Nov. Regional Pastor's Meeting

On Sat. Nov. 21, I attended the last regional pastor's meeting for the year. This time it was held in Temuco, so I didn't have to travel very far.

Daryl Thompson was there to give a short update on the Bible Institute ministry. The BI year is coming to a close and we are looking forward to some good progress this coming year. The BI starts up again in mid-March 2010.

Please continue to pray for the national pastors and the ministries here in the ninth region of Chile. There are many challenges and hurdles that need to be addressed this coming year. We trust in God to give us wisdom to deal with these issues and vision for future ministries.

David's Birthday

My family recently took my to a steak restaurant called "Pura Carne" (Pure Meat) to celebrate my birthday.
We had been meaning to take Jenna there as well, so it killed two birds with one stone.

Um...I wonder where the restaurant got its name?? We ordered one plate of meat and it fed all of us.

The kids loved the small play area behind the restaurant.

Since my birthday fell on a Sunday, we celebrated on Monday at home. Kristi made me white cupcakes with white frosting...my favorite.

A Different Thanksgiving

This year, Thanksgiving will be different in many ways. For starters, this will be the first Thanksgiving our family will celebrate in Chile. Tomorrow, we plan to travel down to the Lican Bible Camp to celebrate Thanksgiving with other American missionary families (we'll post about this next week).

Here why our Thanksgiving will be different this year:

*Instead of spending time with family (parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins), we will spend the day with our missionary co-workers (who have become our adopted family here in Chile).

*Instead of a typical Thanksgiving meal with ALL of the fixings, we will have "about-as-close-to-a-typical" Thanksgiving meal as we can get. Some things, like cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie filling, are hard to find here in Chilean grocery stores.

*Instead of enjoying the fall colors and falling leaves, we will enjoy the budding of the green leaves and colorful Chilean flowers.

*Instead of combating chilly fall temperatures by sitting next to the warm fireplace with hot chocolate or coffee, listening to some Christmas music, we will be enjoying the Chile springtime temperatures at the camp property.

*Instead of going shopping at Wal-Mart, Target, and the mall on Friday morning, we are all going up into the mountains to go hiking and swim in some hot springs.

*Instead of watching the Packers play the Lions (or Oakland vs. Dallas, or Denver vs. the Giants) we will throw my football around with the kids and dads.

*Instead of eating candy corn and candy pumpkins, we will munch on typical Chilean candy.

*Instead of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, the kids will be playing outside in their cousin's new "Daniel Boone" tree house.

We give thanks to God for your love, prayers, friendship, and financial support throughout this first year of ministry in Chile.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Nov. Kid's Edition: Chapter Two

Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee: Miss Jenna reads to us once in a while before bedtime. She has just a few more weeks left with us before she leaves to fly to the States. We will miss her a lot!

Kaylee: This is my friend Fernanda from my church. She plays with me every Sunday after the service is over. She teaches me new Spanish words each week.

Lukas: I usually sleep through church...I know, I know, I need to work on that, but it's rough being held by every lady in the church each week. My cheeks are permanently stained red from all of their red lipstick lips. Daddy, is it time to go home yet?

Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee: We recently took a trip together as a family. We stopped in a few towns and even got to go to the Pacific Ocean.

Miss Jenna went on our trip too. We had so much fun!


We climbed up a big hill to look out over the ocean.

We played in the ocean. The water was very very cold, but we still had loads of fun.

Ben: Here I am in the Pacific Ocean. Maybe if you come and visit us, we can take you to the ocean?

Kaylee: I was SOOOOO tired from our trip to the ocean, that I fell asleep in the van on the way home.Lukas: You see what I mean? I'm always in someone's arms.

Ben: Daddy has been letting me practice taking pictures in the backyard this past month. Here is a picture of our cat. Kaylee is running with a stick so that the cat will chase her. There is also a white cat that comes to our backyard from other people's roofs in order to play with us.

Thank you for praying for us and we'll post more pictures and adventures next month!

Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, & Lukas Flinck

Nov. Kid's Edition: Chapter One

November is almost over so it's time for another Kid's Edition...

Lukas: I'm getting plenty of attention from my older brothers and sister. They make me smile everyday, but sometimes they are overwhelming.

Kaylee: You'll never guess what I got into while at my cousin's house?


Kaylee: Daddy took me to San Ramón one Sunday afternoon to attend the Sunday School class with the San Ramón children. I am trying to make new friends. My favorite part was coloring with the class.

Jordan, Ben, & Kaylee: Our daddy went on a trip to Uruguay and saw our friend Felicia. She sent us some gifts with our daddy. Thanks Felicia!!

Ben: While in San Ramón with daddy and Kaylee, I went with the group to pick up the kids at their houses and walk them to the Sunday School class.

Kaylee: Sometimes when I'm at church, I'm a distraction to others. I try not to be, but...Tia Meche just loves to color in my coloring book instead of listening to the pastor.
Ben: I give Kaylee piggy-back rides around the house after school is done.

Jordan: We have been playing outside more since Springtime is finally here. We love to find snails that are hiding all over the backyard.

We have a few more pictures and stories to share with you, so come back again for chapter two!
Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, & Lukas Flinck

Chilean Presidential Elections 101

With each passing day, Chileans are increasingly preoccupied by the upcoming presidential elections. The Chilean election system is different than what we are used to in the States. While I'm not a political junkie, I have been trying to better understand the election system, the presidential candidates, and the implications for voting for each.

The elections are scheduled to take place on Sunday, Dec. 13th., but in the last few weeks all the election signs have been showing up everywhere...and I mean everywhere. You can't go down one main street without being bombarded with hundreds of campaign signs.

Election day is always on a Sunday, which has major implications for ministry. Chilean law forbids any groups to meet or congregate on election day, so most churches do not have services on that day.

All citizens of Chile, as well as foreigners legally residing in Chile for at least five years, who are 18 years of age or older on the day of the election, are eligible to register and subsequently vote in the elections. Registering to vote is voluntary, however, once electors are registered, it is mandatory to vote in each and every election. If you don't vote, then you pay a fine. Chileans are not allowed to vote overseas. If you are a political junkie, go HERE for additional information on the Chilean voting and government system.


There are four main presidential candidates this year:

Sebastián Piñera - National Renewal Party; Center-Right political views; Economist, investor, & billionaire; Runner up in the last Presidential elections (2005); owns 100% of a Chilean television station, 27% of Lan Chile Airlines, and 13% of the famous Colo-Colo Chile soccer team.





Eduardo Frei - Christian Democratic Party; Center-left political views; Civil Engineer; former president of Chile (1994-2000); former president of the Senate (2006-2008)








Marco Enríquez-Ominami - Independent political party; Center-left political views; filmmaker and politician; son of a famous Chilean Revolutionary Left leader; married to a Chilean TV hostess; nickname is MEO, due to his long name.




Jorge Arrate - Communist Party of Chile; Left political views; lawyer, economist, academic, and writer; has served under two previous Chilean presidents.








If one of the candidates doesn't receive over 50% of the popular vote on Dec. 13th, then there is a run off vote on Jan. 17, 2010, between the top two leading candidates. Many hot-button issues are at stake upon the conclusion of this election: Gay Marriage, Homosexuality, and Legal Abortions.

While our family is not here to change the Chilean government, changes in the Chilean government could affect the spread of the Gospel in Chile. Please pray for this election and that Chilean believers (and missionaries) would realize that God will always be in control, no matter who becomes president.

"The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will." Proverbs 21:1

Learning More about Our Region

Our family is still learning more about our region of Chile, its culture, its cities, its people, and its beauty. Last Sat., we took a drive west in order to explore and learn new things.

Come along with us via photos and a few videos to see what we experienced.

The town of Nueva Imperial





The town of Carahue



The town of Puerto Saavedra



Click HERE to view all of the pictures from our day trip.