“CELEBRATING GOD’S MOVING HIS PLANS & HIS PURPOSES FORWARD”

Let all the earth fear the Lord; let all the people of the world revere him.  For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.  The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples.  But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.  –Psalms 33: 8-11

Entering February we have special reasons to celebrate God’s moving HIS PLANS and HIS PURPOSES forward!

IN RURAL CHILE we’ve been praying for an opportunity to purchase our own excavator instead of having to rent one at a very high cost.  We had mentioned a rental cost of $5,000 for two machines for two weeks in December, but that cost was for each machine.  Thus we paid $10,000 for both machines, including the operators, fuel, oil, and transport.  Rodolfo was the operator of one of the two machines, and Abraham was quite pleased not only with the way he worked, but also with his humble character.  Rodolfo has grown up learning to operate and maintain excavators from his father, who has much experience in this line of work.

GIVING GOD THANKS!!  In mid-January we started pursuing the purchase of our own excavator, trying to use the Chevy 4×4 pickup that we’ve been trying to sell as a trade-in.  We know zilch about excavators, so Abraham and Rodolfo hit the countryside to find a good machine. We finally have succeeded and are giving God our thanks!  We will also now employ Rodolfo beginning this month of February and he will service and ready the machine for use.  We will be able to rent out the excavator to others, who will pay rental costs as we did.  This will help us cover our own costs for the large amount of work needing to be completed on our own property.  Above is a photo of part of the land we cleared in December, along with a photo of our new, used excavator.  From left to right we are Abraham, Rodolfo, and Jack.

We firstly thank God for his faithfulness in continuing the transformation of our land into a camp & retreat center!!  We secondly thank you as well for your faithful prayers!    We are looking for individual donors to help offset our recent and upcoming larger costs, and we would invite them to contact us through our email chilemission1@gmail.com and also become more familiar with our ministry via our website www.chilemission.org

3-year-old Abril in the picture below is welcoming the 2020 Toyota pickup to its new home in “the campo”.  For those of you who are thinking Beverly Hillbillies, we don’t blame you. J  Also below is a photo of Mark from AZ who came to Chile for 2 ½ weeks in January to help clear trees and do other things.  He is standing with Catalina, Abraham, and Abril.  To prepare for his trip he studied Spanish prior to coming and we were blessed with his help.  As we mentioned in our January letter, we are inviting individuals and churches to come and “lend a hand” anytime.  Our Chilean rainy winter is from the end of May to early Sept., so perhaps the end of the year or the beginning of next year will be better.  Start planning!

GIVING GOD MORE THANKS!!  A group of 20 young adults and others arrived from a Chilean Santiago church to the camp property on Jan. 30 to spend one week helping on the land in different ways.  Seen here, they arrived with much enthusiasm!  They mark our very first church to arrive for a one-week helping/spiritual retreat!  TYL!!  This marks another significant reason to celebrate God’s faithful provision and answer to prayer.  Abraham has finished the new bedroom complete with a bunk bed and second bathroom, and even though the group of 20 will be camping in tents, the added bathroom and space will be very helpful for workers and visitors.  There is a private entrance so Abraham’s family don’t have constant visitors traipsing through their house!  Thank you so much for praying for these matters with us!

In the meantime the surveyor continues working on his final drawing of the northern lots of our land.

In Santiago we have MORE REASONS TO GIVE GOD THANKS!!

One of our main goals while here these few months was to make contact with Pro Bono, a Chilean Foundation of lawyers who help Foundations such as ours with legal matters, to see how they might help us get registered with the national government and also obtain our certificate to receive donations from both within and outside of Chile.  We, Abraham, & Julián had a Zoom visual meeting with them and we just received word that they will help us.  That was great news, and we hope to be able to sign any needed documents before mid-March when we return to the States.  TYL!! and thank you for your prayers!

 Regarding those that have stayed and are staying at our Santiago Casa de Acogida  (Refuge House) for medical treatments in their families:

• we have not received an update on Dominíc this month.
• Baby Matías was moved to a hospital near his home in Rancagua. The good news is that he continues to gain weight as he puts his CMV virus behind him.
• Dina is in rehab and is doing great after her hip replacement. We’re not sure how much longer she’ll be with us before going home—she has been here about three months.
• Rocio also continues to recuperate at home after surgery here to correct her scoliosis.
• A new small child, Roberto (almost 2-years-old) is here in Santiago to treat severe burns caused by his reaching and pulling down boiling water on himself, burning the whole left side of his body.  His progress is slow but sure and his mother, Valeria, stays with him in the hospital, while his father, Roberto, stays in one of our houses. The three of them are pictured here below in Roberto’s hospital room.  What a blessing to be a support for them, both in prayer and otherwise!

WE ALSO GIVE GOD THANKS FOR THE UPCOMING ONE-WEEK VISIT OF A GROUP OF SIX YOUNG WOMEN IN FEBRUARY!!  They are from the States and are participating in a Latin American ministry summer program for women known as “Ultra”.  During this South American summer they are visiting and helping ministries such as ours in several Latin countries and we’re excited to be able to host them!  They’re due to arrive on Feb. 9^th and leave on Feb. 18^th and their time will be split between our work in Santiago and on the rural camp property.  Please pray for their coming and going and time with us.

Lastly we have one more prayer request for you….

