One Year Anniversary in San Ramón

This past Sunday afternoon, I took Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee out to San Ramón to participate in the one year anniversary service for the work in that community.


We spent some time walking the streets inviting and gathering children and parents to attend the special service. Above: Pastor Marcelo talking with one of the mothers who came.

We praise the Lord that several new parents attended. Pray that we can follow up with them and that they will start to attend faithfully in the future. The goal is to start an adult S.S. class this coming year.
Overall there was a great turnout of workers from the 21 de Mayo church, children, and parents from San Ramón.

Click HERE to view all of the 109 pictures from the anniversary celebration Sunday.

Happy Birthday Ben!

Our Ben had his 7th birthday on Sept. 27. Since it fell on a Sunday (as did Jordan's and Kaylee's this year), we decided to fully celebrate on Monday.


On Sunday, Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, and I went out to the San Ramón ministry after the morning service to participate in the service celebrating the one year mark of ministry in that community. Ben helped out by nailing down some new seat cushions for the benches use at San Ramón.Ben went to the store with Kristi to pick out his own cake. He picked out a "Tres Leches" (3 types of milk) cake. He liked it because he thought the chocolate pieces on top looked like pieces of wood.

On Monday, we had a special lunch and time for some birthday gifts. He is enjoying playing with his new Legos. Thank you to all who sent him an e-card via email. He loved reading them.

Pray for Ben as he grows up here in Chile. He is still learning Spanish and other things about Chile.

Camp Ministry Prayer Requests

We would like to conclude our "Dieciocho" Teen Retreat series (One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, & Seven) with a listing of prayer requests for the Bible Camp Ministry in Chile. Our hope is that you will pray through these requests and better understand the ministry here in Chile.

*Pray for an increase in support of the camp ministry by the national churches. There is a need for support, not only financially, but in participation, promotion, physical labor, and prayer. The churches need to understand anew what Bible camp ministry is about...Camp ministry exists to assist the local church.

*Pray for Dan & Liz Thompson as they strive to lead and direct the Bible camp ministry here in Chile. They need wisdom and discernment in casting the vision and strategy for the advancement of the Bible camp ministry.

*Pray for the spiritual impact of the camp. Pray for spiritual fruit to come from the ministry of the Word.

*Pray for the improvement of counselor training.

*Pray for the maintenance and construction plans for upcoming projects.

Here are just a few examples of upcoming projects:



There is a need to upgrade the entryway (improving the road, a new sign, etc)

There are plans to renovate the outside dishwashing area with new cement counters.

There are plans to clear this area (just inside the entryway) for a new camp parking lot.

There are plans to build a new double cabin this next year. This cabin will have its own bathrooms and will be able to be used year round.


If you are interested in more information on these projects, ways to participate on work teams, or have any questions about the Bible Camp Ministry, please contact our family - davenkris7(at)gmail(dot)com or Dan Thompson - dethompson(at)gmsa(dot)org

"Dieciocho" Teen Retreat (Part 7)

Random Photos from the Teen Retreat








Click HERE to view an album of 200 Retreat pictures on Facebook.

"Dieciocho" Teen Retreat (Part 6)

Our Family and Jenna's Involvement at Camp

Our family was pleased to observe Jenna's attitude and willingness to try new things and get to know the campers during the retreat. Despite some limitations in language, she was always trying to talk with the girl campers.

Jenna was thankful to be able to stay in a cabin full of teen girls. She learned so much in those three days. She participated in cabin devotions each day.

Jordan and Ben played outside with their cousins each day. They were in a boy's paradise with all of the outside adventure to experience.

Kristi's involvement was limited due to Lukas being so small. She did get outside a few times and visited with some teen girls.

Jenna participated during game time and had a lot of fun.

Sling that water balloon over the net!

Lukas probably had the easiest job for the weekend...just be held by everybody. Myrian and Víctor enjoyed their time taking turns holding Lukas.



















As you can see, Kaylee was super excited while cheering at the water balloon volleyball game. So excited in fact, that she grabbed her pig tails and pulled them up and down rapidly.

There were times of pouting as well. While I was not very pleased with her attitude here, I couldn't help but snicker while taking this picture of Kaylee making it known to me that she wasn't going to obey immediately.


The boys did make a few new friends during the weekend. It probably had something to do with Abram attempting to talk English with them whenever possible.

Jenna eating with her cabin girls.

Kaylee and her co-hort in crime cousin, Morgan. They loved playing around the campground, especially in the sand. These princesses make getting dirty look pretty.
With all of the outdoor activities, everybody was pretty tuckered out come bedtime. Our family crashed in the upstairs room of Dan & Liz's house. We plan to help out in some way during the next retreat in mid Oct.

Come back tomorrow for the next post in this series.

"Dieciocho" Teen Retreat (Part 5)

Chow Time at Camp!

The teenage guys would argue that meal times are pretty high on the priority list when it comes to the daily schedule at camp. That's why Chow Time at camp is one thing not to overlook in the camp planning. There are some challenges in planning and making enough food for camp, since the directors may not know exactly how many campers will show up until the first day (due to the concept of PRE-registration here in Chile is...well...more like POST-registration). Usually the meals are made up of things that are easier to make in large quantities and very quickly.

The actual eating of the food can be a real blur, 'cause teenagers get mighty hungry with all of the activities at camp. Here in Chile, camps don't have snack shops where campers can buy candy and snacks in between meals. The only food that the camper gets is what the dinning hall serves during meals (unless, of course, they stocked their suitcases with food).

This year, the camp directors decided to "raise the bar" just a little bit when it came to WHAT was offered on the "Dieciocho" (Chile's Independence Day).

It took A LOT of work, but close to 200 pork and sausage shishkabobs were prepared several hours before lunch time.
Tomatoes were peeled for the Ensalada Chilena (typical Chilean Onion and Tomato Salad)


Once all the shishkabobs were ready, Danny and I fired up the new grill (recently donated to the camp) and started the insufferable (insert sarcasm) job of grilling them all.































Man, did they smell and taste good!








The process for making all of the meat Empanadas took all morning as well. These were a BIG hit, since they are very common here in Chile.


The complete Dieciocho meal...camp style. Incredibly yummy and worth the extra effort to put together. Thanks to all who helped in the kitchen to pull this meal off. My vote is to do it again next year.

For dessert, the campers had Mote con Huesillo. *Recipe for Mote with dried peaches

Come back again for part 6