San Ramón - April 26th

This past Sunday (April 24th), our whole family was able to go out to San Ramón for the first time since we moved to Temuco. The Sundays we go out to San Ramón will definitely be busy...for example, after the morning service in Temuco, we head home for one hour to eat a quick lunch. Then at 2 pm, we all pile into the small pickup and drive around 40 min. out to San Ramón. The service starts around 3:15 and lasts around an hour. We arrive back in Temuco for a short 35 min. stop at our house, before heading back to church for the evening service, which starts at 6 pm. After time of fellowship and ping pong with the teens, we usually get home around 8:15 pm, and eat a late supper.

We are planning on going out to San Ramón a bunch of times during the months of May, June, and early July, but then take 6 weeks "off" due to the baby´s due date (early Aug.) Please pray for daily strength for Kristi as her pregnancy progresses.

This past week, the children's class was split into two. Any child older than 9 yrs. went into Mrs. Thompson's class. The younger class needs more help with reading and writing. Below - The older group work on their lesson with Mrs. Thompson.

I mingled with the younger class during craft time. Much of the time I spent just learning their names and asking them questions about their family or about the lesson they just heard. I enjoyed my time with them cause they could care less about my lack of proficiency in Spanish. They just keep asking me questions and I just keep trying to give them an answer that makes sense.

Here are some of the children I remember: Eric (with the hat), Paloma (next to me), and Scarlet (in the blue and white).

Pray for our family as we need wisdom and discernment to know when and where to help in the ministry of San Ramón. We desire to be an encouragement and assistance, but without stifling the current excellent spirit of national ownership of this new ministry (for example: insisting on teaching when there are already Chilean teachers able and willing to teach).

April Kid's Edition

The Kid's Edition Post is back by popular demand. The Flinck children share their thoughts about their lives in general and their adjustments to life in another country.

Kaylee: Our house is sometimes cold, but Daddy makes a fire in the stove with wood to warm it up. Look at my new warm slipper socks that keep my feet hot! They're pink...my favorite color.
Ben and Jordan got some new monster slippers too! Can you guess who's feet are who's?

Jordan: We go to church on Sunday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Ben and I are making new friends and we love to play ping-pong with the teens after church while we wait for Daddy and Mommy to stop talking with people. Kaylee plays with all the girls from church. They try their English on her e-v-e-r-y service.

Ben: I got to go to San Ramón last Sunday afternoon with Mommy and Daddy. On our trip out there, I saw three volcanoes! It was so cool.

The service at San Ramón was all in Spanish, so Jordan, Kaylee and I just sat in the back and watched. We are trying to learn some songs, but it's hard right now.

Each day Mommy and Daddy find new fun surprises in boxes that they unpack. Daddy's soccer man mask was so much fun to play with yesterday.

Thank you for praying for us as we grow up here in Chile. We miss our Grandpa's and Grandma's and our other friends. Come and visit us sometime soon!

Jordan, Ben, and Kaylee

3rd Annual ICAT Leadership Conference

This past weekend, I (David) was able to attend the 3rd annual Leadership Conference that was hosted by the Temuco Bible Institute (which is called Instituto de Capacitación Theológica - ICAT).

This conference is one of the biggest calendar events of the year for the Bible Institute. Much planning goes into the conference (registration, speaker, food, folders, etc.) but Daryl Thompson (above) and his staff did a great job of putting the conference together.

This year's topic for the conference was "Ecumenicalism and the Church". A much needed topic due to the growing popularity of post-modern "tolerance-to-all" thinking. The workshops explained the definitions, the history of, and the influence of ecumenicalism within and without evangelicalism. Here in Chile, a strong Catholic country, one finds some form of ecumenicalism practically everywhere. The goal of the conference was to train pastors and lay leaders to identify ecumenicalism and work through situations of ecumenicalism in a Biblical way.

The speaker for the conference was Pastor Miguel Mondaca (a national pastor from Santiago). He did an excellent job of drawing the listeners into the complicated maze of ecumenical confusion by reminding all of the clear Biblical teaching and insightful historical examples. His knowledge, coupled with humor and solid Biblical doctrine proved to be such a blessing to all who were in attendance.

