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

Thank you all again for your prayer support which continues to buoy us up and help accomplish God’s plans in Chile!  That on-going support is just one of the important by-products of like-mindedness and shared purpose.  Referring to us Christians, Jesus prayed, I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 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.  –John 17: 22-23

Oneness is crucial to the functioning of the church, the sending of missionaries, and the missionary’s work with nationals.  ….and it is based in Jesus’ oneness with his Father and the Father’s love for him and for us.  Jesus, one with his Father in desire, commitment, and purpose and we, one with him, the Son.   Oneness and like-mindedness are our Chile “watch words” for January and 2014, “that the world would know…”.  2013 was a year of blessings, challenges, and setback (with regard to our work with children).  Sometimes the true victories aren’t immediately visible but they are there all the same.  There is always the “bigger picture” of which we are a part, and God’s purposes will always be accomplished.  We so appreciate your oneness in prayer.  On our end, all of the below areas include a need for oneness in one way or another.  Please join us in praying for:

—our work with abandoned children.

• The successful culmination of becoming a corporation (foundation).
• Agreement on approaches and implementations between the five board members (three Chileans and us) of the foundation.
• The successful search for the right Chilean director for the residence.
• The continued participation of current house parents and if God would deem differently, their   replacement with others equally good.
• The re-initiation of receiving children into the residence.
• Healthy and proper closure with the nine children taken from our care at the end of 2013.
• God’s watchful eye and protection over the futures of those children and his blessing of any possible adoptions of those children to U.S. families seeking to adopt them.

—the church (Iglesia Cristiana Jesús es El Camino).  With God’s blessing, a change to a full-time rental location (as opposed to Sunday mornings only) would open up good opportunities (English Club, Bible teaching, and other community outreaches) more directly connected to the church.  Rental prices are high where we are, making it necessary to look in another close-by community.  Such a decision will require unity between leadership and membership.

—the development of a Chilean Christian mentor/life coach group.  Such a group will provide accountability and support for others coming out of drug & alcohol rehabilitation and out of other difficult pasts to achieve God’s full healing and his higher calling in their lives.  The final design and initiation of the group itself and of its approach will require the unity and joint commitment of those participating.  The goal is to have both in place by the end of the year.

— our ability to receive all those coming to Chile this year to know and help in what we do.  This includes all coming to intern with us, others coming to assist in specific functions, and all others urged by the Lord to further investigate Chilean cross-cultural ministry opportunities.

—unity with whom God knows best to determine and commit to a higher special project involving children and/or others that would require the purchase/acquisition of a small tract of land outside of Santiago.  Such a project, if committed to by several, has great potential.  Funds have already been given toward it.

—last, but not least, our ability to locate a rental house (not needing too much work 🙂  for ourselves.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Completely One, Perfect Unity God,

Jack & Janine

We thank you so much for every time this year that you have prayed and fasted for God’s ministry through us in Chile.  God/Jesus never promised us that his kingdom work would be easy or trouble-free—quite the opposite–but he does say to not be troubled, as he has overcome the world.  We are exhorted in 1 Thes. 5:16-18 to Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  Eph. 6:10 and following speaks of the spiritual nature of the battle that comes with all kingdom work; verse 18 reads, And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.  With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

The point?  It is evident that prayer plays a vital part in kingdom work and that kingdom work in turn is designed by God to work with our prayers and not without them.  On the heels of Thanksgiving Day we give God thanks for his kingdom work and for your steady prayers—we both appreciate and need them.  God receives the glory for it all when he answers them.

