THE

CHALLENGE
'Pn<^ci^tK

' Mar^S ^
FEBRUARY 1973

PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY

DREAMING
...He

Is

able

to

do

exceeding abundantly

above a l l that we ask or think...

During the five months that we have been in

Mexico,
I have become increasingly aw8.re of
the need for new equipment for the production
of our radio program.
I had spoken to Norm
and had

found

that he also

had f e l t

that

the

production of the program was very tedious and

time consuming.
We knew that tape duplicators
were available
commercially but the cost ran

far beyond our budget and we knew we could only

dream.

Then we heard some good news.

The Glendale
Christian Church in Glendale, Arizona, was very
concerned with our radio ministry
and had de

cided to purchase for the work a tape duplica

tor.
we could hardly believe it.
I was re
minded of the verse I used to open the article.

The unit we expected to receive

was capable of

producing three duplicate tapes at a time,

a

man at the

trying to make
to spend.
The end

Glendale Church

the most of the money

result was that

but

was hard at work

he located

they had
a

very

good used duplicator that is capable of produc

ing eight copies at one time.
It is a
unit
that can be easily -transported and used.
It

Dreatnins CC^nt.)
will reduce time

radio program
able us

that we need

to produce

tapes by one-half

to offer

the radio

missionaries for transmission.

Indeed
the Lord
i s able to

and also

program
do more

our

en

to other
than we

ask or think.
And we ask your continued
prayers for the radio ministry and the corres
pondence courses and especially our labor in
visitation
that i t
work of the Lord.

will be

fruitful

in

the

A1?o Nuevo
A new year has arrived and although I have
never believed in New Year's Resolutions;
I do
feel that the new year provides us with a time
to re-evaluate our contribution to the Lord's
work.
As Margy and I
reflected on the old

year,

we

realized

how

richly

we

had

been

bles5.ei._

We did not stop with reflections but we began

to look for ways that we could use to further
the outreach of the Kingdom in our part of Mex
ico.
The results of our thoughts and prayer
ful considerations on the subject were these:
first, we want to double the amount of calling
we are doing because we have been unable to
contact all of the recipients of the correspon
dence course;
second,
we hope to upgrade the

quality of the radio program; third, we want to

establish a youth-oriented work in Queretaro
because we are reaching very few of the high
school or university students in the area;
and

forth, we hope to improve our usage of the

language as we attend our last three Spanish
classes.

Yes there is much we need, to do in this year.

With the

Lord's help

and your

prayer support

this year can be one that will draw many to the

Lord.

A Prayer Bequest
Forty
called

miles

south

San Juan

of Queretaro

del Rio.

is a

There is a

city
church

service held hefre every Sunday evening.

But
after three years of existence,
most of the
people still don*t seem to realize the love of
God and

His will

for

their lives.

There is

constant friction and as the people hear new

doctrines they accept them without weighing
the doctrines against what the Word of God
says.

For

pray

these

for

reasons,

this

we ask

congregation

that you

that

would

they might

grow in Spirit and in truth.

Fiestas
The Spanish word for party is "fiesta."

Mex

icans celebrate fiestas throughout the year but

none-seems quite as elaborate or as exciting as
a

Christmas f i e s t a .

We were priviledged to attend fiestas held in

two

churches

in

the area.

The

first

was

attended by members of three congregations.

Bill drove 10 people from the church in Quere-

taro to the town about ^

miles away.

There were about 35 in attendance.

Following
the introductions we sang a couple songs, had a
short Bible reading followed by prayer and then
had our refreshments and played games.
We left
rejoicing because of the Christian fellowship.

On Sunday, Decembeir 24th,

the church in Que-

retaro had two piriatas for the children of

the

Bible school in the morning.

All the kids took
turns swinging at them.
As they broke,
all
scrambled for the candy, nuts,
and fruit con

tained within.

