Snowball Effect!

 Dear Partners,

We are just a couple weeks away from the official start of winter here in the southern hemisphere as many of you up north are fast approaching summer! 

In spite of the cold and rain, there has been a lot going on here in Lautaro! Thank you so much for praying for the work last week with the short-term team from Flagstaff, AZ (and a few friends returning from ICI Los Heroes in Santiago too)! It was a super busy week for everyone, but these 15 university students and three leaders did fantastic work with great attitudes and left a lasting impression on us as a couple, our kiddos and our brothers & sisters at ICI Lautaro. We were very blessed by them through the physical work they helped with as well as their words of encouragement and smiles!

(University students from "The Corner" in Flagstaff, AZ)

(Claudio Miranda, Claudio Castro and Cristian from Los Heroes)

(We were thrilled and blessed to have Papo come with the team this time!)

One of the big challenges in hosting such a big team (and having 7 on the team staying in our home!) is our current car situation: Yep, the Mitsubishi is still at the mechanic. However, our neighbor don Oscar graciously lent us his car again for the week the team was here, so we were able to move people around as needed! And now this week we finally have a diagnosis for the car problems and a quote, totaling about $3,150 USD, toward which we have $2,300 saved. Please help us pray for the remaining $850 needed to fix the car! 

Now, back to the work with the team: First off, so much painting! The gym walls, bleachers, hallways by the church meeting room and the Sunday school room, and part of the wall outside all got fresh coats of paint that make them look so much lighter, brighter and bigger:

Outside, the structure for the water tower got sanded and painted, and lots of branches from the trees downed a few weeks ago were cut, dragged and stacked!

I took groups of team members to three different grade schools that happily accepted an English Workshop we offered! This was such a cool opportunity to get out in the community representing the church, spend time with lots of kids and connecting with some of the teachers at their schools! Each of the schools then posted about the workshops to their Facebook pages, and the feedback has been so encouraging!

There were at least 30 of us for every meal at church all week, so lots of food and good kitchen help!!

It was a quick week, but there was time on Saturday to spend time with friends from ICI Lautaro that hadn’t been able to come during the week. Some sports, a yummy lunch and evening church service, with lots of conversations and fun mixed in!

As we told the team as the week was ending, this has felt like the beginning of a snowball effect: all of this hard effort in a good direction will inspire (and has already inspired) others to join in on what God is doing in this place and beyond! Our Lord is the One who redeems, shines light into darkness, and brings life even out of a tomb: there is literally nothing impossible for Him!! We know and believe this without a doubt, and a week like this felt like a fundamental step in growth & projection for the ICI Lautaro Church and Community Center Project... 

All that to say, we are so very grateful for this partnership with ICI Los Heroes and now with our new friends from Flagstaff, Arizona, who we hope to see back in Lautaro again very soon, Lord willing! 😊

During this next month, please pray for:

• Two different families with teenagers dealing with severe depression.... May God continue to work in their lives and use us to speak His Truth and Love!
• A special Father's Day service! May friends use this special occasion to invite important people in their lives to church, perhaps for the first time! 
• The ICI Lautaro church, for continued growth, maturity and passion.
• The short-term team from Yuma preparing to come down to Southern Chile the last week of June! They'll be up in Ralco the first week and then down here in Lautaro starting July 1st. We're looking forward to seeing them and working alongside Yuma in Lautaro again!
• The remaining $850 needed to fix the car, and that it would be repaired well and asap. 
• Our health as a family, as there are lots of colds and bugs going around right now.

Thank you so much for your faithful prayers, encouragement and financial support, all of which allow us to serve here in Lautaro. We are privileged and humbled as a family to be in this partnership with you and pray that God continue to provide for each of your needs according to His Word. 

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." ((Ephesians 3:20-21)

In His Love,

Gus & Karissa, Jeremy, Liz, Cristina & Diego