Update Our Contact Info

We would like to have everyone update their address books with the following contact information for our family.

Our mailing address from Dec. 11th through Jan. 3rd will be:

David & Kristi Flinck
c/o Cary Flinck
7224 79th Ave. N
Brooklyn Park, MN 55445

From Jan. 4th on:

David & Kristi Flinck
1401 SW 21st Ave.
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312

Our field mailing address will be (after Jan. 10th)

David & Kristi Flinck
Casilla 461-11
Santiago, Chile

Note: the above address is for letters only. Packages need to be sent to a house address, which we don't have yet. We will let you know, when we know. Thanks

Run for the Border (part 2)

One of the main reasons we went to Mexico was to find some small Christmas gifts for family and friends. We spent most of our time walking through store after store.

Kristi was looking for some small dresses and aprons at the sidewalk shops.

We bought several bracelets with names on them.

They made them on demand...any name, any color.

I liked several things in the stores, but there was no way I was going to carry that stuff on my lap on the plane ride home.


These dolls were made out of corn husks.

Jordan and Ben got a kick out of the mini guitars. Maybe someday they will learn how to play in Chile.

A Last Minute Run for the Border

It's pretty sad that our family hasn't gotten around to driving into Mexico this whole last year. Despite living SO close to the border, we just haven't made the trip....UNTIL last Sat.



Kristi and I have been to Mexico before back in 1996 on a college missions trip, but the kids have never been to Mexico. So we wanted to let the kids experience Mexico, even though it was only for a few hours.

We drove down to the International Bridge and parked on the USA side. We walked across the bridge for $0.25/per person into the town called Nuevo Progreso, Mexico.

Walking into Mexico was such a good idea (thanks to Amanda's advice - our unofficial tour guide). The streets were very busy and the border checkpoint would have been a nightmare on the way home.

The obligatory "we-really-did-go-to-Mexico" family picture.

I could imagine that when some people look at the picture above, they feel uncomfortable. It looks too crowded, too dirty, too intimidating. To experience a different culture, a different language, or a different country is something everybody should do at some point in their life. Our family felt very safe and comfortable walking the streets.

That being said...Nuevo Progreso is a serious tourist trap. Not my favorite place to experience another culture, but it's part of the process. Sidewalks are full of winter Texans looking for nic-knacks and cheap medication. Mothers with small children are asking everyone for handouts or pleading with you to buy something she has for one dollar.

The streets are lined with pharmacies and dentist's offices.

We all had a great time in the two hours we were in Mexico. A big thank you to Amanda for coming along with us to take pictures, hold bags, and corral the kids.

Come back again for part two of our last minute run for the border.

7 More Texas "Winter" Nights

My favorite time of day here on the RGBI campus is just after supper as the sun is setting. Evening temps. are anywhere from 60 to 70 degrees during these last months. We have seven more Texas nights here at RGBI and then we fly home to MN for three weeks worth of "real" winter nights...you know...with fireplaces, flannel sheets, flannel pj's, big mugs with hot chocolate, wind chills, snow, and scraping the windshield off in the mornings. Brrrrrrrrrrrr. We will miss our months of warmth here in Texas.

Kristi and I have been walking around campus at night after the kids are fast asleep. The views around campus will forever be burned into our minds. I wanted to share with you all some of the campus and how it looks at night.

Each building and sidewalk holds memories of events, classes, and most importantly...people. We want to express our thankfulness for this place, for the people who serve here, and to our God who called us here for this past year.

Vehicle Update (Dec. 2nd)

Praise the Lord for answered prayer. We just received the pictures from the port showing that our mini van has been taken out of port storage.


Finally, after some complications, a port strike, and several weeks, our van was taken out of it's shipping container yesterday.

The battery was reconnected and our field director Curt S. (below) drove our van back to the Santiago area.We are thankful that we don't have to pay port storage anymore and that the legal paperwork process can start in order for us to drive this van in the future.

Apparently, the unloading of our van was quite a spectator sport. Thanks Dan and Curt for your effort in getting our van out of storage.

Our van now is being stored and awaiting our arrival, proper documentation and license plates. Please continue to keep this process in your prayers. We would like to be able to drive the van upon our arrival on Jan. 13th, but the whole paperwork process is in the hands of the Chilean government. We will keep you posted.

Last Time at the Cancha

Each new day brings one more "last time" experience here at RGBI. The days are winding down. Students and families are packing up their apartments and giving stuff away to those who are staying another semester.

Meanwhile.....all the kids are still having fun playing with all their friends. Many of them don't even realize that this might be the last time that they will be with this same group of friends for the rest of their lives. Our children have been blessed by the many friendships that they have made since Jan. here at RGBI. Friendships with missionary kids, friendships with faculty and staff kids, and friendships with Bible Institute kids.

Several days ago, I just happened to look out of our window across to the cancha (tennis courts) where I saw the majority of the children playing. I grabbed my camera, 'cause I wanted to have a picture with all the kids (or at least as many as I could) in one shot. I knew that many years from now, these pictures would be great reminders to our children of their time here at language school.

The "I'm-So-Sad-We're-Leaving" Shot

The "Funny Face" Shot

The "When-Life-Breaks-Out-Into-a-Musical" Shot

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Pray for our children (and the other MK's) who will need to make yet another change in their lives when they move to the mission field.

