Baptisms last week

Last Sunday the church held a service to Baptize some member of the church, they were held up in the camp that the church takes care of.


More photos after the break

Tour of the Predio

Here are a few photos, and a short (and very boring) video of the camp area the church takes care of. Amigos de la Misión Church, which we work with, is in charge of taking care of this camp area. It is now owned by what will be the first Christian University in Chile. The church currently uses it to host many events including: Youth camping excursions, Baptisms, soccer games, picnics, and it also serves as a place to stay in case of an evacuation of Tomé or surrounding area. The church has also been given land to start building a meeting place to hold our services.





Below are a few more images of the "Predio"

 

 

Blessings,
Jordan and Missy

The Last few days...

So there has been a lot going on lately around here. we will start with this video clip



So in case you hadn't heard, we had our first official earthquake since we have been here on Friday the 14th (somewhere between 6.8 -7.1 depending on your source), it was really odd because we were out working in a field (as you can see in the video). Before this weekend, we have felt tremors, and they have been a little weird, but to be standing on dirt and feel an earthquake was all together a weird experience. in the 72 hours since this earthquake there have been a lot of tremors, and a lot of strong ones nearly 10 over 6 on the Richter scale.

Panchi, Paula, Missy, and Alejandra at the camp

Pastor Luciano drinking juice with lunch

The youth pastor, Fernando, head pastor, Luciano, and I discuss something important.

The amazing thing is that people just go on with their daily business as if nothing is going on. Saturday we went back out to the church camp for the bible classes for the youth, then ate, and played soccer for a while. Today (Sunday the 14th) church was canceled because many people went to other cities to be with their families over the weekend, so Pastor Luciano and I went up once again to the camp to start cutting trees down for firewood.

one of the piles of wood we cut today, we need around 1500-2000 pieces to make it through the winter

All in all things are slowing down a bit, as it seems the summer is slowly winding down to a close. It is about time for the students to head back to their classes, parents are also are finishing up vacation time. We are looking forward to a different season of work down here!

We have a few prayer requests:
-Sleep for us
-Church building, We are building a new building as a church down here, are they are a few funds issues right now, Pray the and mis-understandings would be resolved.
-Peace for the people of Tome and the whole region, and us about all the tremors.
-Unity for the body of Christ in Chile

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers and support
Jordan and Missy

Second English Course Comes to an End

Yesterday finished the second intensive English class I offered to the church, and it was great! The students were all youth, all super excited to learn, and they did so well! I had many of the same students from the first English course, and so we were able to pick up where we left off and continue with our lessons in vocabulary, grammar, conversation, etc.

The last day everyone brought a dessert to share, and during our "break" in between sessions we had a bit of a potluck. I made a birthday cake for one of the students, my first try at a cake made from scratch and it turned out pretty well!

White Butter Cake with Lemon Buttercream Frosting

It's been really cool to teach English here, a wonderful practice for me but also a good opportunity for people to take advantage of a free English course. Many students have told me that they appreciate learning from a native speaker.

Last night it was so exciting to give them all conversation topics and hear the buzz of English conversations throughout the room. Talk about a blast! I am hoping to continue to offer English classes on Thursday nights as I had previously done, but am also interested in maybe expanding to Saturday classes or something more....

This weekend we have another camping trip, so stay posted for pictures/videos from that!

Have a great weekend,

Missy (and Jordan)

Campamento IPECH 2011

Last week I went with the youth group on a camping trip to the annual conference of Covenant churches in Chile. Here in Chile, there are 10 Covenant churches in all, and they span from the northern deserts to the southern islands. There were about 300 people all together, and 20 of us from the church in Tome.

We had a really good time of fellowship – within our group and with the group as a whole – and I think it was a real faith-building opportunity for some of the kids in the youth group.

