“The ETERNAL DOOR-OPENER of All Time”

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” –Luke 11:9-10

The first 13 verses of Luke chapter 11 contain just one of Jesus’ several teachings about prayer.  We are firm believers in specific, consistent prayer, because it speaks not only of God’s faithfulness to his purposes and to his children, but also of OUR part in ACTIVELY serving those purposes and extending that love.  God receives glory every single time that he can answer our asking, our seeking, and our knocking, as he truly is “The ETERNAL DOOR-OPENER of All Time”!  If we don’t ask, seek, and knock, what does that say about us?

We all have seen uniformed, hotel doormen in action in movies and maybe even in person, but as young and/or handsome as they come, they can’t open the doors that have eternal spiritual consequences in this world!   As Jesus lived and taught, prayer is powerful, and speaking about that we again thank you for your prayer partnership and financial support as well!!  As we celebrate the 4^th of July this year, let’s be sure to also pray for our country and for our leaders.  We know the future of all things will always be in God’s hands.

As you may know, Chile (and all countries below the equator) officially entered its winter season on June 21^st, and in Chile with the colder weather comes rain—especially in the middle and southern regions of the country.  The third week of June, Abraham related that they experienced a very unusual torrential rain storm with high winds that blew down nearby trees and caused other damage.  While he is still repairing structures, etc., we are very grateful that their house and other buildings suffered little damage.  Especially now through August we appreciate your prayers for safety and accessibility in leaving and returning to the camp property.  This last heavy storm left the road flooded and trees weakened (from the forest fire two years ago) and blown down across it. (Yes, the Chilean government still promises to improve our road!?! 🙂 )

In the meantime, Janine is almost fully recovered from a nasty upper respiratory infection and we are grateful indeed.  All kind of ailments were ruled out and in the end a type of z-pack steroid treatment got rid of it.  Here in the States in Cedar Lake IN, we are very much in motion cleaning out what has been our “furlough” house base in the Midwest for 33 years, and doing repairs and improvements to get it ready to sell.  “What an undertaking!!” doesn’t fully describe the work ahead, yet this month’s verses from Luke 11 continue to reflect God’s faithfulness.

Two small groups—one of adults and one of teens—came to help empty a second floor bedroom and also one third of the basement and three of our four children will be able to come and give us major decision-making help the first week of July.  We’re so grateful to truly be making progress for the first time since deciding to sell the house a few years ago, as we continue praying for more help as needed in July.  Thank you for adding your prayers to ours!  In past years we never really thought about the possibility that we would be unable to traverse the stairs with heavy boxes or furniture.  Needless to say, the volunteers made short work of a huge task for us!  Also, perhaps you live in our area and can contact us to help as well?!  In the words of the former game show Price is Right, “Come on down!!”

Speaking of asking, seeking, and knocking, God has provided an older model motor home generously donated by a good friend for us to live in when we continue to return to the Midwest each fall for church visits and to participate in the ICOM missions conference each November.  God answers prayer!

Now to relate God’s answers to two more BIG ASKS, SEEKS, & KNOCKS:

1. We are buying a 40’ hi-cube shipping container in these first days of July, to be delivered to Cedar Lake in the next couple weeks. We will be filling it with items, equipment, and furniture for Chile and then sending it through different agencies to the Long Beach CA port for shipping to Chile.  We give God tremendous thanks for fellow Christians and others who are assisting us in our buying, transporting, and shipping such a container, as God connects many dots!

In addition to items we can send from our house in Cedar Lake, we have already received news in response to our prayers for other furniture and items that we will be needing at the camp.  One great supporting church in our area is giving us roughly 100 chairs in good condition.  Also, our call to a Christian Camp in middle Illinois was answered with their willingness to give Chile Mission 200 feet of steel cable to be used in the construction of a zip line or other recreational structure, along with more chairs and other available camp items.  TYL!!

They in turn referred us to a company that receives mattresses and furniture from hotels and universities, and they have 40 good mattresses for us, along with other needed furniture.  God is faithful to his purposes, especially when we pray and pay attention to the promptings of his Holy Spirit!

2. Another very useful piece of equipment that we seek to purchase and send in the container is an older model skid steer/Bobcat, invaluable in the clearing of land, etc. In looking for one, we have gotten VERY good advice from two of the men who regularly work with skid steers and similar equipment who were part of the mission trip to Chile from a church in Dover, OH, earlier this year and they know our camp’s terrain and plans.

Two other men who were part of a team of four who recently came to help us carry boxes and furniture, have retired from companies that sell skid steers and other equipment and they and those companies are now on the lookout for the type of skid steer that we seek.  Perhaps one of you might know of such a machine for sale:

WE ARE SEEKING TO PURCHASE AN OLDER MODEL SKID STEER, with a budget of $15,000 to $20,000/ Bobcat, Caterpillar, John Deere, or Case in order of preference.

Open cab, relatively low hours of operation, rubber wheels but in addition a metal overlaid track if possible, bucket with teeth if possible, without modern expensive “bells & whistles” and extra safety shut-offs.  We will look to purchase a bush hog frontal accessory as well.

**PLEASE NOTIFY US AS SOON AS POSSIBLE IF YOU KNOW OF SUCH A SKID STEER FOR SALE IN JULY!!  This represents just one more example of ASKING, SEEKING, & KNOCKING to God’s Kingdom Glory!

