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

There is a saying, “God is never late; He’s seldom early; He’s always right on time.”  Together with Jeremiah 32:17, they make an ALL POWERFUL combination for the Christian in every circumstance! 

 We began this month’s Praise & Prayer Needs letter with the above.

We are sending this update to GIVE GOD THANKS AND PRAISE!!!  WE CLOSED ON THE PURCHASE OF THE 90-ACRE PLOT OF LAND YESTERDAY, OCTOBER 4^TH , and yes, we now have in our possession the land that God opened up and brought us to for the future permanent children’s camp & related other important ministries to families in Chile!!

We are so used to every significant process and purpose in Chile taking months and months, if not years and years.  Our search for land has itself taken more than 8 years, so you can only imagine how we look at time.  We agreed on price one week ago and we have closed on the purchase only nine days later.

We, the realtor, and all nine living children (originally 14 in total) of the mother’s inheritance (their father had died years ago) were present this week – Oct. 4 – for the closing of our purchase of the property.  The closing took almost 2 hours and all of the inheritors needed to be there to complete the sale to us.  What was particularly incredible to us is that all of these details were put in place in only one week.  Only God could pull that off!! 😊  None of the 9 siblings had completed more than 6^th grade in school and one needed a witness to his presence because he didn’t know how to write.  This has certainly been a large step for the camping ministry—now begins the work!  We are starting with a small frame three-bedroom house—not sure if we will have enough pressure for a hot water heater or not!  We also have a potential lake on the property, which we hope to deepen and extend for swimming and water sports!  We have lots of hills and valleys to fill with future projects!  God is good!  Here is a panoramic photo of the whole group, with Jack included:

We’re also including a photo of Rachel, her husband Humberto, and their two girls Josefina (5) and Maddie (5 mo.).  You’ve been praying for them for three months, and she continues to recover from her AVM (similar to a stroke) several months ago.  She was hospitalized roughly three months, including her surgery and recovery.  As you can see in the photo, she is now home (PTL!), and we want to say thanks for all of your prayers.  It has been a difficult situation for the family, with extended family helping with the two girls and the challenge of the complicated surgery and recovery along with language difficulties!

As always, God is the power and our source of help.  He is the only true God of the universe and it is he who rescues us through his son.  May all of us always look to him first, not last.

Praising, praying, and fasting, to our “OUTSTRETCHED ARM” God,

In his love and unity,

Jack & Janine

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

There is a saying, “God is never late; He’s seldom early; He’s always right on time.”  Combined with Jeremiah 32:17, they make an ALL POWERFUL twosome for the Christian in every circumstance!  All of this to say that through the Lord we have located land to purchase for the development of a permanent children’s camp & Christian retreat center in middle Chile, agreed to a price with the owners, and all necessary legal documents are being gathered to complete the purchase and close on it in the coming week!!  To say that we are VERY grateful to the Lord would be a gross understatement.  Thank you to many of you for your faithful prayers these past years!  Please join us in giving God thanks and join us in praying for the impending closing!!!  There are many details to be thought out.  We will be sure to let you all know as soon as we have finished the purchase process.

We wrote in September’s letter of a contact with Leo, a Christian man (and friend of our dentist’s assistant) in middle Chile that wanted to sell his five acres on a river, purchased by him and his wife to use for a church retreats.  His wife died a few years ago, and he didn’t feel that he could continue with the project.  While his property would not be ideal pricewise and “sizewise”, our new relationship with him will be very beneficial in many ways.  This trip to middle and southern Chile turned out to be 2 ½ weeks.  At the beginning of the trip we called a realtor and he showed us a property of 90 acres.  While quite large, it held much promise.  We then continued south to pass out our information to hospitals about our housing ministry to mothers coming to Santiago for special medical care of their children.  Afterward we returned to middle Chile to again look at land.  Making contact with the realtor and Leo we were able to see the 90-acre property once again, this time with the sibling “inheritor” coordinating the sale of the land on behalf of her eight brothers and sisters.  The date was Sept. 25 and on that same date we agreed to a price with her to put in motion the processing of all needed documents.  Leo himself was quite taken by the property and its potential, along with its price of $3,000,000 pesos per hectar (2.4 acres), which corresponds to $1,700 (U.S.) per acre.  All other properties we’ve seen are being sold for much higher prices, while this land is also ideal for our purposes.  Again, we ask for your prayers as we approach the closing.  Here are three photos:  one with Janine, Rosa (the sibling owner), Jack, and Leo; one including the small house they used to live in; and a third of some of the land.

