Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by PRAYER AND PETITION, WITH THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  –Phil. 4: 6-7

The Lord is far from the wicked but he hears the prayer of the righteous.  –Prov. 15:29

Today, May 2^nd, is the National Day of Prayer in the United States.  So MANY issues, concerns, and needs to pray for!!  In the rest of the world danger, challenges, and violence exist on every level in so many countries, and Venezuela is on the brink of collapse and change of power.  We Christians and missionaries serve the Lord in all of the above places, and thus today is a perfect day to renew our prayer lives with the very God who brought us life and put us where we find ourselves.  Without prayer we are missing out on what God wants to do in us and through us.  Thank you all so very much for your prayers for us and for God’s work in and through us in Chile!!  We Christians may be divided politically, but God help us if we are not all connected in prayer together through the same Christ Jesus united by his name.

GRATITUDES AND CONNECTED PRAYER REQUESTS

Regarding land for a permanent children’s camp and retreat center….

We did make an offer to purchase the roughly 50 acres near Ñipas mentioned in our last month’s letter, however citing various reasons, Ricardo the owner declined to accept our offer.  The huge cost of developing the land, including the digging of wells to access water and bring in electricity, along with the construction of all structures and outdoor equipment has led us to keep looking at other options.  We were disappointed, but we know that God leads as we follow and pray.

Likewise, the referral of the mayor of Ranquil to a contact in the area regarding possible available land adjoining the local river has not thus far yielded new progress.  Thank you for praying with us!  We will be exploring more large parcels of land in May and will keep you abreast of all developments.

In the meantime here at the mission property in Santiago….

We are so grateful for God’s purposes and presence on our Santiago mission property.  Please join us in gratitude and prayer for the different opportunities we have to serve the Lord through our mission property.

• We are more regularly receiving families and children in medical treatment, including transplants. They come from other parts of Chile, and we are able to accommodate fathers as well, when they are in Santiago for the treatment of their children or having surgery themselves (there are no other “casas de acogida” / “houses of rest & refuge” in the large Santiago metropolitan area that receive fathers!). Today, for example, we picked up a father, Roberto, from the hospital after he had surgery two days ago to give one of his kidneys to his daughter, Tania, age 7. Roberto’s wife, Angela, continues to stay at the hospital until Tania is released in roughly two weeks.  The family is from Panguipulli, a town roughly 10 hours south of Santiago.  This photo taken 5 days after the transplant.

• We also had a request from Lutheran missionary friends, Jim & Liisa, to house for roughly one month a Venezuelan family recently arrived from Peru. Jim & Liisa, former missionaries to Venezuela, have opened their own home to Venezuelans fleeing their country to come to Chile to seek new life and opportunities. Their house has families living in every available bedroom.  Seen here in the photo are Kleiver, Jaqueline, Isaac (4 years old), and Tiago, newly born days after the family’s recent arrival in Chile.  What a need and privilege to serve the Lord with available bedrooms on the mission property.

Praising, praying, and fasting to our One, True, “Prayer-connected, Source of Peace” God,

In his love,

Jack & Janine

“IT’S A PERSON AT THE TOP”

Speaking of man’s place in all of creation, God says this through David in Psalm 8:   When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?  You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor.  You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas.  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

These are two photos of the Grand Canyon taken on our recent trip to the U.S. for Jonathan’s and Julian’s graduations.  How magnificent!  Equally breath-taking is the view on an ocean floor or through a microscope, yet none of these amazing dimensions of creation can compare with our value to God.  What an incredible honor to be considered so by the “Creator of the ends of the earth” (Psalm 40).  It raises the huge issue of how we view him in return.  We are in a perfect position to be in real relationship with him and be a part of his good purposes carrying out his will on this earth.  Thus also heightened is the value of every single person of any age that we reach out to, minister to, and work with.  –this month’s core praise

A  new month

God has responded to our need for a qualified person to work part-time assisting Janine in a variety of ways in the children’s work—from completing important reports to making contacts to working with the children and house mothers.  Lenis is studying psychology and has experience with government regulations and forms, etc.  Please pray for her ability to adapt and work well “in team” with everyone.  She is off to a very good start!

Pablo, our new “house dad”, lost his job and is looking for a new one.  One correction to what I wrote last month is that he is working toward completing his bachelor’s degree, not his master’s.  It will thus be a challenge in finding a job in these stretched economic times.

