“It’s God who makes things grow!”

⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. ⁹ For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.  1Cor. 3:6-9

In 1 Corinthians we find Paul rebuking the church in Corinth for being divided between different leaders instead of being united in serving Christ together, recognizing God as the one totally responsible for the results.  We must keep both our focus and purpose clear, as God truly IS the one to look to, in and between ourselves and with others.

Thank you for your prayers for Chile Mission and especially for our current trip to Chile, ending October 7!  It’s been an excellent trip and we apologize that this Prayer letter in coming to you a little late, but it does include all progress made in our time in Chile.

In entering this prayer and gratitude letter we have a special prayer request.  Janine has still not received the “mobility pass” issued by the Chilean government that allows people to leave the country.  Thus, we pray that she’ll be issued it today or tomorrow so that she can leave Chile tomorrow on our scheduled flight.  A government failure to be sure, that we’ve been addressing since we entered the country in mid Sept.  Thank you for praying with us about this technicality!   

We arrived in Santiago on Sunday, Sept. 12 and went immediately into our 7-day quarantine—Jack in our house on the mission property and Janine in a hotel approved by the Chilean government, because she had not received their official “mobility pass” designation.  She could not leave her small room, but instead received food daily, including some food that Jack was able to send with Joherlit, one of our mission property workers.  It was what it was and we were all glad to have her with us one week later!  After quarantine we spent two days in Santiago in meetings and then left for the camp property in middle Chile and several days more in southern Chile with Abraham & Catalina.  Paola also joined us there for three days.

We’ve had specific purposes and goals for this trip (please see September’s prayer letter J), and God has blessed our time in various ways….

The camp land in middle Chile

It’s amazing to think that exactly two years ago we closed on the purchase of the camp land!  It’s a beautiful property that we are all too happy to be now ready to develop.  The future camps and retreats will all be key in extending our creator Jesus to children, youth, and adults.  Please give thanks and pray for the following:

• Jack signed the final contract required by Coelcha, now enabling them to connect the new electric lines installed for us and for our neighbor’s property. We hope that they will soon finish this last step. It has been over a year since this process started.
• Matías, the architect, came to the land to spend an afternoon with us, walking most of the entire property with Abraham looking at all possibilities and ideas for timing & placement of the upcoming construction of structures. He also joined us in southern Chile for a day to further discuss initial plans so that when we return to Chile at the end of December we can move forward with construction.  **  Note—Chile is experiencing much higher prices of building materials , and most think that prices will not come down!
• We talked with Abraham & Catalina about the purchase of chickens, cows, and some other animals and the placement and planting of additional fruit trees, grapes, & vegetables.
• We also discussed having some young adult work teams to come and help complete specific projects this coming Chilean summer (Jan. – Mar.). As always, those time periods will also focus on spiritual growth.
• Lastly, we visited another Christian camp in southern Chile to gain information and exchange ideas. It is interesting to us that we have a better handle on networking with others than our Chilean counterparts.

These photos picture the above, with the last photo being of our visit to the other Christian camp in southern Chile.

In Santiago

• High on our Santiago action list was to meet with the other board members Juan and Tamara to discuss the Foundation’s direction & priorities, and sign needed legal documents. We resubmitted our request to change the name of the Foundation to “Fundación Misión Chile”.  The new name will better reflect the various ways we work in the country of Chile.  The last year and one half of covid pandemia slowed down Chile’s legal system even more than normal.
• Once we have a new name we will enlarge the board from four to five members. In terms of our present board, Tamara is resigning, as she has little free time to continue with outside responsibilities.  We are pleased to announce that Patricio Curinao, pastor, song writer, & singer, will be taking her place.  We have a long-standing friendship with “Pato” and he and his wife Johanna are involved in various ministries that blend well with those of our Foundation.
• We are scheduled to return to Chile on December 31 to continue helping make progress in all of the above areas, both in Santiago and in rural Chile.

Thank you again to YOU ALL for your prayer support.  Looking ahead to November, we are looking forward to this year’s ICOM mission conference to be held in Richmond, VA November 18-21.  We will be there with our “Chile” exhibit booth and would love to see you there.

Praising, praying, and fasting to our All-enabling, True God,

Jack & Janine