THE BIG “CHILE MISSION MINISTRY” WHY

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  –John 14: 5-6

First, some BIG GRATITUDES:

1.  Abraham’s pick-up truck is back in use after its clutch repair, making it possible to drive to Concepción (roughly one hour away) to pick up their new large 1,200 liter (almost 300 gallons) water storage tank (shown below) and the built-in oven to be installed in their kitchen.  In addition, through the truck repair they have several new relationships with neighboring people. TYL!!
2. Luís, their closest neighbor (seen eating a meal in Abraham’s & Catalina’s home), is helping Abraham clear a path large enough for a truck to gain access to the lake area for the future removal of the six telephone poles that are presently in an area designated for a future lake.  We need to augment the power and have them more centrally located.                                                                                                                   
3. We have heard back from the Chilean family interested in being part of the development of the camp property.  A missionary friend from Texas living in Chile has approached his main home church to consider supporting them, and some families are interested in doing so.  He is inviting them to visit us in Chile this October to see the camp property and also meet Juan Carlos and his family.  It’s not too early to pray about this.
4. We’ve been making good progress on readying our Indiana furlough house for sale, including arranging for the installation of a new furnace and central air, to be done in Oct. or early Nov.  TYL!!

The title of this month’s Prayer & Gratitudes letter is tied to some alarming statistics about Chileans’ religious affiliations.  We arrived in Santiago in Nov. 1993, after one year of studying Spanish in Costa Rica.  Here is what we found:

 1994   Roman Catholics made up roughly 77% of the population (13,350,000, with 5,200,000 living in Santiago).  13.5% of the population professed to be Protestants, heavily weighted amongst poor and low-income believers.  (Mormons are included as Protestant believers.)  7% of Chileans described themselves as atheists or indifferent to religion.

2006   Roman Catholics = 70% of the population (16,350,000, with roughly 6,000,000 living in Santiago).  Protestants = 14%.  Unaffiliated = 12%, with 94% of Chileans believing in the existence of God.

2019   Roman Catholics = 45% of the population (19,000,000, with roughly 6,800,000 living in Santiago).  Protestants = 18%.  Unaffiliated = 32%, with 1/3 of Chileans now doubting the existence of God.  Mormons now the 2^nd largest non-Catholic denomination.

God’s ministries through Chile Mission continue to evolve, including the development of the camp & retreat center in middle Chile.  We have always been focused on children and families and on rehabilitating of those with additions, and we also now know first-hand that camps and retreats are very effective in planting seeds and transforming lives.  Again, thank you so much for your prayers for us and for Chile Mission—they ABSOLUTELY DO make a difference!!

With regard to our Santiago mission property, we continue to pray both for Cesar’s & Camila’s transition to southern Chile at the end of September and for God’s provision of who will replace them.  In addition, we are looking to expand the use of the mission property by more Christian ministries.  We’ve been blessed to provide office space for the APEM prolife pregnancy center these past two years, and we are now in communication with a Foundation that works with autistic children and their families.  They are looking for office space and area to meet with and work with children.  We will be meeting with them in Sept. or early Oct.  Thank you for praying this possibility forward with us.

Lastly, we continue praying for the health of Chileans during this time of battling covid19.  Several main cities in the country in addition to Santiago are under total lock-down—letting each person leave their home with gov’t permission twice a week for three hours each time. Chile is third in the world in the number of cases (their population is around 60^th), after Qatar and Bahrain, with 18.5 cases per 1,000 (the USA has 14 cases per 1,000).  Some easing of the severe restrictions are now just being put in place, while other areas are becoming more restrictive.  At present, when we fly back to Chile on Sept. 4^th, we may very well be quarantined for 14 days.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our one and only “WAY, TRUTH, & LIFE” JESUS,

Jack & Janine

“FREE INDEED”

³¹ To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8: 31-32, 36

On July 4th we commemorate and celebrate the United States’ Independence from England—an independence won over the succeeding nearly 7 years through the shedding of much blood.  The true freedom of Christians throughout the entire world from the penalty of eternal death owed for our sin was won through the most precious blood of all, willfully shed by God’s own son.  Yet all of us live still struggling in our personal lives in different ways and for different reasons.

Jesus’ teachings found in the Bible ARE the Truth that has the power to set us free from ourselves and from any and all chains that would bind us!  We as his disciples have EVERY reason to extend Jesus, the Source of TRUE FREEDOM to those around us.  Janine & I are so blessed, together with our Chilean team, to extend him in the country of Chile.  The above verses tell the real reason that God sent “HIS WORD-JESUS HIMSELF” into the world: to set us truly free!!  Thank you for praying for us and for Chile Mission!

Can we even imagine how many people live under these two flags?  Every single disciple of Jesus is worth their weight in “divine gold”!

June’s Prayer Letter outlined some major areas of needed prayer in our work.  Please re-visit the letter and continue to pray for them.

• For much of June the rains have been steady in Bodeuca and general area where our camp land is located, making travel in and out of the property very difficult and sometimes impossible.  As a result, Abraham & Catalina have been unable to travel the one hour to Concepción to pick up their kitchen stove and new, large water tank.  They have, however, been able to continue building a good relationship with a neighbor man, who will be assisting Abraham with some of the construction and other work in exchange for using part of our field for grazing his cattle.  In addition, the clutch on Abraham’s pick-up truck has gone out and the probability of getting the part and proceeding with the repair is complicated with the coronavirus situation in Chile.  Again he has received help from others and been blessed with new relationships.

• We have not heard back from the Chilean family interested in moving to the camp property to help in its development.
• We continue to pray for Cesar & Camila and their role on our mission property in Santiago. They will be leaving in September. We pray for their ability to complete their duties well and also stay healthy.
• The entire metropolitan area of Santiago continues in total “lock down” as the number of Coronavirus cases continues to climb. Chile is in third place in the world in the incidence index (about 14 cases per 1,000 people, compared with 8 cases per 1,000 in the USA).  About 90% of the cases are in the metropolitan area of Santiago.  The death rate is much lower, but the winter (June 21 to Sept. 21) is usually complicated with respiratory illnesses, so this year may be very complex.  We anticipate that this will continue into September, with government permission being necessary to leave your home—limited to twice a week with three hours each time.  Anyone over 75 has no permission to leave their home and in addition, there is a curfew from 10 pm to 5 am each day.  This has limited the widespread protests that were occurring in 2019.  Our flight to the US was canceled twice.  Life is a lot freer here, and it is wonderful to be able to mobilize ourselves!
• Thank you for praying for our time in the U.S. We are in the process of working on our furlough home, mainly installing a furnace and sorting out the accumulation of twenty-eight years abroad.  We’ve also been blessed to spend short times with each of our children & their families.  What a treat!
• Lastly, pray for our country!  So many current challenges and hard circumstances to overcome, and healing as well.  Jesus remains the One True Answer and Source of what we need and seek!

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our “FREE INDEED” GOD,

 Jack & Janine