The HOPE, LOVE, & NEW LIFE Christ Jesus!!

If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?  Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?  It is God who justifies.  Who then is the one who condemns?  No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  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 8:31-39

It’s impossible to measure the love of God for mankind, and the Bible tells us that he wants NO ONE to perish in eternal punishment for having rejected the gift of eternal life available to all who believe in his Son.  Our deep gratitude for that free gift that Jesus’ death offers us is the precise driving force for the existence of Christian churches worldwide, the HOPE, LOVE, & NEW LIFE reason for being of every Christian, and the bottom-line purpose of every Christian mission and ministry, including CHILE MISSION.  It’s staggering the number of people who live without hope or love, and those who even take their own lives for the lack of either.

As we commemorate and celebrate the HOPE, LOVE, & NEW LIFE that Jesus’ self-sacrificing death and resurrection give us this month of Good Friday and Easter Sunday, please let us look to share the same with someone(s) near us!

We, too, give God thanks for you and for your faithful, on-going prayers and financial support as we pray also for you.  Like Paul, we too have been sent out from the church to extend Jesus in Chile and we take nothing for granted.  Your Prayers are our source of God’s Holy Spirit Power along with God’s Word.  THANK YOU!!

SANTIAGO

Speaking of the Power in Prayer, we mentioned last month the upcoming brain surgery of Catalina’s (Abraham’s wife) mother, suffering from Cushing’s syndrome.  She has just completed final tests before being operated on to remove a tumor from her pituitary gland, and is awaiting a date for her imminent surgery.  Thanks for keeping her in your prayers!  She’s pictured here with Abraham’s and Catalina’s  4-month-old Facundo.

Thanks for your prayers as God continues to work in several equally-important ways:

• Concerning the people/family members staying in our ministry site while receiving medical attention in Santiago, Bruno (the man who received the bone marrow transplant from his sister in October) had a setback late in January in which he slipped into a comatose state in the hospital. There was a possibility that he had rejected the bone marrow. Initially he was intubated.  With many praying for him he has rebounded and is doing much better.  The others staying on our mission site have been either discharged or transferred to hospitals near to where they live.
• We worked at our ministry site for three weeks straight supervising, receiving, directing, accompanying, etc., etc., lots of people. At one time we had twelve people staying in the two homes—it was hard to keep their names and circumstances straight! Whew! 🙂  There were parents of burned children, mothers of newborns with cardiac problems and one born with his intestines outside of the body, a 9-year-old with tumors that eat his bones, and Bruno and Norma—who have been with us since October.  Our “clients” come from the far north to the far south of Chile!  We are thankful we have a nice place for them to come back to each day for relaxing and getting ready to face the next day at the hospital.  We weekly meet with them in group for updates and to pray for each one.
• Julián & Carolina are back to resuming his job and her mission site duties after a good vacation rest.
• We have been able to renew a relationship with Nallely, who came back to see Janine one year ago, after being one of the nine children living on our ministry site ten years before. Her picture is in our March 2023 Prayer & Praise Letter.  We are very grateful for our renewed relationship with her, as she comes without hope or joy and with a lack of self-worth.  It turns out that the New Life Christian Church that we attended last month is very accessible to where she lives, so we met her there this past Sunday and the church welcomed her and made her feel like she belonged.  It looks like Nallely will continue to attend and begin to know Jesus and his hope & love for her!  HOW COOL!  She also continues to spend time with us.
• We continue to make good progress with the Foundation’s attorney and also as a Board of Directors in defining roles with Abraham and Julián, who will become its newest members.
• The development of new social media connections in Spanish for our Chilean Foundation, such as with Twitter, Facebook, & Instagram is underway. We also are ready to develop our new Spanish website, asking the Lord to put us in contact with a Spanish speaker possessing such skills!  We do have a Word Press web domain already purchased.  Perhaps this Spanish-speaking, talented person will even be reading this Prayer & Praise letter?! 🙂 🙂

AT CAMPO VIVO

• We are presently with Abraham on the future camp property, and as always, our time and conversations with him are being blessed as we plan forward and decide on priorities. The excavator is presently having over-heating problems, but Abraham’s good mechanic hopes to look at it this week.
• We also have been in contact with two construction engineers to receive their bids in the construction of the 10 x 18 meter metal two-story workshop/storage/parking building with offices. The exact location of this first building has been decided upon.  While we now have enough funds to build this first building, we continue to ask God for one-time donors to help us move forward!
• The addition of Chile Mission team members to work with Abraham & Catalina on the camp property continues to be a huge prayer petition. Thank you for praying with us!!

2024 IN GENERAL

At present Janine is planning a return trip to Chile in August.  We are excited to report that she hopes to be accompanied by one young person interested in interning with us for almost a month.  We are also looking to meet up with another Christian lady who has been to Chile twice before and is hoping to retire here.  She has done counseling of abused women in northern Chile.

Thank you SO MUCH for praying for ALL of the above Chile Mission issues and needs!!

Praising, praying, fasting through The HOPE, LOVE, & NEW LIFE Christ Jesus!!

And have a JOYOUS, SHARED EASTER!! 

Jack & Janine