PS - many may notice the date on the pictures as the 24th. Actually the camera was wrong, it was the 25th, although most Chileans open their gifts at 12:01 AM on Christmas day, we waited and slept in a while.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Christmas in the Amundson household
With 2 new little people in the house, Christmas was interesting. We originally had one gift for each of the older kids because we had purchased the pool for family enjoyment. The pool has been a HUGE hit with the girls and all of us really!!! However, a family from the states offered to send us some money for Christmas to pick out some things for ourselves and for the kids. PRAISE the LORD! Our older kids had 4 gifts to open. For Caleb it was Mint Oreo Cookies, Legos, Legos, and more Legos. For Hannah it was Mint Oreo Cookies, a Zhu-Zhu Hampster, and Hampster ball, and a Pixos set. The little girls got some wooden puzzles, a bilingual phone, stacking square cups, and a couple of English electronic toys that I found at a second hand store. There were a few other gifts from loved ones and neighbors that rounded out the day. We praise God for showing our kids that God loves them by using other people to send money specifically for them. We also PRAISE God for that baby that was born. That Jesus Christ came here as a vulnerable baby to grow up and live a blameless life, only to die in our place so that we might spend eternity with HIM! Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice!!! It was and still is the GREATEST GIFT EVER!!!
PS - many may notice the date on the pictures as the 24th. Actually the camera was wrong, it was the 25th, although most Chileans open their gifts at 12:01 AM on Christmas day, we waited and slept in a while.
PS - many may notice the date on the pictures as the 24th. Actually the camera was wrong, it was the 25th, although most Chileans open their gifts at 12:01 AM on Christmas day, we waited and slept in a while.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Amundson Anthem December 2010
Praises
Growth in our church
We have official foster care of Eliana and Esther
Another pastor ordained and installed in an ABWE church
We have been told we should get our permanent visas during the month of December!!
Prayer Requests
Ministry growth and qualified leaders for
national churches
Wisdom for ABWE
Ministries
Wisdom for Doug & Heather in teaching
responsibilities at church
Family adjustment and transition to the new twin girls in our home
Mailing Address in Chile
Doug and Heather Amundson
Cruz Almeyda 1389
Peñalolén
Santiago, Chile
South America
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all Gods. Psalm 95:1-3
We, like many of you, are celebrating all that God has done this past year in our personal lives, our recently expanded family, and in our church ministry. Heather and I have had a wonderful year here in Chile, and we praise God for his blessings to our family. We hope that during this season of Thanksgiving and Christmas that you too stop to give God all the glory that is due to his marvelous name.
At the writing of our last prayer letter, we had just received notice that we could visit and bring the twin girls home. We were able to bring the girls (Elizabeth Ana and Esther Saye) home on Monday, October 25th after a wild emotional up and down day with the court system and the adoption agency – but praise God that Elizabeth Ana and Esther Saye are now in our home. We had a second court date on Thursday, November 18th to receive official “foster care” rights where Fundacion mi Casa (our adoption agency) sent their lawyer, psychologist, and two social workers all to testify on our behalf. We are now waiting for our permanent residency visas, which should arrive in December, and then we can complete the adoptions. Thank you so much for your prayers in all of this. With 4 kids and two of them being almost 2 years old , Heather and I feel like walking zombies some days! The extra work has been worth it though, as we have seen a tremendous change in their attitudes and responsiveness since coming home from the orphanage.
Another great thing this past month was the ordination of another pastor, Pablo Uribe, who is now the pastor at one of the ABWE churches in the South-Western part of Santiago. This makes 5 different pastoral ordinations that Doug has attended this year, all of them being products of the ABWE seminary. The other ABWE missionaries working in the seminary have done a fantastic job, and the results are some well prepared pastors working in various churches throughout Santiago and the rest of Chile. As we have mentioned a young man from our church is currently in the seminary, and another young man is planning to begin in March 2011!! Please continue to keep this seminary in your prayers as ABWEs seeks how this ministry can be expanded for the glory of God.
This past month we have not seen the church grow much more, but we still marvel at how fast we have grown these past six months. The youth group is now nearly 15, Thursday night prayer meeting has roughly 25 or 30 each week, and we have seen Sunday mornings creep up into the 75 to 80 range. One of the biggest praises is that our church is located in a community called “La Reina” and for the first time in its long history, it is finally reaching the neighborhood around the church. In the past the church was always full of people that lived further away, and has struggled to reach its own community. As such we are thrilled to see God growing the church through local families. However the need for strong biblical teaching is very evident. Most of the new families know very little if any biblical doctrine, or are coming from other denominations where there was not good sound biblical teaching. At the moment we only have three adult teachers in the church, those being Pastor, one of our deacons, Daniel, and Doug. As such please pray for us to lay a solid foundation for these new families so that the church can continue to grow in sound doctrine and practice. Beyond this Doug had the opportunity to preach in a church near the coast that currently has no pastor, and Heather continues working with and transitioning the ladies ministry into capable hands.
Our plans and schedule for furlough continue to be clarified, and at the moment we plan to leave in very late June or early July 2011. Please pray for us as we make plans to visit our supporting churches, visit new churches, and attend the other required conferences and classes we have with ABWE. At this moment our support level is at 78% of our required support, or said differently we are short by $1,497 per month. This lack of funds can be roughly broken down as $800 due to churches or individuals who could not continue supporting us, $250 cost increases at ABWE (i.e. insurance), $225 increase for children’s education, and $200 due to the expanded family that we now have. As you can see – we need your earnest prayers laid before God to help fill the gap that exists.
We absolutely believe God will provide for his ministry in his time, and we pray and ask, if you or your church would be willing to help fill this gap. Please also continue to pray for our housing need during our furlough from August 2011 through late May or early June 2012. We are praying for housing near the Dayton, Columbus, or Cincinnati, OH area that would be VERY inexpensive or FREE to help rebuild up our support while on furlough. If you know of any opportunities that God might use to help us with this need please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you so much!!
In Him,
Doug & Heather Amundson along with
Caleb, Hannah, Eliana, and Esther
Growth in our church
We have official foster care of Eliana and Esther
Another pastor ordained and installed in an ABWE church
We have been told we should get our permanent visas during the month of December!!
Prayer Requests
Ministry growth and qualified leaders for
national churches
Wisdom for ABWE
Ministries
Wisdom for Doug & Heather in teaching
responsibilities at church
Family adjustment and transition to the new twin girls in our home
Mailing Address in Chile
Doug and Heather Amundson
Cruz Almeyda 1389
Peñalolén
Santiago, Chile
South America
Dear Friends and Supporters,
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all Gods. Psalm 95:1-3
We, like many of you, are celebrating all that God has done this past year in our personal lives, our recently expanded family, and in our church ministry. Heather and I have had a wonderful year here in Chile, and we praise God for his blessings to our family. We hope that during this season of Thanksgiving and Christmas that you too stop to give God all the glory that is due to his marvelous name.
At the writing of our last prayer letter, we had just received notice that we could visit and bring the twin girls home. We were able to bring the girls (Elizabeth Ana and Esther Saye) home on Monday, October 25th after a wild emotional up and down day with the court system and the adoption agency – but praise God that Elizabeth Ana and Esther Saye are now in our home. We had a second court date on Thursday, November 18th to receive official “foster care” rights where Fundacion mi Casa (our adoption agency) sent their lawyer, psychologist, and two social workers all to testify on our behalf. We are now waiting for our permanent residency visas, which should arrive in December, and then we can complete the adoptions. Thank you so much for your prayers in all of this. With 4 kids and two of them being almost 2 years old , Heather and I feel like walking zombies some days! The extra work has been worth it though, as we have seen a tremendous change in their attitudes and responsiveness since coming home from the orphanage.
Another great thing this past month was the ordination of another pastor, Pablo Uribe, who is now the pastor at one of the ABWE churches in the South-Western part of Santiago. This makes 5 different pastoral ordinations that Doug has attended this year, all of them being products of the ABWE seminary. The other ABWE missionaries working in the seminary have done a fantastic job, and the results are some well prepared pastors working in various churches throughout Santiago and the rest of Chile. As we have mentioned a young man from our church is currently in the seminary, and another young man is planning to begin in March 2011!! Please continue to keep this seminary in your prayers as ABWEs seeks how this ministry can be expanded for the glory of God.
This past month we have not seen the church grow much more, but we still marvel at how fast we have grown these past six months. The youth group is now nearly 15, Thursday night prayer meeting has roughly 25 or 30 each week, and we have seen Sunday mornings creep up into the 75 to 80 range. One of the biggest praises is that our church is located in a community called “La Reina” and for the first time in its long history, it is finally reaching the neighborhood around the church. In the past the church was always full of people that lived further away, and has struggled to reach its own community. As such we are thrilled to see God growing the church through local families. However the need for strong biblical teaching is very evident. Most of the new families know very little if any biblical doctrine, or are coming from other denominations where there was not good sound biblical teaching. At the moment we only have three adult teachers in the church, those being Pastor, one of our deacons, Daniel, and Doug. As such please pray for us to lay a solid foundation for these new families so that the church can continue to grow in sound doctrine and practice. Beyond this Doug had the opportunity to preach in a church near the coast that currently has no pastor, and Heather continues working with and transitioning the ladies ministry into capable hands.
Our plans and schedule for furlough continue to be clarified, and at the moment we plan to leave in very late June or early July 2011. Please pray for us as we make plans to visit our supporting churches, visit new churches, and attend the other required conferences and classes we have with ABWE. At this moment our support level is at 78% of our required support, or said differently we are short by $1,497 per month. This lack of funds can be roughly broken down as $800 due to churches or individuals who could not continue supporting us, $250 cost increases at ABWE (i.e. insurance), $225 increase for children’s education, and $200 due to the expanded family that we now have. As you can see – we need your earnest prayers laid before God to help fill the gap that exists.
We absolutely believe God will provide for his ministry in his time, and we pray and ask, if you or your church would be willing to help fill this gap. Please also continue to pray for our housing need during our furlough from August 2011 through late May or early June 2012. We are praying for housing near the Dayton, Columbus, or Cincinnati, OH area that would be VERY inexpensive or FREE to help rebuild up our support while on furlough. If you know of any opportunities that God might use to help us with this need please let us know as soon as possible. Thank you so much!!
In Him,
Doug & Heather Amundson along with
Caleb, Hannah, Eliana, and Esther
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Candid Missionary Growth
Raising kids on the mission field really isn't that different from raising them at "home." Chile is their home. God's principles don't change in raising kids depending upon where you're raising them. Circumstances change though and it is when they change that our children evidence God working in their lives.
Recently we've begun and almost have finished the adoption process of twin girls. (For more on this visit our adoption blog at http://john14verse18.blogspot.com .) This has made an already tight buget even tighter and basically non-existent. I share this not as a pitty party, I share it to evidence growth in my children.
Last night we sat our kids down to tell them that we have one present for them for Christmas and that there won't be anything else. I expected a bit of fussing, but both of them took it in stride and even said, "Mom, we have enough toys." "God has been good to us, so it's ok." We're seeing a level of maturity in the older kids that I know I didn't have growing up.
I pray that as we ALL, including many in the US, go through a rather "slim" Christmas materially, that God will bless us ABUNDANTLY with a Christmas focused on the real reason for his sending his son to earth. To die for our sins and to make a way for us to spend eternity with Him.
Recently we've begun and almost have finished the adoption process of twin girls. (For more on this visit our adoption blog at http://john14verse18.blogspot.com .) This has made an already tight buget even tighter and basically non-existent. I share this not as a pitty party, I share it to evidence growth in my children.
Last night we sat our kids down to tell them that we have one present for them for Christmas and that there won't be anything else. I expected a bit of fussing, but both of them took it in stride and even said, "Mom, we have enough toys." "God has been good to us, so it's ok." We're seeing a level of maturity in the older kids that I know I didn't have growing up.
I pray that as we ALL, including many in the US, go through a rather "slim" Christmas materially, that God will bless us ABUNDANTLY with a Christmas focused on the real reason for his sending his son to earth. To die for our sins and to make a way for us to spend eternity with Him.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Embarrasing Moment in Ministry
Every Saturday I welcome 3 ladies into our home for discipleship. I love this time of fellowship, working through a leaders training workbook, and talking about practical spiritual thing that come up in women's ministry. Only 2 ladies were here yesterday, and I praise God that over the last year and a half, that I have become very close friends with these ladies! It was a GORGEOUS day here, so I decided that we'd have our discipleship out on the patio. We always have tea or coffee and work through our lesson. Our dog, Kiwi, who had been chained up out in the front of the house, but who I had unchained so she could walk around freely while we met. However, I failed to think of some of the consequences of her walking about. First, she had to pee and where did she pick...YUP right next to me! You'd think I would have learned my lesson, but NOOOOO...I didn't rechain her. I let her roam some more and low and behold she had "other business" to take care of. YUP right in the line of sight of all of us, she decided to do her business. How HUMILIATING!!! I was mortified. Praise God that these 2 ladies both have dogs of their own and understand, but I was still mortified!!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Rescued
Here in Chile, and around the world, shouts were heard and the "national" chant flowed freely as each miner came to the surface. In less than 24 hours all of the miners were out. Here in Chile it was like the whole country was holding its breath. With each miner's embrace of a loved one, the country breathed a sigh of relief. We praise God that each one is out safely, but now we must pray that each one truly sees that although their lives were saved, it is even more important to have their souls saved. Please pray with us that in the aftermath of this WONDERFUL salvation that Chileans would be open to God's salvation and shout it from the roof tops too!!
