Report for May and June

Report from Santiago. Chile for May and June 2010


Hello from Santiago. I hope that you all are enjoying your summer. Here it is the middle of winter. So far this month, it has been really cold, getting down to 4 degrees below freezing. That is pretty cold for Santiago.

At the end of May, I visited David in Arica for the weekend. Every time I visit, I have the opportunity to renew friendships. One such friendship is that of Emilia , who has been a Christian for about eight years. Emilia is an example of what is good about the congregation in Arica. She has learned a lot about the Bible in her time in the church. She has also brought several members of her family to Christ. Her daughter, her sister, and her mother are now Christians. This illustrates one of the strengths of the Churches of Christ in Chile. We have a lot of success with the people that we know. I constantly remind the Christians of this in the hope that they will always invite and teach their friends and family.

My evaluation of the Church in Arica is that it has three strengths. The Church has been well instructed. The Christians are sharing the gospel with their loved ones. There is good interaction and sharing among the Christians. I mentioned that we would be running some advertisements in the newspaper. If we got any contacts, we would share them with him. My visit was short. It was good to make this contact with David.

I did run an ad in the newspaper. We had one response. I sent the person the first lesson. They have not responded since.

For many years, the North Oaks congregation in Canyon Country, California has participated in the ministry here in Chile. They have been faithful and encouraging in their constant support. Recently, they informed me that they were unable to continue with their support. I would like for the brothers and sisters in North Oaks to know that their help has been greatly appreciated. May God continue to bless you in the coming years.

In May, we had a Men’s Meeting. The theme was preaching the New Testament. I developed the theme of preaching the four promises that God made to Abraham as they appear in the New Testament. In Genesis 12 and 17, God made four promises to Abraham: the Promised Land, the great nation, blessings and cursings and the covenant. In the New Testament, these four promises are given different meanings than they have in the Old Testament. I showed how they appear in the New Testament. Then I showed that by preaching these promises in the New Testament, we help people to understand even more the message of the Bible. The conference was well received. We had about 40 men present. Several made some good comments about the presentation afterward.

Our lunch program has come to an end. Olga decided that she could no longer maintain the level of activity that she once did. I appreciate the commitment that she has had to this ministry over the last several years. She has been a real servant in this effort. I also appreciate the sacrifices that many have made to see that this program continued. Several current members of the church became Christians because of this program. Thank you to all that helped on this program.

Sergio continued his preaching and teaching in Peru. Pedro has been preaching and teaching in Colombia. In both cases, they are completing a vital ministry in helping the different churches to better understand the Word.

On Sunday morning, I am teaching a class in the congregation in La Villa. The congregation asked me to teach Revelation. It is a challenge to make it understandable to the congregation. The class is well attended. The congregation in La Villa has been good about inviting people. We always have visitors.

Every Sunday evening, I teach and preach in Rancagua. The congregation has been good about inviting people to participate with us. Only five people have been baptized there so far. Usually when I go, three or four Christians accompany me. We may have nine or ten Christians present and usually three or four non- Christians. We continue to preach and teach, trusting that God will give the increase to the congregation.

On Mondays, I teach the ministers class on Monday morning, Currently, I am teaching on how to study the Bible. I am pushing the different Christians to be more conscientious about the importance of knowing the truth and preaching it. I have always taught about the importance of the Bible in our lives, but I am returning to this theme because I am not satisfied that this is being preached in the congregations like it should be. So I am doing this again. Part of this is that there are many new people that have not heard this before.

On Monday evenings, I am teaching a class on the Basic themes of the Bible. About eight to ten people participate. About half of the class is non-Christians, usually about four persons.

I started a Bible study class on Tuesday morning. Three people attend.

Every Tuesday, I teach a class in the city of Los Andes. We have about a dozen participants in this study. Currently, we are studying about how to study the Bible.

Every Wednesday, I teach a class in Puente Alto. Currently, we are studying a book of the Old Testament, Hosea. We had studied Mark before, but we decided to study a book from the Old Testament. I decided to teach Hosea because it is short. I will be going to the USA in September and I did not want to start a study that I would not be able to finish.

On Thursday evenings, I teach a class in my house. The participants are different members of the congregation in La Villa. I am studying the theme of How to Study the Bible.

Our group of young university students is doing quite well. The different students are inviting their buddies to participate in different activities, such as devotionals, Bible studies, and pizza suppers. These are the same students that participated in the mission trip to Iquique in February.

In these difficult economic times, many in the United States are making sacrifices so that the work here in Chile can continue. The Churches of Christ would not exist here in Chile if Christians in the States did not make sacrifices. The offering that you make for the Church is greatly appreciated and essential to the ministry that I do here. Even more so, it allows us to preach the Word to this corner of the Earth.

