Report from Santiago, Chile for March and April, 2005
Greetings. Old Man Winter walked in the door last weekend. Now what we go through here in Santiago would be mild by most peoplés standards, but to hear people talk in Chile it is the end of the world. Since most people cannot afford to heat their homes, it is pretty hard to stay comfortably warm. However, you get used to being a bit colder than you would be in the States. At any rate, last weekend we had thunderstorms and rain and cold.
I may have mentioned before that the television ministry based in Miami, Con La Biblia Abierta, approached me about running a television program in Chile next year. I am all for that, because television has been our most successful mass media effort here in Chile. Through it, we were able to start up several congregations in Chile. We also baptized such wonderful people as Augusto Fuentes and his wife Berta in Arica and Jaime and Eliana in Iquique. Our success in bringing people to Christ is the reason why they want to start with us. In order to prepare for the program, I started up the class in evangelism. Right off the bat, I was disappointed on two levels. I had made arrangements to videotape the class, but the guy who was supposedly the expert in that did not show up, so we did not get to do that. The other thing that disappointed me is that we have had only about fifty people participating in the class, and I was hoping for twice that.
The classes that I have had so far on evangelism have been really good. The goal of the class is to teach the members how to evangelize, and to give them the knowledge necessary to evaluate their success in evangelizing. In other words, I give them the lessons that they need to evangelize, but I also explain what each lesson tries to accomplish. I also explain that each evangelist and each congregation must develop the spiritual environment necessary for evangelism to take place. For example, in the first lesson, I explained that evangelism is a teaching ministry. In Matt 28:18-20, Jesus gives a model for evangelism. Making disciples of all nations involves baptism and teaching. The two go hand in hand. In a very few words, our model for evangelism is that correct teaching produces correct practice, which is obedience. A person is not evangelized until he understands certain teachings and responds to them. In the Churches of Christ, we have always had difficulty getting people to study long enough to understand the concepts in order to act upon them. Thus, the church and the evangelist have to create an environment where people want to learn. I suggest that two factors help us do that. One is that the church must set the example in learning. If the church is not willing to be taught, then how can we expect others to be excited about it? This also suggests that those who are in charge of teaching classes or evangelizing need to teach interesting classes that actually make people want to learn more, which is the second factor. Our strategy in evangelizing is to ignite the imagination of people where they are thinking about the teachings of God. When they do this, they want to learn more. When I came here in 1991, I assumed that people wanted to know as much about the Bible as I did. So I determined that I needed to teach lessons that were spiritually profound for two reasons. Spiritual growth does not take place if people are not challenged to grow and they will never teach others if they are never challenged to learn themselves. One way that I challenge people to learn is that I ask questions and then I guide people to the answer. I never answer my own questions. Sometimes I have people really sweating as they try to figure out the answer, but then they always do, because I never ask questions that are too difficult. The result is that we have fine people here in Chile who are members of the church, including ministers such as Milton, Pedro, Sergio, and David. We also have lots of people that are eager to learn.
I am happy to inform you that we have begun the new congregation in Independencia. We rented a building on the street Independencia, which is a major thoroughfare in the north part of Santiago. This is really a good location where hundreds of people pass by our building every day. The rent is expensive for us at 300,000 pesos a month or about $530.00 US. I agreed to pay half of the rent from the work fund if the church pays the other half. Your support for this effort is needed. Already one couple has been baptized. About forty people are meeting with us. Most are members that live in the area who had been worshiping at the other congregations. We are going to try and maintain a program of activity in the location every day, which is difficult, considering the lessons and obligations that we have every day. Sunday we had three visitors. All had visited the previous Thursday.
In April, Fred and Esther from Austin Avenue in Brownwood came down for a visit. The Chileans really enjoyed their visit. I am sure that I walked them much more than they were used to. They had a chance to get around and see some of the congregations in action. During the weekend of April 15-18, we went to Arica, where they were able to see the work in Arica. I should point out that we had an earthquake while we were in Arica. This was Fred and Esther’s first. It was not much, but since we were about a half mile from the beach at the time, you cannot help but think about tsunamis. You probably cannot run fast enough to get away from them, so you have to trust in God that he will protect you from them.
I learned in a phone call to Arica prior to the trip that our brother Augusto Fuentes, whom I esteem a lot, suffered a heart attack. When we had a chance to see him, he was weak. It made me sad to see him in that condition. He can surely use our prayers. He will always be a spiritual hero for us for his faithfulness in beginning the work in Arica.
David Cisternas seems to be doing a good job in Arica with the help of the brothers. Augusto will have to slow down a lot, but everyone else seems to be doing a lot of hard work there. David’s brother Luis has married and settled down a lot, proving to be a more stable Christian. I appreciate him more than ever now, because he has gotten up at five a.m. twice now to take us to the airport. While in Arica, I was able to visit with Emilia Rabi who was a Bible Correspondence student who was baptized several years ago. I renewed my acquaintance with her daughter who is now about twelve years old (if I am not mistaken). I also met her niece, whom has been attending church regularly. This niece is also quite young, thirteen or fourteen or so. She rides the bus alone on Sunday mornings and was the first to arrive the Sunday we were there. Several new families have been participating evidently, with at least one married couple having been baptized.