In December

• Continue to pray for the well-being and God’s protection of the children taken from our residence in October.  We have no news to report about them at present, but hope to have something to share next month.  Pray also for the continued peace of mind and shared expectations of our residence staff toward a reshaping and renewing 2014.
• Pray for the successful processing of our submitted papers for our children’s work to become a legal Foundation in Chile.  The papers were submitted going into November and the process normally takes from four to six months.  This important step will benefit the work in several ways, among them to provide shared direction of the work through a board of five—Janine and I, with three Chileans, all top-notch in different ways.  Foundation status will also give us standing in seeking funding sources and donations within Chile.
• Pray that God would prepare an office or store front space for the church to rent going into 2014.  It is likely that such a space will be more reasonably priced in or near San Bernardo, a decent-sized town south of our present location, but still very accessible by public transportation.  Such a space will also provide a recognized location for Christian teaching and groups, for our “English Club”, and other activities designed to build relationship and draw people to the church.
• In general, Chileans worship and pray to Mary, mother of Jesus.  Pray that this December would bring many more Chileans to worship Jesus Christ and give thanks for his birth as God’s Very Son.
• Lastly, pray that God would use December to prepare those planning on coming to Chile in 2014 to experience and help in our work, and to speak to and best guide all those contemplating cross-cultural internships in 2014.  We met some of these college students at the recent annual missions conference (ICOM) of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ and such a decision is not easy with so many good options to choose between.  This year’s conference was excellent!

Thank you for helping up the value of prayer and fasting for the work of all our churches and missionaries!

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Prayer-Designing and Answering, Born God,

Jack & Janine

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.  Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.  Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  –Joshua 1: 6-9

What a good word to all of us as Christians and as churches to persevere and carry out God’s work—boldly and yet true to him and to his Word.  The challenges and battles are real and numerous—they are to be expected.  Yet He is Light, Hope, and Victory and we are HIS extensions in the world.  As surely as God called Moses and then Joshua, he has called every one of us.

November Petitions

Our October mid-month Prayer Need update detailed in general form the ordering by a Chilean judge that all nine of the children under our care be removed and placed in children’s homes—all as a result of a fabricated, untrue allegation of physical abuse brought by one of our girls against one of our house parents.  While these kinds of extremely difficult and very abrupt situations might be commonplace in how such matters are handled in Chile, they are very, very hard to go through and get through.  At the same time, we DO serve and represent the God of Light, of Hope, and Victory.  It’s also an earnest plea for your steady prayers for us and for God’s work through us with these children.  This situation continues to be our prayer focus for November.

This month and next will serve as a good “respite” time for all of us involved in the children’s work.  Please continue praying for the well-being of the children, and for the initial re-grouping and rest of our two sets of house parents, other staff, and us.  Pray for good communication between Janine and our Chile staff in the meantime.  We are in process to become a legally recognized foundation (the papers were signed in October) and there are several other changes to be decided on early next year by the foundation’s 5-member board.  As we deal with what has already occurred, we will be checking into the possibility of receiving some of the past children back with us.  While our profile of child will remain the same (abandoned), we expect to seek and receive much younger children.  Thank you so much for your prayers in all of this!

At present, we are in the States to participate in the annual missions conference (ICOM) of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.  Please seriously consider coming to see us at the Kansas City, MO. convention center, Nov. 14-17.  Our CHILE! CHILE! CHILE! booth is one of hundreds of good presentations of God’s work in the world.  We’d love to see you there.  It’s an excellent conference for missionaries, churches, and individuals alike.  Please also use this month to pray for the work of all our churches and missionaries!

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our God of LIGHT, HOPE, & VICTORY,

Jack & Janine

What a fast and “involved” ministry year!  This special PHOTO Prayer Letter will focus on our work with children.  Next month we will be highlighting other important ministries that we are a part of.  As always, as you look at the photos, please pray with thanksgiving.

CHILDREN’S MINISTRY IN GENERAL

If you have been following our children’s work, you know that it is intense and often “day-to-day”.  Equally important are direction and vision toward the future.  Below are photos of present staff and children, and we are set this month to hire a third set of house parents.  We expect to continue receiving new children in the coming months.  We are also in the first stages (after discarding the option earlier this year of melding into the corporation of another ministry) of obtaining legal assistance to help us achieve status as a Chilean corporation or foundation.  This is A TOP PRIORITY, as with it we hope to seek

Chilean governmental financial support to be able to hire and support needed additional staff.  Our most important full-time staff position to fill will be that of director to replace Janine, as the Residence will need Chilean leadership if it is to remain a viable, functioning ministry in the years to come.  This ministry represents a long-term commitment of time, prayers, and ministry funds—all of it well worth it!