During the evening service another pinata was

broken as different young people v/ere present.
Following this the entire congregation enjoyed
tamales, fruitcake, and atole.
Fellowship was
enjoyed by all.

Contributors
M/M Ralph Suiter

Chapel of the Stars

Las Vegas, Nev.

Palm Springs, Ca.

M/M Chet Stilabower

Sunland,

The Christian Church

Ca,

Atascadero, Ca.

M/M Richard Shine

Dominguez First Chr. Ch.

Long Beach, Ca.

Las Vegas, Nev.

Mrs.

E.

J.

South Gate,
W.

T.

Lake Mount Ch.

Prentice

Ca.

Merrick

Avondale, Ariz.

li/K Robert Legg

San Diego,

Adult Class, Vegas Valley-

Ca.

Las Vegas, Nev,

M/M Richard Baker

First Christian Church

La Crescenta, Ca.

Phoenix, Ariz.
Vegas Valley Chr.
Las Vegas, Nev.

M/M R. W. Hoff
Rome,

Ga.

yi/U R. L. Hollenbeck
Long Beach,

Vanderbilt, Pa.

M/M Ben.Hoff, Sr.

Atascadero, Ca.

Pa.

H/M T. L. Blake

M/M J. a. Brodie
.

Buckeye

Lo s -Angele s, Ca.

FORWARDING AGENTS ADDRESS

Mr.

& Mrs.

Ch.

Church of Christ

Ca.

M/M Dave Confer

Orviston,

of Christ

Rogers, Ohio
New Hope Christian Church
Columbus, Ind.

Richard Baker

FIELD ADDRESS

Mr.

& Mrs.

Wm.

Hoff

Apdo. Postal 741

2829 Stevens St.

La Crescenta, Ca. 91214

Queretaro,

Qro.

Mexico

Non-profit Organization

BILL AND MARGY HOFF

U. S.

POSTAGE PAID

Dominguez First Christian Church

Permit Number 65?

21300 Santa Fe Avenue

Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California 90810

Mission
P.

0.

Kempton,

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Services

Box

177

Ind. 46049

AUGUST 1973

PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY

^onet
"Rain, rain, go away come again some other
day, we want to hold a revival tonight." This
was the thoughts, in the afternoon of May 17th,
of those

people

who had

prayed so diligently

worked

so hard

and

that the meetings for the

next three evenings would be a success.

These meetings were entitled

"Qjmaeiit^igion

Cultural" and were held in Celaya,

Guanajuato,'

about

It was

^0 miles

from

Queretaro.

the

first time an approach like this had been tried

in the area.

Would the Lord use these meetings

to bring people to Christ?

tion in the minds

This was the ques

of the workers.

Pour native evangelists and three missionar

ies had spent much time in preparation and
prayer for the revival.
Mexicans from various
areas were asked to be on the program.
Some
came from as far away as Eagle Pass, Texas.
The planned program was a
combination
of

films

(from Moody Bible Institute),

Christian

musical groups and a

powerful speaker.
The
means of advertising was by radio,
sound
trucks, posters, and hand bills.
To insure
Norm

loaded

at least a
their

small crowd.

cars with

Bill and

Christians from

various congregations in the area.

"But Lord,
why the rain?
It is pouring so hard.
Won't

you stop it or don't you want to?"

The first night brought a small crowd to the

large rented building.
As the evening pro
gressed, it was evident that all still was not
adequately prepared.
The sound system was not

working properlj and the rock group from Queretaro had,:i^^iP^6me"^^B::^

givent't^four people responds

for thesT^four;:'

"Thank you Lord

tomorrow
night?"
The four were visited the following day and
the advertising continued in Celaya. The young
people had to be reached.
The second evening the crowd was much better
although the building still wasn't filled.
The
program progressed smoothly. When it came time

for the

nviTT^Eere

the invitation was

invitation,

be more

the people

^.^ondji .=and they continued

began

to re-

and continued until

peot^le ^ad come forward to learn more about

SrKrTat. -Wow Lord, you are powerful.
We
praise thy name tonight. How great you are."
There was one night left. Woiild the response
be as good this last night. Of course, no one
knew. All concerned worked and prayed all day.

