Here is our most recent update for the first quarter of 2024, available to download as a PDF.
Hello from Chile!
Glory to God for His wonderful grace, mercy, provision, and protection!
We also want to say “thank you” to our supporting churches for their patience as this letter is well overdue. It is never our intention to let things go this long, so please accept our apologies.
1. Summer is Over
This summer was busy with both ministry and family activities.
The busyness of summer is past, and the cold weather has returned. Of course, in our area, that means rain, and lots of it. This makes it necessary to waterproof the materials that we pass out, so thankfully we are able to wrap tracts and invitations in cellophane and seal them so that nothing gets soggy or damaged.
We had a few visitors drop by once each during the summer, but besides Rodrigo and his family (please pray for them as they consider joining the church), as well as a friend he brought twice, no one has seemed interested in coming back. One could interpret that in a number of different ways, but most likely in this over-churched religious atmosphere, our church is simply not what most people are looking for. That’s fine: we’re here to please God, not men (Galatians 1:10).
That said, we do have the responsibility to be all things to all men (1 Corinthians 9:22; 10:33) to reach souls for the glory of God, so we’re continuing to seek effective avenues for putting the Gospel in front of people and making Christ known here in Osorno.
In March we were blessed to be able to participate in a Gospel Bible conference with Iglesia Bautista Esperanza in Valdivia, the church being plated by the Reppert family. Our friends will recall that just over a year ago we helped the Repperts get settled here in Osorno, and in September they began holding services in Valdivia. Both nights we had to get more chairs to make room for the visitors, and we were even able to invite a long-time friend that is not yet a believer to come to the Gospel-centric conference. Bro. Reppert’s sending pastor from Wisconsin was present to preach during the services, and we even suspended our regular Sunday service one final time in order to support their work. We thank the LORD for the ability to help other churches in the ministry; we should be cooperating with other believers, not competing.
2. Autumn Plans
We have a lot of things we would love to do this Fall and coming into winter.
Our next big project is a free English course, offered as a ministry of the church, which we will probably hold in May, to give us time to promote it with flyers and ads on social media.
Obviously the goal here will be to use the time to give the Gospel and speak the truth, and hopefully along the way someone will be made aware of the existence of a Bible-believing and -teaching/-preaching church in Osorno. Whether it’s through someone getting saved or a believer finding a place where he can be fed, we hope that the LORD will use this outreach to grow the work.
It was also a blessing to have one of the ladies volunteer to teach the little children. We had been waiting for a while for someone to offer to help, and the LORD laid it on someone’s heart to offer, so we’re excited to see this growth both in the ministry and in the personal life of a fellow believer.
3. Continued Challenges
There are always reasons to “Pray without ceasing.”
Due to the typical bureaucratic nonsense that hounds our every step here in Chile, much like everywhere in the world, my hopes for being able to get a part time job in a local school were dashed. There is a possibility that I can still make it happen in the future, but as of now I’m seeking other avenues of both ministry and income.
It’s always been our rule to avoid mentioning finances as much as possible, as we trust the LORD to provide, and our supporting churches are already doing so much, but since we missed almost half of the meetings we had planned for our furlough in 2020, and with the cost of living rising everywhere, we’ve had to reassess our expenditures and seek new income sources. We believe that all believers should be resourceful, and similar to (not the same as) Paul who sustained himself while planting a church, I’ve worked on supplementing our monthly support so as to not require a furlough for a while.
Some may wonder why we would avoid a furlough; it would seem attractive to “come home” for a time and be in the States for a while. What is often misunderstood is the reality that the mission field becomes “home” for missionaries; we would be leaving our home and traveling to what is, in many ways, a foreign country. We would be spending over $3,000 just to get to the States, then require places to stay, a mode of travel, and lots of expenses along the way, all while maintaining our house and church building rental here in Chile. Additionally, a furlough would leave the church here without leadership, and since we are still in the early stages of forming the membership, in a certain sense it would be like leaving a two year old at home alone to fend for himself. I just can’t do that right now.
So, I know many churches and pastors disagree with the “bi-vocational missionary” concept, and I think it’s great if a missionary can be fully supported and dedicate 100% of his ministry time to the church planting process, but right now, whether due to shortcomings on my part or the LORD’s direction, it’s just not working out that way.
I don’t say all this to complain; quite the opposite: even if all our support went away for some catastrophic reason, I would figure out a way to maintain my family and ministry here. We have no “plan B” or fallback option. There’s no way out but forward (or up, in the rapture, obviously).
As always, we would like to close by thanking you again for your faithfulness in prayer and financial support as we serve together as laborers together with God, you where you are, and us here in Southern Chile. It is truly an honor and a privilege to represent you as your ambassadors to the lost souls in Southern Chile.
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