Chile has been through the ringer this year with the earthquake down South and the mine accident in the North. God has a plan for Chile and he allows things in order to bring more sheep into the fold. Praise GOD and to GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
Chile has been through the ringer this year with the earthquake down South and the mine accident in the North. God has a plan for Chile and he allows things in order to bring more sheep into the fold. Praise GOD and to GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
ROUGH WEEK
PLEASE PRAY!!! The last 2 nights has found our whole family ministering in a situation at the church that has deep complications and implications.
On Sunday night we had a members meeting which was difficult to say the least! It started at 5:30pm and lasted until 11:30 pm. It was decided that one of the deacons along with Doug and I would talk to the person who seems to be the root of many of the problems.
I praise God that we have a new couple here on the field who are kind, gracious, and have sought to support all the other missionaries in whatever way they can. Their daughter, a jr. at SCA was here the whole time and put our kids to bed and took care of things here.
Then last night the deacon, Doug, and I met with this person, while my kids got to play at the pastor's house right behind the church. I took them because the meeting was only supposed to be from 7:30-8:00, but it didn't start until 8:15 and we finished around 11:15. My kids and me too for that matter, are EXHAUSTED!!
The meeting was somewhat productive and I along with the deacon have another pending meeting this week to resolve a few more things with this person and another member. PLEASE PRAY!!
On Sunday night we had a members meeting which was difficult to say the least! It started at 5:30pm and lasted until 11:30 pm. It was decided that one of the deacons along with Doug and I would talk to the person who seems to be the root of many of the problems.
I praise God that we have a new couple here on the field who are kind, gracious, and have sought to support all the other missionaries in whatever way they can. Their daughter, a jr. at SCA was here the whole time and put our kids to bed and took care of things here.
Then last night the deacon, Doug, and I met with this person, while my kids got to play at the pastor's house right behind the church. I took them because the meeting was only supposed to be from 7:30-8:00, but it didn't start until 8:15 and we finished around 11:15. My kids and me too for that matter, are EXHAUSTED!!
The meeting was somewhat productive and I along with the deacon have another pending meeting this week to resolve a few more things with this person and another member. PLEASE PRAY!!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Amundson Anthem September 2010
Dear Friends and Family,As I sit down to write this letter I can hardly believe two months have passed since our last update. I’ve always hear the time goes faster the older you get, but I don’t think we are THAT old yet!! Nonetheless we are thankful for all that God has been doing down here in Chile. So many things have happened the last two months so we will do our best to update you on all that has happened.
On the church ministry side we continue to praise God for all that he is doing at Good News Baptist. We continue to see growth both spiritually and numerically and we pray that God continues to work. The ladies took a small break from meeting due to the very cold winter months and other activities, but have restarted their meetings this past month. Heather continues to lead the ladies but has also been busy working with pastor to transition some of the other ladies into this role. Heather also received a “facebook” surprise as one of the young teenage ladies from our church posted a very touching and public blog about what Heather has meant to her this past year. We praise God for the fruit in this girl’s life!!
I have been busy teaching a series on Philippians for the past two months, and
hope to finish this series up during the month of September. I was also involved in planning another men’s outing into a local canyon outside of Santiago. These trips have been good to strengthen the relationships between the young men and older men in our church. We also have had several families visiting our church the past few weeks. About four weeks ago one single man visited the church, and the following week his entire family (grandfather, parents, and siblings) all visited. The family lives very close to the church and is actively searching for a new church home. This past week the entire family returned again, and we also had two other visitors, one of whom lives very close to the church. This has been a huge prayer request for the church, as the majority of the members do not live in the same community as the church, and we really want to be reaching the neighborhood where the church is located.We have also begun, and almost finished, the construction project at our church to replace the roof over one area of the church. The roof was in terrible condition and the room badly needed repair, so we are turning this room into a multi-purpose / youth room. With the growth of the church this has been desperately needed as we currently do not have sufficient classroom space for the church. Thank you so much Washington Heights Baptist for your help in this project!!
Outside of the specific church ministries we have also been very busy with a litany of other events. The most important event was the celebration of our 13th wedding anniversary (August 9th)!! I praise God for Heather as she has been an incredible friend, wife, and loving mother for our kids!! Heather was also busy planning and coordinating an ABWE ladies retreat in which 19 ladies (including 2 ladies from Argentina) had a weekend away and Lynne Trout encouraged and challenged the ladies from God’s word.
I have also been “blessed” with some additional responsibilities with ABWE, as I am now treasurer, property manager, and asst. legal representative for ABWE - Chile. In the middle of this we have also completed all of our adoption appointments with “Fundación mi Casa” and now we are waiting to know if God will allow us to adopt here in Chile. We also welcomed another ABWE family, Steve & Leslie Schneider, with their daughter, Stephanie, to the field.
We want to give you an update on our financial situation as we have mentioned in the last couple prayer letters that we have been lacking monthly funds. Currently our monthly support is at 85.6% of full support, which means we lack $873 dollars each month. Several churches have given one time amounts for which we are so deeply grateful, but we continue to lack monthly support. This past week has been a good week as we have been able to talk with our South American field administrator, and as a field team, make some decisions regarding overlapping furlough issues in the coming 2 years. As such due to the coordination of furlough responsibilities and our support issue, we are planning to return to the states for furlough in mid to late July 2011. This is about 6 months earlier than normal, but allows us to address our support needs, and allows us to return, Lord willing, in June 2012 to assume financial and legal responsibilities before other families return to the states in mid 2012.
We praise God for the incredible team that we have here in Chile, and for you as prayer and financial supporters who are so vital to our ministry.
We want to give you an update on our financial situation as we have mentioned in the last couple prayer letters that we have been lacking monthly funds. Currently our monthly support is at 85.6% of full support, which means we lack $873 dollars each month. Several churches have given one time amounts for which we are so deeply grateful, but we continue to lack monthly support. This past week has been a good week as we have been able to talk with our South American field administrator, and as a field team, make some decisions regarding overlapping furlough issues in the coming 2 years. As such due to the coordination of furlough responsibilities and our support issue, we are planning to return to the states for furlough in mid to late July 2011. This is about 6 months earlier than normal, but allows us to address our support needs, and allows us to return, Lord willing, in June 2012 to assume financial and legal responsibilities before other families return to the states in mid 2012.
We praise God for the incredible team that we have here in Chile, and for you as prayer and financial supporters who are so vital to our ministry.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Gas Affects Update
PRAISE THE LORD!!! You all have been praying!!! I can tell because our pastor switched to a different gas company. This company uses less extra stuff in their gas tanks and therefore, the gas doesn't affect my eyes!! Praise the LORD!! Yesterday I got to worship the Lord on 3 different occasions in the church and I get to go back again on Thursday nights!!! YAHOOO!!
Just how cold is it down here??
Hot pads, or hot mits, aren't they for the heat??? Well Doug chose to use one so that his hand wouldn't get too cold touching his cereal bowl. Just one of the ways to "beat the cold" while many of you in the US are trying to "beat the heat!" 
Sunday, July 18, 2010
How can....
How can...
Such a "little" thing cause SOOO MUCH TROUBLE?!?!?!
Here in Chile, there is no such thing as insolation! Yeah the people are VERY smart, the hospitals are top notch, and we have all the modern conveniences that many in the US have, but when it comes to insolation, it just isn't something that really exsists down here.
When I say this you may think, no big deal, just use your central heat, right? Well, that is almost non-existant here too! So, in order to stay warm in the winter here, people have individual stoves around the house, church, store, or whatever structure to heat the area immediately around the stove. This is usually done with natural gas. Below is an example of one of these stoves. We purchased this one shortly after getting here last year.
So, here's my problem. When I'm in a room with the gas being used, my eyes start to HURT!! And I mean HURT! Then they water a little bit, but not too much. I'm fine here at home because we have a kerosene heater in the living area and of course the kitchen stove. However, when I'm out, especially at church, my eyes BURN! So, what do I do? Please pray that God would remove this reaction so that I can once again participate full time in the ministry at Good News Baptist Church!
Such a "little" thing cause SOOO MUCH TROUBLE?!?!?!
Here in Chile, there is no such thing as insolation! Yeah the people are VERY smart, the hospitals are top notch, and we have all the modern conveniences that many in the US have, but when it comes to insolation, it just isn't something that really exsists down here.
When I say this you may think, no big deal, just use your central heat, right? Well, that is almost non-existant here too! So, in order to stay warm in the winter here, people have individual stoves around the house, church, store, or whatever structure to heat the area immediately around the stove. This is usually done with natural gas. Below is an example of one of these stoves. We purchased this one shortly after getting here last year.
So, here's my problem. When I'm in a room with the gas being used, my eyes start to HURT!! And I mean HURT! Then they water a little bit, but not too much. I'm fine here at home because we have a kerosene heater in the living area and of course the kitchen stove. However, when I'm out, especially at church, my eyes BURN! So, what do I do? Please pray that God would remove this reaction so that I can once again participate full time in the ministry at Good News Baptist Church!Saturday, June 26, 2010
June 2010 Praise Letter
Dear Friends and Family,
As I am sure you have heard from many other missionaries, the World Cup is amongst us. Everywhere we go here in Chile there are banners, flags, horns blaring, and groups of people screaming “Chi-Chi-Chi, le, le, le – VIVA CHILE!!!” It is an exciting time to live outside the U.S. and experience the insane fans of South America rooting for their team. That being said – the US is advancing to the second round, so we have our own little badge of pride as well!!
We are now in the depths of the cold and rainy winter months here in Santiago. We often see our breath in the house in the morning and wear four to five layers of clothing around the house and the office, and pray for warmer weather. Many people from the church and school have been fighting colds, the streets have been flooded due to the rains, and it just feels generally miserable. On the flip side Doug is very happy as the Andean mountains above our house have received over three feet of snow this past week – it is incredibly beautiful!!
However, no matter how bad we think it is here, the people still without houses in Concepcion, the epicenter of the earthquake in Feb, have it MUCH worse. Doug and another ABWE missionary (Scott Russell) had the privilege to visit the city at the epicenter of the earthquake this past week. ABWE has been working with a national pastor, Esteban Maldonado, in a small town of Chiguayante, which is just south of Concepcion. ABWE has been working with Esteban to restart a church (Missionary Baptist) that had almost completely died two years ago, and we praise God for the fruit we have seen in this church. Scott, as the leader of ABWE Chile, preached in two different churches while we were there, and we, along with several other members of Esteban’s church, got to watch Chile play in one of it’s world cup matches.
ABWE has been working with this church to help fix some post-quake damage, and also to reach out to the many people who have lost their homes in this area. Many of our ABWE churches (our church included – “Good News Baptist”) have been involved in taking food, clothes, jackets, etc. to this church to distribute to those in need. God had been working, and people are responding to God’s salvation message. In the past 3 weeks three more people have come to know Christ through this little, but growing, church in Chiguayante!!
The depressing part is that many people now live in “mediaguas” (or government shelter shacks being the better description) in large camps around the city. The majority of these people have no running water or toilets in their “house’, and the rain in this part of Chile is intense, cold, and non-stop. Imagine walking 5 minutes to the nearest outhouse in the blowing rain, the cold, and in the middle of the night! Many of these shacks are wrapped in plastic to keep out the rain, but this prohibits any air circulation so the germs never leave the house and make the people even sicker. Please, please continue to be in prayer for these people, and that we as ABWE would continue to have wisdom in how best to help the local churches meet the many needs in this part of Chile.
In our own church things continue to be going well, although it seems that due to the weather our attendance hasn’t moved much. Several of our older ladies have struggled with the cold, and one faithful lady, Leticia, had fallen and is still recuperating. That being said Heather has had some good meetings with the ladies, and Doug led the men of our church along with some men from another local church, out for a “leisurely” climb up part of the mountains that border Santiago. Doug was really hoping our neighbor, Nelson would come, as he said he was very interested, but unfortunately Nelson never came. Keep praying for Nelson and his (soon to be) wife Ines!!
You may remember from our last prayer letter that a couple (Juan Carlos & Nancy) had disappeared from our church after talking with them about getting married. Well on June 18th, we had the honor to go to their home for their official civic wedding!! We praise God for their response to God’s word, and look forward to them being back in the church with their son, Nicolas, and their very soon to be born baby boy!!
Caleb has started practicing with the worship team at our church as he now plays the triangle and chimes. This has allowed Daniel, one of the faithful men we’ve mentioned before, to play the bongos. We have really enjoyed watching Caleb grow into a young man and love this opportunity for Caleb to spread his ministry wings. He has also started guitar lessons with pastor’s son Alejandro. We continue to see great things happening. Unfortunately our teammates, Mark & Jen Rubin, will be leaving the church in the next two months to go help with another church that has greater needs. Please be praying for them in their new ministry, and for us as we will dearly miss their help, insight, and teaching.