It was finally time to begin.

A rock group
from Mexico City began the program.
They had
electricsO. guitars, amplifiers, and a P.A.
system.

About 15 to 20 minutes later, all of a

sudden everything was quiet and dark. All

power had gone off.
The fuse box was checked
but the blackout was citywide.
The people
slowly became restless and many started walking
out.
The
program continued
with regular
guitars then the speaker began. It was hard to
hear him in the large building that seated 600.

It was ^5 minutes

after the lights

went out

that they came back on.

The workers began to
look around and discovered that the building
was full.
The young people had gone out and

invited their friends. The film was now poss

ible anS'*he^.,^y^ctHcal guitars could play once

again.^"^Welvepe^lJie came forward that night.

"Thank yW-Iirord-^r-'tne total of i;6 people

who

came forward."
All these people have been
visited and many have been baptized.
Only the
/Lord knows the total outreach that was made by
these meetings.

Varied

Activities

Our activities have been many

and varied for

the past two months.

The first
June were spent in our border
States and back-

nix to get

two weeks of
trip to the

We went all the way to Phoe

new tires on our truck

care of some

and to take

necessary business since our for

warding agents had moved there.

Two days after we returned, the Dungans left

for a 5 1/2 week trip in the States.
We

promptly

began to

cover

some of

their work.

Margy took care of all the correspondence from

the radio programs.
My schedule was set up to
hold meetings or visit people every day of the
week.

For one week all went as planned.

Then sud
denly it began to rain and it rained and rained
and rained.

Queretaro

hadn't

much rain in many years.

pered because of this.
full of holes and the
and impassable.

The last part of

making

received

that

My visiting was ham

The paved roads were

dirt roads were just mud

June and July were spent in

the" radio tapes

and seeing

that they

were delivered.

We did a variety

of odd .jobs as we

tried to

help the Dungan's maid and see that their house

was taken care of.

Because Bob Wright and his

family were also in the States# we helped out

in various ways at the orphanage.
Some time was spent in fixing up our house
During July we did a lot of entertaining.
We
were fortunate in having two families visit us
from the States.
We also had short visits by
several missionaries and native evangelists.
We would be more than happy to have you pay

us a visit. Why not plan on spending your next

vacation in Mexico.
The airplane, train, or
bus are all good transportation to Queretaro or
Mexico City.

We would be

most happy

to show

you our work and show you some of the sights in

our area.

Just inform us

you are coming.

ahead of time

that

CONTRIBUTORS
M/M Richard Baker
Adult Class, Vegas Valley
Mrs.

G.

W.

Brandon

M/M Houston Farmer

M/M Ben Hoff, Jr.
M/M Ben Hoff, Sr.
Mr.

Carl Hoff

Las Vegas, Nev.

Church of Christ

Vanderbilt, Pa.
Dominguez First Chr. Ch.
Long Beach, Ca.
First Christian Church
Phoenix, Ariz.
First Christian Church

M/M R. W. Hoff

Reno,

Mrs. Dorothy Knapp

M/M Robert Legg

M/v! W, T. Merrick
M/U Henry D. Pelham
Mrs.

M/t/I
M/M
M/M
M/M

E.

J.

Prentice

Richard Shine
John Stapleton
Ghet Stilabower
Ralph Suiter

Nev.

Glendale Christian Church

Glendale, Ariz.
Lake Mount Ch. of Christ
Rogers, Ohio

New Hope Christian Church

Columbus, Ind.
The Christian Church

Atascadero, Ca.

Vegas Valley Chr. Ch.

