Kid's Edition - Feb. '12

Photos of the Flinck children during the month of Feb. 2012.

Kaylee with our friend, Patricia (she is studying Law here in Antofagsta and attends our Bible studies).
Ben, a.k.a. Indiana Jones

Jordan and friend, Rafa (Edgar's little brother)

Kaylee waiting outside our building for people to show up for a Wed. night Bible study.

Jordan and Ben playing basketball at the park with some friends.

Lukas playing in the living room.

Kristi, Kaylee, and Lukas enjoying a summer afternoon at the apartment pool.

Viewing houses in Antofagasta. We are still praying for God to provide a home for us.

Swim time with new friend, William (from Georgia).

Lukas' "I will be quiet" gesture.

Lukas coloring at Vacation Bible School.

Kaylee in her Vacation Bible School class.

More house hunting in Antofagasta with Jordan and Ben.

Haircuts!

Lukas, our little monkey.

Thanks for praying for Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, and Lukas.

The Housing Search (Part Two)

Back in November, we posted about our housing search here in the city of Antofagasta. These past months of Dec, Jan. and Feb. have been filled with ministry opportunities, a trip to Uruguay for the annual GMSA missionary conference, and continued searching for mission housing.

The housing search has been very difficult for many reasons. It has taken up many hours of our time searching online, making phone calls, walking the streets for leads, arranging viewings with a realtor, communicating leads to our missionary co-workers and our supporters. Throughout all of this, our sanctification has been tested. Much needed lessons of patience and trust in God's timing and provision were learned and re-learned.

We have had some housing leads but normally we needed to ask the owners to lower their price around $100,000 US for us to even consider pursuing the house. Obviously, the owners weren't interested in lowering the price, since they knew that someone else would buy it at the original price. After a while, it just got discouraging to have to ask the same question over and over. We needed a lead that had a starting price lower than our limit of funds.

After living in Antofagasta for 10 months now, we've learned a lot about the city, it's culture, it's housing market, it's challenges, and it's numerous ministry opportunities. We learned and came to grips with the fact that the type of house that our mission could afford in Antofagasta would have to be a "fixer-upper". The price of housing in this city is extremely unjust and owners and realtors alike are just trying to take advantage of the copper mining boom and all the money that has come into this city and region.

One day, Kristi found a vague housing lead online. The location was great, the size of the property was bigger than the average lot we've been running across, and the price was $30,000 US below our limit. Something wasn't right about this house. What was the catch? A house in THAT location, with THAT much land, for THAT price? Surely, there must be something missing that the realtor didn't mention online. We got a hold of the realtor and asked about the property and if we could schedule a visit. She mentioned to us that she didn't even have the keys yet, since the house was being held up in divorce court. Ah, so that's why the house was listed for a decent price (in relation to Antofagasta's crazy housing market prices). The realtor promised to get back to us as soon as the house was able to be seen.

Three weeks went by. Had she forgotten? Did she sell the house to someone else? Finally, Kristi called again to inquire about the status of the house. It was still being held up in court.

A few days later, Kristi and I were talking about all the information we knew about that house. We came to the conclusion that when and if the realtor called, we needed to be prepared to visit the house ASAP and be prepared to say, "We want it", no matter what the actual condition of the house was in. Kinda scary, huh? It was turning out to be the only reasonable lead that our mission could afford buying.

That afternoon, the lady called us back and said that the house was released from divorce court and it was available to see later on that evening. We scheduled to see it at 7 pm. We were excited, yet intrigued about the exact location and condition of the house. You see, realtors here in Antofagasta don't give you the exact address until about 30 mins. before your scheduled viewing. Crazy.

We asked our neighbor to watch Kaylee and Lukas, so we could just take the two boys with us to view the house. We arrived at the address 30 mins. before the scheduled time. And boy are we glad we did. The realtor was actually already at the property EARLY (that never happens). She was waiting for the lawyer to show up to give her the keys to the house.

Shortly after we arrived, several other couples arrived that were interested in viewing the house. Thankfully, we were first in line to see the house. The house was located on a corner lot in the Coviefi neighborhood. It was a one story home with 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. After taking some pictures, walking through the whole house, and chatting with the realtor, we told her that we were interested and would like to start the process to buy the house.

