An Additional Tutor!

Recently the Lord provided an additional language tutor for me! It's quite a complicated story, but God's Hand can be seen in every detail.

The Story Goes As Follows...

Around four years ago, the Lord lead Víctor and Myrian Beñaldo to help a church in Monticello, MN, USA, to start a Latino ministry. During this time, our family lived only 20 minutes away from Monticello, but never got a chance to meet them.

After their visas expired, they returned to Temuco, Chile. The first Sunday our family went to the church in Lautaro, the Beñaldo's were there. You see, before leaving for the States, Víctor and Myrian had served in the Lautaro church for several years. After hearing me preach in Spanish for the first time, Myrian came up to me and offered her help in any way. Myrian is a grammar teacher and has learned English during her time in Minnesota.

Myrian has also volunteered to help teach basic English in Lautaro several Sunday afternoons per month. Jordan and Ben are "helpers" in her English class and have provided the Chilean children "live incentives" to learn some English, cause they want to communicate with them so badly.

I still meet with Rodrigo (my first tutor), and he has been a great help to me in learning Spanish and things about Temuco. But starting last week, I started meeting with Myrian and Víctor every Tuesday afternoon for a couple of hours. What Myrian brings to the learning process is someone who has learned another language (English) and thus has an increased level of patience and empathy for those who are learning a second language. Her skill in English also helps me ask occasional questions in English about complicated grammar issues.

This last session, for example, we spent most of the time discussing an article in the newspaper. I cut articles out of the newspaper each week and save them in a big pile. During my tutor time last week, Myrian picked one about the history of the Pentecostal Methodist Church in Chile. The church is celebrating it's 100th year here in Chile. Anyway, my homework was to read this article during the week and then Myrian would ask me open ended questions about the article.

Questions like:
-What was this article trying to communicate?
-According to the article, where, when, and why did the Pentecostal Methodist Church start?

I have found that these times with Victor and Myrian have been very profitable for my language learning. They have been extremely encouraging while at the same time very tough in forcing me to try to converse in Spanish for an extended period of time .

Continue to pray for me and the children as we daily wrestle with learning the language. It will come with time. I am thankful to God for sending Víctor and Myrian to cross our paths here in Temuco.

Working at Lican Part 3

Read Part One & Two

The whole family played roles in our work day at Lican. It was our desire to travel down as a family to encourage Dan and Liz and assist in any pressing projects.

Kristi tended the burn pile for a bit. We didn't want to over work her since she IS pregnant! She also was helpful in keeping Kaylee away from the major action by the tree.

Kaylee, Dan, and I took a walk around the camp talking about the upcoming projects. Much of the time we were "dreaming out loud" about what COULD be done on the camp property.

Pray for wisdom as Dan continues to work with the national churches to see the camping ministry advance and be more effective for the work of the Gospel and the edification of the local churches.

Jordan spent some time using a saw and hatchet. I was thankful for his attitude throughout the afternoon while he helped move tree branches.

Ben helped by putting tree branches on the burn pile.

By the end of the day, we were all exhausted from a day's work. It was a blessing to work as a family and we plan to go down again sometime in the future to help again.

Come back tomorrow for Part 4

Working at Lican Part 2

Read Part 1

The tree fell and caused minimal damage to several other trees and shrubs. I did hit one section of the playground, but as you will see in the last pictures, it can be fixed easily.

Falling the tree was the easy part, now came the hard part...limbing the tree, cutting up the limbs for firewood, cleanup, and burning the limbs. Above: You can see there is another dead tree that needs to come down...but that's a job for another day.

Ready to get to work!

The burn pile had plenty of "fuel" throughout the day, as we put all the small limbs on the fire.

Dan, the professional Washington State logger.

And then there's David, the pathetic "wanna be" logger.

Halfway done! Here you can see the one section of the playground hanging bars that was hit by the tree.

All cleaned up! The big log will be cut up into board lumber for the new cabin that will be built next Nov., Lord Willing!

A job completed. Tired bodies. Another thing to check off the "to do list" at camp. So many things yet to do. Ten guys could spend three weeks falling dead trees, trimming trees, clearing brush, cutting firewood, stacking firewood, and maintaining the burn piles and that would only scratch the surface for things that need to get done before the next Bible camp season starts next Dec.

Come back tomorrow for Part 3!

Vehicle Update (June 15)

Thank you to those who have been praying for our vehicle release process. Many of you ask about the process and we thank you for your interest and concern.

