Time to Travel

Update from Kris:

This past week included lots of fun celebrations, with Father's Day, Gus' birthday and our 8th anniversary!  We are so grateful for all of God's blessings to us as a couple, as a family, and with our extended family and friends as well...

Speaking of extended family, this next Monday, June 23^rd, Cristina and I are going to the U.S. for two weeks!  My parents, siblings, grandmas, and a couple of family friends all chipped in and bought the ticket so we could be there for the wedding of one of my cousins!  I haven’t been back in the Pacific Northwest in almost 4 years and Cristina has never been at all…, so it will be great to catch up with extended family and friends and introduce them all to our ‘baby’! 

There are two short-term teams here right now, so over these two weeks that I’ll be gone, Gus will continue coordinating details for those and other teams, working from home and arranging for other full-time workers to be on-site with the teams so that he can be with Jeremy and Liz. 

So, please pray for a safe, good trip for Cristina and I, as well as protection on Gus, Jeremy and Liz here at home in Chile.  Please pray for good times for the three of them here, that it would be a fun, special bonding opportunity as Jeremy and Liz get more concentrated time with Daddy! 

(Father's Day photo)

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Update from Gus and Kris:

These past few weeks have been full with church ministry responsibilities as well as organizing the details for short-term teams and getting lots of family paperwork done!  In addition, three weeks ago we started marriage counseling for a couple from the church who was on the verge of divorce.  There is deep hurt and lots of miscommunication on both sides, and they have two small children affected by their struggles too.  But by the grace of God it now seems like they are both very willing to take the steps necessary to work through their issues and restore their relationship.  We are meeting with them on Thursday nights going through some marriage counseling material and Karissa is also doing a women’s Bible study with the wife on Wednesday afternoons to help encourage her.  Please pray with us for this couple as well as their children, that God would restore what has been broken, protect their children, be glorified in their family, and give us the words to encourage and challenge them through this process.  And please pray for strength, energy, and wisdom for us as a couple as we are spending lots of time preparing these studies, being available when one of them has needed to stop by to talk through something specific, and just in general shifting around our family and work schedule in order to counsel this couple during these difficult weeks.

On a completely different note, thank you so much to one supporting church as well as three individuals who gave special one-time financial gifts that have helped us out so much over this past month!  These were answers to prayer: we are completely humbled by your generosity and continue being amazed at how God provides and covers our needs in ways that we cannot anticipate.  Please continue praying with us for new regular supporters to cover our monthly financial needs.  And to all who currently support us financially: Thank you for your faithfulness, for allowing us to serve, and for being a part of what God is doing in the churches here in Chile!