A brother from Iquique, Carlos Segura, was at worship in Arica when I was there. He informed me that the church in Coihaique in the far southern part of Chile is worshiping together, as they should be. We have not been able to visit there for a while due to the cost of the travel. Carlos informed me that two people want to be baptized in Coihaique. Thanks to some additional help that we received with the work fund, Pedro Sanchez is going there tomorrow to work with that congregation.
Jaqueline informs me that a married couple was baptized. This couple has participated in the Marriage Enrichment meetings that Milton and Jaqueline do. Jaqueline also informs me that the lunch program for children is feeding about forty-two children every day. Currently the money that we have that goes to that is about 450.00 dollars a month, although we spend a little bit more than that on the food. You have to admit that feeding one child for a month for ten dollars is a pretty good bargain. What I especially like about this is that the congregation in Población Santiago is taking these kids into their hearts and is working with them. Let’s not forget the children. Even though it is not exciting news to say that forty-two children have been fed this last month, it is important for them. In this, the church is a blessing to the children. This is a necessary ministry, as much so as the Marriage Enrichment ministry or the prison ministry.
I made a few trips. I returned to Vicuña once again to visit with Rolando. We studied the Bible with him and Hugo. Rolando is following in the footsteps of Augusto Fuentes, in that he is being a force for the church in his community. I am working with him when I can. You can find a picture of Rolando and me here:http://harry1976.blogspot.com
On the last Monday that Fred and Esther were present, Rolando rang my doorbell. We shared a good visit. It was also good that he came over on that day, because he was able to visit with several of the ministers and get to know them.
I made a trip to Ecuador to visit with the church in Ibarra and Guayaquil. I held a conference in each city. These churches need a lot of work, but they are hanging in there. I am glad to be able to help. They seem to like my teaching quite a bit. In Ibarra, three people were baptized. I must be used to the mild climate in Chile, because Guayaquil is hot and humid to the extent that you are constantly aware of it. I also found out that the city is in the midst of a malaria and dengue fever epidemic. Since the mosquitoes were eating me alive, I figured I was a goner. This is one of those things where you just trust in God to take care of you.
A while back, in 2004, Helmer was leaving the home of one of the Christians when he met a lady and asked her if she would like to study the Bible. She agreed and studied to a point where Helmer was just about ready to start talking about obeying the gospel. Before he could begin that conversation, she decided that she would stop studying with him. Helmer told her that she was about to begin the most important study of her life. She agreed to continue studying and was baptized, along with two family members. In March, she passed away from cancer. While this is sad, we know that she is with the Lord.
The church that started up in Chillan last year is up to ten people meeting together. Our brother Jaime who lives in the country outside of Chillan is doing a good job, according to one of the brothers, Sergio Bustamente, that went there to visit.
I continue to hear good news about the good work in other places, such as Los Andes and Puerto Montt, to the extent that it is hard to keep up with everybody.
I want to thank all of you for your support. It is necessary since we need your help to continue doing what we do here. May God bless you.
In Christ,
Harry R. Hamilton
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Monday, February 14, 2005
Report for Dec and Jan
Report from Santiago, Chile for December, 2004 and January 2005
Greetings from Santiago. We are in the middle of the summer here. Just as I thought it was fixing to get hot, a cool spell came through. I hate to brag, but Chile is really a pleasant place to live with regard to the weather. Of course, I will change my tune when winter gets here with its cold and rain.
I recently learned how to post folders of pictures to the Internet. If you would like to see pictures of the work in Chile and other related photos, then send me an email. It so happens that I have to authorize each person that wants to see them. I am trying to avoid bothering people that do not want to be bothered.
Here is a bit of good news. Rex Morgan who is with the television program, "Con La Biblia Abierta" recently contacted me about running the television program again in 2006. If you recall, we ran this program in 1995-6. I credit this program with taking us to the next level here in Chile. We were able to move from being a metropolitan church here in Santiago to having a presence nationwide. In 95 and 96, we received 1000 contacts, 200 from outside Santiago, and 800 inside Santiago. From those contacts, we have been able to baptize at least 100 people per year for eight of the last ten years. Although we are still in the planning stages, I am emphasizing the importance of this opportunity. I think it would be excellent for Chile if we could run this program for twenty years. An advantage that we have is that when we ran the program in 95 and 96, there were only three congregations outside of Santiago. Now the number is higher as twenty congregations exist throughout the length of Chile. We should be even more successful outside of Santiago than we were before. Also, the number of full time ministers is larger than it was at the previous time. I think we will have a good groundwork laid for success.
In 95 and 96, we had more success outside of Santiago than we did in the city. Several factors contributed to this. The churches were smaller. Many of the Christians were not trained to evangelize. Because of the number of contacts, we had to ask the churches to help with contacts in their area. Many did not follow up like they should. Also, people living in the city seem to be more jaded than those living outside of the city. It takes a lot of patience to reach people in Santiago.
With this in mind, I have already announced a class on evangelism. I intend to train people to be evangelists. We are going to spend the year 2005 preparing for 2006. We need a high level of participation from the congregations. I would like to see us come up with 200 prepared evangelists. Wouldn’t that be great? I can afford to be optimistic, because I have already received a good response from people about the classes. Also, it is quite likely that I will be able to film each class. I am still working on the details about that. Another plus is that this is where I spent my energies when I did my doctoral project/thesis at ACU. I learned a lot, and I expect that it will pay off handsomely.