As some of you know, Janine & I found a car.  It is a 2003 Honda SUV with good luggage room.  The advantage is that it has belonged to a missionary leaving Chile and has received excellent care and maintenance.  Its cost in dollars, with license and title transfer fees, was $11,600 and it should serve our needs well.  The praise is that we have received through May a total of $5,000 from individuals and churches toward its purchase.  Please pray for the balance to come in and please consider helping toward this need, if you feel led to do so.  Checks should be made payable and mailed to Chile Mission, as always, with “vehicle” on the memo line.  Thanks so much!

We also continue to look for a house to rent and live in, in or near our neighborhood.  Please pray that we might find one this month.

Our Chile teammates Kari and Jim are almost on top of the due date for the birth of their second daughter (due the first week of June).  All is well and Kari’s mom just arrived in Chile to be with them for the birth and help them afterwards in their house.  PTL!!

We, as a couple and as a Chile team sent out by you churches, are well aware of the responsibility and privilege of carrying out God’s will and purposes in Chile.  If you’ve taken the time to review our website, you know that this work has several dimensions to it.  We very much appreciate, value, and need your on-going, consistent prayer support and financial assistance.  The age-range of those we reach out to and work with goes from children to adults, and as this month’s core praise states, we can never underestimate or disregard their value to God.  “They” are precisely his core focus through us all.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in our “It’s a Person-at-the-top” Creator God,,

Jack & Janine

NEW LIFE PAID IN FULL AND HERE NOW!!

Jack’s & Janine’s APRIL 2013 Chile Prayer Letter

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!     –Romans 5: 8-10

Red for Jesus’ blood shed willingly and fully for our sin and total separation from God.  Bright yellow for Christ’s new life living and working in us who believe.  What great gratitude and praise that raises!  As it says in Isaiah 53, the punishment that brought us was upon him and by his wounds we are healed.  No wonder that we also willingly and fully give our lives back to him as his extensions in the world, so that another might recognize him and be reconciled.  His good and perfect will and purposes are what now fill us and take us forward.  Thank you, Jesus!

We have MUCH to give God thanks for and continue to pray for in our work this month.  In the children’s work, Dafna, a Christian psychologist, started working with us early in March.  One of her strengths is that she has experience working with the courts and with SENAME (Chile’s governing body over children).  She will work part time.  Secondly, Pablo & Cynthia are due to move in as the second set of house parents we have looked for these recent months.  YEH and PTL!!  They answered our advertisement on the internet and are ready to begin on April 8.  In the meantime, Cynthia has been working during March full-time to get accustomed to both the work and the children, and them to her.

  Carla, Nallely, Juan, & Karla with Angela, the newest “fluffy” family member  to arrive.

Please pray especially for Pablo and Cynthia this month, as going in one fell swoop from no children to four or five, even for a stable couple :), is no automatic, easy adjustment to make.  For the time being, without having a house to rent, Janine and I will continue to live on our mission property to help with their arrival and needs.  To say the least, their arrival is a big answer to prayer.

Our new teammates, the Hurleys, also arrived safe & sound with young daughter, Nora, in March to begin working in team.  They will work toward God’s purposes for them as teammates, and in the meantime will have their hands full in adjusting to language & culture.  They’re off to a super start and are already a blessing in how they relate to the children and to all others.  Pray that April will be an excellent month for them in family.  Please also pray for Kari’s pregnancy in it’s healthy going forward.  She is due the first days of June.

Our fund to purchase a used van is up to $2,700.  That’s great and thank you.  Jack is still also pursuing the possibility of purchasing back the same van we sold to a Chilean church a year ago.  Their intended purpose for the van didn’t work out.  We will keep you posted.  If this purchase doesn’t work out, we’ll expect to spend around $20,000 for a three-year-old van.  Financial help toward this need should be sent to ChileMission   P.O. Box 60132   San Angelo, TX76906   (with vehicle written on the check’s memo line).

A young couple is interested in renting our Cedar Lake, IN house.  We are happy for them, as they have been living with parents since being married and the house represents an opportunity to have their own space.  If this move is meant to be, please pray for the details of moving in.

Praising, praying, and fasting with you in a “Payment in Full, Living” Jesus,

Jack & Janine