November Prayer Letter Update

Ephesians 3:16-18
(16) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, (17) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, (18) may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

Dear Friends and Supporters,

As we speed past Thanksgiving and move to Christmas, I pray that the above passage from Ephesians would be your prayer for us, as I know it is our prayer for you. A prayer that we would be awed by God’s incredible love, that we would be rooted in his love, and that we could begin to grasp just “how wide and long and high and deep in the love of Christ.” A life-long endeavor that will need an eternity to understand!!

First of all we want to say THANK YOU to each and every person that has been praying and supporting our family financially this past year. In spite of the very difficult circumstances in the U.S. this year, our supporters (you) have been so very faithful. Year-to-date, the finances that God has brought in have been at 97% of the committed monthly financial support. I find this amazing, and very humbling, that in-spite of the very difficult circumstances in the U.S., that all of you have been so very faithful in your giving. Thank-you so much!! Currently we stand at 95% (short $275 each month) of the required funds needed per ABWE. Please (1) praise God with us for the faithful monthly dedication of our supporters, and (2) pray that God will raise up for us the needed difference in the near future.

Secondly we wanted to update you on the various health issues. Heather is doing great!! She is completely off her Addison’s medication she was taking for the past year and a half, and thankfully her body has responded the way it needed to. The transition was very difficult coming off the medication, but she is doing wonderful now. Roughly 3 weeks ago she went to go see a heart doctor and he believes that the problems were caused by blood pressure issues. Heather has started some new medication and so far all has been going smoothly. Heather will return to see the doctor in a couple weeks to verify that everything is correct.

I (Doug) on the other hand have had another round with Basel cell cancer. Many of you remember that I had a biopsy last year in Costa Rica that was cancerous from my nose. Well the skin had started to dry and peel all over again so I went to the doctor to see what he thought. Three days later (17-Dec) they put me to sleep and did a little more invasive “surgery/biopsy.” The results were positive for cancer once again, but the Doctor is positive that they got all of the cancer. After the surgery I had twelve stitches in my nose (he pulled the skin to help cover the part he cut out), and the side of my face was covered in tape. I still have tape on my face, and stitches in my nose, but praising God that the cancer is out once again!! If you want pictures you can go to Heather’s blog to check them out – I figured not everybody would want to look at those in this letter!! (http://amundsonanthem.blogspot.com/)

“Good News Baptist” has been doing great and nearly every week we see new faces. We recently had a new family start attending (extended family of Pastor Contreras) who are Christians but have not been attending anywhere for some time. Heather’s ladies bible study has been doing well, and she has seen some really good results in her class with the teenage girls. Last week the group really opened up to each other and we praise God for the spiritual growth in these girls. I am still teaching through Ephesians in Sunday School, but thankfully Pastor has taught last week, and will teach again this week for me while I recover from my surgery. I have two more weeks to teach in early December and then Pastor will begin a different series while I begin work on what-ever I will teach again next year.

As we look to the future of ABWE here in Chile we certainly ask your prayers. Currently ABWE has a young man (to be married very soon) who is looking to start a camp ministry here in central Chile. This has been on the hearts of ABWE, and more importantly the national pastors, for quite some time. There will be a pastor’s meeting on December 15th at 9:30 to discuss this topic. Please pray that God’s leading would be more than evident as this is obviously a huge ministry opportunity in a city with more than 6 million people.

Thank you so much for your faithfulness, love, and encouraging notes during our first nine months here in Chile. We are looking forward, with God’s help, to the next 35 years!!

Doug, Heather, Caleb & Hannah

Praises

Continued growth in both the Sunday and Thursday services at our church.

Further clarification for Heather’s blood pressure problems

Successful cancer surgery for Doug

Prayer Requests

Money for keyboard for ministry.

Family Life balance between home-schooling, teaching at SCA, office work, and work at “Good News Baptist”

Good finish to Ephesians Sunday School Series

Heather’s teaching with the teenage girls and Ladies Bible study.

Discussions regarding ABWE starting a camp ministry here in Chile.