We are presently in the States to visit churches & immediate family and to participate in the ICOM mission conference in Columbus, Ohio, beginning November 13.  We highly recommend the conference for anyone able to attend, and please stop by the CHILE! CHILE! CHILE! booth.  It is an excellent, outward-focused conference for every age.  As churches, God’s extension of himself through us to the world around us and not around us is our reason for existence. NOTE: next year’s conference is in Richmond, VA—PLAN!

Did you know that Chile has the most annual official holidays of the South American countries?  They number 15, with six of those being Roman Catholic in origin.  Chile’s newest holiday is celebrated on October 31^st (Halloween).  It has been named “Reformation Day” to honor Protestant/Evangelical churches.  We mention it, as there was a march and rally for Life in Santiago on the 31st—just one more reason to pray that the church in Chile will continue to stand for and voice God’s good design for celebrating life.  This very significant issue, and others, will be coming up for vote in 2015.

God’s good and right design of all life is always available to us through his written word, the Bible.  Not only that, but he is also a God of purpose, and carries out those purposes in us and through us.  They will be achieved. These verses in particular relate to November’s Prayer Letter.  PRAYER POINTS for the month will be found throughout.

 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed      for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.  –Isaiah 55: 8-11

“I know that no plan of yours can be thwarted.”  –Job 42: 2

There are various ways in which God has been at work this year to see his designs, purposes and plans carried out in and through the Chile Mission Team and in the church, La Iglesia Cristiana, Jesús es El Camino.  Some of those ways have required time and patience and others have required good, needed decisions, but all serve their purpose in going forward in the Lord.  To help you visualize your prayers this month, we are inserting photos in each category.

Beginning with the church, we made a decision just over two months ago to switch to a house church structure.  Pictured from left to right are Richard, Jack, Mike, & Oscar, our four elder/pastors.  We were coming together on Sundays at a rented location from various sectors of Santiago and despite attempts during the year to better disciple members and be the church in different ways during the week, we had basically lost touch with our corporate purposes as the body of Christ in the world.  All of the “house” groups will share the same name and at present there are two—one north of Santiago (starting in March, 2015) and one in the southern municipalities.  The plan is to divide the southern group into two early in 2015, and multiply out from there over time.

PRAYER POINT FOR THE CHURCH: Please pray for identity and for single-minded purpose and commitment.  We must begin to see ourselves as Jesus’ church.

Chile Mission’s ongoing work with children (and specifically now, abandoned children) has become a main ministry focus of what we do.  Pictured are children from the first children’s home that Janine directed in the years 2000 – 2002.  We used this photo, as when we begin anew in 2015, we will be seeking to receive much younger abandoned children to increase the possibility of their being adopted.

Steps were initiated in October, 2013, to become a legal entity in the form of a Foundation, providing a framework and basis to better ensure longevity and Chilean function-ability.  While this legal process has taken unexpected time in its completion, God has been “at work” in his own way to better position us for the future.  2014 showed us and the Foundation’s board the need to start fresh in 2015 with new house parents, as in the case of the Peruvian house parents, who left in September.  The year has also been used for reupholstering of furniture and for needed exterior maintenance and improvements.  The new residence board has also been meeting throughout the year to determine who should be the first Chilean director of the residence, as well as choices for additional needed board members.  We know that we are moving forward and that God is leading.

PRAYER POINT FOR THE WORK WITH ABANDONED CHILDREN: That God will bless the finalization of the process to obtain our legal identity as a Foundation.

Another ministry to children full of potential into the future now in first, real stages of development is the children’s camp near Concepción, Chile (roughly 5 ½ hours south of Santiago).  We have mentioned this project in past Prayer Letters and ask for your prayer coverage that it would successfully continue to move ahead.  The exact land that it will be built upon is pictured here—roughly 8 acres of rural hilly, wooded ground, ideal for such a camp.  We will be seeking church help especially in 2016 (seems a ways off, but trips to Chile need to be programmed well in advance) to help build cabins and other structures, such as a larger multi-purpose building and “zip”-line.

