Gratitude, Peace & Hope

Dear Friends,

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Southern Chile! This year has been a whirlwind of events and has seemed to just fly by! And as we reflect back on all of the happenings, in both ministry and family life, our hearts are filled with enormous Gratitude, first and foremost to GOD for His never-ending love and provision, for filling our hearts with Peace & Hope even during the hard days...  And gratitude to YOU for standing in the gap faithfully for our family and for the work here in Lautaro, through prayer and financial support!

As it probably has for you as well, this past month here in Lautaro has been very busy with guests, planning, work-days, special events, etc. Thank you for all of your prayers! Here are some photos and explanations from the last few weeks, followed by prayer requests to start off the new year!

First off, we had a great visit with Monse from Santiago, who was a huge help and encouragement during the 12 days she was here with us! (Including helping out with baking over 450 Christmas cookies to give to friends at church and neighbors!) Monse wants to come back again to help with a kids’ summer camp in a few weeks! (more details about that in the prayer requests below)

The first youth-group meeting was a fun get-together! The plan is to have a regular monthly meeting for the 10-to-17-year-olds starting in 2023:

This month, we started marriage counseling with some church friends and have really enjoyed spending time with them and their boys:

There were a couple good church workdays cleaning, prepping, and decorating for Christmas:

The evening Christmas Service on Friday the 23rd was a very special event with new songs, a children’s play, cool scenery, lights and candles! All the kiddos did an excellent job and we had lots of good help putting everything together this year, praise God!

It was so encouraging to see our brothers & sisters bringing their friends and neighbors, as there were several first-time guests! What a meaningful way to celebrate God sending His Son, our perfect Light, into the world!

Yesterday evening (Friday the 30^th) was our last church service of the year, with a focus on Gratitude for 2022 and Hope for 2023. Almost half of church members were out of town for this long weekend, but it was a blessed time for those in attendance. And we finished the night off with a White Elephant Gift Exchange! 😊

In January please pray for:

-          Bilingual Kids’ Camp that we are planning to put on for a week at the end of January/beginning of February! Pray that the details come together, that church members are on board with helping and hosting, so that this can be a fun evangelistic event to draw kids and their families to the church!

-          Church growth: Continue to pray for good healthy church growth here at ICI Lautaro, for the members to use some of their free time this summer to become more involved in  outreach and service, continuing to grow in spiritual maturity. The church membership has grown by 25% this past year and giving has increased almost 50%, which has allowed the church to host more events and be more generous! So we pray that a spirit of service and active ministry participation would grow in the members at that same rate as well!

-          Youth: We want to plan out a new strategy this year for children and youth ministries, to address in relevant ways the many issues of family problems, depression and anxiety, violence, and general moral decay that are all so prevalent among young people today. May the church be a place of hope, healing, peace and truth for these kids and their families! And may God bring those who need Him and show us how to reach out to them in ways they can understand!

-          Other churches in the South: please continue to pray for the other ICI church plants at different stages here in the south of Chile, for their leadership, and for good unity, communication, accountability, and teamwork between all of the missionaries/church planters here in this region.

-          Hosting: As it is summer here now, we will have several guests coming to visit over the next few months, which always makes for a busy yet very fun time!

-          Car: We still have not been able to properly fix our car’s current issues and need wisdom in what the best use of finances and time would be for a long-term solution, as the advice and estimates we are getting from a few different mechanic friends vary pretty significantly.

-          Health: Pray that we as a family would all continue in good health and specifically pray for Gus’ allergies which are acting up a lot this time of year.

-          Finances: We are so grateful for the regular financial support that several of you have been sending monthly for years now, and for the two new supporters who have joined this partnership recently! Our current income is still about $300/month short of where it needs to be in order to cover regular ministry and family expenses, so we have needed to use special one-time and year-end gifts to break even. Please pray for this deficit to be covered this year so that we are able to move forward in family and ministry without accruing more debt. And thank you SO MUCH again for your generous giving which allows us to continue serving here in Lautaro!

For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given,

    and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peace

    there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

    and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

    with justice and righteousness

    from that time on and forever. 

(Isaiah 9:6-7, NIV)

With so much chaos, confusion and confrontation in the world right now, we really need the “Prince of Peace”, bringing true justice and righteousness to our countries, cities, neighborhoods, families, and hearts. May the Peace & Hope of Jesus emanate from each of us to those around us, and may they come to know Him too! 

Hugs to you and your loved ones this last day of the year, and may you have a Blessed 2023!!