Another area that we will have to work on is preparing the congregations to receive new people. Generally speaking, people will be gone if they cannot plug in within six months. One source says six weeks, but I think people will cut you some slack on this. This is a problem for us, because a lot of people are comfortable with their churches being like they are. Bringing in new people can often upset the cart.
So that this will be successful, we will need your prayers. Spend 2005 praying for the success of this effort. We need lots of workers. We need lots of preparation. We need lots of people to respond. We also need the television stations to allow us to show the program. Just so that you are aware of the situation, we already enjoy a good reputation. Marlene called several of the stations. One lady remembered our program and put us in contact with one station, who has since been after us, purely on the recommendation of this one woman. The opportunity is here.
During December, I gave a seminar to two congregations in Ecuador. The seminar was on Worship. I did not try to instruct on what worship is, since they all were members of the church. Rather I tried to focus on why we worship. In my mind, when we understand the reason why we do things the way we do them, we grow spiritually. For example, all members of the church know that we prefer a capella music, but do they know why? Do they know why God prefers it? Answering those questions helps us spiritually. In the seminar, I tried to stimulate the congregations. I also preached one of my favorite sermons from Eph. 4:17-20, talking about the "entendimiento entenebricido," the darkened understanding. Overall, the seminars went well. Another advantage of the trip is that I was able to work more with Henry Rosero. I hope to continue helping him be a better preacher.
When I returned to Santiago, it was a few days before Christmas. Several of the ladies prepared gifts for the children in Población Santiago, where we feed the children. You can see a picture of Lisa and Marlene preparing gifts for the kids here. http://harry1976.blogspot.com .
In January, Pedro and I went to visit a contact, Reinaldo, in the city of Valdivia. On the trip down, we visited in Chillan with a couple that had been recently baptized. We had some good Bible studies with this couple. I later had them in my house for grilled salmon during Roberto Miranda’s conferences.
After Chillan, Pedro and I drove down to Valdivia for our meeting with Reinaldo. This is the first time that we were able to visit him. It was also my first visit to Valdivia. Our studies went well with Reinaldo, although he later confessed to a certain amount of trepidation, since we were only known to him through the mail. He and his wife relaxed considerably though, after we had our studies. They admitted that they had a lot to learn. We felt like we were off to a good start with this couple, although only time will tell.
It appears that being a missionary is an impediment to losing weight. While we were in Valdivia, we visited the chocolate factory there. I tried some, and it was the best chocolate I have eaten in my life. I bought a box for several people, the secretaries, etc. On the day that we were to return to Santiago, I went to the pier and bought several pounds of salmon. We had grilled salmon for the next two weeks. I should point out that the price at the pier is much cheaper than what salmon costs in Santiago.
Buying the salmon was a good decision, because we used it to entertain several people for the next two weeks. Most of you do not realize this, but I am a chef when it comes to grilling salmon. I had several people beg for an invitation when they heard I was grilling it. Let me explain the circumstances for entertaining people during this time.
Roberto Miranda and two others came down to Santiago to give a seminar in Santiago. During that time, we had Bible studies every morning and every evening. Pictures are at the site I mentioned earlier. I invited the Americans to my house for lunch, where we had grilled salmon. Another day, I invited the Christians from Chillan. I also invited several of the ministers over. Lunch was great, but the seminars were better. The participation was outstanding. Roberto gave some good messages. One boy, Alvaro, who is about ten years old, listened to Roberto speaking about being a servant, and decided he would serve. He wound up serving in a lot of ways.
I am running out of space. God bless you, and thank you for your support.
Harry R. Hamilton
Greetings from Santiago. We are in the middle of the summer here. Just as I thought it was fixing to get hot, a cool spell came through. I hate to brag, but Chile is really a pleasant place to live with regard to the weather. Of course, I will change my tune when winter gets here with its cold and rain.
I recently learned how to post folders of pictures to the Internet. If you would like to see pictures of the work in Chile and other related photos, then send me an email. It so happens that I have to authorize each person that wants to see them. I am trying to avoid bothering people that do not want to be bothered.
Here is a bit of good news. Rex Morgan who is with the television program, "Con La Biblia Abierta" recently contacted me about running the television program again in 2006. If you recall, we ran this program in 1995-6. I credit this program with taking us to the next level here in Chile. We were able to move from being a metropolitan church here in Santiago to having a presence nationwide. In 95 and 96, we received 1000 contacts, 200 from outside Santiago, and 800 inside Santiago. From those contacts, we have been able to baptize at least 100 people per year for eight of the last ten years. Although we are still in the planning stages, I am emphasizing the importance of this opportunity. I think it would be excellent for Chile if we could run this program for twenty years. An advantage that we have is that when we ran the program in 95 and 96, there were only three congregations outside of Santiago. Now the number is higher as twenty congregations exist throughout the length of Chile. We should be even more successful outside of Santiago than we were before. Also, the number of full time ministers is larger than it was at the previous time. I think we will have a good groundwork laid for success.
