E a Rt H qU aK e

Photo taken by David - Downtown Temuco one block from the Bible Institute.

Just a quick note to say:

*Our family is safe
*Our home has no damage
*We are thankful for the Lord's protection during the wild ride that was 8.3 on the Richter scale
*We are just now have water, lights, and internet.
*Posting pictures and commentary in the near future.

Thanks for your prayers and words of comfort and concern via email and Facebook.

David & Kristi Flinck
Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, & Lukas

Leona Nelson (1918 - 2010)

In the previous post, I mentioned that three days after my parents arrived in Chile, they received news that my grandmother, Leona Nelson, passed away peacefully back in Minnesota. Her passing was a surprise, but not fully unexpected. Every emergency plan was cared for before my parents flew to Chile. That being said, being halfway across the globe has not been easy for my parents, as they had much to do long distance in setting the funeral plans in motion. Thank goodness for email and Skype, as they were able to connect with many family members and friends during this time of family loss.

For the past three years, my parents have been caring for Leona in their home. These past years have been very challenging for my parents, but at the same time, have been a blessing to them. They truly honored Leona by caring for her during the last years of her long life.

Our family will not be able to attend the memorial & burial service on March 6th, but my parents will be back in the States in time to attend.

A word of thankfulness needs to be mentioned for Leona's impact on my life and the life of my young family. Through the years, I have become more and more appreciative of the blessing it is to grow up in a family with multiple generations of those who have not only put their trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior, but desire to be faithful in service to Him through their local church. It was through Leona's testimony and example, that my mom and dad are Christians and serving God in the local church. Thank you Grandma for impacting my life by impacting my parent's lives.

Through these past three years or so, Leona has faithfully supported our family while raising support on deputation, studying Spanish in Texas, and during our first year of service in Chile. We are thankful for your love, prayers, and support.

We take comfort in what the Bible teaches about eternal life in Heaven with the Savior. We do not wish you back on Earth, for in the presence of our Savior is a place far better.

Above: Our last family picture with Grandma Leona. Taken on Dec. 25th, 2008 a few weeks before we flew to Chile.

Time With David's Parents

My parents (Pastor Cary & Nancy Flinck) arrived in Temuco back on Feb 12th and will be with us until the end of the month. It has been over a year since we have seen them and we have enjoyed our short time with them.

My parents were able to meet Lukas for the FIRST time. They have enjoyed getting to know him in these past days.

Mom and Dad have been helping a bit around the house with odd jobs that we haven't had time to finish. Above: Mom is staining our dinning room table. We are very thankful for their willingness to help out around the house.


They have also helped out at the Bible Institute project. Above: Ben & Grandma Flinck are sweeping up the classrooms in preparation for the start of the next school year in March.

*I will be posting an expanded photo edition of some of the projects we have been working on in the next few days.

We have been able to take Mom and Dad to several church services. Above: Friday night prayer meeting at the 21 de Mayo Church.

Click HERE for some additional pictures of our time at the annual church picnic and baptism that my parents were able to attend.

Last Sunday, I was able to take my parents to the San Ramón preaching point for the afternoon in order for them to attend the Sunday School class and give them a mini tour of the area.



My dad and I sang a special number in English and Spanish for the evening service. My mom accompanied us on the accordion. The church members really enjoyed getting to know my parents more during a short question and answer time during the evening service. I was asked to translate, which was a bit surprising, scary, and stretching. Despite the language barrier, my parents were extremely encouraged by our Chilean brothers and sisters in Christ.

We all have been able to do some fun outings together...like going to the mall.

...and the Pacific Ocean at Puerto Saavedra.

Grandpa & Grandma Flinck with Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, & Lukas

Our time with my parents has been a gift from God. Many memories were made. We will miss them when they leave on Feb 28th. The next time we will see them will be on furlough in several years. :(

Three days after arriving in Chile, my parents received word that my grandma, Leona Nelson (91 yrs), passed away. It was a bittersweet time for my parents (especially my mom), since they have been caring for Leona in their home for the past three years. In the next post, I will share more about my grandma's passing.