PRAYER POINT FOR THE CHILDREN’S CAMP:  Pray now for our first steps–the camp board formation and successful legal titling of the property.

Jack’s monthly work with the Casa del Alfarero (Home of the Potter) Christian live-in drug rehab center for men is another ministry of the mission to give God thanks for and to continue praying for.  At present, forty men of various ages live at the center.  The photo was taken this year after one of their morning devotionals.

Thanks, too, for your continuing prayers for Millarai, pictured with her “new” mom, Gilda.  Milla is due to finish her long series of chemo treatments for osteosarcoma (bone cancer) next month in December, allowing her to go back home to northern Chile for Christmas.

‘HELP WANTED’ PRAYER POINT:  We are in particular seeking a person to come to Chile for all of 2015 (beginning in February) to coordinate our “English Club”.  This good ministry outreach is a great TESL opportunity that requires someone with basic Spanish skills to lead.  Pictured is Megan, a 2011 Chile Mission intern, in the middle of 5 English Club participants.  Luis Alberto, on the far right, came to know us a couple years earlier through this ministry and was baptized as a result.

Praising, praying, and fasting in a Master Plan, Achieving Purposes God,

Jack & Janine

We so need and appreciate your prayers in all we do.  It is through prayer that Christians connect to God’s power and it is through his receiving and responding to our prayers, praise, and gratitude that he is glorified.  No wonder that he invites our prayers and thanksgiving.  What a complete package that makes, we with him and we together in completing his good plan and purposes.  We so thank you for your kingdom partnership!  We also give thanks for those of you who fast in some way as you pray for the extended work of the church in the world. As Paul wrote the church in Philippi, 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.  –Phil. 1:3-5

October petitions for prayer and praise

–Millarai is set for another round of chemo this month, leaving her with two more cycles of treatment to complete in November and December.  She’s been a real trooper this entire year through her surgery and treatments for bone cancer.  There is on-going concern as well for her continued low weight (roughly only sixty pounds).

–Developments in our work with abandoned children:

• Firstly, we just signed a power of attorney allowing the law firm to sign any needed documentation in submitting our papers for final approval this first week of October. The coordinating attorney fully expects that we will be completely done and legal within one month.  That is a huge praise as we pray for the termination of what has been a long process for various reasons mainly having to do with internal problems within the law firm itself.  This means that going into 2015 we will be ready to proceed with 1) hiring a full-time director for the residence, 2) hiring house parents to begin receiving children, and 3) make necessary contacts to begin receiving abandoned children ideally between the ages of four and six years old.
• The Peruvian couple did move from the mission property at the end of September. In assessing their characteristics, we believe that Jorge would not have provided the steady example needed in a “house” dad.
• Our main prayer regarding the mission property during the time we are in the States from October 8th through the end of the year is for God’s watchfulness over the property and those staying at the property in our absence. We need someone to live at the property and take care of the dogs.

–Progress continues to be made toward the reality of a future children’s camp/Christian center near Concepción (six hours south of Santiago).  The owners of the land who are dedicating roughly sixteen acres of property for the purpose of developing and establishing a children’s camp/Christian center in the country met together with Janine and a Christian architect friend at the property in September to begin talking ideas, needs, and layout.  They also met together with the notary/attorney who will be helping with the legal aspects and details regarding the land’s use.  All of these steps take time and we ask for prayer that this significant project steadily continues in every way necessary going forward.

–Our impending trip to the U.S. begins with our arrival in Chicago on October 8^th.  We spend less than two weeks in the Midwest and then head toward North and South Carolina churches, stopping for a couple days with our son, Jayme, and his wife Malia in Baltimore (whom we won’t see at Christmas time in CA).  The ICOM is in Columbus, Ohio, November 13-16 and our daughter Jordan is due with their third girl around November 21.  We are excited to be there for the birth to help their family with all the details!!  We highly encourage anyone possible to attend the ICOM.  It is an excellent missions event and worth the time of missions-oriented churches.

