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