For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.  –John 3: 16-17

Put another way, without Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord, we will perish and be condemned when we leave this life to be judged when he/Jesus returns.  God did not HAVE to send Jesus into this world, but he did, because he wants ALL people to be reconciled back to him and have eternal life.  Jesus will always be the world’s one and only true source of hope and life, which is why the church exists and why missionaries are sent out to far places.

Unlike politicians, God’s platform is found in the first words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world”. So many parents teach this truth to their children right from the start (and if we don’t, we should! 🙂 ).  Remember this song?  “Jesus loves me this I know….”  Let’s all dedicate this month and Mother’s Day to Jesus’ love, that our and other children would come to know it through us.

Speaking of Jesus’ love, we’d like to start May’s Praise & Prayer letter with a photo and a video. (Cool!)  Many of you know our children, and that’s why we want to share the below photo of Jayme’s & Malia’s first baby—Havalah Grace, born April 24.

Havalah is a Hebrew name meaning Life.  Both Malia and Havalah are doing well and we’re grateful and happy for them both.  Janine is in the States for a few weeks with them in Baltimore to help cook and clean and do what’s needed while Jayme continues his studies.

This is a video of fellow missionary Ross Parry (Ross and wife Raquel work with us) and Jack playing “Jesus loves me” this past Sunday, May 1, at the dedication service for Josué Samuel (Joshua Samuel)—Daniel’s and Ingrid’s first child, born Feb. 14.  To see the video, highlight the entire link address and “right click” on it. Then select “Go to…….”

Our Chile work and progress continue to go forward.  Thank you all so much for your continuing prayers for us in these areas:

• Our move into our new rental house is in full speed regarding repairs, upgrading, painting, and moving in of furniture, etc. It’s a huge amount of work that will proceed through this entire month of May, but the house also represents God’s provision and is an answer to prayer.  Also please pray that a location near our mission property can be found to store other supplies and materials so that the property can be totally ready to renew our work with children.  With the property ready we can search for our first Chilean director of this important work.
• Jack and Domingo met the last week of April with the lawyer and notary firm in Concepción who will handle the formation of the legal framework for the Christian center and children’s camp in middle Chile. It was decided to form a foundation, as opposed to a different type of corporation.  Two areas to concentrate on in May have to do with the formation of the foundation’s board and also with determining the exact available land to be used for the new center/camp.  We know that God will provide.
• While in the Concepción area, Jack was able to visit several of the families that the mission was able to help following the Feb. 2010 earthquake and tidal waves near there. The visits went well and how good that God brought these relationships into being through that disaster.  Please join us in giving thanks and in praying for their continued well-being.  One man and his wife have since come back together after 12 years of being separated—an example of how our God of love is always working.  Jack encouraged them to also be back in a local church together.
• God has taken Todd a big step forward toward his arrival in Chile to work with us. A second church has agreed to monthly support him financially and in prayer.  We hope to be able to announce his exact arrival date in next month’s Praise & Prayer Letter.  PTL!
• We continue to wait for an opportunity to re-connect with Millarai and sister Ana, now living in a Home for girls in another suburb of Santiago. We will keep you informed about them and we ask you to keep praying for Milla’s health, recovery, and stability regarding the permanent remission of her bone cancer.

Again, we give thanks for the on-going, steady prayer support that you all represent.  If we truly believe that prayer is vital to our ability to “extend” Jesus in this world, we must put prayer into action.  It helps connect God’s love and touch to those in need and also connects us in a personal way to God’s plan and purposes through us.

Praising, praying, and fasting as we all serve our God IS LOVE Jesus,                       

Jack & Janine