With Gratitude, because of Jesus,

The Guevara Family

 

Light Shining in the Darkness

 Happy October, Dear Friends!

We hope you are doing well! Thank you for your prayers for our health in the changing of seasons; there are lots of bugs going around here right now, but we as a family are all feeling much better! 

Days are getting longer as spring takes off here in the southern hemisphere, and we sure are enjoying the extra hours of natural light after the dark of winter! This whole month of October I'm sharing about “Light” with the kids in Sunday school, memorizing verses about God’s light and doing related activities or games, like Blind-Man’s Pictionary. It’s not easy to draw in the “dark”! 

 (kiddos started a few feet away from the board, but quickly all crowded around to try to guess what their friends' "blind" drawings are supposed to be)

(memorizing last Sunday's Bible verse)

We've been working on several new worship multitracks for Sundays as well as for other special events, and that's been busy but fun work! Well, by "we" I mean mostly Gus, but I have helped out a bit on a few tracks too! ;) He has really enjoyed working on his new desktop computer that so many of you contributed to as a surprise 50th birthday gift in June!

(Adding guitar to a worship song's multitrack is so much easier with a computer that doesn't crash!)

A song that we'll be singing here for the first time this coming Sunday is "Tremble" by Mosaic (of course we'll sing it in Spanish). The chorus says, "Jesus, Jesus, You make the darkness tremble, Jesus, Jesus, You silence fear", and part of the bridge says, "Your Name is Light that the shadows can't deny, Your Name cannot be overcome!"  The Name of Jesus IS the Light that those living in the darkness of this world around us so desperately need... Lord, help us to see and seize those daily opportunities to shine Your love and Truth through our words, attitudes and actions!

Praises:

-   As a church, we've recently hired a van to drive a pick-up and drop-off route so that members without vehicles have a more consistent way of getting to the Sunday service! This has been a blessing already and we pray that it would open new doors for people who haven't been able to make it church regularly before...

(the hired van waiting to take church members home after service!)

-    Last week, instead of having small group on Wednesday at our home, we had it at our friends' Claudia and Werner’s house! Claudia has been a believer since she was a teenager, but Werner is only just opening up more to the gospel recently. This was a first for them to host the group in their home, and we are hoping and praying God does a new work in Werner’s heart and through him, in his extended family!

-    No more masks! As of last weekend, wearing masks is no longer required in Chile (except in medical facilities)! This is a huge praise as it really changes the dynamic of worship time to have everyone singing louder and seeing each other’s full faces!

-  A family that had left the church (and mission organization) over two years ago has asked to join the newly re-launched church in Lautaro! We had a good, long talk with Jorge and Rita on Sunday after lunch at their home (while our kiddos played with theirs) about past issues and a renewed commitment to what God is doing... He is most definitely our Way-maker, Miracle-worker, Promise-keeper and Light in the darkness!

(Jorge and Rita, and their twins, Jorgito and Eduardo)

Prayer Requests for October:

-     Our kiddos have been VERY busy this week taking practice tests at home because they'll be taking their homeschool validation exams October 11th thru 18th! This has been a super short school “year” and everyone is extra nervous, so we really appreciate your prayers for all 4 of them! (Yes, Diego will be taking the exams for the first time too!)

("Sooo many practice tests, Mom!" But it'll be worth it to be ready for the official ones!)

-    On Monday, Oct. 24^th we will hopefully be driving to Santiago as a family for a couple of mission organization meetings. It will be a quick drive up and then back Tuesday night probably. Please pray for a smooth trip and an encouraging, productive time there!

-    The Lautaro church is planning a “Light Festival” for Friday, Oct. 28th! The idea is a fun costume party in the gym with karaoke songs, games and prizes, so please pray as we're organizing all the details for that fun evening and most importantly that God would bring new visitors that maybe haven’t ever been to a church event before, that they could see His Love and Truth through all of us!

-    Continued prayers for Sunday meetings and weekly small groups. Several of those in attendance have been dealing with very painful situations recently. As a church we're going through the “Purpose Driven Life” study (both on Sundays and in mid-week home groups), and that has been super relevant for newer attendees as well as regular members...

-    Please pray for Rubén, a leader at the Lautaro church, and his wife Clara, as unfortunately last week their business was broken into and a significant amount of cash and merchandise was stolen... This of course is a blow financially, but also a frustration for their clients who will not be getting their orders any time soon... Pray for them and for empathy from their clients. They cling to the fact that God works all things together for good!