In photo 1, Janine is pictured with the two house moms, Ingrid (left) and Cynthia (right), and some of the children.  Lenis, who is studying psychology and who works part-time helping Janine, is pictured separately with Karla and Juliana.  Continue praying for like-mindedness between staff, including their husbands’ support and participation in their own roles. (Phil. 2: 1-4)

Brothers Alberto (13) & Juan (9)  Both are doing well, although Alberto sometimes lacks respect for authority figures.  Both boys would be ideal candidates for adoption.

Sister and brother Nallely (newly 12) & Jorshua (13)  Both Jorshua and Nallely seem to jump to conclusions without being able to “think out” how they got there.  This works against them on school exams, etc.  They are both flunking several subjects, although they are “smarter than that”.  Please pray that good work would have importance, based in the fact the their very lives & futures have importance.  Joshua can also use prayer in being honest with others and with himself.

Carla (13)  Carla is quite easily distracted but is doing fairly in her studies; her personal relationships need lots of work.  She is a beautiful girl and she loves to sing.

Karla Andrea (11) & Juliana (12)  These girls came to us at the same time from the same children’s home for girls.  (They are pictured above with Lenis.)  They both greatly lacked self-esteem and stimulation when they arrived but are both doing much better.  Karla has dropped several “extra” pounds.

Sisters Javiera (8) & Cony (10)  Cony’s horrible behavior and emotional acting-out have incredibly improved.  Javiera shows some of the same tendencies.  We had hoped that the court would now place Cony with her mother, but the mom wanted both girls back or neither of them.  Due to her inability in the past to handle the two girls together, the judge ruled that both girls will continue to live in the residence for the next few months with weekly outings with their mother.  Please pray for continued success and good development to enable them to go forward well as individuals and with their mother.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in a “Visual-Picture” Jesus,

Jack & Janine

Praise the Lord.  Praise the Lord, my soul.  I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.  Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save.  When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.  Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,whose hope is in the Lord their God.  He is the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—he remains faithful forever.  He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free, the Lord gives sight to the blind, the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down, the Lord loves the righteous.   Psalm 146: 1-8

“THANK YOU,LORD, FOR THE “DAY IN AND DAY OUT” NEED WE HAVE FOR YOU IN ALL KINDS OF WAYS AND CIRCUMSTANCES!!  We come to you and TO YOU ALONE looking for your touch and for answers & guidance.  We have no other God or source to go to and you are FAITHFUL.”

We are struck by the sheer number of prayer needs that surround us and that we hear about from friends and many others, whether related to serious health issues, important decisions, broken relationships, the death of a loved one, or huge obstacles against God’s good purposes, and on and on…

God IS faithful to all those in faithful relationship with him.  He is the Master Specialist in situations that seem too big or too hard and impossible.  He is worthy of all honor and praise and allegiance for all generations.  He is totally capable and willing and He does respond.  Let none of us ever hold back.  Number 1 be honest, Number 2 be humble, willing to listen & follow, and Number 3 keep approaching him in all situations with every confidence, full of faith and thanksgiving.

The idea is to draw as close to God as is possible.  In return, He promises to respond to our best good!

September Petitions

—We’ve asked for prayers from time to time specifically for Cony, our biggest “challenge” amongst the children that live under our care.  She’s been doing so much better this last month, to the point that her school and others have commented about it.  Thank you for those continuing prayers for “our kids”.  The biggest issues as of late relate to bad attitudes and disrespect at school and also here, and to helping them deal with anger that they aren’t growing up in their own families.

