Tim and Kelly Urling and their children; Amanda (22 - Married to Phillip Drumheller and parent of their 2 grandchildren), Zachary (20 - A specialist in the US Army serving in Iraq), and Leah (11) have been serving the Lord in Mexico since 1998.
Please see the map below to see the areas where the Urlings have served as missionaries. The above photo has Ciudad Juarez in the background. This city of close to 3 million people is where the Urlings have ministered for the last several years. They have helped start 3 churches in Juarez with combined average attendences of over 300. They have seen special days with over 900 teens and adults in attendence! Brother Urling has also taught in the Bible Institute here that currently has 5 graduates serving in Mexico as pastors.
The first year of their Mexico Ministry was spent in central Mexico in the state of Aguascalientes, where they attended Language School and started to serve cross culturally.
After Language School The Urlings moved to Culiacan(city), in Sinaloa(state), Mexico. Culiacan is located on the west coast of Mexico. If you look on a map find the end of Baja California and then come back to the main land. Culiacan is located around 30 miles from the west coast.
In this area the Urlings continued to learn the language and culture of Mexico. The Lord allowed the Urlings to be involved in several ministries as well as starting a new church. One ministry was a Bible Correspondence School that had over 1300 people enroll and start studying the Bible by correspondence.
Towards the end of their first term, the Urlings were exposed to the huge migration of Indigenous Mexican Indians that come each year to work in the tomato fields. This migration opens the door to preach the gospel to these precious people while they are out of the home villages and they are very open to the gospel.
The Urlings decided to base their first furlough in the El Paso/Juarez area in order to continue the correspondence ministry. This was also the kindergarten year for Leah so she received a good start to her education in a Christian school in El Paso.
After furlough was an exciting time of searching for the exact will of the Lord for their future ministry but they stayed busy winning souls during this time.
They helped start and build a church in western Juarez area of Anapra. One month after the dedication of the church building the Urlings were asked to leave by the national pastor and so upon the advice of their pastor and other Godly men they left this work.
It was a sad time, but also a victory knowing that they were leaving some new Christians that had been discipled to maturity that could, if directed properly continue the work. Sadly this has not happened but the church has dwindled to low attendance, but hopefully the Lord will send a man to move that work forward.
The Urling's then served the Lord for about 4 months in the small town of Ejido Constitucion where they worked in a children's home during the absence of the missionaries (Eldon and Connie Tudor) who were gone for a short furlough.
The Urling's learned much more about Mexican culture and how Mexicans really live. They also helped the Church there start a new mission work in a nearby town. Bro. Tim also filled the pulpit for a national pastor several weeks in the town of New Casas Grandes.
Pastor Julian Robles (a Mexican National) asked the Urling's to come and work with a new church (Grace Bible Baptist Church and Institute) that had been started about 8 months earlier, and to teach in the Bible Institute. After prayer and counsel the Urlings started working with this ministry.
When the Urlings started working here chuch attendance was between 30 to 45. They worked in training the congregation in discipleship and soul winning. When the Urlings left this ministry to start the mission church in Carlos Chavira the church was averaging over 200 in regular attendance.
In October of 2005 the Urlings helped start a mission in the far east colonia of Carlos Chavira (opposite side of Juarez from Anapra) while still teaching in the institute in Anapra. In May of 2006 the mission called one of the graduates of the Institute Brother Josue Robles and his wife Shelly to be pastor and the official church was started with Sunday and mid week services. The Faithful Rock Baptist Church (La Roca Fiel) has a faithful attenance of over 100, supports 2 missionaries and is continually growing. A new ministry of this church is ministering in a drug rehabilitation center. The Urlings are currently wrapping things up (August '08) here and will be leaving this work in the hands of Brother Josue.
In the Sring of 2006 the Urlings went to help Brother Angel Luna start a church in the town of Bermejillo Durango. Bro. Luna is a graduate from the Bible institute. They have made trips well over a dozen times to help in evangelism and construction. The property is paid for, and the permenent building was mostly finished by December 2007. The second anniversary service here had 300+ in attendance. A Bible instittue is planned to start in January 2009 to train more servants for the work of the Lord.
In the fall of 2008 the Urlings are taking a short furlough, to report to their churches and raise funds for the new Bible Institute in Durango. In January 2009 (the Lord willing) the Urlings plan to move to Bermejillo, Durango and help brother Angel Luna (institute graduate) start a new Bible Institute there. This will be a full time, 1 year institute with a lot of “hands-on” practical in the field teaching for the students.
An important aspect of the Urlings ministry is sponsoring short-term mission trips to Mexico. The focus on these trips is evangelism and they are a tremendous blessing in four areas.
One – the mission groups help us see hundreds of people saved and the gospel preached to thousands each year.
Two – the groups are a tremendous blessing to the national church through construction projects and massive outreach helping the churches reach their Jerusalem”.
Three – the groups are a great encouragement to the national pastor, church and to the missionary.
Four – the Lord works in the hearts of those who participate and they return to their home churches on fire for God in the areas of soul-winning and missions, and some even return home with a calling to full-time Christian service. Several young people have surrendered to full time service while on the trips wih the Urlings and are now preparing in various Bible colleges.
Before serving the Lord in Mexico the Urlings served an internship in their home church; MaranathaBaptistChurch of Western Oaks, Bethany, OK.. There they served as Youth Directors, Bus Captain, Bus Director, and Sunday School Teachers.
Tim was saved November 14th, 1975 and his wife, Kelly, was saved March 4th, 1980. Kelly has been an excellent partner in the ministry, as well as a fantastic wife and mother. Kelly is a great soul winner, and has a great burden to see souls saved. God has blessed them with three children: Amanda, Zach, and Leah. Leah is the only child still at home and Kelly teaches her school at home.