Today, we received the following email from our Field Director...

"I wish I had better news to give you on the process but at this moment I have been informed that the papers have been rejected again. The reason I was given over the phone is that we did not give them all the papers they need to complete the process. I am waiting for the letter to come that will explain what is missing. Will keep you posted."

-------------------------------------------------

Yes, another rejection...another setback. Why? (Supposedly) Because of some missing paperwork. Please continue to pray for this whole thing to be resolved. It's almost to the point where it's getting comical (although sometimes we aren't really laughing). We trust in God to bring this process to a final conclusion.

Meanwhile...our family of 5.8 continue to use Danny's small pickup truck. The process of getting everyone in, let alone situated and halfway comfortable, plays a role in our daily sanctification :)

To be continued...

Working at Lican Part 1

Our work day at the Lican Ray Bible Camp started mid morning with a beautiful sunrise over the lake, fog, and very cool temps.

Around 8:45 am, the "tree guy" showed up to help us size up the tree that needed to be removed.

The tallest tree (left hand side) had started leaning towards the main dinning hall building. The tree needed to be removed to insure that no future structural damage would occur.

The tree was hooked by ropes and pulled by a winch to "help" the tree fall in an area away from any buildings.

After everything was set, the tree was cut by the chainsaw. Each cut had the purpose to make the tree fall away from the buildings.

Tiiiimmmbbbeeerrrrrrrr !!!!!

Falling the tree was the easy part. Come back tomorrow to see what the hard part entailed.

We're Going to Camp!

After many weeks of trying to plan a weekend away...we are leaving today to head down to the Bible Camp in Lican Ray to visit co-workers, Dan & Liz Thompson. Dan just happens to be Kristi's younger brother as well. We will spend two nights at their house and plan to help out around camp with several small projects, like making fences and burning brush.


Above: is the hilarious cartoon map that Dan sent us for the trip down. Click on it for a larger view.

Friday just happens to be our 10th Anniversary, and we will be spending the day working (a Thompson family trait ;). At least the surrounding will be gorgeous. Above is a picture of the area surrounding the Bible camp, located in a little town called Lican Ray, on the banks of Lake Calafquen.

The camera is coming with us, so look for a series of posts from our time and work there at the Bible camp.

Please pray for the following this weekend:

*Safety in travel
*A profitable work day on Friday
*Good fellowship with family and co-workers
*For the Lican Camp to be effective in ministry in the coming Bible camp & retreat season.

I Will

Missionary David Hosaflook posted the following poem on his blog that I though was worthy to read and think on.

Ten Little Missionaries

Ten little missionaries heard God’s call divine;
Mom steered her child away from it –
“Enough,” she said, “is nine.”

Nine little missionaries to reach a world of hate;
Dad wanted his son an athlete and
Cared not God had but eight.

Eight little missionaries to point the way to Heaven;
“Children make mistakes,” shrugged one,
“God must need only seven.”

Seven little missionaries, when one began to mix
With peers backslidden and far from God;
And then the count turned six.

Six future missionaries to preach “Christ is Alive!”
One’s goal became the dollar,
And that left only five.

Five future missionaries to open salvation’s door;
One claimed, “I lost my burden.”
And left the world with four.

Four future missionaries from sin to set men free;
To one, sin became a pleasure, so
Those willing then were three.

Three future missionaries had glorious plans in view;
But after Satan’s sifting trials,
The faithful numbered two.

Two faithful missionaries, when at first ten begun;
One gained a wife who would not go
And that left God with one.

One little missionary, who heard God’s call divine,
Left all to serve His Savior
Unlike the other nine.

Nine chosen missionaries – each with his own reason
Why to his call he was not instant,
In and out of season.

Now God searches to and fro – nine vacant spots to fill.
He urges, “Who will go for Me?”

And waits to hear, “I will.”

"The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest." -- Matthew 9:37-38

First Sunday in Lautaro Part 2

Read Part 1

The following quote jumped out at me the other day.

"Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try."

That quote sums up what happened last Sunday in Lautaro.

Believe me...I was nervous. I couldn't believe I was going to get up in front of a congregation and say something in another language. A rookie missionary NEVER feels fully ready linguistically. If they say they are, they are deceiving themselves and you.

Sometime I just want to curl up in a corner and not talk to anybody. It takes work to engage your brain in another language. Everything in my being is screaming for me to delay the inevitable. The inevitable is really trying. I had to get to a point (with the Lord's help) to make a decision to try. So in the adult SS class, that's what I did...tried to do my best at reading a prepared written manuscript.