In 95 and 96, we had more success outside of Santiago than we did in the city. Several factors contributed to this. The churches were smaller. Many of the Christians were not trained to evangelize. Because of the number of contacts, we had to ask the churches to help with contacts in their area. Many did not follow up like they should. Also, people living in the city seem to be more jaded than those living outside of the city. It takes a lot of patience to reach people in Santiago.
With this in mind, I have already announced a class on evangelism. I intend to train people to be evangelists. We are going to spend the year 2005 preparing for 2006. We need a high level of participation from the congregations. I would like to see us come up with 200 prepared evangelists. Wouldn’t that be great? I can afford to be optimistic, because I have already received a good response from people about the classes. Also, it is quite likely that I will be able to film each class. I am still working on the details about that. Another plus is that this is where I spent my energies when I did my doctoral project/thesis at ACU. I learned a lot, and I expect that it will pay off handsomely.
Another area that we will have to work on is preparing the congregations to receive new people. Generally speaking, people will be gone if they cannot plug in within six months. One source says six weeks, but I think people will cut you some slack on this. This is a problem for us, because a lot of people are comfortable with their churches being like they are. Bringing in new people can often upset the cart.
So that this will be successful, we will need your prayers. Spend 2005 praying for the success of this effort. We need lots of workers. We need lots of preparation. We need lots of people to respond. We also need the television stations to allow us to show the program. Just so that you are aware of the situation, we already enjoy a good reputation. Marlene called several of the stations. One lady remembered our program and put us in contact with one station, who has since been after us, purely on the recommendation of this one woman. The opportunity is here.
During December, I gave a seminar to two congregations in Ecuador. The seminar was on Worship. I did not try to instruct on what worship is, since they all were members of the church. Rather I tried to focus on why we worship. In my mind, when we understand the reason why we do things the way we do them, we grow spiritually. For example, all members of the church know that we prefer a capella music, but do they know why? Do they know why God prefers it? Answering those questions helps us spiritually. In the seminar, I tried to stimulate the congregations. I also preached one of my favorite sermons from Eph. 4:17-20, talking about the "entendimiento entenebricido," the darkened understanding. Overall, the seminars went well. Another advantage of the trip is that I was able to work more with Henry Rosero. I hope to continue helping him be a better preacher.
When I returned to Santiago, it was a few days before Christmas. Several of the ladies prepared gifts for the children in Población Santiago, where we feed the children. You can see a picture of Lisa and Marlene preparing gifts for the kids here. http://harry1976.blogspot.com .
In January, Pedro and I went to visit a contact, Reinaldo, in the city of Valdivia. On the trip down, we visited in Chillan with a couple that had been recently baptized. We had some good Bible studies with this couple. I later had them in my house for grilled salmon during Roberto Miranda’s conferences.
After Chillan, Pedro and I drove down to Valdivia for our meeting with Reinaldo. This is the first time that we were able to visit him. It was also my first visit to Valdivia. Our studies went well with Reinaldo, although he later confessed to a certain amount of trepidation, since we were only known to him through the mail. He and his wife relaxed considerably though, after we had our studies. They admitted that they had a lot to learn. We felt like we were off to a good start with this couple, although only time will tell.
It appears that being a missionary is an impediment to losing weight. While we were in Valdivia, we visited the chocolate factory there. I tried some, and it was the best chocolate I have eaten in my life. I bought a box for several people, the secretaries, etc. On the day that we were to return to Santiago, I went to the pier and bought several pounds of salmon. We had grilled salmon for the next two weeks. I should point out that the price at the pier is much cheaper than what salmon costs in Santiago.
Buying the salmon was a good decision, because we used it to entertain several people for the next two weeks. Most of you do not realize this, but I am a chef when it comes to grilling salmon. I had several people beg for an invitation when they heard I was grilling it. Let me explain the circumstances for entertaining people during this time.
Roberto Miranda and two others came down to Santiago to give a seminar in Santiago. During that time, we had Bible studies every morning and every evening. Pictures are at the site I mentioned earlier. I invited the Americans to my house for lunch, where we had grilled salmon. Another day, I invited the Christians from Chillan. I also invited several of the ministers over. Lunch was great, but the seminars were better. The participation was outstanding. Roberto gave some good messages. One boy, Alvaro, who is about ten years old, listened to Roberto speaking about being a servant, and decided he would serve. He wound up serving in a lot of ways.
I am running out of space. God bless you, and thank you for your support.
Harry R. Hamilton
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Monday, January 17, 2005
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Sunday, December 05, 2004
I found some time to write
It has been a while since I have been able to sit down and write out anything. Bear with me. I am sure that this will work out fine as I get it going.
Pedro Sanchez and I went up to Vicuña this last week end. We visited Rolando Suazo, who was baptized this last month. We had a good time, even though our stay was short. Rolando had his results back from the doctor, and they were good for his pancreas, meaning that he was not getting worse. Whether he can get better or not I do not know. But we continue to pray for him.
His wife, who is a devout Catholic and has expressed on more than one occasion that she wants nothing to do with any Bible study, visited with us for a while during our short stay. I actually enjoyed her company.
