“AUTHOR OF EVERY PRECIOUS LIFE”
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
The above verses taken from Psalm 139 beautifully describe God’s creation, plans, and intimate knowledge of every one of us. Not only that, but if God knows the name of every single star (Psalm 147:2) and Jesus, our shepherd, calls each of us, his sheep, by name (John 10:3), what does that say about the value of each and every life he has created?
Every month we write you about lives hanging in the balance and about the work of Chile Mission with people and projects. We insert photos so that you, too, can know those people—children, youth, and adults. It’s our way of bringing to life your prayers in the same way that God already intimately knows them and their circumstances. We SO appreciate your prayers for each person and situation we write about!!
Speaking of special people and opportunities, we ask for your prayers as we prepare for and spend from June 17th through to August 5th as the mission work highlighted this summer at Round Lake Christian Camp in northern Ohio. It’s incredibly satisfying to broaden the “Jesus” worlds of children and bring alive the country of Chile. The camp boasts a large lake and can host several groups of children and youth at one time. Schedule-wise we will have daily time with each group 4 days each week. Round Lake was one of the 16 separate camps that we visited with Abraham, Catalina, & Abril last June and July and, needless to say, we are extremely excited at what the Lord will do and say through us!
Looking ahead, we then travel to Chile for just over two weeks on August 10th, with lots of details to attend to in our short time there. We’re very grateful that a friend familiar with large equipment and farming and the care of trees, etc. will be traveling with us there. We are anticipating his good counsel for future plans and projects at Campo Vivo. The work at the camp property is right down his alley!
We know that the following dates are WAY AHEAD OF TIME, but toward the end of the year, this year’s International Conference on Missions (ICOM) will be held in Oklahoma City, the weekend before Thanksgiving, Nov. 16-18. Do you have close relatives or friends in nearby states to Oklahoma? Why not make plans to go from the conference to spend thanksgiving with them?? The ICOM is totally worth it!
ON AND AROUND THE CAMP PROPERTY IN RURAL CHILE
We have discovered in our 30 years in Chile that we are often called to work on projects that are God-sized, but are way way outside of our experiences. This has proven true once again with the camp project that we are involved in. Since we are both suburbanites, this is certainly outside our realm of thinking. Planning crops for camp consumption, digging a lake, putting up fences, security against thievery, helping out out neighbors, taking care of fruit trees, planting avocado trees, preparing for and financing large future buildings, future personnal needs, levelling the deep ravines, etc., are complicated, necessary steps that we are currently facing. This, along with everyday concerns, especially for Abraham and his family, is a constant need for ongoing prayer. Abraham wears many hats—camp director in overseeing all of what transpires in the camp property, construction supervisor and planner, along with his ongoing call as pastor, teacher, and musician and using these gifts in his home, neighborhood and church visits. He has a lot on his plate.
The photos are of Abraham with Luís and of his completed rebuilt storage building. The rebuilt building and his restored electrical posts and wires reflect just one more way of God’s restoration of Luís’ life in the “boonies” in Chile, rebuilding his property lost in the terrible recent forest fires. A US church provided special funding to provide the materials for this project. It gets Luís back to the place he was in before the fire, so he can return to his daily tasks instead of trying to play catch-up. He is not a Christian, so this generous gift is great for showing him the love of God. God extends this kind of help every day through all of us sent out by his churches in the world. VERY COOL!!
In other news from the camp, there is a small mission group of men based in Columbia interested in coming to the camp property for 1-2 weeks in June to help Abraham in his work. We’re giving thanks and praying for their trip to come to pass. God is again bringing Christians together to help each other. Abraham is continuing to evaluate the best combination of security lights and cameras to install and also ready to replace 20 of the plates that make up the bottom treads that move the excavator. Lastly, thanks for joining us in praying Catalina’s pregnancy forward. All is well as she heads forward in her October delivery.
IN SANTIAGO
If you’re familiar with our “Casa de Acogida” (Christian Refuge House) ministry carried out on our Santiago Chile Mission site, you know that we’ve seen our fair share of infants and little children with complicated medical situations and treatments come to Santiago with their parents. These months of May and June are no exception with the arrival of baby Bianca, a 1 ½ year-old severely-burned girl, who came to a Santiago hospital the last week of May with her parents Datin and Lorena. She recently had three skin grafts. It will be a long-term recovery for her.
We all know families facing serious medical situations. They ALL need prayer and, when possible, calls or visits to their hospitals. God is a master at touching those precious lives through ALL of us!!
Also in Santiago we have had another fruitful zoom meeting with the attorney helping our MISIÓN CHILE Foundation with important steps relating to both the board of our Chilean Mission Foundation and our certification to receive donations from all sources. The procedures in Chile are quite different in relation to what we are familiar with the US. We, Jack & Janine, are needing to rely more and more on our Chilean teammates to navigate the legal procedures involved with the foundation. We are happy to have competent legal “pro bono” help to move ahead. Thanks for praying with us for these steps.
In the U.S.
Our son, Jayme, injured his ACL of his right knee early in May playing soccer. The surgery was a success and Jack will be spending one week (May 31 to June 7) with Jayme, Malia, and their three kids helping where needed. They live in Boulder, CO. Thanks for praying for his good healing and for Jack’s trip.
Thanks again, too, for your prayers for the preparation and sale of our Indiana house. We have made good progress in several needed areas, but will fall short of having the house ready to sell. Instead we will rent it out for one year, planning to work on the sale when we are back from our three months in Chile. All is well and TYL!! As mentioned last month, we spend weekends visiting churches and friends and are SO grateful for the relationship we have with you all.
Praising, praying, fasting to GOD, the AUTHOR OF PRECIOUS LIVES,