GOD IS ALWAYS OUR “FIRM GROUND” AND ENABLER

He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  –Psalm 40:2

We couldn’t resist relating photos of the current conditions of the MUD road–the public access to the camp–this Chilean winter (June 21 to Sept.21) to the above verse in Psalm 40.  Abraham has needed help several times in pulling his 4×4 pick-up from the mud and mire in this rainy part of the year, and David’s Psalm is tied to God’s deliverance from overwhelming adversity, even perhaps including redemption from the sin in his life.  Both situations are real to many of us and God’s response is the same, as he sets OUR feet on a rock and gives US a firm place to stand!

It is an important reminder to us all to live by faith and not by sight and to remain steady in the Lord in spite of circumstances.  It’s also an important reminder to us all of the crucial role that mutual prayer plays in all circumstances.  Thank you for your on-going prayers that help lift us and God’s work in Chile up!!

The bad road represents two blessings in the making: One– the good possibility that between the government and the huge forestry companies, a permanent solution will be formulated so that traffic through the area can continue all year.  In addition, the forestry companies may deem it worthwhile to dig out our lake to provide water for nearby forest fires—a WIN for us and for them!  Thanks for keeping this in your prayers.

Photo time–Off-setting the winter trials that they face, Abraham & Catalina have two new additions to their family, Summer and Sunny.  The names make us smile because one, the names are in English and secondly, they lift spirits in the middle of rainy winters. 😊   

In the second recent photo are Abraham & Catalina and Abril (rear right), Leilson (front left) with his daughter Hadassah and wife Itamara standing on both sides of Catalina, and our partners Domingo & Sandra (rear left) standing next to a friend of Leilson & Itamara.  Leilson & Itamara are from Brazil.  They live near Abraham in Domingo’s “country” house and conduct a school of mission to help prepare Chileans to become missionaries.   We include this photo to further appreciate how God continues to build his Kingdom team in areas surrounding Bodeuca.  

September Prayer Needs

In mid-September Jack is planning on flying to Santiago to spend one month, with his time divided between the ministry site in Santiago and the land in Bodeuca.  He will most likely be quarantined for 14 days upon his arrival in Chile, although the number of new cases of covid19 seems to be slowing in Santiago.  Our team member Paola is doing a good job of supervising both the work in Santiago and in Bodeuca .

–In Santiago, Cesar & Camila will be moving to another area of Chile on or before September 7^th and we wish them well.  Camila has been responsible for the work of the mission on our ministry site.  Paola has been in communication with two ladies, Valentina and Joherlit, from her home church about living on the ministry site and taking over Camila’s duties and both women are interested in doing so.  They recently accompanied Paola to see the site and have submitted their references, both seemingly very capable and well-suited for this new role.  We met with them both with Paola via a “zume” phone call and our Foundation board of directors is now in the process of approving them.  They are excited and ready to move in and begin when Cesar & Camila leave.  Jack is looking forward to meeting them during his visit.  Thank you for praying with us in this process of Cesar’s & Camila’s departure and for God’s blessing on the arrival of Valentina and Joherlit.  In the meantime, we continue to look toward the future expansion of space usage in the ministry site to include other ministries.  We will have photos and more information to share in our October prayer letter.    

–In Bodeuca,  we continue to communicate with Juan Carlos & Loreto Martinez (living and working these past recent years on a YWAM base in middle Chile) about visiting the camp land in Bodeuca the first weekend of October along with missionary friend Mike Blackless who recommended them, to meet Abraham & Catalina and also see the land and discuss its development and future.  Jack (and hopefully too, Domingo & Sandra) also plans to meet them there as well.  We appreciate your prayers about this good possibility, as the Bodeuca team of workers continues to grow.

–In the States during Jack’s time in Chile, Janine will travel in mid-September to northwest IN to continue working on our furlough house, readying it for sale.  As a matter of prayer, the young couple currently renting the first floor of our house are in the process of purchasing a home of their own. We are praying for their purchase process too, as we work toward putting our house on the market later this year.

Jack is planning to return to the States in mid-October, when we both will travel to Texas to follow up on possible support for the Martinez family, which will enable them to join Abraham & Catalina in Bodeuca and work with them fulltime on the land.  Thank you for praying for our travels and upcoming encounters in Texas.  Also, thanks for praying for the healing of Jack’s index finger, deeply cut by an electric saw in April while working on the house in Bodeuca.  Now 4 full months later it has healed and the nerve within is growing back.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our one and only “FIRM GROUND”, ENABLER GOD,

Jack & Janine