“Out of Overwhelming Thanksgiving Gratitude”

Always be joyful.  Never stop praying.  Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  –1 Thes. 5:16-18  (NLT version)

November has for several hundred years been a month of Thanksgiving in the United States, commemorating the first harvest celebrated in Plymouth between roughly 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Native Americans in the year 1621.  The many months leading up to that 3-day celebration were marked by sickness and death of many Indians and Pilgrims alike, in which roughly half of the pilgrims lost their lives, in addition to surviving a very harsh winter.  ….and yet they had cause to celebrate life and harvest together, for they knew that God would lead them on.

The Bible also is totally“Thanksgiving” –based.  The above verses in 1 Thessalonians are clear in their admonition to all Christians, and in Psalms, Ephesians, Philippians, & Colossians we are further urged to thank God for his goodness and for answers to prayers, for salvation, & for living thankful lives.  Overwhelming thankfulness is the first place to start in addressing our Overwhelmingly Giving God, because without God’s sacrifice of his own Son Jesus, we and this world would know NO real hope of any kind!!  We, CHILE MISSION, thank you too for your prayer & financial partnership with us as we work to help extend the knowledge and acceptance of Jesus in Chile, that Chileans would also know and follow him!

OCTOBER GRATITUDES

—We first have the privilege to share a photo of Abraham, Catalina, Abril & Facundo with you.  He was born on October 5^th, a healthy boy.

—We and five other missions successfully finished sharing with 17 churches in Oklahoma, Texas, & Kansas.  Some of the churches had few members, and yet they ALL warmly received us and the other missions, encouraging us and learning about Jesus’ gospel message and work being carried out in the world.  It was a blessing to be a part of it!  Here below is a photo of us all taken at the home base of Hi-Plains School of Missions before beginning our three weeks of church visits, along with a photo of one of our presentations.  Once the trip is done, we will have added about 5,000 miles on our van!!  The combined offerings from the 17 churches will be split between all six missions.  Lastly, several people signed up to be new prayer partners of Chile Mission.  TYL!!

—Abraham has received word from the Mennonite Mission based out of Columbia that they will be sending a mixed team of three young men and two young women back to Chile early this new month of November to help him in the work of developing Chile Mission’s rural property.  Earlier this year two such teams of young women and men came separately to the property to help, and we’re grateful.

—A family has made a special donation to take care of the cost of repairing the transmission of Chile Mission’s pick-up truck.  In talking with Abraham, his mechanic has set aside the first full week of November to complete the repairs.  Please pray with us that all goes well.

—The Chilean church in Santiago that has come twice this year to help develop the camp also notified Abraham that they will soon be sending another group to help for a week.  What a blessing!

—More individuals and parents have been received and attended to in Santiago at Chile Mission’s houses.

NOVEMBER PRAYER NEEDS

—Abraham let us know that the house of his good neighbor Luis was again robbed.  Thankfully Luis was not home, but increased vigilance is needed.  Please continue to pray with us for God’s protection of all persons and properties in the immediate area.

—Please also continue to pray with us that Carolina will make more headway in her contacts with and visits to hospitals and churches in the Santiago area to increase more awareness of the service the mission provides through our Casa de Acogida in sheltering and otherwise supporting parents of sick children being attended to in Santiago.  Remember that most Chileans do not know anything about Jesus Christ, so the ministry carried out on the Chile Mission site is a perfect opportunity to present Jesus to them in a very real way.

—We continue to wait to receive follow-up information from the attorney in Santiago on our Foundation’s needed legal changes set in motion earlier this year.

—We will soon be participating in this year’s annual ICOM missions conference in Oklahoma City on November 16-18.  We pray for the general blessing and impact upon individuals and churches in attendance and for all contacts and opportunities gained through our Chile Mission booth.  It’s not too late to plan on attending!