Praising, praying, and fasting in a Prayer-Partnering AND responding God,

Jack & Janine

¡¡CHICHICHI  LELELE VIVA CHILE!!

On September 18, 1810, Chile officially declared its independence from Spain.  The celebration now lasts almost a week and includes folk dances and special events in schools and towns across the country and two official days off—Sept. 18^th and 19^th.  Today Chile is a leading, economically-developing South American country with many opportunities and trade partnerships in hand.  In secular terms, Chile is “in”.  Inflation rates have not been out-of-control since we arrived at the end of 1993.

At the same time, it is a country grappling with significant, on-going social issues and problems that include civil unrest, demonstrations, and physical, mental and emotional abuse.  Education continues at center stage in the political arena battlefield, and the difference between the typical family’s standard of living and that of the educated continues to be vast.  Jesus is “God and Lord” for few, most Chileans finding human solace in Jesus’ earthly mother Mary, whose statues are everywhere.  We are here to lift up the name of Jesus and make him known every way we can.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” –MATT. 28: 18-20

Speaking of Jesus, Colossians 1: 19-20 says,

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

We, as missionaries, are part of active, on-going Christian ministries in Chile that God has built up over time, many of which, along with new ones, will long outlive us.  We are especially grateful for your continuing support of us through prayer and fasting–we have been sent to Chile to make a difference in real lives, from children on up.  Pray for this country.

Thanks, too, for continuing to pray for our specific petitions:

• Millarai continues with chemo treatments. She has four cycles of three treatments each to go, with each cycle spread over a month.  At the same time, she must begin to walk with crutches (from where the tumor was removed just below her left knee).  She and her family would love for her to be back home in northern Chile for Christmas.
• We have a significant praise and request with regards to our children’s residence. First the praise: The renewed legal process to become a Foundation is moving along well, with the expectation of having all documents finalized and submitted this month.  The process itself that follows should take three months or less.  We thus hope to be functional, with a new director and house parents in place within the first months of 2015.  With the extended time frame from what was originally hoped for, Jorge and Marilyn, the Peruvian couple currently with us, will be moving.  Please continue praying and giving thanks with us that all comes to fruition and that God is glorified.
• The church has begun meeting on Sundays in homes of members. It’s been a good start. Pray that more friends are invited.
• We are sponsoring a couple for this weekend’s Marriage Encounter (Sept. 5-7) offered by the Christian Church we originally worked with here in1974 through mid-1976. The couple, Juan & Lina, have grown children and are in the process of reconciling their marriage. They are Christian friends who have been serving the Lord in southern Chile.
• Meetings are scheduled this month near Concepción to move us all closer to seeing a Christian camp for children take shape in that area of the country.
• God seems to be saying that we need to wait to find a house to live in away from our mission property until returning from this fall’s time in the S. (mid Oct.-Dec.) We’ll keep you posted.

Praising, praying, and fasting in a CHILE Jesus,

Jack & Janine

When was the last time your read through Jesus’ three prayers in John 17 just before being betrayed and handed over to the authorities to be beaten, whipped and crucified?  All three are powerful:  his prayer for himself that all will come to know his Father through his completion of the work/mission his Father sent him to do; his prayer for his disciples in their being sent out to teach, preach, and start Jesus’ Church, they too suffering persecution and facing death;  and finally, his prayer for all of us believers to come after, that we may be one in love-based relationship with each other and with him as He and his Father are one.