On a positive note, cooperation between Janine and the house moms and their overall ability to see and work toward the same “higher ground” of the kids is also more evident.  Praise the Lord for that!

—Please pray that our church, “Jesus is the Way” Christian Church, continues to want to grow in the Lord.  There is more participation in the adult Sunday School class and leadership is more unified in Jesus.

—We continue to look for a house to rent, thanking God at the same time for his perfect place and timing.

—I, Jack, just returned from a trip to Penco and Concepción (earthquake zone 5 hours south of Santiago).  I had many reasons to give God thanks for the praying, sharing God’s Word, and conversations that took place with people we have built relationships with these last 3 ½ years, including in two families where the husbands are alcoholics.

—Finally, please pray for Chile, as this Sept. 11^th is the 40^th anniversary of the military takeover by General Pinochet in 1973.  It is a day always marked by violence and this year it’s expected to be worse.  So many past wounds and losses in a country that doesn’t look to Jesus for healing, peace, and a better future.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Responding, Faithful, True God

Jack & Janine

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.  But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.  Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.  But how can one keep warm alone?  Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.  A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Boy, isn’t THAT the truth?! J  How strengthening these words of Solomon in Ecclesiastes 4 should be to all, but especially to those immersed in God’s work and purposes throughout the world.  They follow words about a lonely, discontented, selfish man and his “meaningless” life.  Reading through Paul’s letters to the churches in the New Testament it’s amazing how he continually sent brothers to visit the churches.  He knew and fostered the power inherent in church “bodies”, and he knew the power inherent in personal contact with others.  He himself traveled with Luke and with others and received visitors wherever he found himself. Team and personal contact go hand in hand, for churches and for missionaries.

We so thank you for praying for us and for visiting us over the years (this past month the church from Manteno, IL was here)—we value being in team with you!  We value the strength and diversity we receive in “Chile team” together, as missionaries here, and we value visitors and new arrivals to the work in Chile.  We value working with Chileans—in the church, in the children’s residence, and in our other outreaches and ministries.

Thank you, God, for being the source of “team”, as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  You came to heal and fill loneliness, to leave us contented in all things, and to call us to a “one another” focus on others.  Bless our relationships and keep them close through personal contact, ALL to your glory!!

August Team Petitions

• Please give thanks for and pray for our two sets of house parents with whom the children live.  Daniel and Ingrid have completed three full years.  They’ve grown a lot in their roles and we are grateful for them.  Please pray for strong marriages for both couples—Pablo and Cynthia especially need prayer.  The house parents are a key component of change in the children.
• Continue praying for all of us, that we might work well in team together and create the best positive environment possible for the children to live in.  They need discipline, but they need more to realize self worth, purpose and possibilities.  God’s love, God’s way.
• Several of the children are barely passing their courses at school.  Please pray that they might want to do better.  We are working on ideas in that area.
• Teammates Jim & Kari have taken on a new role in ministry, with Jim teaching at a ChristianSchool.  The job also comes with housing (a praise!), so Janine & I will be able to now live in one of the houses on the ministry property while we continue to look for a house of our own.  This is a step in the right direction, and thank you for continuing to pray that we might find a rental house.
• Give thanks for and pray for Ross Parry, a new member of the extended missionary team, who arrived from Australia in mid-July to help in our work with the children, teaching them music and helping them with English.  With regard to English, he has a TESL (English-teaching) certificate, and will be able to help coordinate our community-offered English Club.  He expects to stay in Santiago for three to nine months.
• Lastly, please pray for me (Jack) as I re-insert myself into other ministry areas, such as into the church’s leadership team and going south to Penco and Dichato, re-connecting with families as I continue to look for available land for a future children’s camp and Christian retreat center.  I did recently (with the guys from the Manteno church) re-start monthly devotions at the men’s drug rehab center.  Last year was furlough in the U.S. and this year I was there as well, having my sinus surgery.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our Personal-Contact Jesus,

Jack & Janine