Las Vegas, Nev.
Women's Council-Dominguez
Long Beach, Ca

FORWARDING AGENTS ADDRESS

Mr. & Mrs. Richard Baker

P. 0. Box 489
^^Goodyear,
Ariz. 85338

FIELD ADDRESS

Mr. & Mrs. Wm. Hoff

Apdo. Postal 57
Queretaro, Qro. Mex

OUR FORWARDING AGENTS HAVE MOVED.

PLEASE NOTE THE NEW ADDRESS IN ARIZONA.

Non-Profit Organization

BILL AND MARGY HOFF

U.

S.

POSTAGE PAID

Dominguez First Christian Church

Permit Number 65?

21300 Santa Fe Avenue

Long Beach, California

Long Beach, California 90810

Mission Services
Lt.

Box

Kenpton,

177

Ind.

46049

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

SP

41S23

THE
CHALLENGE
7

^ Marfti ^
PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY

OCTOBER 1973

ScMuHCft

^CUfMti4.

A week before summer camp I took the woman who was to be

the cook and we went shopping.
Our list included 120 lbs- of

beans, 200 lbs. each of potatoes and sugar,

^ I

720 eggs and many

hi
?

COOKS

"smal " purchases. ^I

IN GAMP KITCHEN

progressed,
I spent most
of my time moving supplies to the island.
Then came the big day.
I went to San Juan del Rio and

picked up 15 people while Norm gathered a carload from Queretaro, then we left for camp.
Everyone was able to cross the

causeway on foot, though Wr-^boated in their things.

everyone had"'--^rrived on the island, we took a count.

When
There

were 80 camperis and 20 more staff members.

After the young
people had been fed our first chapel service began.
I missed

tM^-serviee-'-'due ^c^rust-in-th-e-^^s-tank of the light plant.

I was soon calling it a "dark" plant
i of in raptt^m^;
but I had much less trouble

was entertariTiment by" t^ie young

people.CrTom.Gary then led some fab-

ulous singing.
Arturo^Samirez gave
the message then the evening closed
with
noon

a prayer circle.
sports included

with it

OF 10 BAPTISMS

BAPTISMS

I
H

. ^

The afterbasketball,

volleyball, socker, and swimming,

-JU

which were enjoyed by all.

We had rain every night which

usually began shortly after chapel
started.

Throughout the summer the

rain

been

had

the adobe walls

constantly

soaking

of the old hacienda

THE FALLEN ADOBE WALL

enced

great

growth

Christian lives

in their

and there were

10 young people baptized into Christ.

Young people are the
hope for Christ's church here in Mexico.
THE CHARTED BUS THAT TOOK 4-2 PEOPLE TO

THE CONVENTION

*
'Sr."

'V-- -"L

H"
bS,

mm

11
fI

licl

>.

Just four days after the camp ended.

along with

39 young people left for the

C^nven-t-iorr -i^t^arltiiLO-.

Norm,

and I

10^^fetefe4reaa7-.^^out]^

The chartered bus

mi^es north.

Margy,

>

t^ybk us the 4o6

^ The convention was all that had been hoped for in terms of
/fellowship,

teachings

and

inspiring music.

The 800 young

people who attended came with a wonderful spirit of love that

-made the whole convention a great success.

Bro/; Dean Gary of San Jose Bible College

gave a series of

3 lecttoes on^love, sex, and marriage in relation to today's

young people. The singing was fabulous and the special sing

ing groups

group

added their

personal

testimonies in song-

that came was "Los Latinos,"

One

a professional Christian

rock group from Los Angeles, Calif.

Their programs were a
big "Ji^it" with the young people and their music even got our
bus drivers to listen to the "message of love."
.Roberto Flores was the evening speaker. His powerful mes-

sa'ges- from

the Word

bro^g];it^seven,-^.young people

to Christ.

One of these was a teenage girl "~'who attends services in San

Juan del Rio. But besides the conversions, the greatest part

of the National Youth Convention was the upbuilding of

Christian young people from all over Mexico.
The youth here
need to know that they are not the only ones trying to follow
the Saviour

and the convention

did this.