Please look with us at verses 20-23:  “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²² I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— ²³ I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.  (underlining mine)

Our effectiveness in everything we do can be traced back to Jesus’ prayer for us believers.  LOVE IN RELATIONSHIP, ONENESS, AND COMPLETE UNITY.  I’m reminded of this every time

• Janine and I see Milla, take her out of the hospital, pray with her and see her smile.
• we elders of the church come together and as we, the church, make a transition over to a house-based church model in August. Our last worship service at our present Sunday location will be August 10.
• we, as a new foundation board, come together to make final progress toward becoming the children’s work God wants us to be. The coordinators of the legal organization helping us obtain our legal identity are giving us their full attention, to complete this process as soon as possible.
• we travel to other parts of Chile to interact with local churches and others, as I (with Jeff and Emily) recently did on our nine-day trip to Concepción, Penco, and San Carlos. What a blessed trip that was and how special those relationships!
• I attend the annual Pastor’s Conference of the Chilean Christian Churches/Churches of Christ. I leave tonight for southern Chile to attend this year’s conference held Aug. 1-3.  Greeting, listening, encouraging, and praying together.  Relationship takes these encounters deeper.
• I participate monthly in an early morning devotional at the live-in Christian drug rehab center, Casa del Alfarero, as I did this morning. So many men, so much mutual value and appreciation—them for me and I for them.  I encouraged them to do the same with the Bible’s writers—David, the prophets, Paul, John, Peter, etc.  Their writings are taken to a whole new level when we sense ourselves in relationship and oneness with them.
• Janine leads work being done here at the mission property and its houses, getting ready to receive children in these coming months.
• We work in tandem as a mission team with our U.S.-based teammates, Donn & Cindy and others.
• we are in contact with you by internet, phone, or in person, and when we send you all our monthly letter giving you ways to pray and fast for God’s work through us. The first Christians were just as linked through common cause, purposes, and prayer & fasting.

I mentioned above our time with Milla and my monthly visits to the drug rehab center.  There’s something extraordinarily powerful in entering her room or in my entering the devotional and sensing true relationship and oneness with those thirty-five to forty men.  This week in visiting Milla and then again this morning at the drug center it was so neat to show her and also the men where they are mentioned in bold inside of the daily pages of my prayer journal.  The power of being ONE IN RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND EACH OTHER.  Please use August to focus on praying this focus and for living it as well.  God promises to bless!

We are still looking for a house to rent or possibly buy.  Thank you all for your continued prayers.  Our website is up-to-date and user-friendly.  We are looking for ways in August to make it even more so.

Praising, praying, and fasting in our “One in Relationship” God,

Jack & Janine

Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.  Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord.   And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.  Therefore confess each other’s sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.  The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.  –James 5:13-16

The United States was built on a Christian foundation by Christian founding fathers.  Twenty-seven of those fifty-six men, for example, had Christian seminary degrees and George Washington himself was a strong Bible-believing Christian.  There is a painting of the 1^st Continental Congress in 1774 depicting the entire Congress in fervent prayer.  What a heritage!

As we share our main July prayer needs we remember the great weight upon their shoulders.  Our founding leaders practiced prayer and knew its power.  Christianity, Christian ministry and Christian mission were designed by God to work with prayer, as God answers and receives glory for it all.  We again thank you for joining in prayer on behalf of God’s good purposes in Chile and in the United States!

Prayer for Milla:  She just finished her next series of chemo treatments and has not had adverse reactions  (up until now at least!) that put her previously in intensive care for six weeks.  As of today (July 2) she is expecting to be released again around July 4^th until her next round of chemo.

Prayer for our work with children:  We continue to make good, regular progress in readying the mission site for children.  This generally means two people working outside on scaffolding on exterior surfaces and two people working inside, which includes chair repairs and even re-upholstering.  On the legal side of things, we had been regularly trying to make contact with the attorneys assigned to help us in the filing and processing of papers for the new foundation.  In being unsuccessful in those attempts, we re-contacted the main Pro-Bono organization, who did their own “investigation”, determining that new attorneys are needed.  We met with Pro-Bono coordinators yesterday and the process will now again begin.  We are most probably looking at October as the finishing date of our foundation identity.  At the same time we continue to meet as a director board, addressing different aspects of the renewed work.  Thank you, Lord, for leading us through these steps.