My theme for SS was Being Transformed in the Image of God. Overall, it went ok. Errors were made, but the people understood me and were patient (and at times, probably amused). It was a bit frustrating to not be able to look at people during the lesson, due to the fact I read the whole lesson.

The lesson ended earlier than the allotted time, so Kristi was asked to give her testimony and share a few things about our family. She did a wonderful job, of course, since she is fluent and waltzes in and out of complex verb tenses and sentence constructions like how Tiger Woods puts golf balls anywhere he aims on the golf course.

After the service, we had lunch at the church with several church members and BI students. Over lunch, we were able to get to know Victor and his wife, Myriam, and Hans and his family in a better way.

After lunch, Victor and Hans invited me to go with them to visit an elderly couple. This couple has many health needs and needed some encouragement. I was thankful that Victor and Hans included me, since they know these visitation times are good opportunities for me to watch, learn, and sometimes participate in conversation.

After listening to the couple for a while, Victor read a passage from Psalms, Hans encouraged them to let the church people know if they needed any help during the week, and then Victor asked me to pray for the couple. I wasn't expecting that, but prayed in Spanish. Again, you've got to start somewhere. Victor gave me an opportunity to try.

We spent the rest of the afternoon back at church. The kids played with some toys that we brought along. Hans' wife is trying to learn basic English, so Kristi helped her learn the pronunciation for the English alphabet.

I spoke during the evening service as well. We all were pretty tuckered out after the long day. Kaylee and Ben fell asleep during the evening service. After chatting with people for a while, we packed up and drove the 30 mins. back home. Our beds never felt so good!

We will be going up to Lautaro again this coming Sunday. It looks like I will be preaching on the 1st and 2nd Sunday of June and July. We will probably not go up to Lautaro during the month of August, because of Kristi's due date.

Thank you all who have been praying for our family and this Lautaro ministry. God is Good. There is so much to learn and there is so much to do here in the ministry. We need God's wisdom and discernment.

First Sunday in Lautaro

Last Sunday, June 7th, was our first Sunday of ministry up in the church in Lautaro.

Lautaro (pop. 22,000) is located around 30 min. north of our house. Click on the map above. Can you find Lautaro? Follow Route 5 north out of Temuco.

We made sure to arrive early, just in case we took a wrong turn on the way up. We had never been to the church before, but we had someone draw a rough map for us. We were greeted by a member of the church who happens to live next door. We looked around the building, took a few pictures, set up the white board, and stayed close to the wood stove until people started to show up.

Hans Topp is the main lay leader at the church. He was very welcoming and helpful during our day at the church.In part 2, we will share what happened during the SS class.

National Pastor's Meeting - June 6th

Last Saturday, I attended another Regional National Pastor's meeting which was held at a church called Betel (Bethel). It is a country church that is located about 45 min. north and east of Temuco. I rode up with Daryl and a few other national pastors and lay leaders. During the trip, I talked with Pastor Marcelo in the back seat about ministry. It was stretching for my Spanish and a good time to get to know his heart for ministry.

The church recently renovated their building. With the two blue arrows pointing towards the sky, this church definitely has a unique structure.

From the church property, I snapped a picture of the surrounding views. After the morning fog burned off, I had a clear view of the Llaima Volcano in the distance.

Llaima Volcano is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Chile. It is situated 50 miles northeast of Temuco. Llaima’s activity has been documented since the 17th century, and consists of several separate episodes of moderate explosive eruptions with occasional lava flows. It last erupted in Jan. 2008.

The meeting was another great opportunity for me to met the area pastors and lay leaders. Also, I was able to personally hear of the needs of the area churches and ministry projects that were proposed. There are many churches that are without a pastor. There is a great need for training young Chilean men to fill the large gaps in these country churches.

I am still trying to learn all of the names of the towns where these churches are located. Believe me the list contains many tongue twisters.

Here are just some of the names on the list:
Dollinco
Huefel
Mahuidanche
Mallohue
Melipeuco
Pefehue
Peu Peu
Pitrufquén
Quitratue

Unfortunately, we had to leave the meetings before the lunch, since Daryl and Marcelo were performing a wedding ceremony at the 21 de Mayo church later that afternoon.

Check back on the blog soon to find out how our first Sunday in Lautaro went.