We thank God for

the wonderful job done by the organizers this year.

i':

CONTRIBUTORS
Women's Council-Dominguez
Long Beach, Ca.

M/M Art Wain

South Gate, Ca.

y[/U Steve Thomason

The First Church of Christ

Barberton, Ohio

Glendale, Ariz.

M/lvi Wesley Tottingham

Central Christian Church

Atascadero, Ca.

Reno,

Mrs. Gertrude Wiley-

Atascadero, Ca.

Forest Falls, Ca.

M/^ Chet Stilabower

New Hope Christian Church

Sunland, Ca.
Mrs.

G.

W.

Columbus,

Vanderbilt,

Athens, Ga.

J.

Glendale, Ariz.
First Christian Church

Prentice

Phoenix, Ariz.

South Gate, Ca.

U/yi Ben Hoff, Sr.

Atascadero,

Vegas Valley Chr. Ch.

Las Vegas, Nev.
Dominguez First Chr. Ch.

Ca.

M/^ Robert Legg

Lemon Grove,

Long Beach, Ca.

Ca.

M/^ W. T. Merrick

Lake Mount Church of Christ

Rogers, Ohio
Adult Class-Vegas Valley
Las Vegas, Nev.

Avondale, Ariz.

MA Ben Hoff, Jr.

Atascadero, Ga.

fH/yi Ralph Suiter

m/yi Richard Baker

Huntington Beach, Ca.

Glendale, Ariz.

FORWARDING AGENTS ADDRESS

FIELD ADDRESS

Mr.

Mr.

& Mrs.

Pa.

Glendale Christian Church

Las Vegas, Nev.

E.

Ind.

Church of Christ

Brandon

M/M Richard Shine

Mrs.

Nev.

The Christian Church

Richard Baker

P. 0. Box ^89

& Mrs.

William Hoff

Apdo. Postal 57
Queretaro, Qro., Mexico

Goodyear, Ariz. 85338

Glendale Christian Church

BULK RATE

U.S. Postage

P.O. Box 415

PAID

Glendale, Arizona 85311

Permit #36

Glendale, Ariz.

MlSSIOir SEKV3CCSS ^
BOX 177

... ^

/;--

KEMPTON, IHDIAKA

- ; ;

46049

FIELD ADDRESS

Mr.

& Mrs.

William Hoff

Apdo- Postal 57
Queretaro# Qro. Mexico

FORWARDING AGENTS ADDRESS

Mr.

^ Marsi
V:l^R

& Mrs.

Richard Baker

P. 0. Box ^89
Goodyear* Ariz. 85338

41C74
DECEMBER 1973

PUBLISHED BI-MONTHLY

BACK TO SCHOOL

It was school days for us the first three weeks of September. We studied
the third course in our intensive series of Spanish in Mexico City.
Bill
is progressing real well in speaking the language.
He is able to use the
present,
past,
and future tenses.
Our church members say that I am doing
better.
I know that I still need a lot of practice.
One of the teenage
girls that attends the church here is coming to our house once a week to
help me with my Spanish and I am helping her with English.
THE PEOPLE RECEIVED THE WORD

There were three large tract distributions in the past few months.

The

first took place on Mexico's Independence Day (September 15) in Mexico City.
Bill helped hand out 105000 tracts entitled "Viva Mexico" in the Zocalo
where the president of Mexico appears each year and repeats the traditional
cry of liberty.
The second opportunity we had was new and exciting for us as we handed
out 3500 tracts right in front of our house and along our street.
As we
live on the only road that leads to the cemetary, thousands of people walked

by our house on "Day of the Dead" (November 2)

of t h e i r

to put flowers on the graves

relatives.

Four of the young people from the church along with Bill and I
handed
out the tracts entitled "Tu hermano volverS a vivir."
(Your brother will

return to life.)
have easily

It was the story of the resurrection of Lazarus.

been able

to pass out 10,000

if we would have known

We would
and pur

chased them earlier.

