Dear Partners,
Happy December from
Lautaro! We pray that you and
your families have a very Blessed
Christmas and New Year season, filled with hope for what God will do in
2019 and beyond... May God use each of us to touch the lives of others and
point them to Jesus, through our words, our actions and our attitudes!
Here are some photos from the past couple of months, followed by
important prayer requests:
(The 1st stage of construction of the church in Melipeuco is almost complete!)
(Gus has been working closely over the past few months with Luis in Melipeuco [top left] and Amador in Los Angeles [top right], and will continue to do so even more this next year as Gus is appointed Regional Coordinator for the projects in the South of Chile!)
(Marisol and Sarai, two young women that are close to our family, attend our home group, are involved in women's ministry with Karissa, and that went to Ecuador on the short-term team from Lautaro in September)
(Isabel, a single mom, and her children Felipe & Cony are a part of our home group, and we as a couple have been counseling them through family issues over the past few months)
(Cristofer & Yenifer, and their two sons, Bastian and Alonso, have become close family friends this year, and both Cris & Yeni got baptized in the past 12 months!)
(Jeremy and Liz passed their final exams, so the 2018 home-school year was a success, praise God!)
(The construction on our house, 10 miles outside of Lautaro is progressing! More on that in the prayer requests below...)
(Marisol's brother is a volunteer firefighter, so he invited our kids go see the trucks at the station a few days ago, including this "really old firetruck", as the kids called it!)
(We had a very short but fun visit the other day from Gus' sister Lori and her husband Daniel, and they brought a mini-gingerbread house set to do with the kids!)
These next few weeks, please JOIN US in prayer for:
- Our trip to Oregon for Christmas and New Years’! Karissa's extended family bought us plane tickets, so we will be driving to Santiago this Sunday and flying to the USA on Dec. 19th and returning Jan. 4th. Prayers appreciated for safe travels (driving and flying) and good time with family, both in Oregon and in Santiago!
- The mission-wide conference, “VIVE”, taking place outside of Santiago, January 9th-13th! There are several families from the south of Chile that we have encouraged to take this step to attend the conference (most of whom have never been to such an event), including Luis & family from Melipeuco, Amador & family from Los Angeles, Cristofer & Yenifer, and Isabel, Marisol and Sarai, all pictured above. Please pray for this conference to be an inspiring, refreshing and transforming experience for all who will participate in this 4-day event, from various countries! (Any one-time gifts contributing toward these specific families' attendance fees are very welcome and appreciated! Please let us know if you'd like more information!)
- We need to be out of this current rental home in Lautaro by January 31st as the owner is going to move here! Which means the house we are building on land outside of town needs to be livable by then... Please pray for all of the details of construction to come together well!
- Along that same line, our house in Santiago sold for significantly less than what we had hoped for, which means that finances for getting our land here ready and building the new house have been quite strained. And unfortunately we have had to resort to credit again (which was not the plan), in order to make sure we are out of this rental home on time. Please pray with us for God's continued provision, for peace rather than anxiety, and for wisdom in stewardship of the resources He has provided. (Any end-of-the-year gifts are very welcome to help with these construction and moving expenses!)
- Please pray for God’s leading and guidance in all the plans moving forward in 2019 in this part of southern Chile: specifically for the churches and projects in Lautaro, Melipeuco, and Los Angeles, for all of the leaders & workers involved in decision-making to strive for extending God’s Kingdom and working towards unity in purpose.
In this season of gift-giving
and receiving, we recognize we would not be here were it not for God’s generous
gifts through many of you. We very much appreciate your faithful support
through prayers, monthly giving and one-time donations! Our family is blessed
by you, and you are a fundamental part in allowing us to serve here in the
south of Chile... Thank you so, so much for your partnership in bringing the
truth of Jesus to this region!
Because of Emmanuel, God With Us,
Gustavo, Karissa, Jeremy, Elizabeth,
Cristina & Diego
