Dear Partners,
We are back in Chile, where it is winter! (It’s hard to imagine that, isn’t it?) Here’s a short summary of what the past few months have looked like:
Time in the U.S.
- We drove over 5,000 miles across nine states, visiting and sharing with people from 17 different churches!
- One family lent us a car for the whole three months, fourteen different families hosted us in their homes, and countless others invited us over or out for meals and sharing times.
- We were blessed to be a part of Karissa’s brother’s beautiful wedding, including all the pre- and post- wedding time with extended family!
(Jeremy’s birthday party at the coast with lots of family!) - The kids were great sports adapting to all of the driving, staying in different houses, trying new food and just in general having a different schedule than what they’re used to.
- All in all, we were able to spend almost three months catching up in person and spending quality time with family and friends, visiting with supporters, and sharing with new acquaintances.
- We are very grateful for having been able to take this busy furlough and are thankful for all of you who gave to cover our needs and hosted our family so generously! It was a huge blessing to spend time with you!!
Back in Chile
Our flights home went well, and everyone arrived safe and sound. We have all been fighting colds, though, for the past couple of weeks since getting back, so we’d appreciate prayers to be able to completely get over these illnesses as a family.
Ministry: We are back now into our ministry activities in Santiago: Gus is playing drums every other Sunday for worship as well as teaching drum classes again, while Karissa is helping in Sunday school. This next week we will begin a counseling study with the married couple that desires to serve by leading, teaching and training other young couples. We will also be reconnecting with the other families from the married couples’ ministry we started last year to see how everyone is doing.
Gus’ Family: We were blessed last Thursday to go out to dinner with some of Gus’ biological family to celebrate his grandmother María’s 87th birthday! She is the only other believer on that side of the family. It was a special time to spend with other relatives that we hadn’t seen for a while. And most importantly, two of Gus’ aunts that hadn’t spoken to each other in three years both were there with good, friendly attitudes, which brought Grandma María to tears. We have been encouraging them both over the past year to put aside their petty arguments and bitterness and take the step toward reconciliation, especially for the sake of their mom, and it was such a blessing to see that happen this week and to see the sisters laughing and joking together again!
(Grandma María with her three daughters)
Baby: As far as pregnancy, our newest little one is growing well! Karissa is now 7 months along and in the latest ultrasound it was confirmed that we’re having a boy! So, Baby #4 is now officially Diego Eduardo! Baby Diego’s due date is October 26th, which will be here before we know it, and his older siblings can’t wait to meet him!
Move South: The plan is still to be moving south to Lautaro as a family in January 2016! That will be summertime here and a good time of year to make that transition. We are looking forward to serving the Mapuche indigenous people there, using our gifts to minister in the local church, working in church-planting in the surrounding communities, and developing the missions training center. One of our goals during our recent furlough was to explain the project in Lautaro and communicate our current family and ministry needs. We were blessed to be able to share this with several churches and individuals that are not currently affiliated with the work here in Chile. We received a lot of positive feedback and prayer for the vision, project and needs. We haven’t had specific confirmations of new support, though several have said that they will get back to us on that, so we are hopeful that, God willing, new financial partners will come out of those many conversations and sharing opportunities. We believe that God has called us to Lautaro and prepared us for this work, so we are confident that He will provide for and continue covering the needs for our family and ministry through those that He touches and calls to be a part of this work! Thank you to all of those who have faithfully been partnering with us over the years, and thank you ahead of time to the new partners who will be joining!
Prayer Requests:
- Full recovery from colds/flu and good health for our family.
- Continued good pregnancy for Karissa and healthy development for Baby Diego, due at the end of October.
- New financial support to cover the amount we are short for the move south to Lautaro (we are currently at 50% of what we will eventually need to cover family and ministry budgets there starting in January).
- Fruitfulness as we continue teaching and training here in Santiago over the next few months.
Again, it was a huge blessing and encouragement to see and spend time with so many of you this summer! We hope and pray that God continues to bless you and use you to be a source of blessing and encouragement to those around you, as you have been for our family! May His peace and joy fill your lives and your homes!
In His Love,
Gustavo, Karissa, Jeremy, Elizabeth, Cristina & Baby Diego!