While on the trip we were also able to meet with the coordinators of two other ministries, “FAMILIA ROYALE” (Royal Family) which is a ministry to abused children, and “PEPE”, which is a pre-school ministry to children at risk and poor children, many of them not knowing Jesus, providing them with basic Biblical concepts about Jesus and Christianity.  Both ministries are international and both are Christian-based, with Jesus in the middle.  Some of those we work with are looking to develop these exact kinds of ministries.  Please pray toward the possibility of putting one or both ministries into practice here in Santiago in the future.

Thirdly, Rachel continues to make excellent rehab progress. She is home and is regaining coordination and her speech ability!  TYL!!  Pray that her good therapy continues through the Chilean system, as Rachel’s U.S. family helpers will, in the end, return to the USA.  In a similar situation, Ursula, a friend from a church in northern Chile, has been just released from a clinic here in Santiago after spending 67 days hospitalized to solve the bleeding from her intestines.  In the end, she was able to undergo the necessary treatment using the necessary medical equipment and it appears that she will now heal and go forward.  TYL!!

While Chile is perhaps the most advanced, stable country in South America, so many such treatments seem to rely on opportunity “in the moment”.  We know that God was with her in all of this, and we are grateful!

Fourthly, we will be heading to the States before the end of Oct. to visit churches and participate, as always, in this year’s missionary conference (ICOM) for the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ.  The conference will be held in Kansas City MO. this year between Nov. 14-17, and is definitely worth attending!  We will be at our “CHILE MISSION” booth and would love to see you there!

Praising, praying, and fasting, to our “OUTSTRETCHED ARM” God,

In his love and unity,

Jack & Janine

Therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.

The above verses from Philippians 2:1-2 have a special meaning for us this month, mainly because of what is possible when we partner with other Christians that we are united with in Christ, and all of us are of one mind and love and spirit.  We experienced all of the above this U.S. summer in the four camps for children carried out by three supporting churches and a fourth group of camps in Texas.  What if this kind of “divine synergy” between Christians were common throughout the whole world?  We are SO GRATEFUL entering September for our partnership with you.  The like-mindedness mentioned in Paul’s letter to the Philippian Church is woven into each of this month’s prayer points.

Speaking of gratitude, thank you Lord for your response to our two special prayer requests from last month.  Cesar, Camila, & baby boy Santiago are all much better health-wise and Rachel Gallardo continues to make steady progress in re-covering her motor skills and speech after her surgery and her Chilean doctors are working to eliminate all remaining blood clots.  Thank you for your continuing prayers for Rachel.

SEPTEMBER PRAYER POINTS

FIRSTLY, as a result of our U.S. trip together with Renata, we now have a better way to build a good approach to our own summer camps in Chile.  Please pray for our camp leadership team that includes Renata and her sister Viky as we work together in looking at every facet of our approach to children’s camps.  Our planning starts this first week of September.  One of the key ingredients to the camps in Texas was their intensive training of their camp counselors and others in direct contact with the children.  One love, one spirit, and of one mind was so evident throughout.