Speaking of attendance, praise the Lord, there were over 100 at the conference.


Each attendee was provided with a full set of notes that can be filed away for future reference. Also, at the end of the conference, each person was given a certificate of completion in this "course". While the certificate and conference does not count towards any Bible Institute diploma program, it is just a small way to encourage the pastors and lay leaders alike to continue to study and attend future conferences like these.

Please pray for the ministry of the Bible Institute here in Temuco as they strive to train the next generation of national pastors and lay leaders. The needs are great, but the potential is encouraging.

Tutor Sessions Started

Last Thursday, Rodrigo and I started my tutor sessions. We will be meeting twice a week for a couple hours. Our first session went well, as we got to know each other a bit more and set up some of the objectives for our times together.

Truly, learning Spanish has been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life. I am thankful that the Spanish language is much easier to learn than, let's say, Chinese or Arabic!

Continue to pray for my language learning throughout this coming year. Pray for small breakthroughs in complex concepts. As each week passes by, I have additional opportunities to learn, grow, and be stretched in the language. True fluency is something that will not be quick nor easy to accomplish. To anyone who thinks differently they are either misinformed or deceiving themselves.

Southern Sentinel May 09 Edition

The new edition of GMSA's Southern Sentinel is now available to read online. This is a publication of our mission sharing news and notes about what God has been doing in the ministries in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Mid April Family & Ministry Update

Family:

Kristi - She will have her first appointment with the new Dr. here in Temuco next Thursday. She and the baby have been doing well (other than the normal tiredness that a pregnancy brings). Last week, Kristi added homeschooling the boys to her morning routine. She is still unpacking things here and there and finding their final places around the house.

David - Is enjoying setting up his new office at home. Most days he is assembling some new piece of furniture around the house (like a bookshelf, a school desk for Ben, and an end table...just to name a few). He will be starting tutor sessions with Rodrigo (see picture below) next week (hopefully three times a week, two hours each session). One of the ideas that we are discussing for Rodrigo's compensation for tutoring me, is partially supporting him to take one Bible Institute class this next semester.

Jordan - He has started homeschool this past week and spends his morning learning new things. During the rest of the day, he is drawing up plans for a fort in the backyard (that supposedly his dad said would be ok to build). He also spends his time listening to "Adventures in Odyssey" while playing Legos in the playroom.

Above: The proposed fort location. Notice the gathered wood under the water bottle to build the fort.

Ben - He is in a growth spurt right now. He also started school last week. He, out of all of the children, enjoys trying new Spanish words out throughout the day. Ben is also in partnership in this conspiracy to build a fort in the backyard.

Kaylee - Loves her new "princess" room, but is still "too scared" to actually sleep there at nights. She is supposedly waiting for the "Princess nightlight" to be purchased at the local hardware store (that has been on back order for what seems like FOREVER). She seems to have caused quite a stir at church, cause she comes home each time with loads of ladies lipstick on her cheeks.


Ministry:

21 de Mayo - We faithfully attend Sunday morning and evening services, Wed night Bible Study, and Friday night prayer meeting. We continue to get to know the people, their names, and their family dynamics. The children have been enjoying going to the same SS class each Sunday. David has opportunities to converse with the members before and after each service. Kristi is attending the weekly ladies Bible study on Saturdays and David plans to start attending the young people's Bible study and activity on Saturday nights.

Please pray for our family to be an encouragement to the church and its members during this time of orientation.

San Ramón - Starting in a week or so, our whole family will go out to San Ramón after the Sunday AM service to attend the afternoon service. The plan is for David to go out to San Ramon (possibly with Ben and Jordan) about three out of four Sundays to help, observe, and eventually have opportunities to lead the songs, teach a Bible verse or a Bible story. With Kristi being pregnant and the winter months approaching, Kristi and Kaylee will most likely go out to San Ramón once a month.

Continue to pray for fathers in the San Ramón area to be reached in this crucial beginning time of the church plant.