Prayer for the Church:  During elder/pastor meetings in June it was decided to change the structure of the church to one based in “house” churches.  Our small congregation is wide-spread geographically and we have lost some of the “relational” aspects that a local church holds with its neighborhood.  At the same time, Mike (a fellow elder/pastor) and Tabi Boyce now live even farther south of where we meet on Sundays.  They have initiated in recent months a weekly home group for “non-believers.”  It’s been very successful and now several attend.  The whole idea between the Boyces and a Christian neighbor couple was to introduce non-Christian neighbors to God and see what he says in the Bible about modern, hard issues.  They started with the Gospel of John.  Please pray for this major transition for our church as it unfolds in July and August.  Our prayer is to establish home churches within our members’ neighborhoods.

Prayer for our impending 9-day trip south:  Jack, Jeff, & Emily will be leaving in the morning, July 5^th for a 9-day trip south to visit three Chilean churches/works.  They will be presenting/guiding a workshop, interacting with children, teens, and young adults, preaching, and otherwise connecting to and encouraging each group.

Prayer for a house to live in away from the mission property:  Thanks to you all for continuing to pray that we’ll be able to locate a house to live in outside of the mission property.  We are also seeking properties/homes that we might even purchase, instead of rent.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you  in our “Prayer-based” God,

Jack & Janine

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.  Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.  Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.  –Proverbs 3: 5-10

What a great proverb of trust in God’s faithfulness and of our faithful commitment back to him.  From the minutest of details to the largest, most significant single act or event, we go to the Lord and trust in him, honoring him with “the firstfruits” our resources, our time, and energy.

—How good it has been to be an active support for Millarai and “Mama” Gilda.  Milla is spending the next two weeks with us so that Gilda could return to her home and job in northern Chile.  She must work at least two weeks each month to keep her job.  Her other two young children (including Milla’s twin sister Ana Catalina) live with relatives while she is here in Santiago.  Milla is scheduled to begin three weeks of chemo treatments soon.  During that time we pray that she’ll be able to leave the hospital for a couple days at a time.  She was diagnosed with bone cancer in September, 2013, and now weighs 66 pounds.  We rejoice that both her appetite and spirit are great!  She had surgery in May to remove the tumor on her knee.  When Milla was in intensive care, the hospital didn’t think Milla would recover, but God healed her!  She recently submitted her dream to go to Easter Island with the Chilean “Make a Wish” foundation.  We know that—medically–her prognosis is not good, but we also know that God has the final word.  We also continue to seek more blood donors—the blood bank asked for 97 units.  May June be a month in which God “IS FLOODED” with prayers on her behalf!  Every small daily blessing and victory in her and in Gilda’s lives are so worth it.

—Thank you too for your ongoing prayers concerning the finalization of the new Foundation for continuing our work with abandoned children.  The exact timing of that approval and even our repeated attempts to be in contact with the attorney are totally in God’s able hands.  In the meantime, good progress continues to be made on physical work on our mission property houses.  The main bathrooms of all four houses have been redone with permanent bath/shower assemblies (thanks, Manteno church!) as we also continue in the sanding and re-varnishing of all 2^nd floor exterior wood of the buildings.  We do expect to be able to finish this month the interior painting, etc. of house #3.  Lastly, we continue to meet as the board of the Foundation to arrive at the best decisions possible—principally with regard to the director position.

—Please keep praying for a house for us to live in to become available not far from our work.

—We have also asked for prayer concerning land in middle Chile to develop as a camp/teaching site for children and others.  Jack, with two others, made another trip to the property planning on being donated by a Christian couple for that purpose.  Good progress has been made regarding important steps needing to take place.

