Here is our year-end recap of 2024, available to download as a PDF.
1. Another year in the books
Praise the LORD for yet another calendar year to serve Him!
Hello again from Southern Chile! As always, we want to thank you for your consistency in supporting the LORD’s ministry here in this part of the world. It is only by God’s grace and your faithfulness that we are able to keep the lights on and keep glorifying Him in this place.
While the arbitrarily-determined end of the year has come and gone, and while we swelter while you all freeze (or at least deal with cool weather, depending on where you’re at), we’re grateful to be able to think back over a difficult but important year both for our family as well as for our ministry.
2. New Places, new faces!
Our church moved its location and increased its numbers
As mentioned in our last letter, the church made the decision to move locations instead of spending a lot of money on an expansion, and the folks pitched in a considerable amount of money to help make it all happen. Now we’re in a much more ideal location, close to a major shopping area in town, and we’ve had more visitors from the neighborhood in a few weeks than we had in our previous two locations over two full years.
We also had the blessing of reaching some members of a Venezuelan family with the gospel, of which two young men have confessed faith in the LORD Jesus Christ. We are going through our basic Bible studies with them, and they are hungry to learn, so please pray for Alejandro and Cristian as well as the rest of their family. The two other young people that were attending have left for different reasons, not all of them clear, but we hope to still be a help and blessing to them as they allow us to be, so pray with us also for Favián and Deyse that we may be able to help them in their walk with Christ.
So far our “biggest” day with all members present and visitors gave us a total of just over 30, if my memory is accurate, so we’re not quite spilling over just yet, but we’re excited about the spiritual and numerical growth that the LORD has allowed us to see, so please pray with us as things progress.
3. Switching things up
Sometimes a schedule shift makes things better
Due to the reality of travel and other cultural constraints, our schedule has mostly been Sunday morning at 10:30, and Wednesday Bible study at 7:30, though a lot of folks can’t make it on weeknights. So, we wanted to make better use of our time together on Sunday, and we decided to add a second hour (more like a traditional “Sunday School”) on Sunday mornings.
To my great joy, Bro. Gerardo volunteered to teach a series on the Fruit of the Spirit, which took most of the last months of the year. After he teaches, we break for sandwiches and coffee, and then come back for the preaching hour at 12:15 or thereabouts. It has been a blessing for the folks to hear more than just me, and now Gerardo is getting more experience in the pulpit. Please pray for him specifically, for whatever the LORD may have in store for him and his family.
4. Next Steps
There’s always something more to be done
We have visitors coming later this month (January) and along with their visit, we’re planning a baptismal service to a nearby lake or river. One young man has already requested baptism, and we’re excited to have our first major church outing. Of course that will include an asado (barbecue) of some sort, and we’ll probably take advantage of the opportunity to preach publicly.
We’re also in the pre-planning stages of another furlough. We have no idea how it will happen (paperwork, tickets, securing an RV, etc.) but it’s past time. We hope to see you early next year!
Thank you again for your continued faithful support of the LORD’s work here in Southern Chile. Please see the other side (or second page) for contact and giving information, as well as a few photos of events over the last month.
In Christ:
Vince, Kathie, Nathan, James, Asa, and Elizabeth LaRue
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