Continue to pray for us regarding our financial situation. We received word of another church that has cancelled support of all their missionaries this past month so we are now lacking $831 of our required monthly support. Several churches has responded to our last prayer letter with some additional one-time donations for which we are VERY thankful. Please continue to pray that God will meet the needs we have.
Please also be in prayer as in the next couple months several ABWE missionaries will be starting new ministries or churches here in Santiago, and Steve & Leslie Schneider, our newest ABWE Chile missionaries, will be arriving on July 19th!! SCA will finish its school year on July 2nd so hopefully Heather will be able to refocus on ladies ministry and personal discipleship again, and Doug will be starting his Sunday school series on Philippians. Doug has also started a 28 week class on Biblical Counseling (all in Spanish) each Tuesday night. It takes Doug roughly 1.5 hours by metro to go to class, 2 hours of class, and then another 1.5 hours to get back – so please pray for safety, comprehension, and the family while he is gone at night.
Thank you so much for your prayers and sacrificial giving.
Doug & Heather
On the family front, the kids are doing well. Both Hannah and Caleb are
excelling at their Bible doctrines Sunday school class, (totally in Spanish) and Caleb loves the music ministry. We also have some adoption news to share. Many of you know that we’ve wanted to adopt for some time, well God is
opening that door. For more on this and the history of our journey please visit Heather’s adoption blog.
As I am sure you have heard from many other missionaries, the World Cup is amongst us. Everywhere we go here in Chile there are banners, flags, horns blaring, and groups of people screaming “Chi-Chi-Chi, le, le, le – VIVA CHILE!!!” It is an exciting time to live outside the U.S. and experience the insane fans of South America rooting for their team. That being said – the US is advancing to the second round, so we have our own little badge of pride as well!!
We are now in the depths of the cold and rainy winter months here in Santiago. We often see our breath in the house in the morning and wear four to five layers of clothing around the house and the office, and pray for warmer weather. Many people from the church and school have been fighting colds, the streets have been flooded due to the rains, and it just feels generally miserable. On the flip side Doug is very happy as the Andean mountains above our house have received over three feet of snow this past week – it is incredibly beautiful!!
However, no matter how bad we think it is here, the people still without houses in Concepcion, the epicenter of the earthquake in Feb, have it MUCH worse. Doug and another ABWE missionary (Scott Russell) had the privilege to visit the city at the epicenter of the earthquake this past week. ABWE has been working with a national pastor, Esteban Maldonado, in a small town of Chiguayante, which is just south of Concepcion. ABWE has been working with Esteban to restart a church (Missionary Baptist) that had almost completely died two years ago, and we praise God for the fruit we have seen in this church. Scott, as the leader of ABWE Chile, preached in two different churches while we were there, and we, along with several other members of Esteban’s church, got to watch Chile play in one of it’s world cup matches.
ABWE has been working with this church to help fix some post-quake damage, and also to reach out to the many people who have lost their homes in this area. Many of our ABWE churches (our church included – “Good News Baptist”) have been involved in taking food, clothes, jackets, etc. to this church to distribute to those in need. God had been working, and people are responding to God’s salvation message. In the past 3 weeks three more people have come to know Christ through this little, but growing, church in Chiguayante!!The depressing part is that many people now live in “mediaguas” (or government shelter shacks being the better description) in large camps around the city. The majority of these people have no running water or toilets in their “house’, and the rain in this part of Chile is intense, cold, and non-stop. Imagine walking 5 minutes to the nearest outhouse in the blowing rain, the cold, and in the middle of the night! Many of these shacks are wrapped in plastic to keep out the rain, but this prohibits any air circulation so the germs never leave the house and make the people even sicker. Please, please continue to be in prayer for these people, and that we as ABWE would continue to have wisdom in how best to help the local churches meet the many needs in this part of Chile.
In our own church things continue to be going well, although it seems that due to the weather our attendance hasn’t moved much. Several of our older ladies have struggled with the cold, and one faithful lady, Leticia, had fallen and is still recuperating. That being said Heather has had some good meetings with the ladies, and Doug led the men of our church along with some men from another local church, out for a “leisurely” climb up part of the mountains that border Santiago. Doug was really hoping our neighbor, Nelson would come, as he said he was very interested, but unfortunately Nelson never came. Keep praying for Nelson and his (soon to be) wife Ines!!
You may remember from our last prayer letter that a couple (Juan Carlos & Nancy) had disappeared from our church after talking with them about getting married. Well on June 18th, we had the honor to go to their home for their official civic wedding!! We praise God for their response to God’s word, and look forward to them being back in the church with their son, Nicolas, and their very soon to be born baby boy!!
Caleb has started practicing with the worship team at our church as he now plays the triangle and chimes. This has allowed Daniel, one of the faithful men we’ve mentioned before, to play the bongos. We have really enjoyed watching Caleb grow into a young man and love this opportunity for Caleb to spread his ministry wings. He has also started guitar lessons with pastor’s son Alejandro. We continue to see great things happening. Unfortunately our teammates, Mark & Jen Rubin, will be leaving the church in the next two months to go help with another church that has greater needs. Please be praying for them in their new ministry, and for us as we will dearly miss their help, insight, and teaching.
Continue to pray for us regarding our financial situation. We received word of another church that has cancelled support of all their missionaries this past month so we are now lacking $831 of our required monthly support. Several churches has responded to our last prayer letter with some additional one-time donations for which we are VERY thankful. Please continue to pray that God will meet the needs we have.
Please also be in prayer as in the next couple months several ABWE missionaries will be starting new ministries or churches here in Santiago, and Steve & Leslie Schneider, our newest ABWE Chile missionaries, will be arriving on July 19th!! SCA will finish its school year on July 2nd so hopefully Heather will be able to refocus on ladies ministry and personal discipleship again, and Doug will be starting his Sunday school series on Philippians. Doug has also started a 28 week class on Biblical Counseling (all in Spanish) each Tuesday night. It takes Doug roughly 1.5 hours by metro to go to class, 2 hours of class, and then another 1.5 hours to get back – so please pray for safety, comprehension, and the family while he is gone at night.
Thank you so much for your prayers and sacrificial giving.
Doug & Heather
On the family front, the kids are doing well. Both Hannah and Caleb are
excelling at their Bible doctrines Sunday school class, (totally in Spanish) and Caleb loves the music ministry. We also have some adoption news to share. Many of you know that we’ve wanted to adopt for some time, well God is
opening that door. For more on this and the history of our journey please visit Heather’s adoption blog.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Our first Chilean Wedding
So, as we've asked you to pray for Juan Carlos and Nancy to get married, God has been answering your prayers!!! Last Friday night, after a LONG drive through the rain, in the dark, with a VERY FOGGED up windowshield, we made the trip to their home to witness their civil wedding. Here are just a few of the pictures of the night.
Nancy signing the marriage "contract" with 6 year old son looking on
From left to right - 1. Our pastor who is one brother of the bride and stood up as her witness,
2. the bride Nancy who is due within the next 2 weeks with the couple's 2nd child,
3. the groom Juan Carlos and father to both of Nancy's children,
and 4. Juan Carlos' witness who is a childhood friend and is married to Juan Carlos' sister
The judge who married the couple in less than 15 minutes!
Nancy signing the marriage "contract" with 6 year old son looking on
The exchange of rings
The dinner afterward to celebrate was held out on their patio with 4 round tables to squeeze in all 35 or so people.
We truly were blessed to be invited to this BEAUTIFUL event. The couple plans to have a church wedding sometime this coming summer, which for us in South America means December through March. I can't wait to be a part of that ceremony, but in the mean time, God allowed me to visit one of the Christian bookstores today and I found a bunch of GREAT Bible study books on marriage. Since we will be counseling the newly weds and newly Christians, it was certainly NO ACCIDENT that God led me to the bookstore today.
Thank you for praying for Juan Carlos and Nancy! Please don't stop praying for them and for us, as we guide them.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
God is Working
IN SPITE OF US! I know we all have those days, when we don´t feel even useful to scrub the floors or clean the bathrooms, but it is those days when God can use us the most.
In our last prayer letter, we wrote about 2 situations special to our hearts. We had asked people to pray for a young widow and her 2 sons. Her name is Cecilia. She grew up in the church, so lots of the people in the church have known her for a LONG time, but all of them say that they´ve never seen any change in her. When she came to the church, I noticed that she has a VERY STRONG personality, and I wasn´t sure what I would do with her in ladies´ meetings. Well, God is working. A week ago Saturday, during and after ladies´ meeting I had the chance to lovingly confront Cecilia. Since I´m new, I could actually question her salvation and begin to work with her. This Saturday at 11:00 am I´m taking her out for coffee. I´m excited, but hesitant. Please pray that she will be responsive. Pray that I WILL LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT as HE PROMPS MY WORDS!! I want to hear her testimony and just listen and then as God allows, build into her life.
The second special situation we asked you to pray for was for a couple that has their second child on the way, are living together, and the man was saved in the last 8 months. We have been praying that they will stop living in sin, and get married. WE ARE SOO SOOO SOOOOO EXCITED to tell you that they will be getting married THIS FRIDAY!!! We are praising God for HIS GUIDANCE and for allowing us to advise them in making this decision. Please pray for us, as now pastor has asked us mentor them as a couple. Because the woman is pastor´s sister, it would be difficult for him to counsel them.
GOD IS GOOD and we are humbled and remember that it truly is ONLY GOD who can change hearts and lives!!!
In our last prayer letter, we wrote about 2 situations special to our hearts. We had asked people to pray for a young widow and her 2 sons. Her name is Cecilia. She grew up in the church, so lots of the people in the church have known her for a LONG time, but all of them say that they´ve never seen any change in her. When she came to the church, I noticed that she has a VERY STRONG personality, and I wasn´t sure what I would do with her in ladies´ meetings. Well, God is working. A week ago Saturday, during and after ladies´ meeting I had the chance to lovingly confront Cecilia. Since I´m new, I could actually question her salvation and begin to work with her. This Saturday at 11:00 am I´m taking her out for coffee. I´m excited, but hesitant. Please pray that she will be responsive. Pray that I WILL LISTEN TO THE HOLY SPIRIT as HE PROMPS MY WORDS!! I want to hear her testimony and just listen and then as God allows, build into her life.
The second special situation we asked you to pray for was for a couple that has their second child on the way, are living together, and the man was saved in the last 8 months. We have been praying that they will stop living in sin, and get married. WE ARE SOO SOOO SOOOOO EXCITED to tell you that they will be getting married THIS FRIDAY!!! We are praising God for HIS GUIDANCE and for allowing us to advise them in making this decision. Please pray for us, as now pastor has asked us mentor them as a couple. Because the woman is pastor´s sister, it would be difficult for him to counsel them.
GOD IS GOOD and we are humbled and remember that it truly is ONLY GOD who can change hearts and lives!!!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Ladies´ Mother´s Day Tea
For the last 6 weeks, our church ladies have been planning a Mother´s Day Tea. Actually, I should say, a few of the ladies and I. As a missionary my ¨job¨ is to work myself out of a ¨job.¨ Anyone in leadership should be focused on teaching and training the next generation. Yes, I know I am MUCH younger than many of the ladies in our church here, but spiritually and many times practically we experience MUCH more in the US that then has prepared me to be in this position.
Therefore, as I try to duplicate myself, I decided that I couldn´t plan this tea alone. I needed a committee. Here in Chile there is a phrase, ¨Every Chilean LOVES a good dictator.¨ (This is a throw back comment in regards to Pinoche the man who ¨ruled¨ here in Chile for 20 years.) Because of this phrase and mentality, it was interesting to see the reactions to having a committee. Pastor wasn´t sure it would work, but in the end...
I chose 5 ladies to help me. Each one is FAT. (Faithful, Available, and Teachable) Sandra, the pastor´s wife was in charge of set up and tearing down. She had the option of doing it all herself, or getting others to help her. She was in charge of directing all of that area. Patricia and Rossanna were in charge of the kitchen. They had to plan what we were going to eat for our little snack, along with recruting and organizing the servers. Maria Georgina and Leticia are both older ladies. They helped to make some of the gifts/decorations. I was in charge of decorations, the schedule, invitations, and running the event itself. Jennifer Rubin my fellow missionary at the church, willingly took over responsiblity for getting the guest speaker and arranging her transporation etc.
I was absolutely amazed. Out of the 3 other churches we invited we had 2 of them show up. (The other church was having their own event that day.) We had set only 34 place settings, but planned for 50 with food figuring we could add people as we went. Adding we did!!! We had 41 ladies there!!! What a blessing to have to keep moving closer at the tables to fit everyone in!!!
However, the MOST exciting thing was that we had 2 ladies raise their hands to receive salvation. GOD IS GOOD!!
I still have to do a ¨debriefing¨ with my committee, but only to demonstrate how to complete the process with evaluation. I still am looking for a lady to take over my ¨job¨ of leading the ladies´ ministry. Who knows, maybe one of these ladies.....
Here are some pictures of our WONDERFUL event!!
Therefore, as I try to duplicate myself, I decided that I couldn´t plan this tea alone. I needed a committee. Here in Chile there is a phrase, ¨Every Chilean LOVES a good dictator.¨ (This is a throw back comment in regards to Pinoche the man who ¨ruled¨ here in Chile for 20 years.) Because of this phrase and mentality, it was interesting to see the reactions to having a committee. Pastor wasn´t sure it would work, but in the end...
