When was the last time your read through Jesus’ three prayers in John 17 just before being betrayed and handed over to the authorities to be beaten, whipped and crucified?  All three are powerful:  his prayer for himself that all will come to know his Father through his completion of the work/mission his Father sent him to do; his prayer for his disciples in their being sent out to teach, preach, and start Jesus’ Church, they too suffering persecution and facing death;  and finally, his prayer for all of us believers to come after, that we may be one in love-based relationship with each other and with him as He and his Father are one.

Please look with us at verses 20-23:  “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  (underlining mine)

Our effectiveness in everything we do can be traced back to Jesus’ prayer for us believers.  LOVE IN RELATIONSHIP, ONENESS, AND COMPLETE UNITY.  I’m reminded of this every time

• Janine and I see Milla, take her out of the hospital, pray with her and see her smile.
• we elders of the church come together and as we, the church, make a transition over to a house-based church model in August. Our last worship service at our present Sunday location will be August 10.
• we, as a new foundation board, come together to make final progress toward becoming the children’s work God wants us to be. The coordinators of the legal organization helping us obtain our legal identity are giving us their full attention, to complete this process as soon as possible.
• we travel to other parts of Chile to interact with local churches and others, as I (with Jeff and Emily) recently did on our nine-day trip to Concepción, Penco, and San Carlos. What a blessed trip that was and how special those relationships!
• I attend the annual Pastor’s Conference of the Chilean Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. I leave tonight for southern Chile to attend this year’s conference held Aug. 1-3.  Greeting, listening, encouraging, and praying together.  Relationship takes these encounters deeper.
• I participate monthly in an early morning devotional at the live-in Christian drug rehab center, Casa del Alfarero, as I did this morning. So many men, so much mutual value and appreciation—them for me and I for them.  I encouraged them to do the same with the Bible’s writers—David, the prophets, Paul, John, Peter, etc.  Their writings are taken to a whole new level when we sense ourselves in relationship and oneness with them.
• Janine leads work being done here at the mission property and its houses, getting ready to receive children in these coming months.
• We work in tandem as a mission team with our U.S.-based teammates, Donn & Cindy and others.
• we are in contact with you by internet, phone, or in person, and when we send you all our monthly letter giving you ways to pray and fast for God’s work through us. The first Christians were just as linked through common cause, purposes, and prayer & fasting.

I mentioned above our time with Milla and my monthly visits to the drug rehab center.  There’s something extraordinarily powerful in entering her room or in my entering the devotional and sensing true relationship and oneness with those thirty-five to forty men.  This week in visiting Milla and then again this morning at the drug center it was so neat to show her and also the men where they are mentioned in bold inside of the daily pages of my prayer journal.  The power of being ONE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER.  Please use August to focus on praying this focus and for living it as well.  God promises to bless!

We are still looking for a house to rent or possibly buy.  Thank you all for your continued prayers.  Our website is up-to-date and user-friendly.  We are looking for ways in August to make it even more so.

Praising, praying, and fasting in our “One in Relationship” God,

Jack & Janine

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.   And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  Therefore confess each other’s sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  –James 5:13-16

The United States was built on a Christian foundation by Christian founding fathers.  Twenty-seven of those fifty-six men, for example, had Christian seminary degrees and George Washington himself was a strong Bible-believing Christian.  There is a painting of the 1^st Continental Congress in 1774 depicting the entire Congress in fervent prayer.  What a heritage!

As we share our main July prayer needs we remember the great weight upon their shoulders.  Our founding leaders practiced prayer and knew its power.  Christianity, Christian ministry and Christian mission were designed by God to work with prayer, as God answers and receives glory for it all.  We again thank you for joining in prayer on behalf of God’s good purposes in Chile and in the United States!

Prayer for Milla:  She just finished her next series of chemo treatments and has not had adverse reactions  (up until now at least!) that put her previously in intensive care for six weeks.  As of today (July 2) she is expecting to be released again around July 4^th until her next round of chemo.

Prayer for our work with children:  We continue to make good, regular progress in readying the mission site for children.  This generally means two people working outside on scaffolding on exterior surfaces and two people working inside, which includes chair repairs and even re-upholstering.  On the legal side of things, we had been regularly trying to make contact with the attorneys assigned to help us in the filing and processing of papers for the new foundation.  In being unsuccessful in those attempts, we re-contacted the main Pro-Bono organization, who did their own “investigation”, determining that new attorneys are needed.  We met with Pro-Bono coordinators yesterday and the process will now again begin.  We are most probably looking at October as the finishing date of our foundation identity.  At the same time we continue to meet as a director board, addressing different aspects of the renewed work.  Thank you, Lord, for leading us through these steps.

Prayer for the Church:  During elder/pastor meetings in June it was decided to change the structure of the church to one based in “house” churches.  Our small congregation is wide-spread geographically and we have lost some of the “relational” aspects that a local church holds with its neighborhood.  At the same time, Mike (a fellow elder/pastor) and Tabi Boyce now live even farther south of where we meet on Sundays.  They have initiated in recent months a weekly home group for “non-believers.”  It’s been very successful and now several attend.  The whole idea between the Boyces and a Christian neighbor couple was to introduce non-Christian neighbors to God and see what he says in the Bible about modern, hard issues.  They started with the Gospel of John.  Please pray for this major transition for our church as it unfolds in July and August.  Our prayer is to establish home churches within our members’ neighborhoods.

Prayer for our impending 9-day trip south:  Jack, Jeff, & Emily will be leaving in the morning, July 5^th for a 9-day trip south to visit three Chilean churches/works.  They will be presenting/guiding a workshop, interacting with children, teens, and young adults, preaching, and otherwise connecting to and encouraging each group.

Prayer for a house to live in away from the mission property:  Thanks to you all for continuing to pray that we’ll be able to locate a house to live in outside of the mission property.  We are also seeking properties/homes that we might even purchase, instead of rent.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you  in our “Prayer-based” God,

Jack & Janine