Last Day at the Beach (in Texas)

Our family had a four day weekend due to Thanksgiving. No classes on Thursday and Friday. So instead of going shopping and risking the threat of getting killed at Toys-R-Us, we, and a few other families, decided to go to South Padre Island one last time before we travel north to MN on Dec. 12th. Mom, if you're reading this, bring blankets in the car when you pick us up at the airport...seriously.

Paul Wilson, enjoying the sun, sand, sounds, and smells of the beach one last time.

Jordan and Ben stayed occupied by playing in the sand and digging for "who-knows-what".

Right before our picnic lunch one of the guys caught a small crab and everyone was entertained by looking at the small details of the crab's shell and legs.

Jordan insisted that I take this picture of him on "his" wooden pallet, which he told me was a leftover piece of someone's raft to escape from the pirates.

Kyle and Peter Wilson provided more fun by showing our kids how to find and dig for small sea creatures.

"Look Grandma, a sea shell!"

Everyone was tuckered out by 2 pm, especially Kaylee, who usually takes a nap around then. She did find a comfy position under the towel for a short break time.

There are things we will not miss about language school and South Texas (like tests and chiggers), but going to the beach is not one of them. We will soon fly back to the "reality" of real winter on Dec. 12th. We look forward to seeing many family members and friends one last time before we fly to Chile on Jan. 12th. But as we leave South Texas, we will also leave what has become a second family.

We will miss all of you guys and will remember all of the good times we've had while going to language school together.

Last Week of Tutors

Next week is the last week of classes and the last week for my tutor hour. Since Jan., I have been meeting with a language tutor 50 minutes a day, four days a week. These times with my tutors have been profitable for practicing my language skills that I have been learning in class and putting them into "real life" random conversation.

Above: Obed de la Cruz taught me a few more chords during my tutor time this past week.

I wanted to thank each of my tutors for their patience with me, for their friendship that has developed over this past year, and for their help in teaching me so much. My tutors this semester have been Alex from Spain, Obed from Mexico, Reynaldo from El Salvador, Fernando from Mexico, and Sebastian from Chile. I will miss my time talking with each one of them, although it wasn't always enjoyable raking my brain to come up with conversation.

As a gift to my tutors for their hard work, I bought them each a copy of "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer (in Spanish, or course). My prayer is that all of them will graduate from RGBI and serve the Lord faithfully back in their county or in another country if the Lord leads.

Class Chapel

At the end of each semester, the graduating class is responsible for planning a 50 minute chapel, all done in Spanish. Our class started planning the chapel a couple months ago, since we needed time to divide the responsibilities.

Michael Godbold welcomed everyone and shared with the audience our desire to use the theme of Thanksgiving for the entire chapel (our chapel was on the Tues. before Thanksgiving Day).

Amanda Clayton, Tara Wiebe, & Bethamy Anderson sang a special number. Corrie Anderson, Jared Thomas, and Dallas Wiebe accompanied them on instruments.

I (David Flinck) read one missionary story that lead into the congregational hymn "Loores Dad al Cristo El Rey" (All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name).

Phil Thurston prayed for the offering, while Carol Patton, Roxanne Wilson and a few others helped with the offering (that goes to RGBI alumni on the mission field).
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During the offering, Jared T. played his violin, while a powerpoint played showing pictures of each of my classmates and families and the country or ministry that they will be serving in after graduation.

All of us then played a role in a short drama about being thankful, which then lead into Paul Wilson giving a short challenge from God's Word.

In the skit, each person had a different view towards Thanksgiving and being thankful. The scene was set in a Starbucks, where all of our characters converge in conversation about the topic of Thanksgiving. Above: Michael Godbold portrayed a "tree-hugging" environmentalist who is trying to get everyone at Starbucks to save napkins, listen to nature, and save the whales.

Roxanne and Carol (on the left) play a mother and daughter who are asking why God allows evil or bad things to happen in the world. They couldn't be thankful to God because they thought God was absent during difficult times.

Paul Wilson (right), plays a Christian who is going around the Starbucks asking what everybody thinks about Thanksgiving and why they are thankful. Jared Thomas and Amanda Clayton play a couple who are only interested in themselves and each other. They have no time for God and Thanksgiving.

Corrie Anderson (center, in black) plays a Christian who works as a church secretary. She is so busy with the work of the ministry each week. Everyday finds her doing something related to the church ministries. She finds herself ungrateful to God and others, because she doesn't receive any thanks for the things she does for God and the church. Bethamy Anderson plays the Starbucks worker. I (on the right) play a professor who sits and watches and listens to each person in the coffee shop share their attitudes towards Thanksgiving. At the end of the skit, I get up and share my post-modern view that I am thankful that we all live in a world were everything is relative and that there is no absolute truth.

Tara Wiebe played a busy young pregnant mother (she is pregnant for real) who has no time for God and thanksgiving due to the mounting pressures of housework, child care, and a dis-connected husband at home. Above: Jared's character is showing off his strength by "helping" the young mom with her stroller. Funny, funny stuff.

Phil Thurston plays another Christian who IS thankful for things in his life (salvation, friends, family, etc.)

The chapel closed with our class president sharing a 10 minute devotional on thankfulness.

After all the hard work getting the chapel ready,
we celebrated by skipping our next class!

It was a blessing to serve together as a class in this chapel.
Each one brought different ideas, talents, and advice.
Our prayer was that the chapel would be a blessing to all despite our imperfect Spanish.