—Last, though hardly least :), we again implore and invite our supporting churches and all others to contact us about coming in 2024 to visit us in Chile to help develop the camp property!  This might take the form of a short-term mission trip and/or a special one-time donation.  It’s amazing how God uses mission trips to energize and motivate churches and individuals alike in terms of perspective and Kingdom identity!  Please call or email us at 949-394-8282, chilemission1@gmail.com

Praising, praying, fasting to our OVERWHELMINGLY GIVING Savior & Lord GOD, 

Jack & Janine

“KINGDOM JOY”

HEAVEN JOY:

 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. –Luke 15:7

CHURCH JOY:

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in theSpirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  –Phil. 2:1-2

KINGDOM JOY is the theme of what we will be sharing in 17 different Oklahoma Churches this month of October.  How cool it is how CHURCH JOY  feeds directly into HEAVEN JOY!!   Going, sending, praying, teaching, baptizing, extending, inviting, & welcoming are all hallmarks of “Like-minded Jesus Churches”! Thank you all for your prayers and financial support that take us and Chile Mission forward in reaching Chilean children, youth, & adults and families with a real Jesus Savior and Lord—in Santiago and now with so much to do in developing the Mission’s rural property into a Christian children & youth camp and retreat center.

OUR SEPTEMBER KINGDOM JOY

The last two days of September our time in California was capped off with two celebrations:

1. A combined 40^th birthday celebration for both our daughter Jordan and her husband Rob. Most of our family was there and so was Jesus, giving testimony to his role in holding our family together and relationally close.
2. On September 30^th our oldest granddaughter Bella was baptized with us all present to share in her decision. Needless to say, we and heaven rejoiced together!

We are certain that on-going prayer has played a significant role in taking our family forward to this point and regardless of the family reality of each of you reading this, on-going prayer ALWAYS makes a difference!!

3. The Chile team in Santiago was able to provide comfort and prayer in September to parents and adults in differing medical treatments and during recovery. Please pray with us for Carolina’s more organized efforts to make contact with even more area hospitals so that more families can make use of the Mission’s Casa de Acogida “Dulce Refugio”.
4. In Chile on the camp property Catalina’s pregnancy is almost over, with their son Facundo due during the first days of October. Once again, we so appreciate your accompanying prayers in bringing her pregnancy to this point. Through them, we ALL join in their impending joy at Facundo’s arrival, as we look forward to sending you a photo of their new “four person” family.

We especially ask for your prayers as we prepare to participate in this year’s HI-PLAINS SCHOOL OF MISSIONS based near the panhandle of Oklahoma.  It begins on Thursday, October 5^th and ends on Friday, October 27^th.  We will be participating with 5 other missions in circulating between 17 different churches in Oklahoma and Texas to present the work of CHILE MISSION, as well as join two different churches each Sunday for worship on Sunday mornings and sharing in the evenings.  Please pray for our “stamina” 🙂 , as each presentation is in a different town, so we’ll be traveling between them.

While we now spend more time in the States than in Chile, our time is still focused on raising the awareness and importance of Christian camps in Chile.  The work in Chile is definitely God-sized!  (This recent summer, for example, was spent at Round Lake Christian Camp in Ohio teaching about what Chile is all about.)  What a blessing to encourage and broaden the going and sending of missionaries to different cultures, such as to Chile.  This going and sending is just ONE MORE BUILDING BLOCK of “God at work” in Like-minded Jesus Churches.  ALL churches & missions MUST stay the course, and your prayers and other support make a significant difference in the results!!

Meanwhile, we and Abraham & Family are all too glad to have the winter rainy season over and being able to use the sandy roadways to reach their home at the camp—to give them regular access to going and coming on the public road without flood waters to deal with or a 1-1/2 mile walk to their vehicle.  We do have a prayer request for final needed repairs to his pick-up truck’s transmission.  The truck represents their one mode of transportation and vehicle to get needed work done.

We are excited to report that one church, three individuals, and one family have responded so far in being interested in coming to Chile in the first months of 2024 (Chilean summer) to help with land clearing and construction on the Mission’s camp property.  We are VERY grateful, as there is much to be done!  If you are a supporting church or an individual we can also really use your help as well and invite you to contact us about the possibility of your making a trip to Chile as well.  We so appreciate all help.

LOOKING FORWARD TO NOVEMBER….

Have YOU attended the ICOM annual mission’s conference of the Christian Churches in recent years?  Please consider doing so this November and you will not regret it, with its many great workshops, speakers, and mission booths (such as ours!!).  Teens even have their own focus and speakers.  It will be held at the Convention Center in Oklahoma City, November 16-18.  Hope to see you there.

Praising, praying, fasting to GOD, our SOURCE of Church Unity and transformed lives,

Jack & Janine