I chose 5 ladies to help me. Each one is FAT. (Faithful, Available, and Teachable) Sandra, the pastor´s wife was in charge of set up and tearing down. She had the option of doing it all herself, or getting others to help her. She was in charge of directing all of that area. Patricia and Rossanna were in charge of the kitchen. They had to plan what we were going to eat for our little snack, along with recruting and organizing the servers. Maria Georgina and Leticia are both older ladies. They helped to make some of the gifts/decorations. I was in charge of decorations, the schedule, invitations, and running the event itself. Jennifer Rubin my fellow missionary at the church, willingly took over responsiblity for getting the guest speaker and arranging her transporation etc.
I was absolutely amazed. Out of the 3 other churches we invited we had 2 of them show up. (The other church was having their own event that day.) We had set only 34 place settings, but planned for 50 with food figuring we could add people as we went. Adding we did!!! We had 41 ladies there!!! What a blessing to have to keep moving closer at the tables to fit everyone in!!!
However, the MOST exciting thing was that we had 2 ladies raise their hands to receive salvation. GOD IS GOOD!!
I still have to do a ¨debriefing¨ with my committee, but only to demonstrate how to complete the process with evaluation. I still am looking for a lady to take over my ¨job¨ of leading the ladies´ ministry. Who knows, maybe one of these ladies.....
Here are some pictures of our WONDERFUL event!!
Our youth group teens were the servers. They also did a WONDERFUL skit for our entertainment. Our youth are SUCH A FABULOUS group of young people!!! I truly can say that without our young people, our church wouldn´t function!!
A get away
2 weekends ago we had the opportunity to rent an apartment by the beach with the world´s largest man made pool. Here are just a few of our moments of Family Fun while on a SHORT vacation.
Thursday, May 6, 2010
OUR WEEK
Some different people have wondered what it is like to be a missionary, so I thought that I´d give you an idea of how our week goes.
Monday - Doug works down at ABWE Chile headquarters of Santiago Christian Academy. He usually leaves here around 8:15 on bicycle, so as to arrive there by 8:30. He takes care of the mission and school finances as well as being property manager, which has been more work with the earthquake cleanup.
The kids and I get up, pack lunches, have ¨cuddle¨ school (the homeschool that I have to read and discuss with them) and then leave by 11:45 pm in the car to also head down to the school.
The kids get to eat lunch and play with their friends, while I have detention duty in my classroom until about 12:50 pm. Then the kids go into their daddy´s office to begin completing their workbook school while Doug tries to balance fathering and work. Meanwhile I teach Biology to 12 students from 12:50 to about 2:30. Then I collect the kids to head home and finish homeschool and for me to prepare dinner and get ready for my next Biology class.
Doug gets home anywhere from 6 to 7, depending on the craziness of the day.
Tuesday - Doug leaves via car for the day around 8:00 am to be at the school/running to the bank/running to the exchange house/ taking care of property business. He usually gets home anytime between 6 and 7.
The kids and I stay here in Tuesdays getting A LOT of homeschool for the week done and me getting caught up on Biology/preparing my lesson for Ladies´ meeting/household duties.
Wednesdays are weird!!! They look just like Monday, but every other week at 2:30 the kids and I don´t get to come back home, we are there at SCA until 6 with Doug. This is because of different ABWE meetings that we have. Therefore, some Wednesdays the kids are at the school from 12 until sometimes after 6, if it´s a long meeting. We get home to have dinner real fast and then we have bedtime routine.
Thursday is family day. We still do some homeschool. Doug doesn´t go down to the school and we usually catch up on errands and doctors appointments. Thursday night at 8:00 pm we have prayer meeting, which usually lasts until 10:00 when we rush the kids into bed, to be ready for Friday´s schedule.
Friday - Doug leaves as normal, but via bicycle again, so that at 10:30 am, the kids and I take the car down to the school so that I can teach one period of Biology while Doug watches/schools the kids/works. After teaching, the kids and I come home to do homeschool and get ready for the weekend. Doug gets home at the usual time around 6 and we have some family time.
Saturdays are a hodge podge of things. Every other week, I teach ladies´ Bible study from 4 -6, while Doug spends time with the kids.
Sundays we have SS at 10:30. Doug will be teaching a series on Philippians soon during SS. I just finished teaching the teen girls of our church during this time. At 11:30 we have ¨breakfast¨ as a church. at 12:00 we start church and run until 1:45. Then we usually have someone over for lunch, and then sometimes we have married couples meetings during the evening.
Then the week starts all over again.
Monday - Doug works down at ABWE Chile headquarters of Santiago Christian Academy. He usually leaves here around 8:15 on bicycle, so as to arrive there by 8:30. He takes care of the mission and school finances as well as being property manager, which has been more work with the earthquake cleanup.
The kids and I get up, pack lunches, have ¨cuddle¨ school (the homeschool that I have to read and discuss with them) and then leave by 11:45 pm in the car to also head down to the school.
The kids get to eat lunch and play with their friends, while I have detention duty in my classroom until about 12:50 pm. Then the kids go into their daddy´s office to begin completing their workbook school while Doug tries to balance fathering and work. Meanwhile I teach Biology to 12 students from 12:50 to about 2:30. Then I collect the kids to head home and finish homeschool and for me to prepare dinner and get ready for my next Biology class.
Doug gets home anywhere from 6 to 7, depending on the craziness of the day.
Tuesday - Doug leaves via car for the day around 8:00 am to be at the school/running to the bank/running to the exchange house/ taking care of property business. He usually gets home anytime between 6 and 7.
The kids and I stay here in Tuesdays getting A LOT of homeschool for the week done and me getting caught up on Biology/preparing my lesson for Ladies´ meeting/household duties.
Wednesdays are weird!!! They look just like Monday, but every other week at 2:30 the kids and I don´t get to come back home, we are there at SCA until 6 with Doug. This is because of different ABWE meetings that we have. Therefore, some Wednesdays the kids are at the school from 12 until sometimes after 6, if it´s a long meeting. We get home to have dinner real fast and then we have bedtime routine.
Thursday is family day. We still do some homeschool. Doug doesn´t go down to the school and we usually catch up on errands and doctors appointments. Thursday night at 8:00 pm we have prayer meeting, which usually lasts until 10:00 when we rush the kids into bed, to be ready for Friday´s schedule.
Friday - Doug leaves as normal, but via bicycle again, so that at 10:30 am, the kids and I take the car down to the school so that I can teach one period of Biology while Doug watches/schools the kids/works. After teaching, the kids and I come home to do homeschool and get ready for the weekend. Doug gets home at the usual time around 6 and we have some family time.
Saturdays are a hodge podge of things. Every other week, I teach ladies´ Bible study from 4 -6, while Doug spends time with the kids.
Sundays we have SS at 10:30. Doug will be teaching a series on Philippians soon during SS. I just finished teaching the teen girls of our church during this time. At 11:30 we have ¨breakfast¨ as a church. at 12:00 we start church and run until 1:45. Then we usually have someone over for lunch, and then sometimes we have married couples meetings during the evening.
Then the week starts all over again.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Changing of Seasons
When the cold weather comes...
my sock drawer isn't full for long.
my storage trunk is filled with capri's rather than sweaters.
my bed has 3 comforters and flannel sheets to keep us warm at night.
clean undershirts are hard to find because they've all been used recently.
my front hallway closet is covered with coats on the coat rack.
our towels don't dry without help from the dryer due to the humidity.
my cupboard is stocked with hot chocolate.
my morning tea is no longer an option.
any drop of Sunshine is a blessing rather than a nuisance (sp??).
my flannel jammies and warm cozy slippers are ready at the drop of a hat.
the falling leaves remind me of the new life that will come in just a few short months.
my sock drawer isn't full for long.
my storage trunk is filled with capri's rather than sweaters.
my bed has 3 comforters and flannel sheets to keep us warm at night.
clean undershirts are hard to find because they've all been used recently.
my front hallway closet is covered with coats on the coat rack.
our towels don't dry without help from the dryer due to the humidity.
my cupboard is stocked with hot chocolate.
my morning tea is no longer an option.
any drop of Sunshine is a blessing rather than a nuisance (sp??).
my flannel jammies and warm cozy slippers are ready at the drop of a hat.
the falling leaves remind me of the new life that will come in just a few short months.
Monday, April 5, 2010
An AMAZING VIDEO!!
Please take the 4 1/2 minutes to watch this video. I share this because at times we feel alone down here. Doug shared with me that only $5000 has come in to ABWE for Chile relief. That saddens me. I know things are rough all over the world, but there are people who still have no water. We still have needs to meet. We still have Christ´s promises to share. Please continue to pray for Chile and for our brethren in the South!
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Different
So, one of the ladies at church approached our pastor about how she believed that something had changed with me. That I was different with her. Nothing with her has changed, but there are some people here that if you don´t greet them personally then they are offended. Can you imagine having to greet EVERY person BEFORE and AFTER the service! When I see her tomorrow, I will clear things up with her.
However, that got me to thinking, am I different? The last month has been trying at best. Since the earthquake, we´ve been shaken again and again. Normalcy has not returned to our lives here, but will it ever? Since the earthquake, Doug made a trip South to share the gospel with many ravaged by the earthquake. We´ve all been battling with a SEVERE cold/respiratory illness that continues to hang on with cough and some minor congestion after 3 weeks. Doug´s grandfather at the age of 94 is loosing his battle with so many illnesses. We are just waiting for the call to say that he´s past on to heaven.
To top off all of this, Doug has found out that he has cancer of the skin AGAIN!! He´ll be having surgery soon. He plans to run the SANTIAGO MARATHON on the 11th and then he´ll go in for the surgery.
I do feel different! I feel more subdued. I feel more, more caught up in my family. I feel more concerned about my ministry in our home. I wish I could go ¨home¨ to visit with Doug´s family during this difficult time of waiting for Grandpa to pass. I feel like a stranger here sometimes, and I miss worshipping GOD in my own heart language. I feel excited to be here. I feel blessed to have the church family that we do. I feel blessed to be used of God to share His example to not only my children but to those around me here in Chile.
So, yeah, I guess I feel different. I feel conflicted and then I think....
As I mature and grow in life and my relationship with Christ, I do hope there is a difference! I hope and pray that that difference makes an impact in others´ lives. I hope that by being different, God receives the glory!
However, that got me to thinking, am I different? The last month has been trying at best. Since the earthquake, we´ve been shaken again and again. Normalcy has not returned to our lives here, but will it ever? Since the earthquake, Doug made a trip South to share the gospel with many ravaged by the earthquake. We´ve all been battling with a SEVERE cold/respiratory illness that continues to hang on with cough and some minor congestion after 3 weeks. Doug´s grandfather at the age of 94 is loosing his battle with so many illnesses. We are just waiting for the call to say that he´s past on to heaven.
To top off all of this, Doug has found out that he has cancer of the skin AGAIN!! He´ll be having surgery soon. He plans to run the SANTIAGO MARATHON on the 11th and then he´ll go in for the surgery.
I do feel different! I feel more subdued. I feel more, more caught up in my family. I feel more concerned about my ministry in our home. I wish I could go ¨home¨ to visit with Doug´s family during this difficult time of waiting for Grandpa to pass. I feel like a stranger here sometimes, and I miss worshipping GOD in my own heart language. I feel excited to be here. I feel blessed to have the church family that we do. I feel blessed to be used of God to share His example to not only my children but to those around me here in Chile.
So, yeah, I guess I feel different. I feel conflicted and then I think....
As I mature and grow in life and my relationship with Christ, I do hope there is a difference! I hope and pray that that difference makes an impact in others´ lives. I hope that by being different, God receives the glory!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
One month ago today...
One month ago today, we experienced on of the 5 largest earthquakes in the history of earthquake recordings. As I read Proverbs 27 (ESV), this morning I was struck by many of the sayings that are evident in our life here in Chile.
Verse one says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
That has held true for many here in Chile following the earthquake! How interesting that it comes in chapter 27 and the earthquake fell on the 27th of the month. (For those of you Bible scholars - Yes, I know that when God wrote the Bible, there were no chapters or verses!)
Verse 6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend;" I have been so blessed to have my close friend, convict me of my need to continually rely on Christ and not on this earth that only shakes below us, like sinking sand. This friend I mention is in the US, and we talk on a regular basis. However, God has brought a new family with another mission to Chile, and she has been a real encouragement to me and I hope I to her.
Verse 10 "Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend." The friend that I mentioned in the US, has AMAZING parents. They actually went to WalMart and purchased various things that we needed. This verse is a reminder that my "friends" may not always be within the direct circle I think they are.
Verse 10b "Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away." Although I miss my siblings, they couldn't have helped me during the earthquake. My neighbors have been such a blessing, even though none of them have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We hope to be the kind of neighbors to them that are "better...near, than a brother"/relative.
Verse 14 "Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning will be counted as cursing." Living so close to our neighbors this is something we are teaching our children. Living in a city of almost 7 million, certainly changes one's perspective.
Verse 17 "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." This verse reminds me to continually seek out Christian friendships to encourage me and so that I can encourage others.
None of these applications are necessarily biblical, but they are things that struck me this morning and I just thought I would share and hopefully "sharpen" some of you!
God bless!
Heather
Verse one says, "Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring."