Janine was walking on an uneven cement sidewalk in La Cisterna yesterday, January 30^th, and she fell, breaking her left wrist.  It was casted yesterday but the scan of the break showed bone fragments and incomplete alignment after manhandling her bone back into place.  She is due to go back to the hospital this Thursday, February 2^nd, for surgery and is expecting to stay in the hospital for one or two nights.  The doctors aren’t entirely sure if they’ll operate on Thursday or on Friday—you never know for sure in Chilean public hospitals. 🙂 In spite of everything, she is in good spirits and is not experiencing much pain, even though her temporary plaster cast is pretty heavy.  Thank you Lord for always being with her and with all your children!

Praising, praying, and fasting in our “ETERNAL PLANS and PURPOSES” ONE, TRUE GOD,

Jack & Janine

“GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS” 

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”  –Lamentations 3: 22-24

We wish each of you the Lord’s faithful presence and blessing as we enter 2023–some of you in the middle of optimism and good circumstances and others living out personal loss and extremely hard circumstances.  But ALL of us truly “born again” in Christ Jesus can enter this new year with the hope and assurance that come with our real relationship with the One True God.  The above verses found in Lamentations served as the basis for Thomas Chisholm’s famous prayer & hymn, GREAT IS THY FAITHFULNESS.  What a good reason to go forward in God in the middle and with a continually renewed spirit!

Speaking of “continually renewed” spirits, we so give the Lord thanks for your faithful prayers and support!!

We arrived Sunday, January 1^st, in Chile and we look forward to these next 2½ months of being able to personally connect to his faithful guidance of Chile Mission’s work in Chile.  Again, thank you for doing your part!  Jack even now has his renewed Chilean ID card in hand, so TYL!!  We have several significant developments to share with you that need prayer….

ON THE BODEUCA CAMP PROPERTY, two main works are in process:

1. The drawing of the subdivision of the land’s 30 northernmost acres has now been completed and is ready to submit to SAG, the Chilean governmental agency that governs such issues in the rural parts of the country. While this step does not affect the camp’s ongoing development, it does leave the northern 30 acres of our camp property ready for future development and sale.  We are looking at all sources of financial resources to help financially sustain the on-going development of the camp.
2. Abraham is supervising the work of two excavating machines to level and improve the public access road passing in front of the property and also to fill ravines and low areas within the camp property. Seen below, an excavator can literally transform any section of land!

There is much work left to do with this type of heavy machinery and the cost of renting the two machines and their operators for two weeks in December cost just under $5,000 (USD).  One of the two operators, Rodolfo, has grown up doing such work and knows of some excavators in good condition for sale, leading us to an important opportunity to consider.  Rodolfo will investigate and test these machines.  The cost of good, used excavators is no small investment and should we buy one it will mean also hiring Rodolfo to continue with the needed changes to the camp property.  From observing him these past two weeks, Abraham has a high opinion of Rodolfo’s work habits.  As mentioned, we have much more work for the excavator ahead of us.  As such, when not actively connected to this type of camp property work, we can rent out the machine and Rodolfo to others in the area at the cost we are paying now for such services.  The monthly operation of one machine runs roughly $4,000 in contrast to almost $10,000 in income generated.   Please pray with us for God’s guidance in making the decision.

While Abraham continues seeking a buyer for the Chevrolet pick-up, as pictured above our worker Juan has now finished soldering and installing a solid support framework for the rear bed of the mission’s newly purchased 2022 Toyota pick-up.  Nice work, Juan!!   We plan on insuring the truck and driving it to the camp property this month.  In the meantime, Janine plans on traveling by bus to the camp property this week of January in order to help assess our immediate steps.

Abraham is also almost finished with the new bedroom and bathroom added on to the end of their house.  TYL!!  That is good, as we await the arrival of Mark, a new friend from the States who is due to arrive in Chile on January 9^th to visit and help work with us on the camp property.  Mark, now retired, regularly makes short term mission trips to help others and we’re grateful to receive him in Chile. With God’s blessing he will come again to lend a hand. J

Are you retired and have a skill or experience to lend in helping us go forward on our rural camp property??  We can use you here!! The Lord works in wonderful ways, doesn’t he??!!

Abraham continues seeking a buyer for the Chevy pickup.  It’s in good condition and is a valued form of transportation in rural Chile.  We are anxious to start using our Toyota truck, more suited for the country back roads.

IN SANTIAGO new guests continue to arrive to the mission site in Santiago as well.  It is gratifying to be able to house and spiritually support all who arrive!  Presently with us are:

• Jordan & Laura, the parents of Matías, their 2 month-old baby boy born with a congenital virus known as CMV. As with other infants and children, this very serious virus is typically treated in Santiago hospitals.  Laura basically lives at the hospital to continue breast-feeding Matías. Their family is pictured here below.
• Dina is a middle-aged woman who has been waiting years for a hip replacement. She was told to come to Santiago to schedule the surgery, and after waiting here for a month, the surgery is set for this Saturday, January 7th.
• Also with us is Rocio, a fifteen-year-old who came to Santiago to correct her scoliosis.  She’ll be here for 10 days recovering and resting.

Thank you for praying for Matías & family, Dina, & Rocio and also for Dominíc, who continues forward at home, but with some problems with his feeding tube.

While here in Santiago we hope to continue to make more progress with Julián on all issues having to do with our Misión Chile (Chile Mission) Foundation.  We anticipate having to sign documents related to needed legal changes. Please pray with us for God’s guidance in making the decision

Seen here, our worker Carlos is also almost finished with the periodic (every three years) sanding and re-staining of the wood-sided second floors of the houses and multi-purpose back building on the Santiago mission site.  He’s an excellent worker!

Praising, praying, and fasting in our “ETERNALLY FAITHFUL” ONE, TRUE GOD,

Jack & Janine