More News From The Trip

Day Four, Friday, Dec. 2, 2005

I have to confess that it is more difficult to find time on our trip to do this than I thought. Also, since I am away from my computer in my house, I do not have the program to put pictures on this page.
On day four in the morning, we shared in a Bible study with all the participants of the trip: Henry, Rolando, Pedro, Milton, and myself. David Cisternas and his wife also joined us. David is the preacher for the congregation in Arica. All five of us are staying in his house. In this Bible study, we finished reading Nehemiah and began talking about what we learned from it.
Afterwards, we ate lunch together. Then I prepared for the evening study with the church while everyone else went to the beach.
That evening, we met with the church in the building on Gonzalo Cerda street. I preached from Philippians 2:1-11. It was enjoyable to once again be with Augusto Fuentes and his wife Berta. When I was in Arica in April, Augusto was recovering from a heart attack. He seems in better health, although his age seems to be catching up with him. He is eight-one years old, and Berta is eighty. Both are such sweet people that it is always a pleasure to pass time with them.
Another person that is faithful at church is Emilia Raby. She has never stopped coming to church since the day several years ago when Augusto and I went to visit her. She has also been instrumental in bringing several members of her family to church.
Several members of David’s family also were present. His brother, Luis, felt the need to share his insight with me. He told me, Harry, you are getting old. Thanks for the reminder.
After the lesson, we shared a typical Chilean once together. An once is a sandwich and a cup of hot tea or coffee.

Day Five, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2005

We continued our study in the morning after breakfast. During this study, we discussed the central idea of Nehemiah which is that God gives success to his people when they seek to do the will of God. Also, we looked at how to study the Bible.
After lunch, we visited with some of David’s neighbors whom we invited to the Bible studies at the church.
That night, Pedro preached from 2 Chron. 15. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. He did a good job, as always. Afterwards, Milton and I accused Pedro of stealing our sermons. We were joking of course.

Day Six, Sunday, Dec. 4, 2005

We all met together for worship Sunday morning. Milton taught the Bible class. He spoke on 2 Thessalonians. Milton is an excellent Bible teacher. In the worship service, Henry preached. He spoke on Philippians 2:1-11 again, and he did an excellent job.
After church, Milton, Henry, and Pedro went to the prison to visit several inmates who are members of the church there. Rolando and I went to the hospital with David and Felipe, David’s son. We visited a member of the church who was there for an operation.
That evening, Milton and Henry went over to Tacna, Peru. They met with members of the church there. The rest of us returned to the church building in the evening for our last meeting with the church in Arica. I preached from Ephesians 4:17-24. The theme was the darkened understanding of pagans versus the new life in Christ. After the meeting, we shared once one last time and said our goodbyes to the Christians we would not see again for awhile.

Day Seven, Monday, Dec. 5, 2005

We started the day with breakfast and then a Bible study. We talked more about how to study the Bible. Then we went over to Augusto’s and Berta’s for lunch. For a couple of people in their eighties, they are a pretty lively couple. Augusto was talking about the need to have cataract surgery on his eyes, when Berta mentioned that her grandmother died from cataracts. Of course, then someone had to ask her how that was possible, and Berta replied, She was pushed. That is funny, even in English. (cataract >noun 1 a large waterfall. 2 a medical condition in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.)
In the evening, we went to Marta’s house (David’s sister) for once. Several members of David’s family were there. We had a good time together on our last night before leaving Arica.
I should point out that Luis, one of the men who was baptized in the prison in Arica has been faithful in his attendance since he has been released from prison. We also heard word from the brothers in the prison that Milton Flores, one of the prisoners recently released, had returned to Peru, where he has started a church in his hometown outside of Puno. Other prisoners have returned to Bolivia.

