3 for 1 Update

Kristi's pregnancy:

*No baby news yet.
*Still at home.
*Very comfortable.
*Taking it easy
*Hoping the baby comes sooner than later.
*Next Dr. appointment on Friday (July 31st)
*We'll keep you posted!

David's Temporary Residency Visa Update:

*Finished the paperwork this morning downtown
*The Chilean ID card will be ready to be picked up in two weeks.
*This visa is good for one year.

Vehicle Update:

*Recently we have been blessed to use our co-workers mini van instead of the small pickup. What a difference!
*After a few important meetings with govt. officials, it has been decided that our mission will pursue "donating" the van to the association of national churches (UCB) here in Chile, which has the proper paperwork to release the vehicle.
*This option is in the hands of the head of Customs (Roberto). After his final approval, UCB will start the three month process (again) to bring in the vehicle. Please pray that Roberto will sign off on our situation and show great kindness and speediness on our behalf.
*We will continue to keep you posted on any progress.

Thanks so much for your prayers in these three situations.

Ladies Prayer Meeting

Normally, the Ladies Bible Study group meets on Saturdays, but periodically they meet in the homes of the ladies for a time of prayer. Last week, Kristi offered to host the prayer meeting at our home. There was a total of six ladies in attendance.

For over an hour, the ladies shared requests, sang, and prayed together.

During the prayer meeting, I had the kids upstairs, to keep them out of the way. One of the ladies, brought her son, Franco, with her, so the kids had someone to play with for the afternoon. It was fun to listen to them play not knowing what the other was saying. At one point, Ben (our resident teacher) used some cards with pictures on them to teach Franco some words in English. In turn, Franco repeated the words in Spanish back to Ben.

As I type, Kristi is at the Saturday Ladies Bible Study meeting. This might be the last one she attends for a while, since the baby could come this next week. Keep checking the blog (and Facebook) for baby news!

Pastor Appreciation Sunday

This past Sunday, July 19th, was Pastor Appreciation Sunday at the 21 de Mayo Church. The members of the church had planned an all day celebration for Pastor Marcelo and his wife Teresa.

After the morning service, the meal was prepared and tables were set up. Jordan and Ben played outside in the church yard with their friends from church.

They also watched the men set up the grill to cook the large amount of chicken for the meal.

The chicken before...

during...

...and after being cooked on the grill.

One of the lay leaders (standing on the left) prayed for the meal and for Pastor and Teresa (seated). His prayer was full of thanks to the Lord for sending Pastor to their church and for the ministry that Pastor and Teresa do each week.

After the meal, three gifts were presented to Pastor and Teresa. Every member of the church gave some money (what they could) to buy them these special gifts. Pastor received a new black leather briefcase and a new warm blue coat. Teresa received an orange full length shawl sweater.

It was a wonderful day for the church. What a wonderful sight to see the church people taking care of their own pastor. Our family is also thankful for Pastor Marcelo and Teresa. They have been such a big encouragement to us since we have moved to the Temuco area.

With each event at church, our children interact more with the children from the church. Above: Kaylee played with three friends from her SS class. (Diego, Fernanda , and Belen)

July: Kid's Edition

Some thoughts from Jordan, Ben, and Kaylee...

Hola everybody! We have been living in Temuco now for four months. We like it, but miss you all. Above: We recently went to the Temuco mall for a special birthday meal for Jordan.

We are almost done with school this year. We will have a break for several weeks when mommy's baby comes. We are all excited and can't wait for our new little baby brother. Kaylee wants to call her new brother, Jack-Jack, but we think daddy and mommy will call the baby something else.

This past month, we had our three cousins stay with us for four nights! Their mommy and daddy had to go to Santiago to teach camp workers. We had a blast! We played dress-up.

Time with our cousins is special, cause we don't get to see family very often. We took our cousins to the city park across the street from our villa. Daddy took a picture of each one of us playing at the park...here they are in order of age.

Jordan - age 8

Micah - 7

Ben - almost 7 (in Sept)

Matthias (a.k.a. Peanut) - 5

Kaylee - 4

Morgan - 3

Will you pray for us? Here are a few things you can pray for:

- Our new baby brother to be healthy and happy.
- For mommy. We think she will be tired a lot when our baby brother comes.
- For daddy. He needs to learn more Spanish.
- For us. We need to learn more Spanish too.
- For our friends at church.
- For our van to come. We really really want to ride in our van.

Kaylee's 4th Birthday

Sunday, July 12th, was Kaylee's 4th birthday.

Thanks to all who sent her an e-card. She loved each one of them.

Kristi made a chocolate cake and we had a family party on Sunday night.

We can't believe that "our baby" is now four. She is growing up too fast.

Above: Kaylee in the "dress up tub". Kaylee wished all her MN, WI, and TX friends could have played with her on her birthday.

Pregnancy and Vehicle Update (July 11, 09)

Kristi's Pregnancy Update:

* Currently at 36 weeks (due date Aug 8th)

* Last week Kristi had a check up with her doctor. He said things are looking good.

* The baby has turned and now head down.

* Kristi has started getting out all the baby items (crib, clothes, diapers, wipes, etc.)

* The next appointment will be on Mon. July 20, when Kristi will meet the doctor's midwife.

* The last few weeks have become more uncomfortable for Kristi.

* J, B, & K are getting pretty excited!!

* We are still mentally working through some names for the baby. Several of the Chilean ladies at church are already giving the baby names...like it was up to them!

Please continue to pray for Kristi and the baby during these upcoming weeks.