This photo “speaks” of the possibilities and of our need to trust in the Lord.  It depicts Domingo, the property owner, pointing out some of those good possibilities.  The land covers roughly 20 acres.

—Emily, a 3^rd year college student, arrives this first week of June to spend two months with us.  Please pray that her time in Chile would glorify God and that her and his purposes for that time would be achieved.  We’re excited to have her with us.  In the meantime, we continue to give God thanks for Jeff’s time in Chile.  He has completed four and one half months of six as a volunteer intern and we appreciate the ways in which he has benefitted us and our work.

Praising, praying, and fasting in our “Trust in me with all your heart” God,

 Jack & Janine

We praise the Lord for the various ways that He shows himself through special moments, etc. in the middle of processes and/or difficult challenges that take time.  We absolutely know, as it says in James 5:16, that The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective—those that seek, know, and follow God and go to him in prayer because they know that He truly is the One, True Source of Answers and Solutions.   He is responding to all of our prayers, and we can see it and feel it, not just here, but also with people that we pray for in other places.  Those powerful and effective prayers seem to always bring special moments with them as God responds and continues to work out his good and perfect will.

Millarai is doing better and is able to live outside of the hospital while awaiting her surgery to remove the cancerous tumor from her knee.  She and “Mama” Gilda have even been able to go back to Antofagasta in northern Chile until May 5.  Milla’s surgery is scheduled for May 7.  The below picture is Jack carrying her to a cab after our taking her to a movie in Santiago.  She just didn’t have the strength to walk a full block.  It was a great outing and one of those good, special moments mentioned above.

  Please pray for:

o       Her continuing to gain strength for the surgery and that she would remain healthy for it.

o       For their time in Antofagasta.  Gilda’s family is going through some difficult relational problems, in part due to her                 needing to live here in Santiago with Milla for such a long time.

o       That they would feel God’s presence and grow closer to Jesus through this experience.

o       She will need more blood donors, giving thanks, too, that many have come forward.

Mission Residence for children  

–Pray for our on-going board meetings, specifically for meetings with Juan Pablo, who would like to fill the director position.  We need to come to realistic expectations with regard to what that job will entail, including before new children begin to arrive, and also agree on a salary that we can commit to.  With that in mind, we hope that he is the person for the job.

–Pray that our current mission property maintenance & improvements, and house cleaning & painting, etc. will continue to move forward well during May.  We would like to finish readying for children house #3 (currently vacant) this month.

House for Swansons  We continue to look for a house to rent or buy (given the availability of borrowing funds in the States).   We need to move before new children can be accepted.

Land south of Santiago for children’s camp/teaching center  Pray that our on-going initial conversations with the Chilean family with 20 acres of property near Concepción lead to agreement in terms of vision for and design of the property.  They would be donating the land and also continue as part of the directing ownership group to ensure the fulfillment of that vision.  We would like to reach general agreement on these matters this month.  We will also be revisiting the property with them and with others in May.

Valparaiso, Chile fire  Over 2,000 poor to modest homes were destroyed three weeks ago by the worst fire in the history of the city. Many have responded, but many remain in tents as rains begin.

Praising, praying, and fasting, accompanied by many other powerful and effective prayers,

Jack & Janine

After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed, “Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.”  –John 17:1

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.  –Prov. 16: 9

God truly is the author of time and of steps.  When he prayed to his Father, Jesus was well aware that his time had come to suffer and die to complete his mission.  Jesus’ love and steady steps led him to the cross to pay for OUR sins, all to his Father’s glory—an act that Christian churches everywhere in the world commemorate and give God thanks for this month.  In the same way we pray and plan and recognize our heavenly Father, who guides our steps forward to his glory.  Thank you once again for your steady prayers for us and for God’s work through us.  They make a real difference, as God responds to them.

GOING INTO APRIL….

