Ladies Ministry Kickoff

This past month, Kristi and the ladies in our group planned and hosted a "Ladies Ministry Kickoff Tea" here in our apartment building's event room. Kristi and I have been discussing the importance of having a women's and men's ministry but wrestling with how to start and maintain one (especially after listening to THIS discussion on the pros and cons of Evangelistic Events). Our desire and end goal is to invest, impact and disciple people, instead of running around with our heads cut off trying to run and maintain a program. Lasting spiritual fruit usually comes from effective one-on-one follow up, not necessarily from big events or programs.

Fleshing out a "people vs. program" ministry philosophy is a challenge, especially here in Chile, where big events and over the top hospitality dominates cultural thinking. We need wisdom as we desire to teach, model, and encourage others to invest in people.

To find a happy medium, Kristi and the ladies decided to have a sort of "kickoff" tea time to invite ladies to attend and encourage them to join future Bible study times. The idea was to have an opportunity to gain some new contacts and personally follow up on each one.

Above: Anna, Lilian, & Susana. All of our ladies in our group were in attendance. Several of them brought friends with them.

Kristi gave a short introduction and devotional and invited all the ladies to participate in future Bible studies that will be held in our apartment or in the homes of the ladies.

Kristi with co-organizer, Lilian.

We think that the original goals for the "kickoff tea" were met. Now comes the most important part of the ministry...intentional personal follow up with the new contacts.

Click HERE to view all of the photos of the Ladies Tea.

Please pray for our ladies as we encourage and equip them to participate in follow up and personal ministry of the Word with others.

Please pray for Pia (a friend of Anna). Kristi and Anna are meeting with her to discuss the Gospel and attempt to answer the many questions she has about God, the Bible, and Salvation.

Unexpected blessings

It all happened so fast. It started by receiving an email from some friends in Mississippi (former missionaries in Chile) asking if we could put together a short list of items that we needed or wanted. Our friends had heard of a university missions team that was planning to serve in Antofagasta and wanted to send some items to us with the team.

We met up with the team from William Carey University on a Saturday to get to know them and pick up our package from our dear friends. Our family wasn't a part of their trip or activities, but was thankful for their willingness to pack the items in their suitcases.

We were overwhelmed with what the package contained. Small blessings from dear friends. A few board games, chocolate chips, fruit snacks, and books.

I (David) was able to help the team on their final day in Antofagasta by driving them around the city for some last minute shopping as well as to the airport to catch their flight. Several friendships with Americans and Chileans were made during this short time together with the team. We thank the Lord for crossing paths with these believers.

2011 National Pastor's Advance

The plane tickets were purchased months in advance. The thought of leaving dry northern Chile to spend five days in "greener" Santiago was exciting. But it wasn't just a trip for "sanity's" sake, but for spiritual fellowship. Each October, our mission hosts a national pastor's conference (called Avance Pastoral) with the goal to encourage, equip, and energize national pastors in the ministry. This year the Pirque Bible Camp (just south of Santiago) was the host site for the conference.

National pastors from Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay attended the conference. Time spent in conversation, prayer, playing soccer, and around the supper table was a big encouragement to me personally. Above: I was able to spend some quality time with my friend, Marcelo (he pastors at the 21 de Mayo Church in Temuco, where we served and participated in during our first two years in Chile). I miss being able to meet with him to talk and pray about the ministry.

The conference aims for one or two main themes each year to will equip pastors in the ministry. In reality, the sessions and speakers are lined up to serve as a "mini-seminary" course (including notes and a textbook for each pastor).

Left to Right: This year's speakers were David Wile (former Biblical Ministries Worldwide missionary to Uruguay). He spoke on various issues from the book of I Corinthians. Mark Rubin (ABWE Chile missionary) spoke on how to study, interpret, preach, and apply the book of Psalms.One of the strengths of this conference is that the speakers MUST speak Spanish. While there are many other capable conference speakers out there, we seek those who can effectively speak without an interpreter. This amplifies possible teaching time, plus it gives the conference a more "national" feel. Both speakers did a fine job stretching us all within the themes presented.

For each conference, our mission (Gospel Mission of South America) invests (key word) money in the purchase of theological books that go along, or amplify the topics. Above: Kaiser's book, "Teaching and preaching from the Old Testament."

There are many opportunities for the speakers and missionaries to "informally" impact and encourage the national pastors during times of conversation outside of the main sessions. Above: Mark Rubin is chatting with Pastor Wilfredo (from Ovalle, Chile).

David Wile teaching his session on I Corinthians.

A MacArthur commentary on I Corinthians was given to every national pastor...and missionary ;)

While some didn't make it in this photo, the above shot is the majority of GMSA missionaries from Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay.

Above: The group shot of all the national pastors and missionaries in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay who were able to attend this year.

Pray for these men!

They (we) need your prayers.