Our cell # is 949-919-2028 and our email is chilemission1@gmail.com.  Here are example photos of the shipping container we are arranging for and the type of skid steer we seek to purchase.  God at work!

We SO APPRECIATE your continuing prayers (with thanksgiving) toward ALL of the above-mentioned needs and once again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR STEADY PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT!!

Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks to our “ETERNAL DOOR-OPENING” One, True God,

Jack & Janine

“But By MY SPIRIT, says the Lord Almighty”

 “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” –Zech. 4:6

“Who dares despise the day of small things.” –Zech. 4:10

The Biblical account of the exiled Jews’ return to Jerusalem from Babylonia under the rule of Cyrus king of Persia is pretty incredible, including their task of rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem.  There was much to do and so many obstacles in their way during those several years, and the most impacting lesson we can draw from the entire account is found in the above verses.  Zechariah wrote them to Zerubbabel, hand-picked by God to lead the Jews in the rebuilding of the temple.  What we need to realize is that these verses apply to us today every bit as much as they did to Zerubbabel!   

None of us are engaged “by accident” in God’s calling of us, whether it be in Chile or exactly where we live, and although we are called to be accountable and committed to completing our calls, GOD’S SPIRIT WILL ALWAYS BE OUR ENABLER AND IN CHARGE OF ALL TIMING, not us.  Also, every work of the Lord has its beginning, even starting with nothing.  It’s his specialty so to speak!  Pictured is a small section at the front of Jack’s daily Prayer Journal.

Another eternal specialty of the Holy Spirit is PRAYER, which ties us to God and to each other.  As we mention in every one of our monthly prayer updates, we and CHILE MISSION so appreciate your prayers and your sending us off to complete God’s work marked out by His Holy Spirit!  THANK YOU once again!! 

“For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”  –2 Chronicles 16:9

The final design and bid process for the construction of our two-story, metal maintenance/workshop/storage building to be constructed on the camp property have taken MANY months.  What would have been a fairly straightforward process in the US, we hope, will be totally completed very soon and ready to begin building after the finish of Chilean winter rains ending in early September.  We know, though, that God’s timing is connected and we give him all thanks.  We thank you for your accompanying prayers during this process!             

In the meantime, the covered parking platform with its balcony and room with space for extra beds is now totally under roof right before our rainy season sets in, and we again thank you churches and individuals that came to Chile this year to help build it from scratch!!  Abraham finished the roof in May and then left on a VERY well-deserved vacation with his family.  They are due back these first days of June.  Very well built and utilitarian in design, it should hopefully serve the camp for many years to come.

IN SANTIAGO, Carolina continues to receive and serve those coming to stay at CHILE MISSION’s Casa de Acogida for varied lengths of time.  As an update, we are pleased and grateful to relate that their 16 year old son Esteban did mostly recover from his hospitalized urinary tract/kidney-related infection, however he continues under doctor care toward his full recuperation.  Please continue to join us in praying for him and his complete healing.

Also, both Abraham’s and Julián’s families have visited several new churches in order to build up church connections in both locations, and although church visits are important toward the future of CHILE MISSION’s work, our main encouragement to both families is to follow up on those visits.  Our weakness is that usually a visit to our work is agreed upon, but with no exact date set.  Almost always, that date “falls between the cracks” so to speak.  Please pray with us for improvement in this area, as we see the involvement of local churches to be vitally important in spreading our vision there.

IN THE STATES, we hope to spend all U.S. summer in Cedar Lake, IN with a two-fold purpose:

• Prepare and sell our house on the Cedar Lake Bible Conference grounds. It’s been our blessed “home away from Chile” for these 33 years, since August, 1992.  We will miss it, but as we continue to spend time in the Midwest every fall to visit churches and friends and drive to the annual ICOM missions conference every November, we will not need to own a home.  Our children live pretty far away, with two of them with their families living in Los Angeles, prompting us to purchase a home in the Palm Springs area.

You are ALL invited to visit, whether we are there or not! 🙂

• As with wherever we find ourselves Stateside, we continue to visit both monthly-supporting churches, along with other churches and individuals seeking small work teams that can visit Chile to help on the camp property. There are a variety of tasks to connect to, including construction, clearing land, pruning fruit trees and planting.  We were SO blessed this year by those visiting who could operate our excavator!  Yes, Abraham continues to seek the help of Chileans, but the importance of mission visits from churches and from individuals cannot be over-stated.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

We also continue to ask God to lead us to those individuals who are able to make larger one-time donations toward the development of the Campo Vivo Camp.  We are so grateful to already have funds (roughly $200,000 in total) to construct our first two-story metal building and also the back-to-back bathrooms with showers in the tent camping area, and we know that the Holy Spirit will lead forward from there.  If you are such a person and are open to receive more information, please contact us.  We also would love to meet with you.  Our Email address is chilemission1@gmail.com and our main cell phone number is 949-394-8282. With the finishing of the tent-camping area, we can begin to receive groups, and from there we will be looking at constructing the multi-purpose two-story dining hall in 2027.

We SO APPRECIATE your continuing prayers toward these above Stateside issues and once again, THANK YOU FOR YOUR STEADY PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT!!

Rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks to our “Holy Spirit-Powered” One, True God,

Jack & Janine