“JESUS-led and SPIRIT-empowered”

“If you love me, keep my commands.  And I will ask the Father and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him or knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.  Because I live, you also will live.” -John 14:15-19

We know that there is only one God, made up of three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—each with their own roles in perfect union & harmony with each other in reconciling mankind back to God himself.  In the days prior to his betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus promised in both John 14 and 16 to send his disciples the Holy Spirit to lead and empower them forward.  Just prior to his ascension into heaven Jesus then tells his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for this gift of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit—a gift now given to all Christians who choose to obey and follow Jesus through repentance and baptism. (Acts 2:38)

May 13^th commemorates the ascension of Jesus after 40 days of his appearing to his disciples and others, and Sunday May 23^rd commemorates Pentecost (fiftieth), 50 days beginning with Jesus’ resurrection on which the Holy Spirit did come to those disciples and Jesus’ Church was birthed.  God’s Spirit continues to guide and empower us today, if we do not allow Satan to deceive us in thinking that Jesus is an “add-on blessing” to our lives instead of the center of our purpose in life.  He helps us in our living and decisions, and in teaching our children and in sharing the Good News of Jesus with others.  (We’re never too young or too old to do the right thing and live for Jesus!) The Holy Spirit opens doors and even helps us pray. (see Romans 8)  We are SO APPRECIATIVE of your ongoing prayers for us and for God’s working in Chile.  Thank you!!

At our camp property:

• The electric company Coelcha is now ready to commence its moving of our electric lines and we’re still praying that the work is completed by June. 😊  In the meantime, Abraham continues burning the piles of trees and brush left over from the clearing of that same low-lying lake area and concentrating on finishing the roofed parking behind their house.
• Rosa came and removed items that were located on our property.  The exact property borders are still not resolved, as we continue to pray for final agreement on our borderline with her.  She has her mind set on a certain amount of property and is moving the lines to accommodate this—even to the point of curving the line outward to add more footage.
• We are also grateful for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and protection of Abraham & Catalina.  They remain steady in both their work and life on the camp land.  We’re grateful to be able to be in WhatsApp communication with them in all these matters.  Please pray with us for the arrival of all others needed to help their work and possibly also live on the grounds.  God’s Holy Spirit opens doors and relationships.      

In Santiago:

• Paola has had to re-submit our Foundation legal changes to the municipality in which we were incorporated.  Have we ever mentioned that all legal matters take time, if not years, in Chile?! 😊
• We currently have two parents/families staying at our mission property.  One is a young pregnant Venezuelan woman needing to return to her home country sometime in May and the others are the parents of a newborn girl, Esperanza (Hope), with serious heart problems.  Thank you for praying with us for both of these situations.
• Regarding our car in the shop waiting for a replacement air conditioning compressor, we are now planning on sending the needed part with Janine (see below) when she hopefully is able to return to Chile later this month or in June.

              Abraham, with Sunny & Summer                      Catalina & Abril

In the U.S.:

• Thanks so much for the congrats and good messages of many of you regarding our 50^th wedding anniversary this past month.  Our special week with our whole family was also exceptionally good.  To say that the marriage examples of many of you, along with the guidance and protection of the Holy Spirit over our marriage have played a HUGE part in our longevity would be a total understatement!!  TYL!!
• We continue to make slow but steady progress continues to be made in renovating and repairing the house we purchased in CA.  With God’s blessing, the house will be our new residence when not in Chile.  We likewise have had to postpone our work on readying our Indiana house for sale, but hope to be able to do so sometime in May or in June.
• As mentioned above, Janine is planning on traveling to Chile this month or in June.  At present, Chile’s strict covid restrictions continue in place, with tourists not allowed to enter or leave the country.  As residents, we can enter but cannot leave without special permission (??).  Under the present restrictions, she would also have to pay for 5 required quarantine days in a Chilean hotel upon arrival—about $150.00 per night.  We are investigating her ability to leave Chile, once there, too with the present restrictions.

                                         Our most recent photo, going forward in the Lord

We again thank you for all your steady prayers–they are greatly appreciated! 

Praising, praying, and fasting to our Jesus-led, Holy Spirit-empowered God,

Jack & Janine