Bible Institute - David plans to help out at the Bible Institue several mornings a week in the areas of technology, data entry, and helping in the library. There is a need for more institute professors, and David has been forewarned of the possibility of teaching next year.

Pray that David will be able to learn much from this exposure to the Bible Institute ministry. Also that he will be a blessing and encouragement to the BI students as he gets to know them throughout this year.

Camp Ministry - In the next few months, our family desires to travel south several times to help out Dan & Liz Thompson at the Lican Ray Camp property. These trips will double as times of work around the camp and also for times of prayer and fellowship with our co-workers. The icing on the cake is that Dan and Liz are also family (Dan is Kristi's younger brother).

Pray that our family will be able to be of practical help around the camp. There is so much to do on the property and so little man-power.


Vehicle Release:

Last week our paperwork for the full release of our vehicle was denied for the third time. This, obviously, was discouraging news. The course of action will be for our field director to write a letter of appeal to the department head that lays out the blatant discrimination against our "non-Catholic" mission.

Please continue to pray for wisdom and patience in this waiting game of red tape. We are confident that God is able to change the hearts and minds of these government officials to speed our vehicle through the appropriate channels in a timely fashion.

Support Update:

Currently, our family has been faithfully supported at the 89% level. We are thrilled to have engaged supporters who give, pray, and communicate with us via email, Skype, and Facebook. Please pray with us for God to bring in the remaining support.

Contact Info Update:

If you would like to have our new home address and phone numbers (land line and cell), please contact us via email and we will gladly send you that information.

Parque Estadio Municipal - Part 2

J, B, & K wish you all could be here to play with them at the city park. They miss their MN and TX friends, but are making some new friends at church.

Kaylee will be four in July

Jordan will be eight in July

Ben will be seven in September.

Parque Estadio Municipal - Part 1

Lest anyone think we have spent every waking hour unpacking and cleaning these last two weeks, we wanted to tell you about a recent outing we had exploring our surrounding neighborhood.

Just across the main boulevard from our villa is the Temuco City Park. We are very thankful for it's close proximity. The city park is huge, due to the fact it also has a large outdoor public swimming pool, tennis courts, soccer fields, and the Municipal Soccer Stadium.

Estadio Gérman Becker (German Becker Stadium) is were the Temuco professional soccer team plays. Pictures of inside the stadium HERE.

On game days, our whole neighborhood shuts down. Believe me, you can't get anywhere near the stadium. I found out the hard way on the first night Ben and I stayed at the house. We drove around for 45 minutes trying to get to the house, but kept running into police checkpoints and roadblocks. Finally after attempting to tell two policemen that I live in the area, I made it home via some back alleys.

It's funny to think back on it now...just imagine yourself being a policeman and someone drives up to you and (in incredibly pathetic Spanish) asks how to get home to his own house! From now on, we keep close tabs on what dates are game nights and plan to stay home on those event nights.

We have been enjoying some unusually warm weather for late March-early April (which are Fall months here in Chile). Temps have been in the mid-70's during the afternoon. We had promised the kids to take them to the park after we had unpacked all of the major things in the house. The other day, we capitalized on a wonderful warm afternoon and walked to the park.

The park was empty that day, due to the fact it was a school day. Only a few mothers with very small children were at the park. People were looking at us like we were a family from another planet...you know: being all blond, speaking English, kids NOT in school, a dad "not working" during work hours, and it not being tourist season for an American family to be on a vaction.

Besides the nice play areas for the children, the park has walking paths around the property. We plan to go back again this Fall as the weather allows. Next summer, we plan to use the swimming pool.

Come back for part 2 and pictures of the kids playing at the park.

Special Blessings

God has been providing for our needs during our transition to Temuco. The process of our mini van being released from customs has been frustrating to say the least. We arrived in Temuco without a vehicle and not looking forward to running all the errands by city bus, taxi, or walking. Our co-workers, Dan and Liz T., are allowing us to use their small truck while we wait for our mini van. This truly has been a blessing from God!