Rolando took us up into the Valle de Elqui where he has a parcela. This is a nice little country house, but not in the sense of what Americans would think of. It is nothing fancy, but comfortable, small with a garden that Rolando has filled with every kind of fruit tree known to man. It is a regular garden of Eden. His house is just outside the village of Monte Negro which is where the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Gabriela Mistral is from. Chile has two Nobel prize winners in Literature, the other is Pablo Neruda. For those of you who are interested, I have read a little bit of both, but not much. I prefer other reading. I have read quite a bit of another Chilean poet that I know, but only because he obligated me to do it. He actually stood over me and made me read it, so I took my medicine and hurried it as quickly as I could. This is the price you pay for being a missionary.
Back to Rolando. He was an officer in the Caribineros de Chile, eventually reaching major, which is pretty good in the Chilean services, largely because they are small, and there is not much room for advancement. A lot of these guys like me pretty much, since I was in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University. Probably the most impressive thing about this is that in his neck of the woods, he knows everybody.
The Valle de Elqui is a pretty famous valley in Chile. Apart from being the home of Gabriela Mistral, it is also a famous agricultural producing region, with lots of avocado trees and vineyards. There are more vineyards than anything else. An interesting note is that the producers are beginning to plant grapevines and avocado trees on the sides of the mountains that form the walls of the valley. They are doing this at some pretty incredible slopes. I personally do not know how they plan to harvest off the side of the mountains. The grapes from this particular valley are not used as much in wines as they are in pisco and pisco sour.
Pedro Sanchez and I went up to Vicuña this last week end. We visited Rolando Suazo, who was baptized this last month. We had a good time, even though our stay was short. Rolando had his results back from the doctor, and they were good for his pancreas, meaning that he was not getting worse. Whether he can get better or not I do not know. But we continue to pray for him.
His wife, who is a devout Catholic and has expressed on more than one occasion that she wants nothing to do with any Bible study, visited with us for a while during our short stay. I actually enjoyed her company.
Rolando took us up into the Valle de Elqui where he has a parcela. This is a nice little country house, but not in the sense of what Americans would think of. It is nothing fancy, but comfortable, small with a garden that Rolando has filled with every kind of fruit tree known to man. It is a regular garden of Eden. His house is just outside the village of Monte Negro which is where the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Gabriela Mistral is from. Chile has two Nobel prize winners in Literature, the other is Pablo Neruda. For those of you who are interested, I have read a little bit of both, but not much. I prefer other reading. I have read quite a bit of another Chilean poet that I know, but only because he obligated me to do it. He actually stood over me and made me read it, so I took my medicine and hurried it as quickly as I could. This is the price you pay for being a missionary.
Back to Rolando. He was an officer in the Caribineros de Chile, eventually reaching major, which is pretty good in the Chilean services, largely because they are small, and there is not much room for advancement. A lot of these guys like me pretty much, since I was in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University. Probably the most impressive thing about this is that in his neck of the woods, he knows everybody.
The Valle de Elqui is a pretty famous valley in Chile. Apart from being the home of Gabriela Mistral, it is also a famous agricultural producing region, with lots of avocado trees and vineyards. There are more vineyards than anything else. An interesting note is that the producers are beginning to plant grapevines and avocado trees on the sides of the mountains that form the walls of the valley. They are doing this at some pretty incredible slopes. I personally do not know how they plan to harvest off the side of the mountains. The grapes from this particular valley are not used as much in wines as they are in pisco and pisco sour.
Friday, November 19, 2004
Today in Santiago
Well, it has been a pretty hectic day in Santiago, from what I can tell by watching the news. You all should be aware that violent protests are a commonplace occurrence here, and the police in Chile have a lot of experience in dealing with it. Tomorrow is supposed to be worse.
I should point out that a lot of these protests are done by individuals who have not figured out that they need to do something with their life.
However, these protesters cause a tremendous amount of damage. They can erase a year's economic growth in a night. In a small country like Chile, several million dollars worth of damage can represent the amount that the economy grew in a year. This actually happened one year. The amount of damage that was done in rioting was the same amount that the economy grew in that year. So chile did not come out ahead.
Another thing that is damaging is that this rioting creates a culture of violence. For many years, Sept. 11 was when people rioted in the streets protesting the coup of Pinochet. There is no doubt that certain elements looked forward to it each year. This year I was beginning to think the country was getting past this, when we have the riots going on today.
I should point out that a lot of these protests are done by individuals who have not figured out that they need to do something with their life.
However, these protesters cause a tremendous amount of damage. They can erase a year's economic growth in a night. In a small country like Chile, several million dollars worth of damage can represent the amount that the economy grew in a year. This actually happened one year. The amount of damage that was done in rioting was the same amount that the economy grew in that year. So chile did not come out ahead.
Another thing that is damaging is that this rioting creates a culture of violence. For many years, Sept. 11 was when people rioted in the streets protesting the coup of Pinochet. There is no doubt that certain elements looked forward to it each year. This year I was beginning to think the country was getting past this, when we have the riots going on today.
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Report
Report from Santiago, Chile for October, 2004
Greetings from Chile. I hope that all of you are doing well.
