National Pastor's Meeting - June 6th

Last Saturday, I attended another Regional National Pastor's meeting which was held at a church called Betel (Bethel). It is a country church that is located about 45 min. north and east of Temuco. I rode up with Daryl and a few other national pastors and lay leaders. During the trip, I talked with Pastor Marcelo in the back seat about ministry. It was stretching for my Spanish and a good time to get to know his heart for ministry.

The church recently renovated their building. With the two blue arrows pointing towards the sky, this church definitely has a unique structure.

From the church property, I snapped a picture of the surrounding views. After the morning fog burned off, I had a clear view of the Llaima Volcano in the distance.

Llaima Volcano is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Chile. It is situated 50 miles northeast of Temuco. Llaima’s activity has been documented since the 17th century, and consists of several separate episodes of moderate explosive eruptions with occasional lava flows. It last erupted in Jan. 2008.

The meeting was another great opportunity for me to met the area pastors and lay leaders. Also, I was able to personally hear of the needs of the area churches and ministry projects that were proposed. There are many churches that are without a pastor. There is a great need for training young Chilean men to fill the large gaps in these country churches.

I am still trying to learn all of the names of the towns where these churches are located. Believe me the list contains many tongue twisters.

Here are just some of the names on the list:
Dollinco
Huefel
Mahuidanche
Mallohue
Melipeuco
Pefehue
Peu Peu
Pitrufquén
Quitratue

Unfortunately, we had to leave the meetings before the lunch, since Daryl and Marcelo were performing a wedding ceremony at the 21 de Mayo church later that afternoon.

Check back on the blog soon to find out how our first Sunday in Lautaro went.