While the truck is small, our whole family "fits" inside and we are able to get to church and around town. The truck bed has come in handy several times on our runs to stores buying furniture, groceries, and hauling stuff. Thanks again Dan and Liz for your sacrificial hearts!

As for the most recent update on our mini van's process: Our recent appeal to release our van has been denied due to some alleged technicality. This technicality is groundless and our field director will call the appropriate office to sort it out. Please continue to pray for this matter. Having our vehicle will allow our family to function in a more effective way.

Another special blessing has been the mechanical help of our co-worker, and mentor, Daryl Thompson. He has graciously given some of his time to come over to the house and help with some of the small projects. Daryl hasn't just come over to fix or finish projects, but to also patiently teach me about what tools I need, how to solder, and the ins and outs of Chilean plumbing. I appreciate his help, since I readily admit I am not the "handiest" of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, or jack-of-all-trades.

Above: Daryl helped in the installation of our washer and gas dryer.
Below: He also brought over some needed tools that I didn't own or even knew how to use.

We are thankful for these special blessings that the Lord has given during our transition time. Our house is almost ready to be declared a "non-disaster zone". We still have many tubs to unpack and things to find their final home around the house. Kristi started homeschool back up this morning, after a long break (due to the many different changes that have taken place since Dec. 08: Texas to MN, MN to FL, FL to Santiago, and now Santiago to Temuco).

Continue to pray for our family and ministry here in Temuco. We love hearing from you and we miss you all.

Cleaning with Jodie

Jodie Kunnari traveled with us to Temuco and spent three days with our family. She helped by watching the kids while we had errands to run. Her time with us was a gift from God. She helped in so many ways. Her servant's heart came out in small and big ways.

Jodie helped with some of the major cleaning of the bathrooms and kitchen. They are not always the favorite jobs to tackle, but she did it with a joyful spirit.

Kaylee even got into the cleaning under Jodie's supervision.

During the three days Jodie was with us, we got a lot done, like numerous trips to the mall to buy a fridge, microwave, washer, dryer, and mattresses. Then trips to the grocery store to fill the fridge. Finally, buying all of the household items (brooms, mops, light bulbs, TP, soap, sponges, laundry soap, etc). These trips would have been complicated if the kids had to tag along. Sadly, Jodie had to leave after three days to go back up to Santiago to prepare to fly back to the States.

Thank you Jodie for your help. Please come back!!!! We miss you and your servant's heart.

God has been good to us during our transition. Come back to read of several more special blessings from this past week.

The Final Unload

Our moving truck made it safely to Temuco without any major incidents (except for the one bookshelf that was on the top of the truck and smashed to pieces by a tree branch). No one in our family loves books anyway ;)

Our family was at the house for the unloading. Kristi's brother, Danny came to help with his daughter, Morgan. Jodie was also there to keep the kids out of the doorways and hallways.

Thank the Lord it was a beautiful day to unload our stuff. We are in early fall here in Temuco and it rains quite often. The unloading took a little over an hour, thanks to the help of the whole crew.

Speaking of the crew...Danny T. and I with the crew from the truck company. A big thank you to all that helped and prayed for us during this process.

Now that everything is in the house, the REAL work begins. Come back to find out about that process.

The Trip Down to Temuco

After packing our suitcases and the rest of our things in the moving truck, we spent the last day at the Santiago apartment with little to do except for cleaning and waiting for our field director to pick us up and drive us to the bus station to catch our overnight bus.

The boys watched the wall clock for over a half hour since they were so excited to move to Temuco. As each minute passed, they would yell out the updated time. It was funny for a while, then became mildly annoying.

Our bus left Santiago around 11:20 pm. The kids were thrilled to find out that our bus was a double decker sleeper bus. Our seats were on the top level.

Despite the lateness of the hour, the kids looked out the window for a while as we drove out of the Santiago area.

The kids slept just fine during the overnight trip. Kristi and I didn't get much sleep and arrived exhausted. After arriving at 7:30 am, Daryl Thompson picked us up and brought us back to their apartment to sleep a couple hours before heading over to our new house to wait for the moving truck to arrive.

Come back to find out what happened during the unloading of the truck.