Praying Friends,
Summer has come and is now going, and we have been extremely busy with every aspect of the ministry here in the XIV Region. We thank you very much for your continued, faithful prayers and financial support, for without it we would be spiritually and fiscally incapable of continuing the work that the LORD has called us to. Our time (or, rather, the LORD’s time that He has lent us) has been spent with the churches here, public ministry outings, and family visits, with the added work of various ancillary projects that the LORD has sent our way.
Public Ministry
We’ve been blessed with opportunities to continue public ministry outreach both with the local churches and as a missionary group over the last two months. Our family was able to travel again the last two months to the city of Osorno, where we believe the LORD is laying the groundwork for a future church plant. We’re thankful for the faithful assistance from the other missionaries that we’re privileged to work with in this endeavor. We were able to speak with a crying drunk man named Eduardo Santana, who expressed his weariness with alcohol, but his inebriated condition prohibited much interaction. Please pray that the LORD would work through the testimony, preaching, and tracts that he received.
As mentioned previously, the LORD has put us together with a family in Osorno that has suffered greatly at the hands of Chilean evangelical “Churchianity,” and despite their unfortunate experiences, they’ve opened their home to us on a monthly basis, and profess a desire to participate in an established church there in the city. We believe that the LORD is opening this opportunity to be able to begin the work of establishing a local church there.
As a missionary group, we were able to visit both Llanquihue and Frutillar, where again we were received in both towns with a general attitude of nonchalance. I did speak with a Catholic man in Frutillar who expressed some interest in the scriptures, but the blinders that his religion has put on his eyes prohibited his seeing anything beyond what he has been indoctrinated with. Please pray for Pablo that the LORD would work in his heart to bring him, and his wife, to a saving knowledge of the biblical JESUS CHRIST, the ONLY mediator between God and men.
As part of the regular outreach of the Bible Institute, we finished up our house-to-house and plaza-to-plaza ministry in the entire city of Pangipulli, unfortunately without any positive response toward the gospel. As the LORD warned us in Matthew 24:12, the love of many has waxed cold, and it is becoming increasingly rare to see any sort of visible response to the preaching of the gospel, even a negative response. Our regular circuit took us to Rio Bueno and La Unión each month as well, again with little visible reaction.
Furlough Planning…
These last two months have been a time of preparation for us as well, as we’re already planning for our four-year furlough. Having just recently passed the two-year mark, it may seem odd to some that we would already be planning a furlough almost two years in advance, but the truth is that such preparation is necessary in order to make the best use of our time while Stateside. We’ve already called most of our supporting churches to give them first priority on our schedule, and we’re beginning a general announcement and the process of scheduling new meetings.
Our goal, beyond attempting to encourage our supporting churches, is to visit new churches (or churches that we’ve already visited that would again consider supporting our family) and double our monthly support. We are careful to talk as little as possible about finances, beyond simply thanking our supporters for their partnership, but the truth is that the recent economic changes, both in the US and here in Chile, has resulted in a dramatic loss of income for our family, which coupled with the fact that we came with less monthly support than our original goal, adds up to a serious need for increasing our monthly support while we’re in the States, and before we begin the new church planting endeavor, as mentioned previously.
If your church does not currently support the ministry here in Southern Chile, and would consider allowing us to present our burden and call for this people, then please contact us (our contact information is in the header). It is our desire to return to Chile as swiftly as possible, with the resources to begin the next phase of the ministry here. Our first scheduled meeting is September 1st,, 2019 in Northern California, and we will be returning (LORD permitting) to Chile by the end of June of 2020. Please let us know if you’d like to meet us, or see us again, if we’ve already met.
Thank you again for your continued, faithful prayers and financial support. Your faithfulness to God’s direction is greatly used of God to move His ministry forward here in southern Chile.
In Christ,
Vince, Kathie, Nathan, James, and Asa LaRue