Hola Amigos!
Cool autumn greetings
from way down south! It’s been a busy season in Lautaro, Chile! Here is some of
what has been happening and what is coming up:
- The Board meeting for the mission organization in Santiago a couple of weeks ago went well! Thank you so much for praying for Gus’ trip as well as for the kids & myself at home that week. Gus was also able to take advantage of being in town to visit his aging grandmother, run a few errands and then bring a carful of items we had needed to leave there back in February for lack of space. It’s so good to have access to those items again, especially some school supplies that got left behind (though I will admit I have mixed feelings about having the exercise bike here now… we have a love-hate relationship…) 😉
- The Board meeting for the mission organization in Santiago a couple of weeks ago went well! Thank you so much for praying for Gus’ trip as well as for the kids & myself at home that week. Gus was also able to take advantage of being in town to visit his aging grandmother, run a few errands and then bring a carful of items we had needed to leave there back in February for lack of space. It’s so good to have access to those items again, especially some school supplies that got left behind (though I will admit I have mixed feelings about having the exercise bike here now… we have a love-hate relationship…) 😉
- - Gus’ adoptive parents, Doug & Shelly, stayed a couple of nights with us on their way
to other meetings last month! The kids were thrilled to get some good play time
with Grandma & Grandpa all day long, including going out to eat at the mall
in the nearby bigger city, getting some new cold-weather clothes and playing
several arcade-style games. 😊
- - All four kids are feeling more and more comfortable
in the church here in Lautaro, have made a few friends and even enjoy talking
with some of the adults too! Diego gets passed around from person to
person during most services and special events, so I don’t get to hold him much when
we’re there. 😉 Elizabeth and Cristina enjoy singing and dancing around to the
worship songs they know in the services.
When Gus isn’t playing drums, Jeremy
likes to go “help” Daddy operate the sound board. He informed me last Sunday
after the worship service that he was watching how the person projecting the
lyrics was using the computer to do that and he’d like to help with that
sometime, since he “knows pretty much all the songs and can read well and the
computer is easy to use”. 😉
- - The church’s weekly home groups have started up again and it’s a blessing to be a part
of one of them! That time on Thursday evenings provides another good
opportunity to connect regularly with families and individuals, study the Word,
answer discussion questions together, share prayer requests, sing some worship
songs, and eat yummy food! Usually it’s just light snacky stuff that is shared,
but a couple of weeks ago Gus and I offered to do home-made pizzas for the
group, and those were a big hit!
- - The couple that hosts the home group, Andrés & Tita, are some of our
closest friends here. It’s been good to be able to encourage them as a couple
as they lead a home group for the first time, as well as be able to challenge
them to keep growing in other areas of life and ministry. We really enjoy spending
time with them as a family (they have a 5-year-old boy and an 8-month-old baby
girl) and the kids have a blast together! Jeremy has even joined the soccer
team that their son, Gabriel, plays on, so that’s another fun weekly connection
and way to burn off some extra energy!
- - For Mother’s Day weekend, there was a special dinner at the church, prepared
and served by our husbands! It was delicious, the conversation was pleasant,
and a good time was had by the twenty moms who were present. I am also getting more involved in the church’s
women’s ministry, as a part of the team that prepares events for the next few
months as well as planning home visits to encourage and pray for several
different ladies.
- - Music
classes are going well for Gus as he got straight A’s this first quarter and
was peer-elected representative or spokesperson each time the class was
assigned to break up into work groups! It is a blessings to see how his
leadership qualities and work ethic visibly draw others in and encourage people
to do well in completely different contexts. God uses us to be a light wherever
we are! They now have a two-week break
from the academy, which is good, because:
- - We are currently starting the second week
hosting another team of students from Simpson
University in Redding, CA! (This is the same school that sent two teams
to help us with the soccer camps in Melilla and a team to do construction and
sports two years ago here in Chile.) This year there are some construction and
maintenance projects at the church, some opportunities to go out into the
community to connect with people, and a few outreach events at the church. The
team has been a huge blessing so far, as their work ethic and attitudes have
been great!
- - Last Saturday, the team and church hosted a recreational afternoon for kids!
Turnout was great, with close to 80 kids (and their parents) present! All of
the volunteers (both from the team and the church) were split up to cover
different roles and lead activities, from face-painting to greeters to bouncy
castle supervisors to balloon animals to craft table leaders to competition
judges to kitchen help to making the parents feel welcome…. Personally, I was
able to mingle and share with several moms & dads as we supervised our kids
playing. We had many good, and even a couple of deeper spiritual,
conversations!
- - Now Gus is in the middle of another busy week with
the team: construction projects at church, visiting a girls’ home for those
socially at-risk, going out to one of the daughter church-plants in another town,
and then another outreach event and activities at church this weekend, followed
by more projects next week too. So the rest of the month is going to be full!
We are hopeful that this would be a time of encouragement for the local
believers in the church, a time of seekers being drawn into what’s going on and
touched by God’s love, and a time of vision for those on the team who are
getting a new perspective on missions and on being God’s hands and feet around
the world…
Please pray for:
- - A good,
productive second week of projects and activities with the team from
Simpson University,
- - Growing &
deepening relationships in the community around us,
- - An inexpensive (but effective) solution for recurring car trouble we’ve been having
lately,
- - Good health
for the six of us, as several on the team and at church have pretty bad colds
right now,
- - Energy
to continue well with activities & responsibilities this month,
- - Time to
connect well as a couple and family in the midst of the busyness of work
& school.
Thank you so much for your continued love, care & concern, shown through your faithful prayers, support & messages! We are honored to work with you in this partnership to reach the lost in Lautaro, in the AraucanÃa region of Chile and beyond!
Because He is Faithful,
Gustavo, Karissa, Jeremy, Elizabeth, Cristina & Diego