A special blessing resulting from our visits to camps near Tyler, Texas, was our introduction to “Camp in the City”.  It was children’s church camp, held in schools or churches, but mobile in nature.  They moved their camp equipment in a trailer to different churches and other settings in the city, and did “camp.” The Camp in the City staff arrived several days beforehand with their own nucleus counselor team to train older youth from that particular church to be counselors with them in the camp.  As an extra blessing the children that attended the camp would still have those older youth with them afterwards.  This type of camp will also work in Santiago.  Please pray for this new future dimension of our camps.

SECONDLY, we received a call from our dentist’s assistant yesterday to confirm Jack’s up-coming appointment.  She asked if we were still looking for land for our camps and retreat center and we responded, “YES!”  A man in her church has land in the town next to where we have been doing our own camps in middle Chile and it is located on a river.  He and his wife had purchased the land to develop a Christian camp for children and retreat center, but she subsequently died and he just doesn’t have the heart to do it himself.  We will be down in that part of Chile this month to meet him, see the property, and hopefully talk purchase terms.  It’s pretty incredible how God works, as he links together “like-minded Christians having the same love and being one in spirit”!  Thank you for helping pray this opportunity forward!

THIRDLY, at the very end of August Jack attended the annual retreat for Chilean Christian Church/Church of Christ pastors (and gringo missionaries 😊).  The theme verse for the retreat was 2 Timothy 2:2, where Paul reminds Timothy of the importance to equipping others to teach and carry on the work.  The weekend truly was a “one in spirit and of one mind” time in the Lord.  Please join us in giving God praise and in praying that this kind of unity between the pastors would grow and be strong.

Praising, praying, and fasting, to our perfectly joined and deeply loving Three-in-One God,

In his love and unity,

Jack & Janine

Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. ¹⁶ From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.  Eph. 4:15-16

Several New Testament Bible passages in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and Colossians speak of the Church as Jesus’ body in the world, and the importance of its work and unity of all of its parts.  We are so appreciative that we can work together with others in Chile and for your prayers for us and for your own work where God has you.  It’s so true that all Christians everywhere in the world have a part to play in the Body of Christ in reaching, teaching, and restoring children, youth, adults, and whole families throughout the world back to himself through Jesus.  We’re grateful for all Christian camps and retreat centers and for being able to participate in some this summer.  Our experiences together with Renata this U.S. summer has been all we three had hoped for as we go forward with children in Chile.  Janine & I now head to our fourth and final camp week at Pine Cove Christian Camp in Tyler, Texas, the first full week of August.  Again, thank you for praying for the first three camps and please pray for this final week.  We need to be back in California Aug. 21 & 22 for some final medical appointments for me (Jack) and then fly back to Chile.

Our third camp was in July in Park Springs, NC.  Roughly 52 ten and eleven-year-old children participated, and one boy made a decision to be baptized in his home church.  The camp’s theme was ‘Rise Above’, dealing with things that can keep us down, such as insecurity, fear, condemnation, & discouragement.

Janine flew to Detroit the first weekend of August for her 50^th high school class reunion (BOY is she old!! 😊 , but look whose talking! Ha Ha), while I traveled to Memphis to visit the campus of Mid South Christian College on my way to Texas.  The school, now getting ready to celebrate 60 years of existence, teaches both in English and in Spanish.  We have recommended the school to Chileans interested in studying the Bible in a cross-cultural setting and will continue to do so.  There are presently three Chileans studying at Mid South.  Please give thanks for and pray for Mid South in its going forward—another example of “each part doing its work”.  All Bible colleges and Bible institutes need all the support they can get.

Many of you know our youngest son, Jayme.  We had the blessing of being able to visit special friends in our travels toward Texas and Jayme’s family, too. Jayme, Malia, Havalah(3), & Matthias(1) live in Birmingham, AL where Malia is in her medical residency program.  They are pictured above.

