Illustration

"When will this stop?!"  I thought.  Eliana lay on my lap screaming, after already screaming and throwing her temper tantrum for almost 40 minutes.  Esther lay on the floor naked except for her diaper.  She had already fought to throw her blanket, tigger, and stuffed bear far from her, and now came the fight about her diaper.  She defiantly unstrapped her diaper, still laying on the bottom portion.  Calmly, I explained to her that if she took off her diaper that she'd have to use the potty, she flipped up the front part and fastened it again.  Then while still screaming, "NO DIAPER.", I continued to explain that she could take off her diaper, but she'd have to use the potty.  She slowly weighed the consequences and then unfastened her diaper. 

She continued to cry and fuss, all the while pushing her diaper farther from her with her tiny little feet.  After only a few moments, she reweigh the consequences and decided that she did want her diaper on.  "You said, no diaper, and you took them off.  I can't help you right now, I have Eliana in my lap.  I'm sorry Baby Girl, you'll have to wait."  Well, you'd think that I had told her that I was going to kill her, because if she could get any louder, she did, and then she arched her back like some kind of gymnastics move.  Then it hit me...

How many times do we has God's children tell him, "NO this or NO that!" and then when the consequences come, we try to back track.  We throw temper tantrums, although they are often shrowded in "spiritual prayer requests", or framed by "seeking God.  What is really happening, if we are brutally honest with ourselves and others, is that we are in rebellion and simply need to obey Him.  I need to reflect on how I "arch my back and scream and God."  We should truly look at contentment and evaluate when we say, "No" to God.

Finally, Esther's "saviour" came to her rescue.  Daddy, got a new diaper and gently placed it on Esther and then took her in his arms to give her "cuddles and loves."  She needed to spend time with her daddy being loved and cared for and has since gone about her day happy and content.  Praise God for our saviour who loves us and wants to share His daddy with us.

Amundson Anthem October 2011

September Prayer Letter

Amundson Anthem July 2011

Amundson Anthem May 2011

Saddening

The twins are EXTREMELY active, especially in the morning around 10:30. So today we took a walk to two different parks. On the way back from our adventures, I saw a whole group of people in dress clothes; ties and skirts and all. They looked wonderful and they even had some of their kids with them. But then I realized what they were doing. They were from a religious group and were knocking on people's doors to share their version of the gospel with people. I have to give it to them, they are definitely a persistent bunch. However, I found myself praying for them as I walked by. Then I began to think...How do we distinguish ourselves from them?
Are we so in love with Christ that we can't wait to tell everyone we meet.

I was on a plane ride from Argentina to Miami back in 1998. I was pleased to see that I had an isle seat on a VERY FULL flight. I placed my things up in the overhead bin and settled into my seat. Then I smelled it, the woman's perfume. I have a very sensitive nose and strong smells can give me a headache or make me nausious. Well, needless to say as the night flight wore on the strength of the perfume smell disapated and I was able to sleep a little bit. However about an hour and a half before landing in Miami, the woman got up to use the rest room. When she returned I was OVERWHELMED with a second perfume scent.

This has often brought back Bible passages that speak about being a sweet smelling aroma to the Lord. How about sharing Christ that way? Are we sharing Christ, but sharing Him in a way that is like wearing a little bit of perfume and not bathing in it? I for one want to be a pleasant aroma to those around me to allow people to see a difference in my life rather than being immediately put off by my scent before I even make it to their "front door."

Amundson Anthem April 2011

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A new experience...

"What is that SHARP pain on my left side?" I thought. "Maybe it's just gas. I'll try the bathroom. Ok, that wasn't it!!! WHAT IS THAT PAIN!! Dear Lord, PLEASE HELP ME!!!" FYI here - I have a VERY HIGH pain tollerance!! I gave birth to our 2 oldest children with very little pain med and no epidural. So when I react to pain, my whole family knows it's BAD!! It was 6:00 AM on Saturday, March 26th. I had planned to sleep in and Doug had planned to take a marathon training run, but that didn't happen!!! The shooting pain on my left midsection abruptly startled me awake. After only a few minutes of seeking to deal with the pain, I asked Doug to take me to the emergency room. We called friends and fellow missionaries who came to our rescue and loved on our kiddos. I crawled into the front seat of the car, and realized that that wasn't going to work. I HAD to lay down in the back seat. Doug drove quickly, yet causiously with his hazzards on. Since it was so early and there was very little traffic, he even ran some red lights. He even passed a police car while he ran one red light. As he drove he had to contend with me vomitting in the back seat and telling him to go slower over the MANY speed bumps we have in this city. I have no idea when we actually got to the hospital, but when we did the symptoms didn't improve until another dose of vomiting, many drugs in an IV, and FINALLY MORPHINE!!! After a CT scan they determined that I have kidney stones. (Yes I did use the correct verb, HAVE.) The one that was causing all of the pain was trying to leave my body by scratching it's way out. They saw 5 kidney stones. 3 on the left side (2 still in my kidneys and the one that was trying to leave.) and 2 in my right kidney. OK, so what to do....

1. Check me into the hospital. (Our Blue Cross Blue Shied covers 100% of all in patient stays over 24 hours.)


2. See the doctor and then determine the next course of action.

That next course of action had 3 options.

1. Pass the stone naturally.


2. Take out the stone surgically.


3. Use sound waves to try to break up the stone so it would pass in smaller pieces.

So we waited 24 hours so see if anything would happen and so that I could have meds to dull the pain.

Sunday came with no new results and due to the meds, I felt absolutely fine. So, now back to the options. Because we weren't for sure that any of the medical options would be fully paid for and we're so short on monthly support, we decided to wait again until Monday AM to call the insurance company and get approval for the needed procedure/surgery.

Monday AM - Doug called the insurance company and all would be paid for. Next step, determine whether I would qualify for the sound wave procedure to break up the stones. (The stones have to show up on an X-Ray to be eligible for this procedure.) Well, guess what... NONE of the 5 showed up on X-Ray, so we had eliminated option 3. Option 1 was a painful option and one that with twin 2 year olds really wasn't an option due to the sudden onslaught of pain that could occur with no one here to help me.

Therefore, we went ahead with option 2 and on Monday at 12:00 PM I had the stone trying to exit my body, removed. Was it painless? NO and I did it with very little pain meds. I wanted to stay awake for the process so that I wouldn't have to deal with the anesthesia's after effects, and have the chance of going home on Monday night. However, due to continued pain after the procedure I did have to stay the night on Monday.

Tuesday AM I was able to come home and see my little girls. It took a few more days to feel completely back to normal again and I still have some pain now and again, but for the most part, I am FINE.

I am thankful for MANY things including...

A Chilean friend who came and cleaned my house.

The 8 fellow ABWE missionaries who helped us by either watching the kids, making us a meal, or both during the past week.

Having GREAT insurance that has said they will pay for everything!!!

That for now the count is... 1 down 4 to go!

Amundson Anthem Febuary 2011

Our Newest Family Picture

On January 12th at 10:53 am Chilean time (2 hours ahead of EST), the adoption of our 2 newest children was completed. The oldest twin and our 2nd daughter officially became Elizabeth Ana (Eliana) Amundson and the youngest twin and our 3rd daughter officially became Esther Saye Amundson. We are so blessed and were truly blessed that day with others both Chilean and American sharing the special moment with us. Here is our most recent family picture.

Clockwise - Heather, Eliana, Esther, Doug, Hannah, Caleb

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.

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

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.

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!!!

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!!!

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!!

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.

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!"

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!