The condition of the house needed some obvious help, but the overall package of the property was nothing like we've seen before during our 6 month housing search.

Upon arriving home, we received a call from the realtor stating that the two other couples who saw the house after us were interested as well, so we needed to fully commit since we had priority. We called our field director and briefed him about the property and we decided to pursue the lead in earnest.

Currently, we are waiting until April 5th. On that day, Curtis, our field director, will fly up to Antofagasta to view the property and then (Lord willing) sign the paperwork and give a check to the realtor for the house. If all goes as planned, the house will be bought on the 5th and the lady who currently lives in the home will have three weeks to move out. We could have full possession of the house by the end of April.

Then what? Well, it will start a long process of assessing the house and planning a long list of construction projects that will need to be done before we can move into the house.

For example, some of the priority projects include:

*Take off the roof

*Pour a cement floor to be able to build a future second story

*Install a new kitchen (we will get the house with nothing in the kitchen)

*Replace the front gate and improve the side wall (to fully secure the property)

The projects are no small matter and could take up to 6 to 10 months to complete, depending on the provision of funds and possible work teams. The goal is to finish these initial projects so that our family can move from our apartment into the house, thus eliminating our high monthly rent costs. Once moved in, we can invest more in the house and the ministry potential at that property. We plan to use the house temporarily for meetings, services, and Bible studies, but the end goal is for the future church plant to have it's own property and building. That will be another search for another time.

Please continue to pray for...

*the finalization of the house purchase.

*God's provision for the first phase of construction projects.

*God's provision of work teams or individuals to help advance or complete the projects.

If you would like more detailed information about how to participate in these projects, just contact us via email, Skype, or Facebook.

Sundays & The Process

One weekly facet of the church planting ministry here in Antofagasta is "The Sunday Process" or the necessary transformation of our little apartment into a little meeting place for our Bible studies. The following takes you through the normal process our family goes through each Sunday.

7:00 - 7:15 AM - Wake up time for David (and Ben, our early riser).

7:15 - 7:45 - Make a cup of coffee to drink while reading the Bible and going over teaching notes.

7:45 - 8:00 - Wake up time for Kristi

8:15 - 8:30 - Wake up time for Jordan, Kaylee, & Lukas

8:30 - 8:45 - Breakfast and family devotions.

8:45 - 9:30 - Clean up from breakfast. Get dressed. Ben does the dishes. Jordan sweeps the floor. Kristi mops the floor. The dining room table is moved and chairs are arranged. Jordan vacuums the living room rug. The sofa and lazy boy are moved. The six children chairs are set up (see below). Lukas turns into a monkey and climbs on all of the chairs.

9:30 - 10:00 - Print out handouts for the children and adult class. Kaylee cleans the bathroom.

Set out extra Bibles, the offering box and envelopes on the dining room table.

10:30 - 10:45 - Jordan and Ben set up the flannel graph easel. Kristi in kitchen with lunch prep (if needed). David and/or Kristi irons needed clothing. David sets up the laptop to the T.V. to show the powerpoint containing the songs for the service. Lukas continues to play and get into most things.

11:00 - 11:15 - David tries to find a quiet room to go over his notes one last time. All the children are combed and ready to greet attenders.

11:15 - 11:35 - David and one child head down the elevator to stand out on the sidewalk to greet those arriving by foot and help find a parking space for those coming by car. They escort them up to the 10th floor apartment and sometimes go back down to wait for those who still haven't arrived.

11:45 - A typical start time for our service (we are supposed to start at 11:30, but oh well...)

1:00 - 1:15 - A typical end time for our service

1:30 - 2:00 - Put away the extra Bibles, offering box, chairs, arrange the dining room and living room back to normal, set the table for lunch, take apart the flannel graph easel. Kristi preparing lunch in the kitchen. Lukas wonders why we are putting away all his jungle gym equipment.

2:00 - 3:00 - Lunch...usually with someone invited to stay from our service (a single college student, a father working in the city away from his family, or a new visitor).