Vehicle Situation Update:

* Despite our vehicle arriving in Chile last Oct, the government office has not allowed the paperwork to pass three times (for various reasons).

* We received word from our field director that this Monday, July 13th, there will be an important meeting in Valparaiso with a man from the office of religious affairs dept. and someone from the Control office concerning our vehicle situation.

* Please pray that this meeting will be profitable, and that our vehicle paperwork will be able to move forward towards a quick resolution.

* We continue to use the small pickup (see Above), but with the baby coming, things could get even more interesting.

* We will post more updates as we hear the news.

Surprise Baby Shower Part 2

Read Part One

The ladies served coffee and tea with cookies and cake. During this time they played a game and also had several ladies share their pregnancy stories.

Then came the gifts. The ladies came up one at a time and presented their gift to Kristi, shared a thought or blessing, then Kristi opened the gift.

Kristi with Teresa (the pastor's wife).

Kristi was very thankful to receive several items of clothing for wintertime. Each gift was appreciated.

Kristi and Pamela (a BI student who also ministers in the church in Lautaro on Sundays).

The baby shower was not only a big surprise, but a big blessing as well. We are thankful for the Chilean brethren at the church!

Surprise Baby Shower Part 1

Last Saturday, Kristi did what she normally does on Saturday afternoons...attended the weekly Ladies Bible Study at church. Little did she know that there was something special planned immediately after the Bible Study...a surprise baby shower!!

In retrospect, Kristi did think a few things were odd during the Bible Study.

1. There was a record number of ladies in attendance (15).

2. The ladies had extra bags with them, instead of just their Bible, notebooks, and purses.

3. After the lesson, there was an announcement that there was going to be a small "snack time" in the kitchen area of the church.

After the lesson, a few ladies conspired to "talk" with Kristi while the rest scampered to the back room for the big surprise. Kristi was then led into the decorated back room filled with giggling ladies who were full of delight that they all "pulled it off".



A big thank you to the ladies of the church for thinking of Kristi during her pregnancy!!

Come back tomorrow for more pictures from the baby shower.

Missionary Prayer Meeting at Beyer's

Every Thursday, our GMSA co-workers get together for a time of prayer, a short devotional, and fellowship. Once a month, we have a prayer meeting with a time of food afterward. This last time, we met at Hartmut & Gaby Beyer's house.

They live in Labranza (7 miles west of Temuco). They live in a structure that used to be a restaurant. It's huge and they purchased it for a great price (due to the owner needing to sell quickly).

We sing a few songs together and then share prayer requests and praises. Normally, the guys and girls split up and pray together. We try to schedule this special prayer meeting for when Dan and Liz come into Temuco to buy their food for the month.

The children play while the adults pray and talk together.


The Beyer's had a great room for hosting people (remember...it used to be a restaurant).

The ladies admiring the large kitchen.

This Thursday, we will meet again at the Bible Institute apartment for another time of prayer. We are thankful for being close to several missionary families that we can learn from and fellowship with.

Confessions of a Rookie Missionary Language Learner

1. I confess that I watch cartoons in Spanish with my kids to learn new words and phrases.

2. I confess that I often verbally agree with people despite not entirely understanding what they just said to me or asked me.

3. I confess that I feel a surge of fear when the phone rings or someone is knocking at the door. (Refer back to #2)

4. I confess that, in retrospect, I am very very thankful that I went to a formal language school.

5. I confess that I should have studied harder at language school.

6. I confess that it slightly bothers me that my children will talk Spanish better and sooner than I.

7. I confess that when two people are talking to me at the same time, it's pretty much impossible to understand either of them (especially last Sunday when I visited an elderly couple. The man had no teeth, and the woman was emotional. Put them together and you have a recipe for a headache. Refer back to #2)

8. I confess that certain Spanish words and phrases are so much better to communicate a certain concept or thought.

9. I confess that despite the challenges of learning Chilean Spanish, I absolutely love the Chilean accent (it's rhythm, and distinct sound).

10. I confess that my perfectionist personality unfortunately hinders me from learning faster.

11. I confess that my brain is constantly running at high RPMs. In certain contexts, I just know people will come up and talk to me, so I am constantly thinking of stuff they might ask me, or things I might (or should) say to them.

12. I confess that I am not to the point where I can communicate what I REALLY want to communicate. It's usually a dumbed down version of my real thoughts.

13. I confess that when people ask me "So how is your Spanish?", I wonder if they really want to hear my complicated answer.

14. I confess that the process of learning another language has been one of the best tools for beating down my tenancy to be proud. Refer back to #12 & 13.

15. I confess that there are good days and bad days.

16. I confess that there are days when I would rather not attempt to say anything to anybody.

17. I confess that I really didn't want to admit #1-16.

Jordan's 8th Birthday

Sunday, July 5th, was Jordan's 8th birthday. We spent the whole day ministering at the church in Lautaro, so we were not planning on doing anything until the next day. Jordan did receive a cake from the Topp family!

We are thankful to God for giving us 8 years with Jordan. He is growing up so fast. We plan to take him to the mall today to celebrate as a family. Thanks to all who have sent e-cards. Jordan has enjoyed each one of them.

A New Member of the Family

No, Kristi didn't have the baby yet! This past week, Uncle Dan and Aunt Liz gave Jordan a fish for his 8th birthday.

Jordan was super excited.

Jordan also received a fish bowl and things to go in the bowl.

The fish will entertain the kids for hours, I'm sure.

After some deliberation, Jordan called the fish "Goldie".

Kaylee and cousin Morgan