JESUS–GOD’S PERFECT GIFT OF LOVE & HOPE
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. –Romans 8:35, 37-39
Romans 15:12 refers to Jesus as the source of hope and verse 13 praises God for it:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
How MANY, MANY people end their lives or don’t really know or trust in God, as they live without real love and hope!! Jesus gives us both and yet we often fail to pass him on to others in their time of need. What Christmas gift could be more important this year than the LOVE of Christ and the HOPE that he offers us?!! Jesus truly is God’s PERFECT JOY and PEACE CHRISTMAS GIFT!!
Speaking of God’s gifts, we are filled with gratitude for your continuing prayer and financial support! Chile Mission will soon be entering 2024 in full swing, but it wouldn’t be the same without you. THANK YOU!!
We have just come back from this year’s ICOM annual missions conference in Oklahoma City and, as always, we were blessed to participate in it with our Chile Mission booth. We met with so many friends and sold many Chilean “marble figures” at our booth. We always have helpers, including several children that get their pay in marble people and we also had the indispensable help of Esther Rodawold, pictured below with Janine working in our Chilean Mission booth—many thanks, Esther!! One of the focuses of this year’s ICOM speakers was the need for today’s church pastors, leaders, and teachers to actively guide, encourage, and support their young people toward mission work. Please mark your calendars now to come to ICOM 2024 in Lexington, KY between November 14 & 16. With the Lord’s blessing we’ll love to see you there!
IN RURAL, MIDDLE CHILE
—In November Abraham’s family experienced Covid—right on top of the birth of Facundo—they all survived!!. On top of this, a mission team of 5 Mennonite young people spent a week with Abraham & Catalina, and they even arrived with two drones to take aerial photos and videos of the camp property and the surrounding area. This was an unexpected blessing and Abraham, with the help of others, is combining it all into two videos. One of them will be used to present to the government to—hopefully!!– get them to reroute sections of our public access road (our road can have over three feet of water in winter). In many spots the road is one lane wide and is seven feet below the dirt walls surrounding it. It is interesting that the public road passes through all of the properties on its meandering way to a river—so all of the owners need to give their approval to the change. The Mennonite Mission is looking to send more teams to Chile in 2024, as is the Chilean church in Santiago who have come to help us in the past. TYL!!
—As we look at entering 2024, we again invite and appeal to any of you as individuals or in small church teams to come to Chile, especially to help with construction, land clearing and planting, and other earth-related work on our rural, future camp property. The need is real and is logistically do-able! Please contact us at our cell #949-394-8282 or at chilemission1@gmail.com Perhaps we can combine some of you into one visiting team. We and Abraham would VERY MUCH APPRECIATE your help!! As we mentioned in last month’s prayer letter, it truly IS amazing how God uses short-term mission trips to motivate and energize churches and individuals alike in terms of Kingdom and God identity.
—We continue to pray with Abraham & Catalina for another individual or family to live and work with them on the Mission’s rural land as team members. We have been praying for other on-site teammates for some time, knowing that God is working toward that same goal. We also know that God’s timing is perfect.
—We’re grateful to report that both the Mission’s pick-up truck and the excavator have been repaired and serviced and are again ready for action. We give God thanks for Abraham’s good mechanic, Diego, and we thank you for your help as well! Abraham has been attending “Chilean Mechanic’s school” and we know that the experience will benefit the ex-city boy in the future!!
—Abraham has made contact with a Chilean architect who will help him design and estimate total material costs for the construction of our first building early this next year during Chilean summer. The architect is qualified and his fee is quite reasonable in comparison to others that Abraham knows and has contacted.
—While in Chile this coming January to April we also look forward to signing the finished, amended papers needed to begin the subdivision of the upper thirty acres that will not be included in the camp development. Having the plans for the subdivision completely finalized will allow us to work on preparing those thirty acres for sale in 1-1/4 acre lot sizes next year. There are many people that live in big cities near us that are looking for their small piece of country, and we have a beautiful setting. Some “city-dwellers” just come to camp, while others install small in-ground fiberglass pools and construct summer cabins on their property. We pray for good neighbors!! The remaining 60 acres is the property we will be developing for the camp. Needless to say, this is a HUGE project for us—lots of $$ and good planning will be necessary.
Thank you SO MUCH for praying for ALL of the above issues and needs having to do with our rural land development and for Abraham, Catalina & children!!
IN SANTIAGO
—We are set to sign more legal papers in Santiago to achieve changes to our Foundation legal statutes. Included are raising the number of directors to 5, enabling the Foundation to receive donations of all types from all Chilean and international sources, and putting all Chile properties into our Chile Foundation’s name.
—Carolina is VERY attentive to ALL of the children, parents, and adults that come to spend time at the Mission’s ministry site in Santiago, and with the full support of her family she continues in her role as coordinator and overseer of the Chile Mission Casa de Acogida Dulce Refugio—Sweet Refuge Home. She also continues to work at enlarging her contacts with regional hospital social workers in other parts of Chile in spite of limited and non-existent phone systems in some of those hospitals. It has been difficult for her to get current phone contacts, as well as getting through to social workers in rural hospitals due to this problem. We look forward to spending time with her and with their family during the first months of 2024 to see how we can come alongside her in making more headway with her hospital contacts and church contacts as well. We are VERY grateful for her family. At present two different married couples are staying at the sitio for varied lengths of time during their medical follow-ups.
As with Chile Mission’s work in establishing a much-needed Christian children & youth camp and retreat center in rural Chile, we SO thank you for your continuing prayers for all issues and points having to do with Chile Mission’s important work in Santiago!! Many who come to us in Santiago have no relationship with Jesus. In the end, all of God’s work through Chile Mission is about real people and the real hope that Jesus offers them!
OUR SPECIAL GRATITUDE
We are VERY GRATEFUL for our Chile Mission Team, both for Donn Urban in the States and for Abraham & Family and Carolina & Family! As we look forward to December and to 2024 and beyond, we are also VERY GRATEFUL for each and every supporting church and individual and for each and every prayer partner. You’ve all played an important part in every KINGDOM victory as well as praying and encouraging us through each difficult KINGDOM moment. Both Abraham and Julián (Carolina’s husband) are ready to become members of Chile Mission’s Chile Foundation Board of Directors. God so amazingly continues to take us and Chile Mission forward to his glory.
MERRY JESUS CHRISTMAS TO YOU ALL!!
Praising, praying, fasting through JESUS, GOD’S TRUE GIFT & SOURCE OF LOVE & HOPE,
Chile Mission 