, and we began to believe that we had found our new home. We stayed at the parsonage, and the parade of families began. One after another, they came by to visit with us, and we began to fall in love with the people. I preached both Sunday services, and the search committee unanimously asked us to come and would present it to the church on Wednesday: we agreed. The church met and unanimously voted to call me as pastor. I accepted the call, finished out the month of October in Eagle Pass, and began our new ministry in Sylvester, Texas, today, Sunday, November 4th. This is a small church and the position is bi-vocational, so I will have to find employment soon to make ends meet, but I trust that God will provide.

After so long waiting, so many closed doors and rejection letters, it is surreal how everything fell into place so quickly. My head is still spinning. It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks and there was so much to accomplish before we could leave Eagle Pass. I sat down several times to write this, but could not concentrate. I apologize for the delay. We do still have a house in Eagle Pass and I would ask that you pray for our house to sell before the end of the year.

As we have moved from the border and are now completely off the mission field, we will be communicating with Landmark Mission Projects (LAMP) this week to determine our standing and relationship with them. I understand completely those who may want to redirect your mission support to other missionaries on a foreign field and encourage you to do so. However, there have been several who have expressed a desire to continue supporting us in our new ministry. After prayer and consideration, if it is your desire to continue your support of our ministry, please direct future support to the church and address below and simply indicate in the memo field that it is for our support.

Sylvester Baptist Church

PO Box 8

Sylvester, TX 79560

If you have any questions, comments, concerns, please email me at danielwh...@gmail.com or call me at 325-993-4479.

Faithfully your fellow-servants in the Lord,

Daniel & D'Ann White