We have two very special, timely prayer requests as we enter August:

1. Please pray for Cesar & Camila and infant son Santiago, living on our ministry property in Santiago as they continue to manage our ministry to house parents who arrive from other parts of Chile with children now hospitalized in Santiago.  She gave birth to their first child, Santiago, in mid March.  The three of them are sick, with Santiago fighting a bronchial infection as well.  Chile is in winter, which can be cold and wet.
2. Please pray for Humberto & Rachel Gallardo. Rachel (from IL) was a two-month intern of ours in 2012.  She and Humberto were subsequently married and have a daughter just turned 4 in mid July.  She gave birth to their second girl roughly three months ago and then in mid June, she fell unconscious in their home in Santiago, the result of a type of AVM (like a stroke).  Her condition is extremely serious, and she has been hospitalized since, also in Santiago.  She has been improving slow but sure and still faces another surgery.  It’s also been hard, as her family from the States takes turns going to Chile in shifts to help with the two girls and visit Rachel.

God, we know, is very much a part of both of these two above situations.  TYL!!

Praising, praying, and fasting, as each one of us “do our part”,

In his love and unity,

Jack & Janine

Jesus answered, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except THROUGH ME.”  –John 14:6

June was busy—traveling to the US for almost three months, medical appointments for Jack in Los Angeles and two children’s church camps in Illinois and South Carolina.  Jack is doing fine—considering his cmml.  He gets help at the VA hospital, and there are lots of tests to be done—he will be up to date in August and we hope and pray it will continue to be good news.  Now we are in North Carolina, getting ready physically and emotionally–haha!– for our third camp.  Our second week of camp ended on July 3^rd in South Carolina for third & fourth graders, with 55 kids participating.  Many dedicated adults and teens from the church helped make it a fun, “growing” week for all and in finishing, 4 children were baptized with another 6 waiting to be baptized in their home churches. PTL!!  Roughly 10 children were from un-churched families.

The week before, we participated in a camp at Little Galilee in Clinton, IL.  Equally good, 110 fifth & sixth graders participated, with 22 of them being baptized and another 15 waiting to do so in their home churches.  PTL again!!  Roughly 25 children attending the camp were from un-churched families. In both camps, we told about Chile and taught two songs to the kids.  Of course, we brought Chilean candy to share along with other items.  The kids definitely know where Chile is now, as well as language and geographical details.  We helped all day in the first camp, and the second week we mainly observed and shared.  We learned a lot about camps for children.  One child, Connor, was autistic.   His mother brought him every day—initially he didn’t want to participate, but once he got comfortable, he was a charmer.  Janine even got a hug from him!

Please join us in giving thanks and praying for all of the above children as they return to their families.  We now move on to King, NC for their camp beginning Sunday, July 7^th.  Please pray for all preparations for the upcoming camp and that God would be totally glorified through it.  We and Renata and are learning and growing ourselves through these experiences and she has done a fantastic job of connecting (in English 🙂 with the children on all levels, as that’s what it is all about.  TYL!!  Renata and her sister Viky will again be responsible for overseeing and coordinating our January 2020 summer camp in Chile.

The verse at the top of this prayer letter was a key verse used in both of our first two camps.  The message of Acts 4:12 is the same…. “There is salvation in NO ONE else, for there is NO other name below heaven given unto men by which we much be saved.”  Before we react against these verses, we should realize that the Bible states that there is only one God and that Jesus, God the son, not only was part of creating us but came to earth to live and then sacrifice himself for the sake of ALL people, that we might all be reconciled back to God and have eternal life with him.  He then rose from the dead, winning victory over death for us as well.  His life and love speak for everything that other religions try to imitate.  It’s critically important for all Christians to know what we believe about Jesus if we are to share our faith with others and if we are to teach our children.  We give thanks for the children and for God’s love through Jesus for them all.  Here are photos from the two camps:

We have been in communication with Cesar & Camila on the mission property in Chile, and all is well with those coming to our houses to stay.  Please pray for their good going forward this month.  Thank you, Lord, for them!

Last, but certainly not least, in the middle of celebrating the 4^th of July, let us all pray for our country, giving thanks for our liberty and for our Christian heritage.