The Chileans are deeply appreciative that you have made these sacrifices. Scarcely a week does not go by without one of the Chilean brothers or sisters making a comment about the importance of my presence here in Chile. Others comment about how happy they are that their brother or sister or other family member is a Christian. I am confident that the Lord’s Church will be here in Chile long after I am gone.

It is helpful to remember the ways that the Chilean church is helping to make sacrifices. Let me remind you of a few things that have happened. The little congregation in Rancagua used the funds that they had accumulated in their offerings from the last year to help the churches in the South after the earthquake. Romina and Paulina, young ladies from the congregation in La Villa, donated their winter coats to sisters in the South. Other members of the Church in La Villa also gave away their clothes and other items so that people in the South could make it through the winter. For years, Olga in Los Nogales labored to feed children in her neighborhood and teach them the Bible. For years, our ministers have labored throughout Chile, often sleeping on the floors in brothers’ homes, or going without meals, to spread the Word. The Church in La Villa has accumulated funds toward a new church building. The Church in Los Nogales bought and built their building without outside help, as far as I know.

The Church of Christ here in Chile has been a blessing to the nation. We are becoming known as a generous and loving church. In the period after the earthquake, I have heard comments from different people who are not of our Church that they appreciate what we have done for the Church. We have helped in a variety of ways. We have rented trucks four times to take goods to the congregations affected in the South. We have bought goods for them. We helped in the repairs to the church in Domeyko. We found two small towns that were affected by the earthquake that had not received any help from anyone and we helped them. We bought some winter boots for children in the South. We helped one Christian family repair their home. They did not have enough to pay for that. We also did the same with Sergio Plaza’s home. We went to some Christians’ homes in Curico and Molina with help. It should be noted that nineteen people were baptized as a result of the Church’s generosity.

Thank you for your support. May God bless you.

Earthquake, 2010

I was sound asleep when the earthquake hit. Almost immediately, I could tell this was going to be a big one. In more than twenty years here in Santiago, I have experienced a lot of earthquakes, but, as I was soon to find out, this would be the worst. My first thought was, “I need to get the door open.” Who wants to be trapped in a house which might fall on top of you at any moment?

I got out of bed as quickly as I could. I grabbed for my glasses, for my shoes. I can not honestly say if I found them or not, because I was still half asleep and I was in a hurry to get out of the bedroom to get the door open. I flipped the bedroom light on. Almost immediately, the lights went off. This was my second indication that this was a big earthquake. It was already taking down the electrical lines.

As I headed out the bedroom door, the earthquake grew in intensity. With every step, it became more violent. I had to make it into the office to get the keys to the house and then back to the front door. Just making it across the floor was difficult. It felt like I was walking on water, but in the middle of a storm. The floor moved in waves, but violently so. The floor buckled up and down. It was pitch black. I could not see anything. All around me, I could hear things crashing to the floor. Later, I would see the floor covered with glass and everything else that had fallen.

I finally got the door open. I waited there for the quake to end. The conventional wisdom is that you do not go outside, unless you absolutely have to. It can be as dangerous outside as in. Falling objects could hit you. Electrical lines could zap you. The Chileans say that you could even get swallowed up by the earth. I don’t know if that is true, but who wants to find out?

When the earthquake was over, I just stood there in the doorway for a minute, thinking, “That was something else.” The quake was like going a round in a boxing match. It was an intense fight for a couple of minutes, but suddenly it was over. Who was the winner? I was a champ, having made it through that. I was surprised by how calm I was. I never feared for my life. I was surprised though that my house did not fall on top of me. Later, when I learned how powerful it was, I was even more surprised.

The Chileans always congregate in the street after an earthquake. They do this to see if everyone is Ok, and also because they want to wait out the aftershocks. I was so sleepy though that I returned to bed. I later found out that all my neighbors thought I was dead. I’m sorry to disappoint them.

My electricity was off for several days after that. Fortunately, I had water. I also had gas, because here in Chile you buy the natural gas in 15 kilo or 45 kilo tanks. So the last few days I had just been waiting for the electricity to come back on.

The infrastructure here in Chile has taken some hits. In the more devastated areas to the south of Santiago, communities have been wiped out. We called several members of our church, but we did not get a response from almost all of them. We did talk to one lady. Her family was unhurt. She said that bridges were out and roads were torn up. Her house was completely destroyed. Her family had no water, no electricity, and no food. To make matters even worse, looters came and took everything that they had. The neighbors there banded together for protection.

Evidently, the looting has been making the headlines all over the world. My Chilean friends are embarrassed by this. Most Chileans are not like that. I agree. Right now, a lot of people in the devastated areas are desperate for food and water. I understand that water is getting to them. It is a logistical nightmare. The Chilean government has responded well, even though some mistakes have been made.

I thank God that I survived this experience unscathed.