3:00 - 6:00 - Clean up from lunch. Occasional naps for David & Kristi. Mandatory nap for Lukas (since he's been playing so much). Kids in their rooms listening to Adventures in Odyssey or playing LEGO with neighbor kids.

7:00 - Supper

As you can see, Sundays are a very busy and exhausting days for us. "The Sunday process" is part of our new normal. We are thankful that our children play a part in this and are learning first hand what the first stages of church planting look and feel like.

This "Sunday process" tests our sanctification and stress management. Would you pray for our family on Sundays? We would sure appreciate it. Someday in the future, when the Lord provides a church building, some of the above process will go away. But until then...this is what we do every Sunday.

Garbage, Potholes, and Heart Transformation

It happens everyday around 9 am. That "certain sound" alerts our children to drop whatever they are doing and run to their bedroom windows. That certain sound is the garbage guys (or, as Lukas pronounces them, "Bad guys") throwing the pile of garbage bags into the truck from the apartment building complex across the street.

It has become such an habitual thing for the kids, that the garbage men look up to our windows upon the completion of their work to make special waves and funny hand signals to our four children as they drive away.

Despite some of the photos you may have seen on this blog or on our Facebook page, the city of Antofagasta is a very dirty city. In many parts of the city, you can find piles of garbage (see above) in abandoned lots. The city has been growing so much and so fast that the sanitation department hasn't been able to keep up. In all honesty, it's not ALL the sanitation department's fault. Cleanliness is not the crown jewel virtue in the Chilean culture. Littering is so common it's turn into something culturally accepted. It's more convenient for "OTHERS" to pick it up, but the problem is that those "OTHERS" are thinking the same thought. There is always garbage everywhere everyday...seriously. When we go on furlough, we will be impressed on HOW CLEAN your streets are.

Recently, the city has ATTEMPTED to combat this problem by buying over 20 new garbage trucks and have either started or expanded garbage truck routes in the growing parts of the city.

The city of Antofagasta doesn't just have a garbage problem, it also has a serious sidewalk issue. Not only are the sidewalks littered with garbage, but they reek with animal and human waste. Couple that with no rain and endless days of sun, you get a daily sun baked smell that is beyond description. The sidewalks are also very old. Years of wear and tear without maintenance. After some public outcry, the city has just recently invested some time and money into re-doing several main street sidewalks downtown (see photo above). But since that photo was taken, that same street with the new sidewalk is full of black sun caked gum marks. A brand new sidewalk has already turned into something ugly. NEVER take for granted a clean sidewalk!

An occasional tire busting pot-hole is understandable, but here in Antofagasta, if there's a stretch of three blocks with no pot-holes, it's a rare thing. You know you've lived long enough in Antofagasta if you've mastered weaving in and out of busy city traffic, while also missing all the known pot-holes. Everyday in the city newspaper there is photo section dedicated to citizen complaint photos of massive pot-holes. I've joked to Kristi that if we weren't in ministry, I would go into the tire repair business here in Antofagasta.

Each day we're finding out about some other city project. The hospital building being repainted (above). The city soccer stadium is being renovated. Repaving a stretch of a main street. Construction of a new mall. A stretch of coastline is being reworked, adding playgrounds for children and benches for families to sit on.

Will all this EFFORT, TIME, and MONEY make our city look better. Maybe...a little...for a while. Biblically, we know that the real problem in Antofagasta is not dirty sidewalks, but filthy human hearts. There are wicked. They think only about themselves. The solution lays not in a political program or a clean up initiative, but in spiritually and radically transformed lives. Lives that think of others first and not their own selves. Of course, our family is NOT in Antofagasta for political purposes or for a clean up campaign (although we would volunteer some time to do that). We cannot expect to single-handedly change how dirty our city looks, or how little money is invested in our city, or change a littering culture. What we know CAN help is investing in one person at a time. Sharing Christ and His transforming power in the Gospel. Growing Christians within the context of a healthy local church DO and CAN spiritually affect a city in many ways...I bet they can even pick up their own candy wrappers.

When ministering to others, we come with an unfair advantage: We come armed with the Gospel.

Please continue to pray for our family and church planting ministry here in the needy city of Antofagasta.