Rolando Suazo was baptized Saturday afternoon. He lives in Vicuña. He came to us originally through the Bible Correspondence course. Pedro and I with one of the elders from the Austin Avenue Church of Christ, Tom Stewardson, went to visit him several years ago. Since then he has been studying with us. We have shared several visits since then. When Rolando and I went to baptize him, we talked about his plans to worship in Vicuña. Unfortunately, he will be alone there until we can find others to become Christians and worship with him. I am looking forward to working with him in the future. At this time, we do not know how long that future will be, because Rolando suffers from a pancreas that barely functions. I have to confess that I do not know what that means, but he does not think he has long to live. Rolando has not been receiving good reports on his current checkup and needs our prayers.
Barbara, a young lady who is the girlfriend of one of the members in Villa Los Andes Del Sur, was baptized. She has been a good friend of several of us. She lives fairly close to me, and has been over my house quite a bit. Last night, she was here with several young people to celebrate the birthday of Alvaro, one of the young members of Villa Los Andes del Sur.
Also, Tatiana was baptized. I had studied with her several years ago. She is participating in the congregation in La Florida. She is another example of the need to maintain contact with people. I find that frequently here in Chile people go through a series of evangelistic studies and do not respond immediately, but often need to give it some time. People who make a decision in this way are often stronger than those who make speedier decisions.
In Domeyko, Rudolfo was baptized. This is an indication that this congregation may be getting back on its feet. The attendance there is up. Several men have started working with the congregation there. Hopefully, we will see it doing much better.
Eight baptisms were reported last week in various parts of the city. Independencia had two baptisms, as did Maipú. The rest were at Población Santiago.
Last Thursday, I and two carloads of people went out to the campgrounds that we have in El Tabo to inspect them.. It is in terrible shape. The grounds had a fence around it that was basically a rail fence that did not keep anyone out. This was in evidence when I went there, because two of the cabins were burnt to the ground. Someone had lit a fire in the dining hall, and several trees were chopped down. A wall to one of the bathrooms had been broken down. Most of the fence was gone, and the gate was broken. This sent a pretty clear message that we need to enclose the site with some good concrete walls, like most Latin American properties have. Otherwise we will lose the entire investment Unfortunately, this will cost some money for materials. If any of you would like to help in this, let me know.
For those of you who are curious, I have completed the Doctor of Ministry, with the exception that I have to send copies of the thesis to the library. I am waiting on the corrections that they want me to make. When this is done, I will be through. I am more than happy to get that behind me. I have been trying to be pretencioso (pretentious or pompous) about this, by insisting that everybody call me doctor, but the Chileans do not pay any attention to me. They are pretty good about keeping me humble. The theme of my thesis was implementing a model for evangelism in Santiago, Chile. I was able to use my experience here to complete that. The truth of the matter is that I learned a lot from the Chileans as I was working on the thesis through the last few years.
I also learned a lot from Ken Wilkey while he was here. Together we went to Lima where we gave a seminar on Bible study to several of the congregations in Peru. Ken gave an overview of the Bible, while I spoke on I John. Two other preachers also participated, Henry from Ibarra, Ecuador and Beto from San Cristobal, Venezuela. The seminar was well received. The impression that I received was that the church in Lima is weak. Perhaps that is true of only where I was, but the truth is that it needs a lot of attention.
On the 16th of October, the ladies had their nationwide meeting. Ladies from ten congregations in Santiago and two outside of Santiago participated. The theme was Unity in the Church. Seventy ladies participated. Three ladies from different congregations gave the presentations. They also shared a lunch together. All the sisters told me that it was an excellent activity.
As so often happens in Latin America, the men did the opposite of what the women did. They decided to not hold their meeting this November, because one of the congregations had a problem with another. In my opinion, this is one of the decisions that was not the wisest, but sometimes you have to allow people to be wrong.
The other day, I was out looking for Pedro Sanchez. I found him over at the house where we serve the meals to the children. I do not usually go over there. While I was there, I noticed that quite a lot of children were filing into the house and going into the back. I figured that since there were a lot of them, that they were from the program. I was also impressed with how nice they looked and how well behaved they were. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, and fairly late in the afternoon, I was curious about what was going on. So I asked. As it turns out, they were doing a Bible Study. The help that you are giving to this program is developing well mannered children in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago. The church is doing a fine job there.
If you are interested in less formal information about what is happening here, you might check out http://harry1976.blogspot.com/
About the only thing left to mention now is that the exchange rate on the dollar is going downhill fast. This means that the dollar does not buy as much as it previously did, which means that everything is more expensive. Currently, the exchange rate is down 22% from its high.
Thank you for your support. May God bless you.
In Christ,
Harry R. Hamilton
Greetings from Chile. I hope that all of you are doing well.
Rolando Suazo was baptized Saturday afternoon. He lives in Vicuña. He came to us originally through the Bible Correspondence course. Pedro and I with one of the elders from the Austin Avenue Church of Christ, Tom Stewardson, went to visit him several years ago. Since then he has been studying with us. We have shared several visits since then. When Rolando and I went to baptize him, we talked about his plans to worship in Vicuña. Unfortunately, he will be alone there until we can find others to become Christians and worship with him. I am looking forward to working with him in the future. At this time, we do not know how long that future will be, because Rolando suffers from a pancreas that barely functions. I have to confess that I do not know what that means, but he does not think he has long to live. Rolando has not been receiving good reports on his current checkup and needs our prayers.