We, as the board for the Foundation in formation, have met several times in planning our most important organizational steps.  Our March meetings with each set of house parents went well.  It was also clear that Daniel & Ingrid would need to move on, which they did before the end of the month.  We are now at work in the cleaning and painting of their house.  Our new Peruvian house parents, Jorge and Marylin, are staying with us.

Issues such as vision, goals, and type of child we should work with are “on the table” for discussion, as well as  beginning personnel roles and needs within budget constraints.  Steps to best help provide good direction are being set in motion.  NUMBER ONE on the first steps list is prayer.  How many times have we and you asked for God’s direction for and blessing of plans, only to find our own plans “adjusted”. J  The prayers of the saints, with fasting and with thanksgiving, are the key.  We as a board have many meetings and steps in front of us in these coming months, as God takes us forward.

Nothing new to report on a house for the Swansons or on a suitable office/locale for the church.  Jack and Janine have a short trip planned to the Concepción/Penco area of Chile this first week of April.  One full day of the trip will be spent looking at a tract of land that might serve well as a rural camp/teaching center site.  A Christian Family with a “kingdom work” approach to life would like to see it used for God’s purposes.  We have only recently met them and are looking forward to seeing the property and to also finding out more about their intentions and dreams.

We have another very significant prayer request to share.  You might remember Ana and Millarai, twins that lived in our residence home for children in 2010 and 2011.  They left to live with relatives in Antofagasta (northern Chile).  The girls recently turned 13 years old.  Unbeknownst to us (as the girls’ new parents, Tomas and Gilda, had lost our cell phone number) in September, 2013, Milla developed a tumor on her left knee, diagnosed now as osteosarcoma, and it metastasized to her lungs, although the new tumors are inactive.  She came to Santiago for chemo therapy in November and her serious condition grew worse with a stomach infection in February of this year, sending her to ICU for four weeks.  Her kidneys failed and she was put on a respirator.   It was at this point (through a friend on facebook) that we became aware of her condition and Janine visited the hospital.  We began letting churches and acquaintances of the girls know, as well as putting out the word of her immediate need for blood donors.  She needed 97 units of blood.   Many have responded (TYL!) and she now lacks less than 60 units.

A couple weeks ago (another praise), her kidneys began to function again and she started breathing on her own.  She is out of ICU and back in isolation in the cancer ward, where is she is gaining strength to undergo surgery to remove the tumor from her knee.  A team of doctors is treating her and her condition is more than serious!  Gilda has been given an apartment and expects to stay in Santiago for the remainder of the year.  PLEASE PRAY FOR:

• Milla’s recovery.  We are praying for a miracle!!
• Gilda and her family to be reached through Christian witnesses.
• Tomas, their 11-year-old daughter, Catalina, & Milla’s twin, Ana, remain in Antofagasta (a 2 ½ hour plan trip).
• For how Gilda & Tomas should relate to Milla’s immediate family in Santiago, who had abandoned the girls.

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm.  Nothing is too hard for you.”  –Jeremiah 32:17

Perhaps the greatest Miracle of All is Jesus Christ and all that HE has done for us.  A VERY SPECIAL & MEANINGFUL PASSION WEEK & RESURRECTION WEEKEND TO YOU ALL!!

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Exact-time, Steps-determining, Miracle, Glorified God,

Jack & Janine

I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ 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. —Phil. 1: 3-6

We give God thanks and praise for the fact that for Christians, events and situations—both terribly difficult and wonderfully good—are never “stand alone” circumstances that happen to us in the moment.  Just as God’s saving work is a process always in motion, his life’s calling and development of us and his work through us carry on as well through both victories and defeats.  It’s God who knows what we and his work through us need at specific points.  It’s a partnership that requires much prayer with joy, confidence, and commitment IN HIM.  Paul reminds us above that the best news is that He is faithful to carry all of it out.  Considering all that trials develop in us (James 1: 2-5) they are well worth it.  All of us Christians can relate to this “carrying it on to completion” encouragement in the Lord.