-    A huge "Thank You" to those who have reached out saying that you are sending a one-time gift to help with our current financial struggles! We are so very grateful for your generosity!!  At the same time, we have been advised to actively pursue new regular monthly support commitments to cover our family and ministry deficit. So, would you please pray with us for TEN new financial partners, willing to contribute $50/month to bless our family and the ministry God has called us to here in Lautaro? And, if God puts it on your heart to become 1 of those 10 new financial supporters, please let us know so we can thank you personally and answer any questions!

 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:6-7)

Friends, we are only jars of clay: imperfect, cracked, and definitely not the fanciest material. But His Light is AMAZING, and it lives in us and shines through us!! We are so humbled and honored that God would give us as a family the privilege of serving Him here in Southern Chile... And we are SO grateful for your encouragement, prayers and financial support that permit us to continue pressing on!

In order that others may come to the True Light,

Gus, Karissa, Jeremy, Liz, Cristina and Diego

Great is HIS faithfulness!

Dear Partners,

Winter here in the southern hemisphere will be coming to a close soon, and we KNOW spring is just around the corner, in so many ways! 

A lot has happened here recently in ministry, so we would like to share our joy in God's Faithfulness with you!!

-           As a church we decided to celebrate Chilean “Kids’ Day” a couple weeks ago, which first meant a Saturday of cleaning & setting up:

-          And then, the special Sunday service and party time!

-          The following Saturday, as a family we drove to Los Ángeles (Chile, not CA 😉 ) to teach a marriage seminar for the new church-plant there and a few couple visiting from Ralco and Santiago too!  

 

-          Yesterday (Sunday) the ICI church in Lautaro celebrated the 1^st anniversary since we relaunched meetings in that building! We reflected as a group on God’s faithfulness to each of us individually as well as His faithfulness to this church and mission movement... In spite of our imperfections, God is always so incredibly faithful and good! He is doing something new in this place... And He desires that we move forward, in faith, following His lead!

 

Thank you so much for your prayers for the church group in Lautaro over this past year of so many challenges and soooo many amazing answers to prayer!! May God continue to grant wisdom, lead and provide for each need, both here in the south of Chile as well as in your families and home churches!

September Prayer Requests:

-          - For a special church service we are planning for September 18^th (Chilean Independence Day)

-         -  For a young family we have started spending time with: Carlos & Claudia have two young daughters, are recently (re)committing their lives to God and want to get married at the end of this year, so we will be going through some counseling material with them over the next few weeks!

-         -  For several close friends recently going through very tough physical and/or psychological challenges in their families: Car accidents, work accidents, scary medical diagnoses, drug overdoses, teenage lying/manipulation... So many families are struggling on so many levels, that all connect to the spiritual. May God give us and others wisdom in how to pray, help, encourage, exhort, comfort, in each case!

-          - For the weekly home group meetings in Lautaro (Gus leads one in our home in the countryside and another one in Lautaro at a church family’s home, and other church members have a 3^rd group in their home)

-         -  For our weekly zoom meetings with the other missionaries in the South of Chile (working in Melipeuco, Los Ángeles and Ralco)

-          For our kids’ homeschool studies to progress well, as they prepare for final exams in October.

-          - For our family finances, as several mission administrative changes and increasing ministry needs over the past few months have added additional work expenses that we are currently covering out of our personal budget. Right now we are about $500/month short of where we should be at a basic level, and that has put a serious strain on our food, clothing and health care budget as a family (not to mention having any sort of savings). We ask for you to please join us in praying for this need, and if you are able, to consider joining our financial support team, through a one-time gift or regular monthly support! (Giving info at bottom of update)

 

I know we write this often, but we could NOT be here serving in this way if it weren’t for your faithful prayers, giving and words of encouragement... God blesses us constantly through YOU (supporting churches, families, individuals), as you hold up our family and the ministry here in Lautaro and the surrounding areas. We are humbled by this blessing of partnership, and pray that God would encourage you with a clear reminder of His faithfulness toward you personally!

 

“For the Word of the Lord is right and true; He is faithful in all he does!” (Psalm 33:4)

Only by His grace, because He is always Faithful,

Gus, Karissa, Jeremy, Liz, Cristina and Diego

For tax-deductible donations:

Online, please use the link below and scroll to “Gustavo Guevara” under the “Fund” tab:

https://pushpay.com/g/iamchilenationalworkers?src=hpp&r=monthly

 

Through regular mail, please make checks payable to “IberoAmerican Ministries”, designate to “Project: Guevara – Chile”, and send to:

IberoAmerican Ministries

P.O. Box 1493

Monroe, WA 98272