“JOY TO THE WORLD”

 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.   For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

For Christians, John 3:16-17 will always be the “Bottom-line, Un-worldly” reason to celebrate Christmas!  Jesus IS God’s Ultimate Gift of Love that purchased our true freedom and renewed relationship with God by sacrificing his own Heavenly position and life for every single person that believes in and follows him.  An encouragement to us all: Love is not love until it is given away to others!

Merry Christmas to One and All!!

Thank you so much for your prayer and financial support for CHILE MISSION as we pray for you as well, that we all might be worthy of God’s calling of us as we together extend God’s love through Jesus to all people.  Thank you!!

We have much to give God thanks for this month—all of it with Jesus in the middle….

2024 ICOM

This year’s ICOM missions conference was excellent as always, as its purpose is focused on extending Jesus in a full way to the whole world.  In addition to exhibitors and speakers, roughly 7,200 attended the 2 ½ day conference and our main blessing for participating with our Chile Mission booth came in the form of interactions with many special people we either saw at our booth or had meetings with.  Our Chile-made marble products also sold well, which provides profits to use for Chile Mission’s ministries and camp property development project.  As you can see, Janine’s broken arm/shoulder replacement didn’t dampen her participation and enthusiasm at all. 🙂

JANINE’S ARM & SHOULDER

Thank you for praying for Janine’s broken upper right arm.  She had surgery on November 4^th, and because she shattered the ball of her right humerus bone where it connected to her shoulder socket, the surgery turned out to be a “total reverse shoulder replacement”.  All went well and she exercises her arm/shoulder area daily.  Her recovery should take several months, but she can see slow but steady progress every day.

THANKSGIVING IN FAMILY

We had a very special family Thanksgiving week with all of our immediate family together, along with Janine’s brother and sister-in-law at their house in Flagstaff, AZ.  We only get to be together once per year, so it’s quite a special gathering.  In Chile, relationships and family gatherings are extremely important, especially during certain holidays such as Christmas.  Families usually gather on Christmas Eve with a late evening dinner and the opening of gifts, etc. into the very early morning.  Christmas morning is used for sleep and rest.  Christians, making up a minority of Chilean families, have services on Christmas Eve and then gather in family like other Chileans.  May God bless your family relationships as well.

OUR CHILEAN TEAMMATES

Abraham, Catalina, Abril, & Facundo….

Abraham & Catalina will be using December to prepare for moving back permanently to the camp property from Cabrero (30 minutes away). Their plan is to home school their children.  In the meantime, we are grateful for Abraham’s ability to do more and more required maintenance on the excavator, as well as for his knowledge in redoing the reinforcement of the sides of the septic system for the house on the property.  Your prayers are greatly appreciated for his preparations for the pouring of the cement footings for the construction of the maintenance/workshop/storage building to be built beginning in January.  These preparations mostly include the placement of water, sewage, and electric lines for the building, and for capable persons to help him.

We’re very grateful for the three short-term teams formed from different U.S. churches due to come to Chile between January and March to help with construction and we ask for your prayers for God’s blessing and protection over each person planning on being a part.  There presently are other churches seriously considering short trips as well, and we pray for God’s blessing on turning their intentions into reality.

We have an urgent prayer request for Pedro & Raquel, neighbors that live near to our camp property.  They are great neighbors and friends of Abraham & Catalina.  Raquel was just recently diagnosed with liver cancer and is currently hospitalized awaiting the results from one more test result and possible surgery.

Julián, Carolina, Abdías, & Esteban in Santiago….

We are grateful for Julián’s ongoing coordination of legal steps and filings in opening up new opportunities for our Chile Mission Foundation as it operates in Chile.  We are also grateful for medical test results for Julián, who has been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, treatable with diet changes and medication.  He was losing weight with no idea as to why, so these results are much better than being diagnosed with a more serious disease or condition.

In addition, we continue to be grateful for Carolina’s dedication in coordinating our Casa de Acogida (Rest House) for those needing housing in Santiago while in town for needed, complicated medical conditions.  There is always more that can be done to widen our circle of hospital social worker contacts, but Carolina handles each visitor with personal care and interest.  Most of those who come to our property don’t know Jesus, so this is our opportunity to share Christ’s love with them.

Jesus Christ will ALWAYS be the Reason for the Season!!

Praying, fasting, and giving thanks to our “JOY TO THE WORLD” One, True God,

Jack & Janine