Were they readily received?

holding to hand out.
Of course,

One lady asked me for half of what I was

not all of them were so readily received.

Some people tore them into little pieces and threw them on the ground in
front of us.
We weren't discouraged though as the Scriptures say "My Word
will not return void."

The third

State Fair.

occasion

for passing

This lasted from

out tracts

was during the

December 9th through the l6th.

Queretaro

The Dungans

and we rented a booth using the theme "SmileGod Loves You."

The first
day President Luis Echeverria came by the booth and shook hands with one
of the men there and was given a tract which he acknowledged.
There were
a total of 17000 tracts handed out during the week.
Even though we were
in the States and unable to attend the fair,

and many responses have been received.

we hear that i t was successful

PRAISE THE LORD NEWS

The month of October was a very busy,

trying,
but exciting time for
all of us here in Queretaro,
Two baptisms took place out at the Wright's
orphanage during this month.
On October 25th an American lady, Jean,
was
baptized as a result of reading the book of Acts and discovering she hadn't
obeyed her Lord in this regard.
Because of her concern for fellowship with
other Christians, a 'share** group has been started on Wednesday mornings.
A lady that used to be a neighbor of the Dungans regularly attends this
group.
Jean has invited some of her friends and slowly the group is grow
ing. The emphasis for this group is prayer. We all write down requests and
when they have been answered we note the date.
It is a very rewarding time.
The second baptism was of a young lady that attends the church in Que-

retaro.
She was baptized on October 28th when over 55 people went out to
the orphanage for a combination 2nd-anniversary-celebration-for-the-home and
worship service. This was a day of fellowship and rejoicing.
The Lord has
really tested the Wrights in the past couple of years and they have proved
faithful.
The well was completed and the pump put in the first part of

June.

The well is ^00 feet deep and pumps water

at the rate of 20 gallons

-per iTri-nute.A-small garden-is--bei-ng plannedr for this year because the -watejr
is now available.

CONTRIBUTORS (SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER)

Mrs. G. W. Brandon-Athens, Ga.

U/m Richard BakerGoodyear, Ariz.

M/M Ralph Suiter

Huntington Bch, Ca.
Mrs. Gertrude WileyForest Falls, Ca.

Ben Hoff, Sr.Atascadero, Ca.

Mrs. Golda Wolford

Long Beach, Ca.

M/M Richard ShineLas Vegas, Nev.

Mrs. Lizzie McCreary-Long Beach, Ca.

V[/y[ W. T, MerrickAvondale, Ariz.

M/M Leroy Shreve
Ljmwood, Ca.

M/W Chet StilabowerSunland, Ca.

Mrs. E. J- PrenticeSouth Gate, Ga.

M/lvi Ben Hoff, Jr.Atascadero, Ca.

M/M Dean Confer

M/M Robert Legg

Mrs. Leonard YeagerMill Hall, Pa.

Mill Hall, Pa.

Mrs. Maud H. ConnerAthens, Ga.
Lemon Grove, Ca.

Grindstone Christian Church

Christian Church of Hopwood

Lake Mount Church of Christ

Grindstone, Pa.

The Christian Church

Church of Christ

--Hopwood, Pa.
Rogers, Ohio
Atascadero, Ca.
Vanderbilt, Pa.

Vegas Valley Christian Church-

New Hope Christian Church
Glehdale Christian ChurchFirst Christian Church

Las Vegas, Nev.

Columbus, Ind.
Glendale, Ariz. " ""
Phoenix, Ariz.

Dominguez First Christian Church

Adult ClassVegas Valley
Women's CouncilDominguez

Long Beach, Ca.

Las Vegas, Nev.
--Long Beach, Ca.

Glendale Christian Church

P.O. Box 415

BULK RATE

U.S. Postage

Glendale, Arizona 85311

PAID

Permit #36

Glendale, Ariz.

MISSION SSKVICES
BOK 177

KKMPTOTJ,

INDIM5A

46049