Day Eight, Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005

We planned on leaving at nine a.m. from Arica, but after Milton got through puttering around it was more like ten a.m. We were going to Iquique, and since we had to be there in the evening, and it was only four hours away, we took our time in getting there. Several times along the way, we got out and took pictures of the road. Several places along the way, the road clings to the side of the mountain. As I mentioned before, you feel like you could quite easily drive off into the great beyond. When we stopped, we looked into the abyss, and tried to guess how many times a car would bounce before it came to a fiery stop. You fall asleep on this road, and you are a goner. On the trip from Arica to Iquique, we did find one truck whose brakes had gone out. At several places along the way, the road has emergency lanes for trucks to use when their brakes go out. We saw one truck that had been carrying cars stuck on one of the lanes, with several cars scattered about. The truck driver was sitting on the side of the road waiting for the crane to arrive. Undoubtedly, he was thinking about his next job, which probably was not going to be driving trucks to Arica.
We arrived in Iquique about three p.m. We were planning on staying in Jaime and Eliana’s house. Since they are both teachers, we did not expect them to be home until later. When we arrived at their home, we were surprised to find Eliana at home. She had taken the week off to be with us.
We had a Bible study that evening. I had the opportunity to meet several new Christians that I had not met before, as well as renew some old friendships along the way. One of the prisoners, Luis, had been released from the prison and was meeting regularly with the church, as was another ex-prisoner that I had not met, Victor. Both of them demonstrate signs of low self-esteem. I understand that this is common among prisoners. However, if there is a place where they can feel the love, it is in the church. We also had the privilege of visiting with Carlos Segura, and his wife, who both were baptized in the prison in Arica. Both have been instrumental in starting the church in Coihaique.
An old friend that we had the chance to visit with is Marilyn. She was a student of Eliana’s that was converted several years ago. Since then, her boyfriend, Sebastian, was also converted. He is an industrial engineering student. I also met Maritza, a student of Eliana’s who is studying the Bible to become a Christian.
In the Bible study, I spoke on the theme of sin. One of the problems that has surfaced in this congregation is that one of the members has spoken out against things that he considers sinful. Unfortunately for him, he is wrong, and instead of keeping his opinions to himself he has insisted that the other Christians practice his opinions. This has provided for some conflict, so we arrived at an opportune time to deal with this conflict. To give an example, this person has insisted that football (soccer in the USA) is sinful and members of the church are sinful for watching it. While soccer is dreadfully boring, it is not a sin. I taught about some of the characteristics of sin, such as it is destructive, and it entices people while at the same time deceiving people. Hopefully, people will be able to understand more about what sin actually is.
After the Bible study, we shared an once together.

Day Nine, Wednesday, December 7, 2005

We studied the Bible in the morning. We are working on understanding more about how to study the Bible, using Nehemiah as an example.
Eliana fixed us lunch. After lunch, we went to the prison, where we held a class with five prisoners. I spoke on Ephesians 4:17-24 again. This is a sermon of mine that Pedro always asks me to bring out when we talk to new people.
In the evening, I had a Bible study with Maritza, where I talked with her about some scriptures and also about who God is.
We met again with the church. I addressed the theme of sin again, explaining how sin separates one from God. Afterwards, we shared an once together again.

Day Ten, Thursday, December 8, 2005

Thursday was about like Wednesday. We had a Bible study in the morning. Then we ate lunch. Afterwards, we went to the prison again. This time, we had seven men present. Henry gave the presentation. He spoke on the Bible as the authoritative Word of God. Since it is common in our present time that not many people read the Bible, many do not know what role the Bible should have in their life. I am going to say that the larger role the Bible has in a person’s life, the better off he will be. Henry did a good job.
Later on, I waited for Maritza to show up, but she did not.
That evening, we met again with the church. I chose to no longer speak on the theme of sin, preferring to speak on wisdom and the importance of being wise. I spoke on Proverbs 1:1-7, ending with the thought that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of God. The turnout was larger, and we had the added blessing of Milton teaching the congregation how to sing various hymns. Remember that each of these congregations are fairly young, and still need to learn how to be a church. Afterwards, we shared once together.