Praising, praying, and fasting to our One & ONLY WAY, TRUTH, AND LIFE JESUS,  

In his love,

Jack & Janine

Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,  Eph. 5:18

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.  –Romans 8:26-27

May 30^th marked Jesus’ Ascension after showing himself to many witnesses for 40 days beginning with his resurrection.  He had promised his Holy Spirit to his disciples on various occasions and God’s Spirit DID come in a very big way on Pentecost, to be celebrated this year on Sunday, June 9^th.  In essence all three persons of God are still and will always be working in us and through us in many ways.  We quoted Romans 8: 26-27 as an encouraging reminder as how God is totally involved in our praying.  Thank you for your all-important prayer support!  We all pray… and the Spirit delivers!

• Thank you for continuing to pray for our search for property we can develop into a children’s camp and Christian retreat center! In spite of nothing new to report this month we know that God is working in ways we cannot see.  We continue to follow up on phone numbers and other contacts.

• Speaking of children’s camps, we are very excited to be participating in four church summer camps between June and August in the U.S. in Illinois, South Carolina, North Carolina, and finishing in Texas. We have hosted children’s summer camps in Chile these last four Januarys in a row, and want to continue improving our approach to and overall design of the camps as we look forward to purchasing and developing a more permanent site.  Physical layout and administration become very important in terms of the property’s broader vision and stages of development.

Pictured here are Viky & Renata Aguayo, and Janine.  We are excited that Renata will come from Chile to accompany us to the first three of the above camps.  Both Viky & Renata have become an integral part of our Chile camp team.  Thank you for praying for our safe travels and for all that we will learn these next couple months through the Spirit’s guiding.

• Please also join us in praying for Cesar’s and Camila’s administration of the good work going on at our ministry site in Santiago during our absence. Times such as these serve an important role in Cesar’s and Camila’s own development as administrators.  They make a very capable team together and handle decisions & situations that come up with patience and prayer.  Thank you, Lord, for them!

• Last but not least, we continue to work with various churches in Santiago that have demonstrated real evidence of extending Jesus in the community, both in word and in deed. Together, we are part of an effort to support and make known effective ministries that exist between us all to meet real needs of many people.  To be sure, this is a favorite work of the Spirit!  Thank you for praying for these relationships continually in development.

Praising, praying, and fasting to our One, True, God through the help of his ONE TRUE SPIRIT,  

In his love,

Jack & Janine

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  –Romans 8:28

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  –Romans 8:38-39

In this month marking Jesus’ death and resurrection, it is so important to remember how all three persons of God were involved in Jesus’ mission to reconcile all creation back to himself, all because of his immeasurable love for us!  God is our power, shelter, and love everywhere in every way, and God’s love through Jesus is the central message of what we take across the street and around the globe.  God’s love meets the needs of others and is demonstrated through action and sacrifice, not just words, and God’s love always focuses on the person.  Thank you for praying for our mission work in Chile.  Pray that we as Christians keep God’s love message clear and demonstrated, as our “Complete” God continues working through us.

MARCH GRATITUDES

—We made two trips to middle and southern Chile in March, seeking and making contacts to purchase land on which to establish a children’s camp and retreat center.  The trips were successful for varying reasons and during the last trip a repeat contact was made with Ricardo, the land owner who would be able to sell us roughly 50 acres of wooded hilly land located near Ñipas, where we have conducted children’s summer camps these past four summers.  We are seen here looking at the written site plans of the land.  Ricardo’s property will more than provide the space needed to fulfill the large vision God has given us for the property: a multi-faceted children’s camp, a year-round retreat center for a variety of ministries, a “prayer” path, and outdoor amphitheater.  We now wait for him to examine the exact dimensions of the land and get back to us with what we hope is a reasonable price, as all similar properties we have looked at have been quite expensive.