Barbara, a young lady who is the girlfriend of one of the members in Villa Los Andes Del Sur, was baptized. She has been a good friend of several of us. She lives fairly close to me, and has been over my house quite a bit. Last night, she was here with several young people to celebrate the birthday of Alvaro, one of the young members of Villa Los Andes del Sur.
Also, Tatiana was baptized. I had studied with her several years ago. She is participating in the congregation in La Florida. She is another example of the need to maintain contact with people. I find that frequently here in Chile people go through a series of evangelistic studies and do not respond immediately, but often need to give it some time. People who make a decision in this way are often stronger than those who make speedier decisions.
In Domeyko, Rudolfo was baptized. This is an indication that this congregation may be getting back on its feet. The attendance there is up. Several men have started working with the congregation there. Hopefully, we will see it doing much better.
Eight baptisms were reported last week in various parts of the city. Independencia had two baptisms, as did Maipú. The rest were at Población Santiago.
Last Thursday, I and two carloads of people went out to the campgrounds that we have in El Tabo to inspect them.. It is in terrible shape. The grounds had a fence around it that was basically a rail fence that did not keep anyone out. This was in evidence when I went there, because two of the cabins were burnt to the ground. Someone had lit a fire in the dining hall, and several trees were chopped down. A wall to one of the bathrooms had been broken down. Most of the fence was gone, and the gate was broken. This sent a pretty clear message that we need to enclose the site with some good concrete walls, like most Latin American properties have. Otherwise we will lose the entire investment Unfortunately, this will cost some money for materials. If any of you would like to help in this, let me know.
For those of you who are curious, I have completed the Doctor of Ministry, with the exception that I have to send copies of the thesis to the library. I am waiting on the corrections that they want me to make. When this is done, I will be through. I am more than happy to get that behind me. I have been trying to be pretencioso (pretentious or pompous) about this, by insisting that everybody call me doctor, but the Chileans do not pay any attention to me. They are pretty good about keeping me humble. The theme of my thesis was implementing a model for evangelism in Santiago, Chile. I was able to use my experience here to complete that. The truth of the matter is that I learned a lot from the Chileans as I was working on the thesis through the last few years.
I also learned a lot from Ken Wilkey while he was here. Together we went to Lima where we gave a seminar on Bible study to several of the congregations in Peru. Ken gave an overview of the Bible, while I spoke on I John. Two other preachers also participated, Henry from Ibarra, Ecuador and Beto from San Cristobal, Venezuela. The seminar was well received. The impression that I received was that the church in Lima is weak. Perhaps that is true of only where I was, but the truth is that it needs a lot of attention.
On the 16th of October, the ladies had their nationwide meeting. Ladies from ten congregations in Santiago and two outside of Santiago participated. The theme was Unity in the Church. Seventy ladies participated. Three ladies from different congregations gave the presentations. They also shared a lunch together. All the sisters told me that it was an excellent activity.
As so often happens in Latin America, the men did the opposite of what the women did. They decided to not hold their meeting this November, because one of the congregations had a problem with another. In my opinion, this is one of the decisions that was not the wisest, but sometimes you have to allow people to be wrong.
The other day, I was out looking for Pedro Sanchez. I found him over at the house where we serve the meals to the children. I do not usually go over there. While I was there, I noticed that quite a lot of children were filing into the house and going into the back. I figured that since there were a lot of them, that they were from the program. I was also impressed with how nice they looked and how well behaved they were. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, and fairly late in the afternoon, I was curious about what was going on. So I asked. As it turns out, they were doing a Bible Study. The help that you are giving to this program is developing well mannered children in one of the poorest neighborhoods in Santiago. The church is doing a fine job there.
If you are interested in less formal information about what is happening here, you might check out http://harry1976.blogspot.com/
About the only thing left to mention now is that the exchange rate on the dollar is going downhill fast. This means that the dollar does not buy as much as it previously did, which means that everything is more expensive. Currently, the exchange rate is down 22% from its high.
Thank you for your support. May God bless you.
In Christ,
Harry R. Hamilton
Saturday, November 13, 2004
On a more serious note.
As you might imagine, these last few days have been a little more difficult for the American image here in Chile.
For some reason, most Chileans I know think that I would not vote for George W. Bush. The image that Bush has is horrible, but that is because the news here follows the Europeans and has been negative towards Bush always, with nothing positive to say. Also, the movie that the Moore character made has been making the rounds, and people accept everything it says without trying to figure out if it is true or not. Another thing is that people are scared because of the war in Iraq. At times like these, the Pentecostals pull out the old theory about this being the last days and we are entering into the seven years of grand tribulation. The same thing happened to me in 1991. A Pentecostal lady at my workplace in Abilene swore up and down that the world would be coming to an end in seven years. I should have called her up in 1998 and asked her what she was still doing here. The same thing is happening now.
I do not bring this up to talk about politics, but to talk about how people think. One of the areas where I spend a lot of time working is in how Chileans think. I try to understand how they think, because what I do is I change the way they think. This is not really a psychological concept as much as it is an anthropological one. The difference is that psychology might work with the individual person, and the anthropological approach works with the currents of thought and forces that shape the way people view themselves and their world. Religion is one of these forces and might actually be the most important one. As an evangelist, I shape the way people think. I try to help them understand their world in the light of Christian concepts.
