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”!
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!
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...
- 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!
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!)
- On Monday, Oct. 24th 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