We, with Domingo and Sandra, also met with the mayor of Ranquil, the larger center of the surrounding towns, who would like to help us in any way he can.  There are no other such Christian camps/centers that we know of in middle Chile, despite being positioned between Concepción (the second largest city in the country) and Chillán, another larger city that the Panamerican Highway passes through.  The mayor referred us to a neighborhood woman who will put us in contact with a group of owners of another large parcel of land directly on the river that runs near Ñipas.  We did follow up on other contacts during our two trips south, but as often happens, the parcels ended up to be quite different than what they were “billed” to be.  Thank you so much for continuing to pray for land!

—Cesar and Camila, who live and work with us on our mission property in Santiago, now do have a healthy baby boy, Santiago, born on Saturday, March 16^th.  Pictured here, they find themselves in a new phase of family life!  Congratulations to them and thank you so much for your prayers for the final weeks of Camila’s pregnancy and for Santiago’s birth.

—Many of you are familiar with corn, wheat, and soy bean harvests.  Here in most of middle Chile the time has come for the country’s bountiful grape harvest.  the worker in the photo is standing on top of a huge (10′ x 40′) container full of grapes, speading them out to make room for more.  In John 4:35 Jesus called his disciples and us to open our eyes, “and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

Lastly, we will be spending the last two weeks of April with Julian & Devyn in Peru.  What a blessing to be able to periodically visit them!

Praising, praying, and fasting to our “Completely Demonstrated Love” God,

In his love,

Jack & Janine

Reading in Acts 1, the disciples had been told by Jesus to “not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.”  Then in verse 8, just before ascending into heaven, he charges them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  In verse 12 the 11 disciples do return to Jerusalem, and then we come to verse 14: They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Then later, as Paul (Saul) and Barnabas are set aside by the Holy Spirit and sent off by the church in Antioch on a missionary trip to Asia, we read in Acts 13: 2-3, While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.

Our point?  The “Great Commission” given to all Christians by Jesus has always been “bathed” in fervent prayer and fasting, from the praying of the apostles and first Christians for the arrival of the Holy Spirit in the 10 days leading up to Pentecost to their being set aside and sent out to this very day.   God still sets us aside in response to our prayers, guides our choices and paths forward in response to our prayers, prepares us in response to our prayers, and send us off in response to our prayers and fasting.  In short, PRAYER AND FASTING HAVE ALWAYS BEEN AND WILL ALWAYS BE AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT AND ENABLER of extending Jesus to the world!  God “moves” when whole churches fervently pray and fast.

Thank you so very much for your prayers for us and others in the carrying out of Jesus’ Great Commission!!

MARCH PRAISES & PRAYER POINTS

• For years we have been asking for your prayers as we seek land on which to establish a permanent children’s and youth camp/retreat center in middle Chile. Domingo’s and Sandra’s daughter Viky was recently contacted by a Chilean real estate agent that she has been in communication with that there is a good-sized parcel of land for sale near Licantén (the site of our second children’s camp last month) with access to water and a river.  We have an appointment to go with Viky on March 10 to see it if it is still available.  We will worship with the church in Licantén that weekend and then go to view the land.  Thank you for praying for this possibility that God has set up.

• We give thanks for a recent 10-day visit of a young Christian couple, Mark & Ellie and their one-year-old son. They embody the Christian’s response to Jesus’ charge to the original disciples and Christians to go and they feel led to serve him in another country.  They in turn felt guided to check out Chile first.  Very cool! 😊  Their time with us was very blessed and through all of their and our joined prayers on their behalf, God WILL lead them forward to where they will continue to serve him according to his will and plan for them.  Their life journey is another example of God’s response to fervent prayer in setting aside, guiding, preparing and sending his followers out.  Please join us in praying for their (and others like them) path forward.