BI Project Update (Feb 20)

The Temuco Bible Institute project has seen some great progress in the last two weeks. The upstairs girl's dorm bathroom looks amazing. Above: the two new sinks.

The bathroom now has two toilets and one shower.


Ramón has been faithfully working on the project with a servant's heart. He has made all of the cupboards for the new kitchen.


While much progress has been made on the project, much is left to purchase in the next three weeks to fully prepare it for proper use.

Items still needed include:
-A wood stove
-A gas stove
-A refrigerator
-Pots and pans
-Dishes

In the next update, we will tell you about several "unexpected" small projects that came up at the Bible Institute.

2010 Missionary Conf. in Uruguay

For the last two weeks we have been doing a ton of traveling. We are thankful for the safety and sanity the Lord gave us as our whole family traveled to Uruguay for our annual GMSA missionary conference.

Jordan and Ben looking at the river as we crossed the big bridge in Zárate, Argentina. We rode with fellow co-workers, Tom and Debbie Gibbons, up to the conference. It was a blessing to fellowship with them in the van.


Lukas was a great little traveler. He had to deal with a new schedule, a hot & muggy climate, and a new bed. We were very thankful that he adjusted.

The annual GMSA missionary conf. is never set up to be a vacation, due to the heavy schedule of preaching sessions, workshops, and field meetings, but it was nice to get away and fellowship with other co-workers from Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

For the kids, on the other hand, conference is nothing but pure fun with fellow MK's. Above: Ben is jumping into the camp pool with Brian V. (MK from Uruguay).

Our hearts were encouraged by the Word of God through the morning and evening sessions with Dr. Dan Anderson (President of Appalachain Bible College, in WV).

While we have left many family and friends back in the States, we are very thankful that all of Kristi's side of the family are serving the Lord in South America. Each year we all get to see each other at the missionary conference.

Above: The group picture of all of the GMSA missionary families from Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile.

View more pictures and commentary on our time at the GMSA missionary conference HERE.

Making the Wrong Impression

The following came from a recent news report...

Is it 'C h i i e' or 'C h i l e'?

An engraver fired by Chile's mint for an error that led to the release of 1.5 million coins featuring the country of "C H I I E" said Friday that his bosses deliberately covered up the mistake.

The error showed up on Chilean 50-peso pieces for the year 2009.

Engraver Pedro Lizana told The Associated Press he unknowingly left off the bottom part of the letter "l" when, in December 2008, he was hurriedly fixing a minor deformity in the original mold for making the dies to stamp out the coin.

The coins were released to the public last year but no one at the mint, including himself, knew about the error until a coin collector called in October to point it out, he said.

Once informed, officials at the mint fixed the stamp for future 50-peso pieces, but sent another batch of bad coins to the Central Bank without telling officials there of the error, Urzua said. Those coins never were released to the public, he said.

Various officials at the mint, including the head of Urzua's department, asked "that we not say anything to anyone" about the error, he said.

The Central Bank, which issues the coins, did not learn of the error until it was reported by the newspaper in December, the same month that Urzua was fired, the engraver said. The head of his department was fired in January.

The press department at the mint said Friday that officials would not comment. No one could be reached at the Central Bank.

The 50-peso piece is just under an inch across— making it difficult to immediately see on the faulty coins that Chile is spelled "Chiie."

**********************************

After reading this article and chuckling a little to myself, a thought came to my mind. That thought was this, "Am I making the wrong impression of who God is to the Chilean people?"

A serious question for a missionary (or any Christian) to honestly think through. While making the wrong impression on a 50 peso coin could be stated as an honest or minor mistake, but making the wrong impression of who God is MAJOR.

Are my actions teaching others the right impression of God?

Are my attitudes teaching others the right impression of God?

Are my reactions teaching others the right impression of God?

Is my family life teaching others the right impression of God?

Is my ministry teaching others the right impression of God?

These questions, and many more, I have been asking myself lately. Please pray that our family will make the right and proper impression of who our Eternal God is, as we minister to people around us here in the Temuco area.