That has held true for many here in Chile following the earthquake! How interesting that it comes in chapter 27 and the earthquake fell on the 27th of the month. (For those of you Bible scholars - Yes, I know that when God wrote the Bible, there were no chapters or verses!)
Verse 6 "Faithful are the wounds of a friend;" I have been so blessed to have my close friend, convict me of my need to continually rely on Christ and not on this earth that only shakes below us, like sinking sand. This friend I mention is in the US, and we talk on a regular basis. However, God has brought a new family with another mission to Chile, and she has been a real encouragement to me and I hope I to her.
Verse 10 "Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend." The friend that I mentioned in the US, has AMAZING parents. They actually went to WalMart and purchased various things that we needed. This verse is a reminder that my "friends" may not always be within the direct circle I think they are.
Verse 10b "Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away." Although I miss my siblings, they couldn't have helped me during the earthquake. My neighbors have been such a blessing, even though none of them have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We hope to be the kind of neighbors to them that are "better...near, than a brother"/relative.
Verse 14 "Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning will be counted as cursing." Living so close to our neighbors this is something we are teaching our children. Living in a city of almost 7 million, certainly changes one's perspective.
Verse 17 "Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." This verse reminds me to continually seek out Christian friendships to encourage me and so that I can encourage others.
None of these applications are necessarily biblical, but they are things that struck me this morning and I just thought I would share and hopefully "sharpen" some of you!
God bless!
Heather
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Trip to Talca
This is a short letter sent out to our team by Mark Rubin, after he, Doug, Jon Spink, Alejandro Armijo, (All ABWE) and John Niemeyer (BMM), finished up the weekend distributing Shelter Boxes donated to our national mission agency to distribute.
For pictures, because I can't post over 200 of them here, go to our ministry photo website through Shutterfly at http://amundsonanthem.shutterfly.com/ . The password is the country that we live and serve in and it IS case sensitive!
To sum up the trip, we left Saturday morning, stopped by the Talagante
church to pick up things to take down, then made a convoy down to
Talca. Got there and went to our place of base operations, then went
to a storage shed on a vineyard to unload the Shelter Boxes. We had
225 to unload that had come in. Then that night they instructed us on
the distribution of the things in the boxes: 2 tents, 3 sleeping bags,
2 collapsable water jugs, water purifcation tablets, kitchen utensils/place
settings, a small wood cookstove, and a few other items. In addition,
we were able to pass out tracts and verbally share the gospel with the
people that we would distribute the boxes to.On Sunday we went to Pencahue, just west of Talca. There the team
Doug Amundson, Jon Niemeyer and I were on delivered all 12 boxes with the
rest of our team. Then on Monday we went to the small town of Villa
Pratt, just northwest of Talca. There due to several other
complicating factors, our team only delivered 8 boxes. Mind you the
delivery also includes the pitching the 2 tents and explaining the necessary
items, and sometimes clearing a good site for the tents.
For pictures, because I can't post over 200 of them here, go to our ministry photo website through Shutterfly at http://amundsonanthem.shutterfly.com/ . The password is the country that we live and serve in and it IS case sensitive!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Doug's HOME
PRAISE GOD!!! Doug and Caleb drove onto our street about 30 minutes after the 7.2 hit just South of here. They didn't even really feel it, probably because the car bounces right along.
Another one...
Come on. Just when life was returning to "normal," just moments ago we had another earthquake. Some may want to call it an aftershock, but feeling the ground move that much below my feet, was NO aftershock. Living through all of these "aftershocks" makes one pretty confident at guessing what number the last one was on the richter scale. What we just had, was no aftershock!!! I'm still waiting to see what it measured, but please pray. Hannah and I are home alone and Doug and Caleb are out. I can't get a hold of Doug due to cell phone issues, so please pray that they are safe and make it home!!
Just as I was about to hit "publish post" we had a second STRONG one. PLEASE PRAY!!!
Just as I was about to hit "publish post" we had a second STRONG one. PLEASE PRAY!!!
Monday, March 8, 2010
Earthquake - March Praise Letter by Doug
Other information regarding activities here in Chile:
Since the original 8.8 earthquake on Saturday morning, it seems that we have felt the ground moving quite frequently. As of right now (Wednesday evening), we have had roughly 143 various earthquakes or aftershocks that have been over 5.0, 11 of those being over 6.0. We haven’t felt every single one of those here in Santiago, but we have definitely felt many more than what we wanted to. The damage here in Santiago is not as great as down south, but it is still significant, and the garbage is beginning to pile up outside the various houses who lost furniture or had various walls collapse. I read today that the earthquake has affected 70% of the Chilean economy. Often you see the pictures of cracks in the ground from earthquakes, well I came across those this morning when I was running where, for a good distance, cracks ran up and down the running path I take in the morning, with a whole section sliding down into a local canal for the water to run through. It was an eerie reminder of the power that rippled through the ground here in Santiago.
As Heather mentioned our pastor, Christian Contreras, took a trip today down south to deliver some food and supplies. They still have not returned yet, but hopefully should be back within the next 5 hours or so. Mark Rubin, one of our teammates, has talked with another pastor who went earlier this week, and he said the situation is definitely hostile right now due to lack of basic services, but we are really proud of the reaction of the national churches who are stepping up to the plate in this crisis. (***Update—they did arrive back safely after nearly 26 hours round-trip). Another team is planning to leave this Saturday to the town of Constitucion, which was the town destroyed by the tsunami.
Please continue to pray for these pastors and other believers taking relief supplies down to the churches, and pray that we as ABWE would find ways to effectively work with our national churches in this incredible situation.
If you feel God prompting you to contribute to the many needs here in Chile, you may send a check to ABWE Donor Services, PO Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585, with a note clarifying that it is for the Chile Earthquake, and the account number 0717151-002 (CQ10013257). You may also give online at www.abwe.org/give. This is an account that ABWE as a mission has set up to meet the many current and future needs for Chile relief efforts. Please continue to pray for the health of the ABWE team, the national churches, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ would shine strongly during this very dark time here in Chile.
God Bless,
Doug
Since the original 8.8 earthquake on Saturday morning, it seems that we have felt the ground moving quite frequently. As of right now (Wednesday evening), we have had roughly 143 various earthquakes or aftershocks that have been over 5.0, 11 of those being over 6.0. We haven’t felt every single one of those here in Santiago, but we have definitely felt many more than what we wanted to. The damage here in Santiago is not as great as down south, but it is still significant, and the garbage is beginning to pile up outside the various houses who lost furniture or had various walls collapse. I read today that the earthquake has affected 70% of the Chilean economy. Often you see the pictures of cracks in the ground from earthquakes, well I came across those this morning when I was running where, for a good distance, cracks ran up and down the running path I take in the morning, with a whole section sliding down into a local canal for the water to run through. It was an eerie reminder of the power that rippled through the ground here in Santiago.
As Heather mentioned our pastor, Christian Contreras, took a trip today down south to deliver some food and supplies. They still have not returned yet, but hopefully should be back within the next 5 hours or so. Mark Rubin, one of our teammates, has talked with another pastor who went earlier this week, and he said the situation is definitely hostile right now due to lack of basic services, but we are really proud of the reaction of the national churches who are stepping up to the plate in this crisis. (***Update—they did arrive back safely after nearly 26 hours round-trip). Another team is planning to leave this Saturday to the town of Constitucion, which was the town destroyed by the tsunami.
Please continue to pray for these pastors and other believers taking relief supplies down to the churches, and pray that we as ABWE would find ways to effectively work with our national churches in this incredible situation.
If you feel God prompting you to contribute to the many needs here in Chile, you may send a check to ABWE Donor Services, PO Box 8585, Harrisburg, PA 17105-8585, with a note clarifying that it is for the Chile Earthquake, and the account number 0717151-002 (CQ10013257). You may also give online at www.abwe.org/give. This is an account that ABWE as a mission has set up to meet the many current and future needs for Chile relief efforts. Please continue to pray for the health of the ABWE team, the national churches, and that the gospel of Jesus Christ would shine strongly during this very dark time here in Chile.
God Bless,
Doug
Earthquake - March Praise Letter by Heather
The Earthquake from Heather’s point of view:
Saturday February 27th at 3:34am (Chilean time or 1:34am EST), I was shaken awake by this amazing movement of my bed. I rushed into the hallway outside the kids two bedrooms, flinging open Caleb's door and telling both kids to get down beside their beds to make the ¨triangle.¨ Just then I heard Doug's voice say, ¨No, Heather. We need to get outside.¨ I have no idea how we all got down the stairs, especially without falling. I don't know how we got to the corner of our yard near our neighbor's house wall and our front driveway gate. I don't remember my feet hurting on the sidewalk since we weren't wearing shoes.
I do remember, huddling, holding Caleb close while Kiwi, our dog, tried to snuggle in too. Then I remember praying. Praying for safety. Praying for our neighbors. Praying for our ABWE team members. Praying for our national brethren.
I remember listening to things crash, glass breaking, and other things falling. It's all a blur to me right now.
Once it stopped we went back inside to get shoes, sweatshirts, and flashlights. Then it was out into the street to talk to our neighbors. Everyone was fine. Once everything had calmed down we went inside. I went to Hannah's room to lay down with her for the night. Upon entering the room, Hannah cries, ¨Mommy, the earthquake knocked everything down in my room!!¨ Then she proceeded to cry.
Keep in mind that I had been in her room to get her shoes and robe just a little while before and hadn't noticed anything different. Hannah's room is almost ALWAYS a mess, so I didn't notice what she did. However, after further probing of Hannah, she told me that it was just her little ¨dresser¨ (8 inches by 8 inches with little box drawers) that held her hair pretties, that had fallen. Indeed they were all over the floor. I proceeded to pick them up and put them back.
The next day, the kids were playing in Hannah's room, and as play, she had dumped all her hair pretties on the floor to use the little cupboard for other things. NO WONDER I hadn't noticed that the earthquake had ¨destroyed¨ her room!!
After getting into bed just after the earthquake, Hannah was sobbing. I suggested to Doug that he pray and he did. Hannah was still sobbing, so I began to sing various kids songs. When I began singing, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah,¨ I poked Hannah to sing ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨ She joined in and we finished the round. Hannah had stopped crying and I was SOOO thankful!!! about a minute later, we hear from Caleb's room, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah¨ and we answered back with ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨
On Saturday morning we got up to see all the damage first hand with light. We lost close to 24 feet of the dividing wall between our house and the neighbor’s. We lost a bookshelf in our office and a few sentimental vases. We were emotionally strong probably because of simple adrenaline. We headed down to the ABWE academy where I teach and Doug takes care of all of the ABWE Chile Finances. Praise God that all of the services were working. The school had electricity, internet, water, and local phone! That was truly an act of God!!
Determining everyone on the team was safe and unharmed was a bit of a difficulty due to cell phone service not functioning well and many were without power, internet, and phone. We were able to reach all active missionaries both short term and career by Saturday 10:30 am EST. It took us until Tuesday to reach one of our retired missionaries who lives near Viña del Mar near the coast. Once we contacted our regional administrator with the word that all were ok, we contacted our parents.
We then contacted our pastor to determine that everyone in the church was ok. We learned that all were “shaken” but that only one was missing. Diego, one of our young high school men, was spending the summer in Concepcion (the epicenter) when the earthquake hit. I tried via cell phone to get a hold of him, but of course could not. I contacted his father, here in Santiago and he told me that he couldn’t get a hold of his son either. That’s when I posted on our blog and facebook.
Sunday we headed to church as usual, only this time in jeans because we didn’t know what we’d encounter, plus we still had no electricity to even think about using an iron. At church, we sang praises to God that we were all safe, received word that Diego was fine only without food or water, and then it all hit me. I couldn’t stay in service for the sermon. I had to talk and process. I went to the kids classroom where the littler kids were drawing and talked to fellow missionary wife Jenn (Christian) Rubin. Jenn grew up here and had experienced first hand the earthquake in 1985. Jenn gave me some counsel and I relaxed a bit.
Sunday during the day, we realized that the guard for Santiago Christian Academy was stuck in the south and wouldn’t make it back to work the night shift. Therefore, Doug as current property manager, would have to guard in his place. This meant Doug being gone to guard from 11:00pm to 7:00am. We still had no electricity and I didn’t want to sleep here at home alone with 2 kids and no electric. So, we packed up the essentials and headed to SCA to sleep in one of the apartments.
Monday our team cleaned up SCA. I have to say, that I didn’t do much in the way of cleaning up. After getting up and moving, I had to come home to feed our dog and I had to stop by another missionary’s home to feed their dog. (They’ve been on furlough and so every morning and night we stop there to feed their dog and check on their house.) Because we still didn’t have electric and our missionary friends did, I also took all of our freezer items to their freezer.
Upon returning to the school, I did laundry at the school and made cookies and iced tea for the workers who were cleaning. Meanwhile, Doug, running on NO sleep, was in the office making decisions about what to purchase now for fixing and what could wait. He was also trying to coordinate with the states about relief donations and setting up a donation account at ABWE.