• We give thanks and praise for the February 27^th 52 baptisms (41 men and 11 women) of men (and wives) participating in the drug & alcohol rehabilitation program at the Casa del Alfarero (House of the Potter) Christian live-in center for men where Jack is involved once per month in their morning devotions. It was a beautiful day of celebration and family.  The program at the center runs a full nine months and is geared toward the entire family, focused on nothing less than the “rebuilding and re-birth and life” of the men.  Thank you for praying for these men’s and their families’ going forward.

• Please pray for the last few weeks of Camila’s pregnancy and safe birth of their first child, Santiago. She is due around the 25^th of March.  Cesar & Camila are the couple who live on our mission property and handle all details of mothers and children who come to one of our houses while in Santiago for the long-term medical treatment of their child.

Praising, praying, and fasting to the One, True, “Responding & Commission-Completing” God,

Jack & Janine

Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.  –John 14:12

THANKS, PRAISE, & PRAYER REQUESTS 

Our two January summer camps for children just ended and we are giving God thanks and praise!  The above verse was used to highlight this year’s theme and teaching that God uses ALL of us, including children, who belong to him through Jesus to carry out his work.  There is no limit to what he can do through us because we who belong to him have ALL of God in us, including his power.  The children needed to know that this is a daily thing—not just a camp thing—all because God loves them and has chosen them and wants them to grow in him.  In reality, John 14:12 is an important verse for us all to own and practice!!

The above is quite a short summary, of course, of the camps.  They included teachings, small group times, games & fun, pajama parties, the outdoors, and lots of support and interaction with the young adults who carried out the activities.  The first camp in Ñipas ran 3 days, with 42 children participating with a team of 13 young adults (and me, Jack 😊).  This was our fourth year of “camp” in Ñipas.  The second camp in Licantén—2 ½ hours northwest of Ñipas—ran 2 days, with 32 children participating with a team of 16 of us.  Most of the Licantén children were not from the church, but were friends and relatives—another reason to praise God. This was our first year of doing the camp there, alongside of the church.  Please pray that all of the children from both towns would go forward with a real Jesus in their lives.

The two biggest blessings of the camps:

• The teaching was God/Jesus centered, concentrating on his love, hope, and power through us. We used the Biblical examples of Esther, Joseph, Josias, and David, ending with Jesus himself.
• All of the young adults were well-prepared for their teachings (they coordinated and ran all teachings and other activities). Even more important, they all were totally connected to their work and with each other, giving 100% of themselves in interacting with the kids and especially in reaching out to the ones who were harder to connect with.  Here below are four of the many photos we took.

While in Licantén, we looked at two large, wooded properties in our search for a permanent home for the camps and retreat center, but neither one fit what we will need.  Specifically, we are searching for a tract of land consisting of between 30 and 50 acres—one with much wooded, hilly land with buildable more level areas included.  It would be a plus if a stream or river was a part, and if not, at least nearby and accessible.  It also needs to have reasonable access to both electricity and drinkable water. There is a great lack of Christian camp/retreat centers in the middle part of the country, near to some of Chile’s larger city populations.  Please keep praying for God’s provision of land.

We are planning on being in the States in June, July, and part of August to attend Christian children’s camps—hopefully along with our Chilean partners Domingo & Sandra and daughters for part of the time.  The objective is to learn from the dynamics, teachings, and methods used at those camps.  The camps and their development represent one of our main focuses in Chile.  What better time to come to Jesus than as a child??  The future retreat center promises to be a year-round center for people of all ages, families, marriages, and churches.  Janine and I are so blessed to be included on the front end of this significant ministry of the Lord!  Thank you again for your prayer support!

FINAL THANKS & PRAISE

Janine’s mother’s funeral in Indiana in January went very well.  We are grateful that Janine was able to then go to Jayme’s & Malia’s house in Birmingham, AL to help with finishing major changes to their kitchen.  She is now in Los Angeles, where all four of our children and grandchildren will be able to gather for one week early this month.  With Julian & Devyn living in Peru for another year, this will be a special treat for them all.

Praising, praying, and fasting to the One, True, Complete God that lives in and through us,

Jack & Janine