How do I do this?
First of all, I want to be absolutely persuasive. So I will start with something that is truthful and makes sense. For example, I might say, "The function of religion is that it describes reality." Usually it takes people a second to figure out what I am talking about.
Once they realize what I have said, I take it one step further. Why would you believe in something if it does not describe reality? After all, is that not what having faith means- you understand something as real and truthful. It is reality.
Remember what John 20:30-31 says. "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name."
The reality that the Bible asks you to believe in is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
For some reason, most Chileans I know think that I would not vote for George W. Bush. The image that Bush has is horrible, but that is because the news here follows the Europeans and has been negative towards Bush always, with nothing positive to say. Also, the movie that the Moore character made has been making the rounds, and people accept everything it says without trying to figure out if it is true or not. Another thing is that people are scared because of the war in Iraq. At times like these, the Pentecostals pull out the old theory about this being the last days and we are entering into the seven years of grand tribulation. The same thing happened to me in 1991. A Pentecostal lady at my workplace in Abilene swore up and down that the world would be coming to an end in seven years. I should have called her up in 1998 and asked her what she was still doing here. The same thing is happening now.
I do not bring this up to talk about politics, but to talk about how people think. One of the areas where I spend a lot of time working is in how Chileans think. I try to understand how they think, because what I do is I change the way they think. This is not really a psychological concept as much as it is an anthropological one. The difference is that psychology might work with the individual person, and the anthropological approach works with the currents of thought and forces that shape the way people view themselves and their world. Religion is one of these forces and might actually be the most important one. As an evangelist, I shape the way people think. I try to help them understand their world in the light of Christian concepts.
How do I do this?
First of all, I want to be absolutely persuasive. So I will start with something that is truthful and makes sense. For example, I might say, "The function of religion is that it describes reality." Usually it takes people a second to figure out what I am talking about.
Once they realize what I have said, I take it one step further. Why would you believe in something if it does not describe reality? After all, is that not what having faith means- you understand something as real and truthful. It is reality.
Remember what John 20:30-31 says. "Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name."
The reality that the Bible asks you to believe in is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Non Report Stuff, that is to say, stuff I would never put in my report.
Friday afternoon, I made some strawberry ice cream. It was delicious. It is great to be a missionary.
Yesterday and today, it rained. When it rains here in Chile, it cools off considerably. Why in the world I was making ice cream, I do not know.
One of my favorite times of the year is Christmas. I must confess that I already have put up a Christmas tree. The official reason that I am starting early is that since I am so busy, I do not get to enjoy it like I like so I extend the season. The other reason is that I just like Christmas.
Jaqueline, Lisa, and several of the ladies had a birthday party for the kids at the dining ministry. That phrase "dining ministry" indicates right off the bat that we have a terrible problem in that we have a ministry with no name. Anybody want to be a dining minister? I am afraid I already have that nailed down. We are already pretty well known as the church that eats together.
The ladies decided that they wanted to make a gingerbread house for the children for Christmas. Foodtv.ca has instructions on how to do it, and we will probably do it. I will take pictures.
My next report will probably be tomorrow.
Yesterday and today, it rained. When it rains here in Chile, it cools off considerably. Why in the world I was making ice cream, I do not know.
One of my favorite times of the year is Christmas. I must confess that I already have put up a Christmas tree. The official reason that I am starting early is that since I am so busy, I do not get to enjoy it like I like so I extend the season. The other reason is that I just like Christmas.
Jaqueline, Lisa, and several of the ladies had a birthday party for the kids at the dining ministry. That phrase "dining ministry" indicates right off the bat that we have a terrible problem in that we have a ministry with no name. Anybody want to be a dining minister? I am afraid I already have that nailed down. We are already pretty well known as the church that eats together.
The ladies decided that they wanted to make a gingerbread house for the children for Christmas. Foodtv.ca has instructions on how to do it, and we will probably do it. I will take pictures.
My next report will probably be tomorrow.
Prayer requests
Well, it is Saturday night, and I am getting ready for tomorrow morning. I have still got some things to do.
Here are some people to pray for.
Pedro Sanchez had to go to the hospital with some kidney stones or something like that. He should be fine, but pray for him anyway.
Rolando suazo has a barely functioning pancreas. He believes that he is not long for this world, and to tell you the truth, he has me convinced. Rolando was baptized last Saturday.
One of our congregations has had a falling out with another congregation and that has kept me busy for a good part of this week.
I will be going to Lima and Ecuador in December.
I also have several things pending.
Sibyl Miranda is dying from cancer.
While this list is short, by no means do I intend to be abrupt. I am trying to do this quickly.
Here are some people to pray for.
Pedro Sanchez had to go to the hospital with some kidney stones or something like that. He should be fine, but pray for him anyway.
Rolando suazo has a barely functioning pancreas. He believes that he is not long for this world, and to tell you the truth, he has me convinced. Rolando was baptized last Saturday.
One of our congregations has had a falling out with another congregation and that has kept me busy for a good part of this week.
I will be going to Lima and Ecuador in December.
I also have several things pending.
Sibyl Miranda is dying from cancer.
While this list is short, by no means do I intend to be abrupt. I am trying to do this quickly.
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