Many of them have been in the church here in Tome for just over a year now, and they have grown so much (which is so cool to witness!). The few days we had at the camp (near the town of Coelemu, which is about 1.5 hours north of Tome) were very purposeful in that the kids from our group were able to spend some time with a big group of other believers from all over Chile.

It was also a good opportunity for me to practice Spanish, since Jordan stayed in Tome to work on the construction projects, it was all-Spanish-all-the-time for about 2.5 days – and boy was it exhausting!

That coupled with the fact that we were camping and you never sleep well when camping AND it was a youth event meant for a very tiring few days for me! So when we got home on Thursday it was straight to bed for a good long rest. All in a all a very cool trip, and we had a great time!

Blessings,

Missy

Endless Summer

Since we arrived here in September, the weather has been really nice – basically summer - and having just left summer in the States, we've now completed close to a year without a Fall or Winter! I think my internal clock is a little messed up because of that, especially when we were celebrating Christmas in the middle of sunny summer days!

That said, today is a pretty crummy looking day,

AND I'm all bundled up in a sweater and my slippers

AND we are getting wood ready for the winter

So all that to say...it's beginning to seem a lot like fall.

Weird.

But, exciting at the same time to experience fall in Tome, Chile. We're still a ways out from actually entering the fall season, but I'm definitely excited to see some crunchy leaves!

Hope whatever season you're in right now is fantastic!

Missy

Tremor Today

We wanted to share a prayer request with you for the people of Chile, and especially in our region where the earthquake was so strong. Right now tremors (small earthquakes) are part of living down here, there are many theories about why the region is so active, but in reality no one can really prove why the earth in this area is so volatile right now. Below is a short video of a tremor that occurred today during the church service, the tremor was around 5.5 on the Richter scale, and from the information I have found on it was pretty shallow. It was one of the strongest tremors I have felt since I have been here.




The speaker on this day was the youth pastor (Fernando), and he did a really great job of keeping everyone calm, as many of the people in the church were standing and about to  move to safer parts in the room.

We would ask you to pray for the people of Chile about the fears that many of them have about more earthquakes and tsunamis.Especially as the one year anniversary of the earthquake comes nearer (27th of February).

Blessings!
Jordan and Missy

New Video

Waterfalls

A quick pic of some waterfalls we visited about a month ago when Missy's mom and brother came to visit --

At Salto del Laja

Prayer Requests from the Other Side of the World

Part of the Predio, where we are currently building the new church

This week has already been super busy! Jordan is working everyday at the Christian University in Concepcion, they have just moved buildings and are fixing up the new one for the students who will start classes in March. Once they have finished there, they will begin working again on the church building to house our congregation each Sunday. They have already completed the foundation, and are now working on the walls. (Construction pictures to come!)

Youth Group at the Predio

Prayer Requests for this week:

- For the water project in Dichato to be completed. The contractor just has to transfer the connection from one water tower to the new one that was built, this is a little more complicated than it sounds, so pray for a smooth finish – so that the people of the community can have running water to their houses!
- For the work projects in Concepcion and in the Predio (the location of our new church)
- For the upcoming visit of Jordan's mom, she will be coming at the end of February
- Tonight I leave for 2 days on a camping trip for the Evangelical Christian Youth of the region, it is supposed to be a bunch of fun, pray for growth in the group and safety
- For Jordan and I, that we would continue to find our daily strength from the Lord and not ourselves, that we could really rest in Him each evening
- For future preparations, that the Lord would continue to lead us in what our future here in Tome holds
- Finally, we will be purchasing a few pieces of media equipment that we have been praying about getting, so if you could be praying for continued guidance on what equipment is best for our situation/the church here/and even for good deals! :)

Thanks so much for your prayers, we are so encouraged by your encouragement both in prayer and comments/emails! Let us know if you have any prayer requests as well – we have prayer meetings at our house every Thursday, with a bunch of Chileans who love to lift up the needs of God's people!

Have a wonderful Tuesday,
Missy (and Jordan)