Letter #5: September 2023
Hello dear friends!
Before beginning deputation, we heard many horror stories and warnings about what we could possibly encounter as we were traveling from church to church. In some ways, I’m thankful for that warning and mental preparation. However, I’m also thankful that the scenarios we were warned about have not been anywhere near the experience we’ve had.
We were encouraged by a pastor’s wife to list the blessings we’ve received so when they share our letter with the church, the kids can see how good God really is, not just through the big things in life, but the day to day. At the end of this prayer letter, you will find the top 8 blessings we’ve received this quarter. God has been so good and has taken care of us every step of the way.
At the beginning of July, we began our trek down south stopping at churches along the way. We obviously are new to this and did not plan according to the weather because we found ourselves in Georgia in the smack dab of summer. Is that considered suffering for Jesus? (lol, just kidding!)
We have thoroughly enjoyed getting to meet new people at the churches we’ve attended. The Lord has put us in the right place at the right time. We had some days open in our schedule, so we found local camp meetings to attend in our *new* neck of the woods. One gentleman we had the pleasure of meeting was a missionary that had to come off the field and is now an assistant pastor in South Carolina. He took us under his wing and has been a tremendous help to our family. He invited Mario to a preachers’ conference where they would be randomly choosing preachers from the congregation to preach. Guess who got chosen?? Mario had 15 minutes to preach his heart out and through this meeting we were able to make many more connections and are now getting our November/ December calendar filled with these churches!
In August, we made it back to Michigan for a month of meetings and revivals there. We worked with an awesome designer to create our first Camp Promised Land T-shirt! The shirt features a hidden “00” in the design to represent the first t-shirt for our camp and is now available on our website! Mario had the privilege of leading two to the Lord during a Sunday school lesson in a teen class he taught! We got to visit several different VBS’ at some of our supporting churches. Mario was then able to lead two boys to the Lord at our home church’s VBS! He made a special guest appearance at a “Super Mario” themed VBS the following week. This supporting church put their whole VBS offering to help our ministry – such a blessing!
September, we made our way out east to Massachusetts and Maine for a few different services. While we were out there, we presented at several churches and Mario had a chance to teach chapel at one of the christian schools!
Unfortunately, our trip was cut short so we could make it back to Michigan in time for Mario’s grandparents funeral. Although it’s always hard to lose a family member, we are rejoicing that they were 90 years old and lived a healthy and long life. They were the greatest soul winners we’ve ever known and between the two of them, they have led more than 1500 people to the Lord. What an awesome testimony.
To finish out the month, Mario had the honor of being the guest preacher at a local revival. We were so happy to be at this sweet church and for the great response. There were two saved and one called into ministry that week! It was such an awesome way to close out the summer before we begin a month of Mission conferences in Ohio and Michigan until the 1st of November when we go down to South Carolina for the winter.
Also, during this quarter, Emily started a virtual Ladies Bible Study – there are still 3 more lessons! Follow us on Instagram @promised_land_ministry and Facebook @CampPromisedLand to see how to get involved!
We are excited to announce that we are now working with All Points Baptist Mission under Calvary Baptist Church in New Philadelphia, OH!
And then we had 6 more churches bring us on for support! We are so encouraged by the response we’ve received towards our ministry.
We have several prayers request at this time. (1) The most important being a close relative undergoing cancer treatment. We have seen God work and answer our prayers through this trial, but the treatment is beginning to cause fatigue and other symptoms. We would appreciate your prayers for this through the next 4 weeks of treatment.
Our other requests are for (2) me and Evelyn as we begin Evelyn’s 2nd grade year! She is doing so well; she makes my job easy, but I am not a teacher by nature, so I truly appreciate the prayers!
We are praying for (3) property in North Carolina to build our camp and, for (4) our schedule to fill up with churches in the south through the winter.
Now to the praises!
1. As we’ve been on the road, it’s been difficult to practice music without a piano in our home. We began praying for a keyboard and out of the blue, a supporting church contacted us asking what our needs were. They gave us money right on the spot to go pickup the keyboard we were praying for! It has been the biggest blessing having a musical instrument in our home again!!
2. We are averaging over 3,000 miles a month on our truck. My brother-in-law, graciously offered to check out our brakes/ rotors after we heard some squealing. He got us fixed, cleaned up and on our way! That’s a blessing of its own but then a supporting church heard and sent us a check to take care of the brake/ rotor expense! Nearly a $500 repair!
3. As we began traveling down south, we blew our first tire. A kind gentlemen flagged us down and pulled over with us to help us get the spare on. It was midnight, in the pitch dark, on the side of the highway, what a nightmare! But God was taking care of us! This man stayed with us until 3am helping us, providing all the tools we needed and even gave us some when it was all said and done. Once we got to the campground later that morning, we met a sweet couple that noticed the spare. We got to talking and sharing our ministry and found out they were Christians too! By the end of the day, they gave us all the cash in their wallet to help us replace the tire, $313, just what we needed!
4. Now that we have a diesel truck, there are several things that need replaced or fluids needed that we are unfamiliar with. We contacted a Chevy dealership and met a worker named David. Mario shared our ministry with him, and he told us we could remember his name because of David and Goliath in the Bible. He said to give him a call when we were ready to get work done and he would give us a deal. We were able to get several things replaced and fixed for just $100, David really did cut us a deal! And now we’ll never forget his name. (lol)
5. Our rv air conditioner stopped working for us. We began searching for someone that would be able to help us figure out the issue. A supporting church got us in contact with a repair man that is familiar with ac units. He came out to take a look, ordered the part and then repaired the issue in no time. When it came time to pay, he shook our hand and said we were all set. Not only did he take his time to repair what was needed, but he bought us the part as well and saved us from frying in the middle of summer in our rv.
6. We had a family member tell us they want to donate to Camp Promised Land by paying our phone bill!
7. Many of you know the story of our widow woman (my mom) saying to move all our stuff into her basement and she would take care of us. Well, we are excited that she has met and married a wonderful man, moved into a house with him and now is selling her sweet little condo. She and Kevin (my new stepdad) have generously purchased a rental unit and had all our earthly possessions moved into the unit. There are so many praises just in this #7 alone. We are so thankful for my mom having Kevin, for the rental unit and that we didn’t have to move all our stuff again.
8. We are big dog people! Thankfully, since we have an rv, we can keep our dogs with us as we travel. We had been praying about whether it was wise to keep them. Within the same week I had begun praying, we had a gentlemen give us $200, just in time to go to the vet and get them covered for their flea/tick treatments. He called us to tell us right after he gave us that money, he went to the store to buy groceries, and someone wanted to cover his bill!! And guess how much it came to?? $200! So exciting! He called to tell us and then said, we want to support you $100 a month to put your mind at ease about keeping the dogs. God must really love dogs, I’m not sure he would do this if it was cats (lol).
God has been so good to us! We try to include as much as we can in our prayer letters but if you want to stay in touch with us for more frequent updates, follow us on facebook!
Last thing that is worth mentioning, our mailing address has changed. Our new address is 4287 Frantz Ave, Louisville, OH 44641.
Also, our mission board is All Points Baptist Mission P.O. Box 977, New Philadelphia, OH 44663-0977.
Thank you so much for your prayers!! We do not take it lightly and we are so thankful for how God is using you all in our lives. We cannot wait to see what God is going to do next.
Psalm 68:19a “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits..”
With all our love,
Mario, Emily, and Evelyn Chadinha
