Help the Spieler Family Rebuild after a Fire

Friends of the Ken and Leah Spieler Family,

I'm Jake Hansen, a friend of the Ken and Leah Spieler family from Minnesota. 

I'm collecting funds to help the Spielers replace some of their personal losses from a fire on February 15, 2021, that destroyed part of the property where they serve as missionaries in Mexico.

Note that this fundraiser is intended to help recover their personal losses and not necessarily their ministry losses. If you would like to donate toward their ministry for a tax deduction. Please donate here instead:
https://cten.org/kenspieler

Examples of items to be replaced
- Furniture from Ken's office and library including bookshelves, desk, chairs, table, file cabinets
- Books and spiritual resources
- Guest room beds and mattresses, table and chairs, sofa, bedding, lamps, linens, rug, curtains, etc.
- Seats for their Chevy Express van
- Chest freezer and food
- Fridge
- The boys bikes
- Camping and sports equipment
- Shelving
- Large and small tools

Backstory of the fire from Leah:

On Monday morning, February 15th, a fire started in a storage room connected to House 3, which we use as an office & guest room, for ministry and personal storage, and so much more. It was already out of control when we discovered it. Thanks be to God that when Ken opened the door to investigate the smoke, and the flames burst out, he was bent over, grabbing the door from the bottom, so he didn't get burned. We immediately began running for water buckets and fire extinguishers, but it was a lost cause. 


While God was directing the wind in such a way to protect our home, which is adjacent, it seemed that external circumstances were working against the saving of House 3. The hoses were frozen, our electricity was out so the faucets only gave a slow trickle, cell communication was down, and the roads had snow and ice on them- making travel treacherous. Ken personally raced to the fire department, because no one seemed able to get through, yet even so they delayed over an hour in arriving. House 3, which was by far the largest house on the property, was connected to House 2 by the new Shower House (which has wooden rafters). By the time the fire department arrived and got their nozzles unfrozen, the whole of House 3 was in flames and the roof of the shower house that we have been working on since last winter was beginning to burn. We lost everything in House 3 and were frantically removing the church’s things stored in House 2, thinking even it may not be saved, but thanks to God, they put it out before it burned up the shower house. The new church building, and House 1, which connects to it, are also safe, Praise God! 

Initially, we were in shock and have felt rather short on words... sort of a jumble of emotions, and totally emotionally and physically spent. We are infinitely thankful that all our family, and Dany and Rox and their children, and the firefighters are ok! We know that what was lost are only material things that will eventually turn to dust. Nothing eternal was lost! And we absolutely believe and trust that God allowed it for a specific purpose - that He has things He wants to do in us and perhaps in this place through or because of this experience.  


Even so, there is a deep sense of loss, even mourning, (though perhaps that seems silly when no life was lost)... wishing we had given it all away rather than have it go up in smoke, sadness for the loss of our guest room and Ken’s beautiful office (and the hospitality, usefulness, and retreat which both offered), which now we lack, (both of which we completely finished and decorated and organized just a month ago with all of Ken’s pastoral/ministry resources and books). We lost everything that we use for ministry with churches and the pastors, and in the camps and retreats that we do here, all of the chairs and tables that people recently donated, many of the beds and bunks, all of our sports and camping gear, all of our personal storage with Baby pictures/spiritual journals/special memorabilia, various tools, our deep freezer and extra fridge with all of the meat and food, the seats of the white van (because we had just used it to haul some really big things), tons of construction stuff, wheelchairs and glasses for the medical brigade that our church - in conjunction with Lakepointe Church of the Dallas area, helps put on each year, the boiler room and big water tank of the new shower house and 1/3 of the shower house roof, ugh... the list goes on and quite frankly, it’s overwhelming and so disheartening. 

There is no insurance on the building. Insurance in Mexico is really rarely used because when when there is a claim, the company looks for any reason not to pay out and the client almost never collects when there is a loss. House 3 was the oldest building on the property, yet as you can imagine, we feel the loss deeply for we have tried to be excellent stewards and caretakers here of the ministry supplies with which God has entrusted us, as well as of the buildings and location itself. Please be praying specifically for our processing of all of this - of its potential implications for our ministry, for our communication with the Convention that is in charge of this property, and for the plans that God has for this place.  


Ken and I (and perhaps the boys, too, to some extent) feel a bit like we have been in and out of a surreal zone since the fire, struggling against discouragement and heaviness. (It doesn’t help that power has been on and off for the past three days due to unprecedented lows of 16 at night (out for long stretches - which we have come to understand is because so many - like us, are using electric heat), and that the city water is frozen. We have been keeping slow drips at all the faucets so our pipes don’t freeze and hoping that our big tanks will last till the city lines unfreeze.) There have been moments when we want to just retreat to the darkness of the bed and sleep.

Yet people around us have very real physical needs because of the serious cold here, and that has helped us to have something to focus on. And we still have the things that we need to minister to those needs - clothing/blankets, candles, food, drinking water... so God knows. We have our home still, and our basic needs are met. There are certain things that we know, with time, we will seek to replace... and others that we will wait to see how God directs the ministry before replacing. We don't know yet what structure God may want to have constructed in the place of House 3, or if another construction project is even in his plan... we will wait on Him for that leading and clarification.

Maybe God plans to use this to unite his church here and bring us together to function as a body and into actively serving one another again. No matter what, we know that God works all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We know that God is on his throne, that He owns the cattle (and the fences and the barns), that man makes his plans, but the Lord determines his steps. 


*****************************************************************

Introduction to the Spieler Family



God has called the Spieler family to Piedras Negras, a Mexican border town, to partner with the believers there in God’s work, and to share Christ, their greatest treasure, with the Mexican people. They are there to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and extend His kingdom through strengthening the local church in Mexico, primarily by pouring into pastors and leaders, – teaching, encouraging, and providing resources for establishing healthy Bible-based churches and for growing mature, Christ-exalting, disciple-making disciples.

Ken seeks to minister to and disciple men and to encourage them to walk with God, love their wives and children, and become the spiritual leaders God intended them to be… disciples who make disciples. He looks for opportunities to build relationships with pastors and church leaders… asking questions, praying with them, offering them accountability and Biblical resources, providing teaching on foundational subjects like nurturing a culture of discipleship, expository preaching, active shepherding, and a right understanding of conversion, church membership, and biblical manhood and womanhood.

Leah’s passion is teaching and building close and transparent relationships with women. She invests in the women of the area through women’s ministry, home-schools their four boys, helps plan ministry events, and supports and works alongside Ken ministering through hospitality and acts of service.

The boys, Cam, Luke, Trey, and Timothy, also represent a crucial part of their ministry team and love to participate through music, translating for English-speaking teams, helping with kids’ programs, physical service projects, church outreaches, and family hospitality.