We spent Monday night here with no lights, and returned to spend Tuesday with electric and e-mail at SCA. Doug worked to try to get accounts running again with errands to the bank and a money exchange place. That afternoon was when we learned that our pastor was planning a trip down south to take food and water to one of our national churches and pastor’s family. Doug was planning to go, but right now he is needed in the office and we didn’t know what kind of conditions there would be. Plus, with Doug’s red hair he is an immediate “gringo” target and could endanger the lives of himself and those he would have been with.
Last night (Tuesday) around 7:00 pm (Chilean time) we FINALLY got electricity and internet back! We were able to get a few things done last night and today Doug had to work again at the office, but took the second half of the day to help clean up here. We’ve cleaned up the broken wall and have piled the excess in front of our house for those who will come to haul it away. Our landlord DID HAVE earthquake insurance and so it will take a while for the wall to be assessed and then rebuilt. For now, our kids are enjoying the open space to play with our neighbor’s kids freely. (There is a video of them playing on our blog at http://amundsonanthem.blogspot.com .)
Also today our pastor left with 3 other men and headed down to take food to our national pastor, Esteban Maldonado, as well as to find Diego and his little sister and bring them back here. As of writing this, they are on their way back with Diego and his sister. It may take them quite a while to get back due to road conditions and everyone wanting to get back here to “sanity” and food.
As for the next few days, we wait. We normalize our life and that of our kids’ lives. We spend time with our neighbors bonding. We support and coordinate future trips down south. We want to encourage our national
brethren who are taking the lead. We want to help them financially with all of their efforts. If you would like to contribute especially to the Chilean Relief Effort through ABWE, please contact us and we will get that information to you as to how you can help.
For now, we covet your prayers!!! We need wisdom in processing the emotions that we are feeling. We need wisdom in caring for our national brethren. We need wisdom for… and for… In other words, PLEASE PRAY FOR WISDOM for us and for our whole team here in Chile!!
God bless!
Praising God for HIS provisions!
Heather (for Doug, Caleb, and Hannah too)
Saturday February 27th at 3:34am (Chilean time or 1:34am EST), I was shaken awake by this amazing movement of my bed. I rushed into the hallway outside the kids two bedrooms, flinging open Caleb's door and telling both kids to get down beside their beds to make the ¨triangle.¨ Just then I heard Doug's voice say, ¨No, Heather. We need to get outside.¨ I have no idea how we all got down the stairs, especially without falling. I don't know how we got to the corner of our yard near our neighbor's house wall and our front driveway gate. I don't remember my feet hurting on the sidewalk since we weren't wearing shoes.
I do remember, huddling, holding Caleb close while Kiwi, our dog, tried to snuggle in too. Then I remember praying. Praying for safety. Praying for our neighbors. Praying for our ABWE team members. Praying for our national brethren.
I remember listening to things crash, glass breaking, and other things falling. It's all a blur to me right now.
Once it stopped we went back inside to get shoes, sweatshirts, and flashlights. Then it was out into the street to talk to our neighbors. Everyone was fine. Once everything had calmed down we went inside. I went to Hannah's room to lay down with her for the night. Upon entering the room, Hannah cries, ¨Mommy, the earthquake knocked everything down in my room!!¨ Then she proceeded to cry.
Keep in mind that I had been in her room to get her shoes and robe just a little while before and hadn't noticed anything different. Hannah's room is almost ALWAYS a mess, so I didn't notice what she did. However, after further probing of Hannah, she told me that it was just her little ¨dresser¨ (8 inches by 8 inches with little box drawers) that held her hair pretties, that had fallen. Indeed they were all over the floor. I proceeded to pick them up and put them back.
The next day, the kids were playing in Hannah's room, and as play, she had dumped all her hair pretties on the floor to use the little cupboard for other things. NO WONDER I hadn't noticed that the earthquake had ¨destroyed¨ her room!!
After getting into bed just after the earthquake, Hannah was sobbing. I suggested to Doug that he pray and he did. Hannah was still sobbing, so I began to sing various kids songs. When I began singing, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah,¨ I poked Hannah to sing ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨ She joined in and we finished the round. Hannah had stopped crying and I was SOOO thankful!!! about a minute later, we hear from Caleb's room, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah¨ and we answered back with ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨
On Saturday morning we got up to see all the damage first hand with light. We lost close to 24 feet of the dividing wall between our house and the neighbor’s. We lost a bookshelf in our office and a few sentimental vases. We were emotionally strong probably because of simple adrenaline. We headed down to the ABWE academy where I teach and Doug takes care of all of the ABWE Chile Finances. Praise God that all of the services were working. The school had electricity, internet, water, and local phone! That was truly an act of God!!
Determining everyone on the team was safe and unharmed was a bit of a difficulty due to cell phone service not functioning well and many were without power, internet, and phone. We were able to reach all active missionaries both short term and career by Saturday 10:30 am EST. It took us until Tuesday to reach one of our retired missionaries who lives near Viña del Mar near the coast. Once we contacted our regional administrator with the word that all were ok, we contacted our parents.
We then contacted our pastor to determine that everyone in the church was ok. We learned that all were “shaken” but that only one was missing. Diego, one of our young high school men, was spending the summer in Concepcion (the epicenter) when the earthquake hit. I tried via cell phone to get a hold of him, but of course could not. I contacted his father, here in Santiago and he told me that he couldn’t get a hold of his son either. That’s when I posted on our blog and facebook.
Sunday we headed to church as usual, only this time in jeans because we didn’t know what we’d encounter, plus we still had no electricity to even think about using an iron. At church, we sang praises to God that we were all safe, received word that Diego was fine only without food or water, and then it all hit me. I couldn’t stay in service for the sermon. I had to talk and process. I went to the kids classroom where the littler kids were drawing and talked to fellow missionary wife Jenn (Christian) Rubin. Jenn grew up here and had experienced first hand the earthquake in 1985. Jenn gave me some counsel and I relaxed a bit.
Sunday during the day, we realized that the guard for Santiago Christian Academy was stuck in the south and wouldn’t make it back to work the night shift. Therefore, Doug as current property manager, would have to guard in his place. This meant Doug being gone to guard from 11:00pm to 7:00am. We still had no electricity and I didn’t want to sleep here at home alone with 2 kids and no electric. So, we packed up the essentials and headed to SCA to sleep in one of the apartments.
Monday our team cleaned up SCA. I have to say, that I didn’t do much in the way of cleaning up. After getting up and moving, I had to come home to feed our dog and I had to stop by another missionary’s home to feed their dog. (They’ve been on furlough and so every morning and night we stop there to feed their dog and check on their house.) Because we still didn’t have electric and our missionary friends did, I also took all of our freezer items to their freezer.
Upon returning to the school, I did laundry at the school and made cookies and iced tea for the workers who were cleaning. Meanwhile, Doug, running on NO sleep, was in the office making decisions about what to purchase now for fixing and what could wait. He was also trying to coordinate with the states about relief donations and setting up a donation account at ABWE.
We spent Monday night here with no lights, and returned to spend Tuesday with electric and e-mail at SCA. Doug worked to try to get accounts running again with errands to the bank and a money exchange place. That afternoon was when we learned that our pastor was planning a trip down south to take food and water to one of our national churches and pastor’s family. Doug was planning to go, but right now he is needed in the office and we didn’t know what kind of conditions there would be. Plus, with Doug’s red hair he is an immediate “gringo” target and could endanger the lives of himself and those he would have been with.
Last night (Tuesday) around 7:00 pm (Chilean time) we FINALLY got electricity and internet back! We were able to get a few things done last night and today Doug had to work again at the office, but took the second half of the day to help clean up here. We’ve cleaned up the broken wall and have piled the excess in front of our house for those who will come to haul it away. Our landlord DID HAVE earthquake insurance and so it will take a while for the wall to be assessed and then rebuilt. For now, our kids are enjoying the open space to play with our neighbor’s kids freely. (There is a video of them playing on our blog at http://amundsonanthem.blogspot.com .)
Also today our pastor left with 3 other men and headed down to take food to our national pastor, Esteban Maldonado, as well as to find Diego and his little sister and bring them back here. As of writing this, they are on their way back with Diego and his sister. It may take them quite a while to get back due to road conditions and everyone wanting to get back here to “sanity” and food.
As for the next few days, we wait. We normalize our life and that of our kids’ lives. We spend time with our neighbors bonding. We support and coordinate future trips down south. We want to encourage our national
brethren who are taking the lead. We want to help them financially with all of their efforts. If you would like to contribute especially to the Chilean Relief Effort through ABWE, please contact us and we will get that information to you as to how you can help.
For now, we covet your prayers!!! We need wisdom in processing the emotions that we are feeling. We need wisdom in caring for our national brethren. We need wisdom for… and for… In other words, PLEASE PRAY FOR WISDOM for us and for our whole team here in Chile!!
God bless!
Praising God for HIS provisions!
Heather (for Doug, Caleb, and Hannah too)
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Praising God
With much difficulty, our pastor Christian Contreres, made it safely down to deliver supplies to a national church just outside of Concepcion (the epicenter). We also praise God that on the way back through Concepcion, they were able to get Diego and his little sister and bring them back here to ¨normalcy¨. They arrived early this morning. Tonight at church there should be much praising God and hugging on Diego.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Just one of the e-mails and logistics of communication
Here goes another intel report... squelch your radios to give me the affirmative once you've read it.
The team today got into Chiguayante eventually despite a few delays here and there and waiting to get in touch with Esteban Maldonado. They were invited to stay for lunch, but the idea is to arrive, deliver and not eat the goods. (Some of us just wouldn't qualify for that kind of a mission!)
The team was contacted by a teen (from our church in Santiago) who was in Concepcion for vacation and caught in the earthquake. Diego wanted to get out with his little sister and get back to Santiago to be with their dad. So, there was some triangulation of cell phones going on as comically, I could occasionally get through to them, but they had a hard time getting directly in touch. They missed Diego at the first rendezvous time. Later, on their way out, we were doing phone tag to coordinate the rendezvous, and finally after much tension, praying, calling, etc., the pick-up was made. Praise be to God!
The last comm I got from the team is that they made the extraction and were headed back to Santiago. If I can get some of the pictures that they've taken, I'll share them.
Around noon today I was with Sandro Valdivia getting gas receipts and he gave me a tour of the damage to their building. Pretty disconcerting to see some significan damage there that will need possibly demolished as some of it looks beyond repair.
Sandro debriefed me a bit about the trip yesterday. I think the scene in Concepcion is better with military presence, however he said the people are quite aggressive in their interactions with others. Desperation and depravity make quite a volatile reaction within human kind. Sandro said that at this point, he was a bit concerned for people who would be just passing out tracts since people are surviving while waiting for food and water. He said it could be dangerous, and I see the point that tracts aren't optimum ways of rehydration or nourishment. There probably would be a more receptive experience if water and a tract are given, or something of the nature.
Sandro and his team got back this morning at 6 a.m., a total of 26 hours on this mission. Traffic is abundant and slow due to the detours and improvised road conditions in spots.
David Luzuriaga (another national pastor) is organizing another team to go down Saturday or Sunday. They will be picking up left over stuff that La Reina couldn't fit into the car they took down. Again, water is very key to take down, more than clothes, and even more than food.
Some are saying that clothes should be saved for the towns that were wiped out by the tsunamis as they do need everything. Someone has a contact in Constitucion, a lot closer to Santiago, but that is a bit further down in the sequence of trips scheduled at this point.
That's what we know as of now. Will be in touch as intel becomes available.
Mark for the Santiago base of operations
p.s. we've had some tremors here this afternoon, and strong ones in Concepcion.
The team today got into Chiguayante eventually despite a few delays here and there and waiting to get in touch with Esteban Maldonado. They were invited to stay for lunch, but the idea is to arrive, deliver and not eat the goods. (Some of us just wouldn't qualify for that kind of a mission!)
The team was contacted by a teen (from our church in Santiago) who was in Concepcion for vacation and caught in the earthquake. Diego wanted to get out with his little sister and get back to Santiago to be with their dad. So, there was some triangulation of cell phones going on as comically, I could occasionally get through to them, but they had a hard time getting directly in touch. They missed Diego at the first rendezvous time. Later, on their way out, we were doing phone tag to coordinate the rendezvous, and finally after much tension, praying, calling, etc., the pick-up was made. Praise be to God!
The last comm I got from the team is that they made the extraction and were headed back to Santiago. If I can get some of the pictures that they've taken, I'll share them.
Around noon today I was with Sandro Valdivia getting gas receipts and he gave me a tour of the damage to their building. Pretty disconcerting to see some significan damage there that will need possibly demolished as some of it looks beyond repair.
Sandro debriefed me a bit about the trip yesterday. I think the scene in Concepcion is better with military presence, however he said the people are quite aggressive in their interactions with others. Desperation and depravity make quite a volatile reaction within human kind. Sandro said that at this point, he was a bit concerned for people who would be just passing out tracts since people are surviving while waiting for food and water. He said it could be dangerous, and I see the point that tracts aren't optimum ways of rehydration or nourishment. There probably would be a more receptive experience if water and a tract are given, or something of the nature.
Sandro and his team got back this morning at 6 a.m., a total of 26 hours on this mission. Traffic is abundant and slow due to the detours and improvised road conditions in spots.
David Luzuriaga (another national pastor) is organizing another team to go down Saturday or Sunday. They will be picking up left over stuff that La Reina couldn't fit into the car they took down. Again, water is very key to take down, more than clothes, and even more than food.