Ephesians 4:11-16

Click HERE to view all my photos from the Pastor's Conference.

A Visit from Sharon

Whenever we have a visitor in our home, it is a special blessing to our family (especially to our children). Back in late Oct, our GMSA co-worker, Sharon Bisbee, came for a 5 day visit.

Kristi and Sharon have been long time friends, since Sharon taught Kristi at Santiago Christian Academy back in the mid-80's when she was a short term school teacher.

Sharon was able to see some of the sights in and around Antofagasta as well as see the new church planting ministry first hand. Above: Kaylee & Lukas enjoyed showing her the Portada just north of the city limits.

Lukas at the Portada.

We enjoyed having Sharon with us and introducing her to the people we minister to here in Antofagasta. Sharon is prayerfully considering joining us to minister in Antofagasta. There are many unknowns and dynamics that would go into the final decision for her to move from Santiago to Antofagasta. We have been praying for more church planting team members and will continue to do so.

Kid's Edition - August '11

Living in northern Chile through the eyes of Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, & Lukas...

growing up as brothers

Kaylee at the park

Jordan & Ben enjoying some green grass and playing soccer with friend Rafa and his dad.

Lukas loves to color.

Practicing the earthquake drill...get under the table!

experiencing the Tsunami drill... evacuating to higher ground.

Enjoying reading and buying some English books at a South African family's house.

Participating in gametime at the Kids Club in the park ministry.

Kaylee & Lukas

Receiving snail mail from a friend in Temuco, Chile.

Coloring in the sun room.

Lukas watching daddy playing tennis with Edgar.

Kaylee practicing her imaginative storytelling.

The Housing Search

One of the challenges that face our family and ministry in the following months is searching for a house to buy. The housing market in Antofagasta is crazy, cut-throat, and caro (expensive). Our rental contract for our apartment ends in April 2012. It would be ideal if we could buy and move into mission housing before or around that date. There are many unknowns.

There is no problem finding housing. The trick is finding something that is affordable, in decent condition, in a decent location, and that has enough space for our family.

We have (as a family) visited a few places to get a better feel for sizes, location, and conditions of housing around the city. Each week, we are keeping our eyes open online for housing leads and information.

We are praying for a house with a combined living room/dining room which would allow us to host larger group Bible studies and/or services in the next phase of the church planting ministry.

Please pray for the following:

*God's provision of sufficient funds to buy mission housing.

*Patience and trust in God's timing

*God's provision of a house that would be suitable for our family and ministry needs.

Stay tuned to the blog or our Facebook ministry page for updates on this housing search.

Trip to Iquique

Back in mid September, our family took a 5 day trip up to the city of Iquique (4 hours north of Antofagasta). We've been meaning to take the trip for a while and the opportunity presented itself the week after Chile's Independence Day (Sept 18th).

Instead of driving on the main freeway (Ruta 5) that goes inland quite a bit, we chose to take the coastal road up to Iquique. We were glad we did! Around each curve were more breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean and the desert.

Iquique (pop. 226,000) is more a tourist city than Antofagasta.

Kristi's childhood MK friend, Steph Garcia, and her family live and serve in Iquique with ABWE. We stayed at their house and had a blast going to the zoo, the beach, a museum, and just playing with their children. The house was hopping with nine children running around!

The Spink family (Jon & Kim and 7 children) also live and serve in Iquique. We went to language school together in southern Texas for one semester. We were able to spend an afternoon with their family catching up after three years.

One afternoon, we were able to visit Hector (Chilean national pastor) and his family who are planting a church in a suburb of Iquique, called Alto Hospicio. We were able to get to know them, and the ministry that they are involved in there in that needy town. Hector and his wife, Hilda, do not get many visitors, so our time with them was special and needed. We plan to visit them again soon.

One our way home from Iquique, we stopped in a little town called, Tocapilla, to visit Dorka and her family. She is a pastor's daughter and a family friend. We wanted to encourage them with a short visit. They come to Antofagasta once a month, and would like to attend our Sunday Bible studies.

All in all, our family had an enjoyable mini-vacation. It was great to get away and spend time with ministry friends.

Click on the following links to view all photos from our trip: Part One, Part Two, Part Three, & Part Four

Sept. 18th Celebration

September 18th is Chile's Independence Day.

It's a big deal.

Since all of the families in our small Bible study group were out of town over the independence day weekend, our family attended the Immanuel Bible Church's service and special church activity on the 18th. The following are some photos of our day with them.

Empanadas - Chilean's version of a pot pie (but better).

The church hosted a big cookout after the morning service.

The food was amazing!!

Some missionaries went a little overboard on the "dressing up".

The kids dressed up in patriotic costumes.

Click HERE to view the entire photo album of our time with the members of Immanuel Bible Church. We are thankful to have close Christian fellowship with believers from the other side of the city.