“Partnerships made in heaven”
I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
That’s a super beginning in chapter 1:3-6 of Paul’s letter to the Philippians! Several other letters of Paul to churches and to Philemon begin with thanksgiving, which well describes our own thankfulness for each of you in our partnership in Chile. We, too, are right to feel this way as we share needs for prayer, receive financial support, and also receive encouragement and work teams to help with the development of CAMPO VIVO, a much-needed CHRISTIAN camp and retreat center in the middle of the country to extend the love and message of Jesus Christ! WOW are we (like Paul 🙂 ) blessed!!
Of course, God’s good saving work in us goes forward in each of us until our last breath, which is even more reason to rejoice. We also thank him for his steady blessing over the on-going development of the ministries of Chile Mission that he has entrusted us with, along with your own ministries he has placed in each of you. Again, Thank You partners and Thank You Lord!
Here below are Chile Mission answers to prayer and continuing needs for prayer….
One big thank you is for the recent formerly unplanned 10-day visit of another Ultra young women’s group from the Mennonite mission based in Bogota, Colombia. They removed tools and storage units from our two storerooms so that a concrete base could be poured. They also tackled our personal kitchen which had been used for kitchen storage upon our move to the ministry site about seven years ago and then never organized. They cleaned the shelves and put back dishes, pans, and utensils of different kinds so that the room can be used as a kitchen. Finally, they cleaned the kitchen in the office building and also did gardening.
Their time in Santiago was additionally blessed in getting to know several young people their age from the Christian Church in Ciudad Satélite, a church we’ve had a strong relationship with for many years. They are led by Lucas, the oldest son of Pastor Patricio Curinao, who we brought to the States with us one year to attend the ICOM missions conference with us. We are hopeful that several of them will serve in our summer camps as counselors.
After all of that, the girls spent two & one half days on the camp property helping Abraham & Catalina in a variety of ways, pruning trees, clearing the tent-camping area, and painting metal posts to be used in rebuilding the platform/structure behind Abraham’s house. TYL!!
More news on Abraham’s neighbor Raquel, who as we have reported these last months, has liver cancer. She is now hospitalized with liver problems and we were sad to learn that her cancer continues to spread in her body. Thank you for praying for her and giving thanks with us, knowing that our All-Powerful God without limits can be trusted in ALL situations. No matter the outcome, he loves us all so very much and he is there with her. The six Ultra team members even had the opportunity to pray with and sing for her.
Abraham has been able to keep working on the new platform structure taking shape behind their house, following up on the metal support poles put in place by the mission team from Dover First Christian Church team that was here in late January. As seen in this photo, the metal supporting rods for flooring for the upper area of the structure are mostly soldered in place and the next step will be to add the wooden flooring. TYL!!
The mission team of eleven from First Christian Church in Wilmington, IL is set to arrive in Chile on March 29 and we will have plenty for them to help with as well. Thank you for helping us pray forward their preparations and safe arrival! As we and Abraham continue to pray for and look for more Chilean partners to help with construction, we keep our eyes on the Creator Enabling God of it all.
In Santiago
We had the blessing in February of being able to pray for and serve several sets of persons staying on our mission site with serious medical situations:
- The parents of 14-year-old Elias with brain cancer receiving two additional surgeries to remove malignant tumors from his brain.
- Hugo, an adult coming to Santiago to undergo a bone marrow transplant using his own cells instead of receiving them from a donor. His transplant surgery was carried out on February 19th and he is scheduled to remain hospitalized in isolation for roughly three months.
- Bruno and his sister Norma were back with us for a couple days in February for him to have another two-month checkup, after receiving a bone marrow transplant from her at the end of 2023 to combat bone cancer. The tests came back fine and they returned to southern Chile for another two months.
We are grateful to have the opportunity to come alongside of such families and couples and very much appreciate your accompanying prayers for them.
Teresa, the wife of Carlos, one of our long-time maintenance workers at our Santiago site, recently had surgery to remove her gall bladder. She also suffers from certain heart conditions. The surgery went well and we ask for prayers for them and their family. Carlos has worked with us for many years and while he believes in God, he says that “he likes to keep an open mind” about such things. We continually look for opportunities to specifically share Jesus with him.
We have one more photo to share and give thanks for. It’s of Janine with Nallely and her brother Jorshua. They were two of the nine children that lived in two of our ministry site houses with Chilean Christian parents for just over two years ending in October 2013. Nallely, now 23, came back to visit us last year to say thanks for Janine’s influence in her life. This past month of February she called again and came with her brother Jorshua, who in 2012 and 2013 was a teenage con artist in manipulating anything and almost anyone to get what he wanted. He, now 24 years old, became a Christian this past year and God is transforming him from the inside out. He also has a good job. TYL!! It was good to see him again and we ask you to pray with us for him and his steady Christian growth. God has truly begun “a good work” in Jorshua!
Jack continues to this day to pray for all nine of these “now adult” children. WOW what good news!
Our first Foundation Board of Directors meeting in February went well and our next meeting is scheduled for mid-March. Still not completed are the opening of a checking account in the name of the Foundation and the re-design of Chile Mission’s trifold publicity pamphlets. Please pray for the completion of the many details that accompany our work with the mission. Part of that is working with the team to move forward, taking more and more responsibility from us.
Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks to our “Partnership-Making” One, True God,
Chile Mission 