Some are saying that clothes should be saved for the towns that were wiped out by the tsunamis as they do need everything. Someone has a contact in Constitucion, a lot closer to Santiago, but that is a bit further down in the sequence of trips scheduled at this point.
That's what we know as of now. Will be in touch as intel becomes available.
Mark for the Santiago base of operations
p.s. we've had some tremors here this afternoon, and strong ones in Concepcion.
25 years ago TODAY
Summary of the March 3, 1985 Chile Earthquake
On Sunday, March 3, 1985, at approximately 7:45 p.m., local time, a destructive earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 7.8 (M7.8) struck 20 miles offshore of central Chile. The earthquake affected approximately 20,000 square miles of the mainland. This area has a population of over 6 million people and includes the capital city of Santiago. Over the next 18 days, more than 2,000 aftershocks, many of which caused further damage, were recorded. On April 9, an M7.2 aftershock struck the same region. It was predicted that aftershocks will continue for more than four years. Preliminary estimates of the effects of the intial earthquake and its aftershocks listed the number of dead at 180, serious injuries at over 2,500, and dwellings destroyed at 45,000. The total economic loss is estimated at $1.8 billion.
On Sunday, March 3, 1985, at approximately 7:45 p.m., local time, a destructive earthquake with a Richter magnitude of 7.8 (M7.8) struck 20 miles offshore of central Chile. The earthquake affected approximately 20,000 square miles of the mainland. This area has a population of over 6 million people and includes the capital city of Santiago. Over the next 18 days, more than 2,000 aftershocks, many of which caused further damage, were recorded. On April 9, an M7.2 aftershock struck the same region. It was predicted that aftershocks will continue for more than four years. Preliminary estimates of the effects of the intial earthquake and its aftershocks listed the number of dead at 180, serious injuries at over 2,500, and dwellings destroyed at 45,000. The total economic loss is estimated at $1.8 billion.
A fellow missionaries blog
A blog from some fellow missionaries I found interesting. We discovered on of these coins ourselves before the earthquake. Just a neat little story to distract one from the severity of the current situation down south.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Electricity
Remember that School House Rock Song?? Electricity, Electricity...
Well we have it!!! YAHOO!!
Well we have it!!! YAHOO!!
Update/Remembering
Still no lights at our house. We hear rumors upon rumors, but still we wait.
Sharing again/documenting our experience...
After the earthquake had calmed down and we went inside, I went to Hannah´s room to lay down with her for the night. Upon entering the room, Hannah cries, ¨Mommy, the earthquake knocked everything down in my room!!¨ Then she proceeded to cry.
Keep in mind that I had been in her room to get her shoes and robe just a little while before and hadn´t noticed anything different. Hannah´s room is almost ALWAYS a mess, so I didn´t notice what she did. However, after further probing of Hannah, she told me that it was just her little ¨dresser¨ (8 inches by 8 inches with little box drawers) that held her hair pretties, that had fallen. Indeed they were all over the floor. I proceeded to pick them up and put them back.
The next day, the kids were playing in Hannah´s room, and as play, she had dumped all her hair pretties on the floor to use the little cupboard for other things. NO WONDER I hadn´t noticed that the earthquake had ¨destroyed¨ her room!!
After getting into bed just after the earthquake, Hannah was sobbing. I suggested to Doug that he pray and he did. Hannah was still sobbing, so I began to sing various kids songs. When I began singing, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah,¨ I poked Hannah to sing ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨ She joined in and we finished the round. Hannah had stopped crying and I was SOOO thankful!!! about a minute later, we hear from Caleb´s room, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah¨ and we answered back with ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨
I am indeed thankful the to the Lord and pray that HIS will will be done through all of this!!!
Sharing again/documenting our experience...
After the earthquake had calmed down and we went inside, I went to Hannah´s room to lay down with her for the night. Upon entering the room, Hannah cries, ¨Mommy, the earthquake knocked everything down in my room!!¨ Then she proceeded to cry.
Keep in mind that I had been in her room to get her shoes and robe just a little while before and hadn´t noticed anything different. Hannah´s room is almost ALWAYS a mess, so I didn´t notice what she did. However, after further probing of Hannah, she told me that it was just her little ¨dresser¨ (8 inches by 8 inches with little box drawers) that held her hair pretties, that had fallen. Indeed they were all over the floor. I proceeded to pick them up and put them back.
The next day, the kids were playing in Hannah´s room, and as play, she had dumped all her hair pretties on the floor to use the little cupboard for other things. NO WONDER I hadn´t noticed that the earthquake had ¨destroyed¨ her room!!
After getting into bed just after the earthquake, Hannah was sobbing. I suggested to Doug that he pray and he did. Hannah was still sobbing, so I began to sing various kids songs. When I began singing, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah,¨ I poked Hannah to sing ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨ She joined in and we finished the round. Hannah had stopped crying and I was SOOO thankful!!! about a minute later, we hear from Caleb´s room, ¨Halelu-halelu-halelu-halelujah¨ and we answered back with ¨Praise Ye the Lord.¨
I am indeed thankful the to the Lord and pray that HIS will will be done through all of this!!!
Last Night...
Was NOT a good night. I don´t know if I drank some unboiled water or what, but my stomach and digestive system was NOT HAPPY last night. To top a night of fitfull sleep, at around 6 am we were awoken by someone´s house alarm. It lasted for OVER 3 hours! By the time we got out of our showers, Doug was saying, ¨I don´t know who´s alarm that is, but blasting 1 billion whatts of powerful noise into my ears, is NOT ENDEARING!!!
Since Kiwi, the dog, was outside through this whole time, Doug had decided to give her sensitive dog ears a rest by allowing her just inside the door of the house. When I went to let her out, I heard someone knocking on our front gate. It was one of our neighbors who asked, ¨Are you guys ok? I responded by saying, ¨Of course! Why?¨ He replied, ¨Because your alarm has been sounding all night.¨
The alarm hadn´t been set or even used for over 4 or 5 years! It was from the owner of the house before our landlords bought the house. Once we took out the battery, it FINALLY stopped!!!
Now there´s a chuckle for you!!
Since Kiwi, the dog, was outside through this whole time, Doug had decided to give her sensitive dog ears a rest by allowing her just inside the door of the house. When I went to let her out, I heard someone knocking on our front gate. It was one of our neighbors who asked, ¨Are you guys ok? I responded by saying, ¨Of course! Why?¨ He replied, ¨Because your alarm has been sounding all night.¨
The alarm hadn´t been set or even used for over 4 or 5 years! It was from the owner of the house before our landlords bought the house. Once we took out the battery, it FINALLY stopped!!!
Now there´s a chuckle for you!!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Confussion
Ok, so here I am just going to express some thoughts, feelings, etc...
Saturday 3:34am, I was shaken awake by this amazing movement of my bed. I rushed into the hallway outside the kids two bedrooms, flinging open Caleb´s door and telling both kids to get down beside their beds to make the ¨triangle.¨ Just then I heard Doug´s voice say, ¨No, Heather. We need to get outside.¨ I have no idea how we all got down the stairs, especially without falling. I don´t know how we got to the corner of our yard near our neighbor´s house wall and our front driveway gate. I don´t remember my feet hurting on the sidewalk since we weren´t wearing shoes.
I do remember, huddling, holding Caleb close while Kiwi, our dog, tried to snuggle in too. Then I remember praying. Praying for safety. Praying for our neighbors. Praying for our ABWE team members. Praying for our national brethren.
I remember listening to things crash, glass breaking, and other things falling. It´s all a blur to me right now.
Once it stopped we went back inside to get shoes, sweatshirts, and flashlights. Then it was out into the street to talk to our neighbors. Everyone was fine. As you´ve seen from the pictures that I posted the other day, we lost a wall between our neighbor´s house and ours. The kids have enjoyed not having to go onto the street to play with their closest friends here in Chile, who live right next door.
Video of kids playing.
Now, I´m just feeling lost in the moments as they come. My life isn´t normal, because we´re going on day 3 with no electricity. We stayed in the Santiago Christian Academy apartments last night, but only because Doug had to guard all night long and I certainly didn´t want to be at home with two kids alone and no electricity.
Please continue to pray for us! It is hard to reach out and think beyond oneself when life at home isn´t ¨normal.¨
Saturday 3:34am, I was shaken awake by this amazing movement of my bed. I rushed into the hallway outside the kids two bedrooms, flinging open Caleb´s door and telling both kids to get down beside their beds to make the ¨triangle.¨ Just then I heard Doug´s voice say, ¨No, Heather. We need to get outside.¨ I have no idea how we all got down the stairs, especially without falling. I don´t know how we got to the corner of our yard near our neighbor´s house wall and our front driveway gate. I don´t remember my feet hurting on the sidewalk since we weren´t wearing shoes.
I do remember, huddling, holding Caleb close while Kiwi, our dog, tried to snuggle in too. Then I remember praying. Praying for safety. Praying for our neighbors. Praying for our ABWE team members. Praying for our national brethren.
I remember listening to things crash, glass breaking, and other things falling. It´s all a blur to me right now.
Once it stopped we went back inside to get shoes, sweatshirts, and flashlights. Then it was out into the street to talk to our neighbors. Everyone was fine. As you´ve seen from the pictures that I posted the other day, we lost a wall between our neighbor´s house and ours. The kids have enjoyed not having to go onto the street to play with their closest friends here in Chile, who live right next door.
Video of kids playing.
Now, I´m just feeling lost in the moments as they come. My life isn´t normal, because we´re going on day 3 with no electricity. We stayed in the Santiago Christian Academy apartments last night, but only because Doug had to guard all night long and I certainly didn´t want to be at home with two kids alone and no electricity.
Please continue to pray for us! It is hard to reach out and think beyond oneself when life at home isn´t ¨normal.¨
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Praising God for...
A full moon the past few nights which makes it easier to see at night with no electricity.
That I did our month long shopping right after we got ¨paid¨ on the 24th.
That I had just filled up our car with gas on Thursday.
That Diego is safe!
That Hannah and Caleb now have the distraction of friends while we stay at the school apartments.
That our house at least has gas to cook with and to heat water for showers.
That our house has water.
That our mission school has electricity, water, internet and life is a bit more ¨normal¨ here.
That all of our church members are safe.
That I did our month long shopping right after we got ¨paid¨ on the 24th.
That I had just filled up our car with gas on Thursday.
That Diego is safe!
That Hannah and Caleb now have the distraction of friends while we stay at the school apartments.
That our house at least has gas to cook with and to heat water for showers.
That our house has water.
That our mission school has electricity, water, internet and life is a bit more ¨normal¨ here.
That all of our church members are safe.
Diego is safe!!
Glory to God!! Diego is safe. His family is safe. Still continue to pray for him as food is scarce in Concepcion.
We still have no internet nor electricity in the house.
Now comes the cleanup of the school and other things.
God bless!
Heather
We still have no internet nor electricity in the house.
Now comes the cleanup of the school and other things.
God bless!
Heather
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Aftershocks
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/quakes_all.html
This website will show you all of the aftershocks that we've been having. PLEASE continue to pray. We are only beginning the clean up and it may take a LONG time for life to look normal here again.
Hannah seems to be doing better, but as night falls and still no lights, she gets a bit more scared.
Still no word on Diego or his family.
God bless!
We love you all!
Heather
This website will show you all of the aftershocks that we've been having. PLEASE continue to pray. We are only beginning the clean up and it may take a LONG time for life to look normal here again.
Hannah seems to be doing better, but as night falls and still no lights, she gets a bit more scared.
Still no word on Diego or his family.
God bless!
We love you all!
Heather
Earthquake
First off, WE ARE FINE!!! We experienced a strong earthquake last night of around 3:30am.
The epicenter was in Concepcion about 6 hours drive from here. At the epicenter it was an 8.8. We got around a 7. It was strong enough to wake Doug and I. We flew out of our bed to get to the kids. Just as I told the kids to get down beside their beds, Doug realized that this one was going to be a big one, so down the stairs and outside we went. We sat beside our front gate and a major cement wall. Kiwi, our dog joined us while we prayed for our safety, for our neighbors, and for our teammates both ABWE and national.
Once the earth paused from shaking, we went inside to get warmer cloths, shoes, and flashlights, and then joined our neighbors in the street. We do have some damage to our walls, but none that can't be fixed! They were outside walls to a fence that runs between our property and our neighbor's. You can see pictures below.
Please pray for...
Our neighbors' spiritual well-being. None of them know Christ nor have the hope of God's salvation. Pray that we will have the words and opportunities to share about God's free gift.
One of our church members, Diego, was staying with his mom for the summer in Concepcion. No one, including his father who is here in Santiago has gotton through to him. Please pray for Diego, his mom and his 2 little sisters.
Hannah, who has been REALLY ¨Shaken¨both litterally and figuratively. It hits harder each time there is an aftershock.
As of now, we have no internet at the house, nor electricity for that matter. We are updating from the school which does have all of those things.
Enjoy the pictures. I'll try later to put more on facebook.