MARCH

—Thanks for praying for the relationship between our two sets of house parents.  We took up the issue in February with other board members and three of us will be meeting with both couples separately this first week of March.  It’s quite possible that one of the two marriages will no longer be with us going forward.

On other fronts having to do with the finalization of the new Foundation, the attorney handling the legal process on our behalf told us that it is normal for it to take four months or so from the point we are at.  In the meantime, our five-member board and spouses enjoyed a get-to-know-each-other barbeque on Sunday, March 2.  We are planning bi-monthly meetings to organize as a board and to work with our most important first steps in the work, beginning with vision, areas of responsibility of the board members, and the choosing of and job descriptions of those employed, i.e., the new director, etc.  Please pray in March for wise choices in line with God’s leading.

—Jack has planned a short trip to the Concepción, Penco, and Menque region of the country early in March to set the stage for a trip taken by Jack and young people working with us at mid-year to participate in short ministry opportunities in that area.  Pray that the right plans and scheduling can be put in place as a result of steps taken now.

—The search goes on for both a house for Swansons to rent and an office/locale site for the church to rent as well.  Patience seems to be the watchword on both, and occasional possibilities have surfaced.  In the meantime, our mission property may very well become the first “home” of English Club in its new season of activities this year.  We are shooting for its first meeting by the end of the month.  Thanks for your prayers for these on-going matters.

Question:  Have you considered “fasting from a meal” during the week (if you don’t already do so) as a part of your prayer life?  Fasting, per se, is designed by God as a spiritual discipline to fit inside of one’s approach to life.  See Isaiah 58.  The practice also speaks to the deep desire God has for the fullest prayer relationship possible with us, his children.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Experiences-Connecting, Process-Faithful God,

Jack & Janine

We are reminded, as we give thanks for this year’s outreaches, on-going ministries, and new initiatives, of the importance of approaching and continuing all of the above in a way that honors God.  Psalm 37 talks in general about the difference between the righteous and the wicked, but it also gives us in verses 3 – 7a the right approach with which to serve God:

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:  He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

It truly is in the trusting, doing, dwelling, delighting, committing, and waiting that Christians, the church, and missionaries find the right approach in carrying out any mission.

FEBRUARY

Coming into this new month, in addition to house and hospital visits and phone calls, initial 2014 steps have been taken in each of the areas highlighted in January’s Prayer Letter.  We know that God must lead and that He must be honored.  Thank you for your prayers!

1)  In particular, a rift has arisen between the two sets of house parents who live on our mission property.  We await together the time in 2014 when the residences will again begin to receive children after the Foundation papers are finalized.  Daniel & Ingrid have been with us over three years and Jorge & Marylin are relatively new.  Both couples want to continue, but through some misunderstandings and discriminatory remarks made by Daniel with regard to Jorge & Marylin being “Peruvians” (i.e. foreigners) , it is doubtful that the two couples will be able to work together unless there is a reconciliation.

It is hard to tell at this point if the rift will be resolved and be replaced by the oneness and unity we must have in order to be a home to receive and mold abandoned children.  What is certain is that this issue will be taken up together this month.  Your prayers are very valued.  The board of the new Foundation will be meeting this month to begin casting vision and forming responsibilities, etc.  Oneness and unity are central to our going forward.

2)  I, Jack, will continue to visit certain websites and driving different areas primarily looking for a house to rent and also in search of a possible location/office available for church and mission purposes.  We know that God is aware of the need, but that He also has a perfect sense of timing.

3)  Please join us in giving thanks for every opportunity to extend Jesus and encouragement to others.  Judging from many of the circumstances “in play” here in Chile—as well as those many around you that you can think of—the huge need for him in the world is greater than ever.  Please pray that we all will be totally attentive to those that are part of our surroundings and not hesitate to extend and give testimony about Jesus.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Right Approach, Honored God,

Jack & Janine