One of our fallen walls
Our other fallen wall looking into the neighbors yard
Our office
The Santiago Christian School Library
SCA library
A wall, or what used to be a wall near our school
The epicenter was in Concepcion about 6 hours drive from here. At the epicenter it was an 8.8. We got around a 7. It was strong enough to wake Doug and I. We flew out of our bed to get to the kids. Just as I told the kids to get down beside their beds, Doug realized that this one was going to be a big one, so down the stairs and outside we went. We sat beside our front gate and a major cement wall. Kiwi, our dog joined us while we prayed for our safety, for our neighbors, and for our teammates both ABWE and national.
Once the earth paused from shaking, we went inside to get warmer cloths, shoes, and flashlights, and then joined our neighbors in the street. We do have some damage to our walls, but none that can't be fixed! They were outside walls to a fence that runs between our property and our neighbor's. You can see pictures below.
Please pray for...
Our neighbors' spiritual well-being. None of them know Christ nor have the hope of God's salvation. Pray that we will have the words and opportunities to share about God's free gift.
One of our church members, Diego, was staying with his mom for the summer in Concepcion. No one, including his father who is here in Santiago has gotton through to him. Please pray for Diego, his mom and his 2 little sisters.
Hannah, who has been REALLY ¨Shaken¨both litterally and figuratively. It hits harder each time there is an aftershock.
As of now, we have no internet at the house, nor electricity for that matter. We are updating from the school which does have all of those things.
Enjoy the pictures. I'll try later to put more on facebook.
One of our fallen walls
Our other fallen wall looking into the neighbors yard
Our office
The Santiago Christian School Library
SCA library
A wall, or what used to be a wall near our schoolWednesday, February 24, 2010
Amundson Anthem Prayer Letter Feb. 2010
Dear Friends and Supporters,
As I write this letter it is February 18, 2010, exactly one year from the date we landed to begin our service here in Chile. It has been an incredible year of praises, adjustments, learning, and growth. We PRAISE God for the great year that we have had. We have come to love our teammates here in Chile with ABWE, and more importantly we love the Chileans with which God has allowed us to meet and work with in the church. God is doing some great things here in Chile and we are more than privileged to be able to work with such a great team of co-workers (both missionaries and nationals).
This past year has flown by so rapidly, even the people tonight in prayer meeting at “Good News Baptist” said they could hardly believe it has been a year since we arrived. It has certainly been a great year as we have been able to be more than involved in our church from preaching and teaching adult Sunday school, to Heather teaching the teenage girls, leading ladies Bible Study, and being the director of kids Sunday school and junior church. I have also been able to speak in chapel at SCA (Santiago Christian Academy) and teach a self-study class, while Heather has taught two different classes now and continues to home-school our children. This schedule has been difficult at times, and both of us have felt like we were drowning various weeks, but God has given us the energy and coordination to survive . . . thus far!!
The past two months here in Chile have been vacation months so the attendance at our church has been down, but we have also had some new visitors at the same time. Please be praying for us as we continue to seek to grow both spiritually and numerically.
I have been really impressed this past year by our national pastor, Pastor Contreras, as he continues to preach and lead our church. The man has endless energy as he leads both our church and also the youth ministry “JUBAM.” The rough translation would be “Baptist Youth Missionaries.” In the very basic form the youth groups of roughly 5 churches get together once a month for mutual fellowship, and through this group two mission trips have developed this past year. The youth are currently on their second week long missionary trip this summer to a church down in southern Chile. While Pastor has been gone our co-worker, Mark Rubin preached last week, and this coming weekend I will be preaching (21-Feb). Tonight, during prayer meeting, one of the youth from our church (who did not go on the trip south) gave the devotional and will be starting in the ABWE Seminary in two weeks. His name is Pablo and he is a great kid with a desire to be a pastor in the future – please pray for him.
Last Saturday (13-Feb) we had movie night at our church and Heather and I invited just about every family on our street. Only one lady came, our neighbor Ines, and her two kids (Pablo & Almendra). Before the movie started (we watched Fireproof), Ines and I had a good conversation about her spiritual past. She grew up Catholic, and then during college she had a friend who was a Mormon pastor with whom she had many conversations. Later she attended an evangelical church for a little while, and now she is studying Buddhism and other eastern religions. She is a sweet lady who is obviously seeking spiritually. Please pray that Heather and I would continue to grow our friendship with her, and her husband Nelson, and that we would have many opportunities to continue to plant God’s truth in her life. Caleb & Hannah in many ways are our best missionaries to their family as they are constantly playing with Pablo & Almendra. Pray that their behavior and actions while playing with their kids would open up more doors to share the gospel.
As we start year number two here in Chile tomorrow morning, please be praying that God would continue to lead us. We have been blessed over and above our wildest expectations, but we are not unaware that Satan is always looking for ways to destroy our testimony, marriage, family, and to destroy the church in which we work. Please pray for us that we would be effective in the sharing of the gospel, that our marriage would remain strong, and that we would be able to prioritize our lives amongst the many different possibilities of ministry here in Chile.
In the short-term please be praying for Santiago Christian Academy as we are short teachers for the semester starting next week, as well as having a real need for teachers for next school year starting in August 2010. If you are at all interested in coming down to teach, please contact us as soon as possible—we have room for you!!! Pray for Heather as she teaches Biology this coming semester, and as we work with our teammates Mark & Jennifer Rubin who just returned from furlough ministry. Please also be praying for the Druckenmiller family as they have recently finished language school and will be the newest ABWE missionaries to the field here, arriving in mid-March. They have a heart to go to southern Chile and work with the Mapuche Indian tribes. Please also be praying for the Schneider family as they finish language school in Costa Rica and are praying to be here in July, they will both be teaching in the ABWE Seminary here in Santiago preparing the next generation of pastors and church leaders.
Thank you for your incredible support, love, and prayers this past year. We look forward to sharing with all the great things that God will do in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Doug, Heather, Caleb & Hannah
Weather Update: In early February—just for the fun of it—I placed my thermostat in the direct sun around 1:30 in the afternoon. After just a few minutes the temperature read 56 centigrade or about 133 degrees Fahrenheit!! Thank goodness my office was a cool 86 degrees!!
I was also told this month that roughly 200,000 Chileans die each year from skin cancer.
Political update: In January Chile had their presidential elections and a candidate from the “right” won the election. This is a big deal because historically the “right” has always been associated with the government dictatorship of General Pinochet and any presidential candidate with this group hasn’t won an election for nearly 30 years.
As I write this letter it is February 18, 2010, exactly one year from the date we landed to begin our service here in Chile. It has been an incredible year of praises, adjustments, learning, and growth. We PRAISE God for the great year that we have had. We have come to love our teammates here in Chile with ABWE, and more importantly we love the Chileans with which God has allowed us to meet and work with in the church. God is doing some great things here in Chile and we are more than privileged to be able to work with such a great team of co-workers (both missionaries and nationals).
This past year has flown by so rapidly, even the people tonight in prayer meeting at “Good News Baptist” said they could hardly believe it has been a year since we arrived. It has certainly been a great year as we have been able to be more than involved in our church from preaching and teaching adult Sunday school, to Heather teaching the teenage girls, leading ladies Bible Study, and being the director of kids Sunday school and junior church. I have also been able to speak in chapel at SCA (Santiago Christian Academy) and teach a self-study class, while Heather has taught two different classes now and continues to home-school our children. This schedule has been difficult at times, and both of us have felt like we were drowning various weeks, but God has given us the energy and coordination to survive . . . thus far!!
The past two months here in Chile have been vacation months so the attendance at our church has been down, but we have also had some new visitors at the same time. Please be praying for us as we continue to seek to grow both spiritually and numerically.
I have been really impressed this past year by our national pastor, Pastor Contreras, as he continues to preach and lead our church. The man has endless energy as he leads both our church and also the youth ministry “JUBAM.” The rough translation would be “Baptist Youth Missionaries.” In the very basic form the youth groups of roughly 5 churches get together once a month for mutual fellowship, and through this group two mission trips have developed this past year. The youth are currently on their second week long missionary trip this summer to a church down in southern Chile. While Pastor has been gone our co-worker, Mark Rubin preached last week, and this coming weekend I will be preaching (21-Feb). Tonight, during prayer meeting, one of the youth from our church (who did not go on the trip south) gave the devotional and will be starting in the ABWE Seminary in two weeks. His name is Pablo and he is a great kid with a desire to be a pastor in the future – please pray for him.
Last Saturday (13-Feb) we had movie night at our church and Heather and I invited just about every family on our street. Only one lady came, our neighbor Ines, and her two kids (Pablo & Almendra). Before the movie started (we watched Fireproof), Ines and I had a good conversation about her spiritual past. She grew up Catholic, and then during college she had a friend who was a Mormon pastor with whom she had many conversations. Later she attended an evangelical church for a little while, and now she is studying Buddhism and other eastern religions. She is a sweet lady who is obviously seeking spiritually. Please pray that Heather and I would continue to grow our friendship with her, and her husband Nelson, and that we would have many opportunities to continue to plant God’s truth in her life. Caleb & Hannah in many ways are our best missionaries to their family as they are constantly playing with Pablo & Almendra. Pray that their behavior and actions while playing with their kids would open up more doors to share the gospel.
As we start year number two here in Chile tomorrow morning, please be praying that God would continue to lead us. We have been blessed over and above our wildest expectations, but we are not unaware that Satan is always looking for ways to destroy our testimony, marriage, family, and to destroy the church in which we work. Please pray for us that we would be effective in the sharing of the gospel, that our marriage would remain strong, and that we would be able to prioritize our lives amongst the many different possibilities of ministry here in Chile.
In the short-term please be praying for Santiago Christian Academy as we are short teachers for the semester starting next week, as well as having a real need for teachers for next school year starting in August 2010. If you are at all interested in coming down to teach, please contact us as soon as possible—we have room for you!!! Pray for Heather as she teaches Biology this coming semester, and as we work with our teammates Mark & Jennifer Rubin who just returned from furlough ministry. Please also be praying for the Druckenmiller family as they have recently finished language school and will be the newest ABWE missionaries to the field here, arriving in mid-March. They have a heart to go to southern Chile and work with the Mapuche Indian tribes. Please also be praying for the Schneider family as they finish language school in Costa Rica and are praying to be here in July, they will both be teaching in the ABWE Seminary here in Santiago preparing the next generation of pastors and church leaders.
Thank you for your incredible support, love, and prayers this past year. We look forward to sharing with all the great things that God will do in the years to come.
Sincerely,
Doug, Heather, Caleb & Hannah
Weather Update: In early February—just for the fun of it—I placed my thermostat in the direct sun around 1:30 in the afternoon. After just a few minutes the temperature read 56 centigrade or about 133 degrees Fahrenheit!! Thank goodness my office was a cool 86 degrees!!
I was also told this month that roughly 200,000 Chileans die each year from skin cancer.
Political update: In January Chile had their presidential elections and a candidate from the “right” won the election. This is a big deal because historically the “right” has always been associated with the government dictatorship of General Pinochet and any presidential candidate with this group hasn’t won an election for nearly 30 years.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
One Year TODAY
One year ago today...
- We arrived in Chile
- We were EXTREMELY EXHAUSTED from our overnight, delayed, and practically sleepless night on 4 different planes.
- The kids got to see what we had seen in 2004 during our survey trip
- We got to eat at a fellow missionary´s home
- We began one of the BEST years of our life
- We finally understood just how different Chilean ¨Spanish¨ is from any other Spanish
- I got to show Doug and the kids our new house
- I took a long nap, but still had quite the headache
Now one year later...
- We are still just as excited to be here
- Miss our families a little bit more
- Have LOTS of special friends who are like family here in Chile
- Love our church and ministries
- We are looking forward to MANY more years to mark here in Chile, unless Christ returns first!
It truly is hard to believe that we are half way through our first term here in Chile. We are looking forward to the next two years and watching GOD work! Then we´ll take furlough and return to do it all over again! Praise the Lord that over 7 years ago, in 2002 God told us to begin preparing to come here to Chile! It took a while, but what was 5 years in light of eternity?
Friday, January 29, 2010
Seeing God...
...in the little things is something that I am learning to do. For instance, for the past week or two, I have been waking up with my head still on the pillow being reminded by God's nature, that HE loves ME!
Yeah its a bunch of leaves, but look closer and what do I see each morning...
A Heart - Do you see it?
How does God communicate His love through the "little things" in your life. I'd love to hear from you through the comment box!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Drowning
I've never felt like I'm truly drowning underwater. I LOVE the water! I LOVE to swim, relax and just cool off in the water. I never truly wish to drown, but sometimes one can feel as though they are drowning in life. It doesn't help to "flail" and "thrash" around. Just like with a wave of water, it will come full circle and you'll get another oportunity for breath.
Sometimes we all feel like thrashing back at the feelings of drowning, but I have come to the conclusion that although I might feel like I am drowning, that I need to trust the Lord for HIS strength! He is the only one that can truly "breathe" for me! He is the only one who can "rescue" me from the feelings of "drowning." Please pray that HE would "breathe" for me when I feel overwhelmed with ministry, and life here in Chile.
Sometimes we all feel like thrashing back at the feelings of drowning, but I have come to the conclusion that although I might feel like I am drowning, that I need to trust the Lord for HIS strength! He is the only one that can truly "breathe" for me! He is the only one who can "rescue" me from the feelings of "drowning." Please pray that HE would "breathe" for me when I feel overwhelmed with ministry, and life here in Chile.
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