God Opens Doors

A Few Pictures

Our house in Arica.

 

Our street...very obvious we live in the desert! 

 

Our crazy dog.

  

 

Doky has adapted well to the heat.  We thought he was not going to make it the first few weeks we were here.  He panted constantly and layed around all the time.  However, he has adjusted fine and he continues to entertain us in ways only he can!

Travel by Train...Almost

Randy and Garrett at the train station.  (Garrett hates having his picture taken, thus the (non)smile on his face!)

 

We arrived at the train station in Arica at 8:30 a.m last Friday.  We were very excited about traveling to Tacna to work with Yolanda, the missionary there.  Unfortunately, we did not realize our papers for residency had expired - only by a few days!  The Immigration office had asked for more information three weeks earlier.  Originally, we were given six months to remain in the country while waiting for a response about residency.  We were not allowed to leave Chile and we headed straight to Office of Immigrations.  We took a number and waited for the next three hours to be told it would be Monday before they could give us a new stamp.  Needless to say, we postponed our trip until this Friday and we are legal for the next two months.

Our stamp will expire two days before our medical team arrives.  Please pray with us that we will  receive an answer to our residency - a yes - al tiro (fast)! 

J.

V., a young lady in the church, gave birth to her third child a few weeks ago.  She needed food so we visited her and her husband, J.  J. is twenty-eight years old.  The couple has been married for six years.  His family has Catholic roots, but, his parents did not practice the faith nor teach him about God.  He works in the boating industry and makes barely enough to last an entire month.  His wife told us he didn't want her to change the baby so much because they can't afford to buy diapers.  They buy their diapers mostly by the day and they buy only what they need.  J. wonders about God.  However, he doesn't know if he will ever become a true believer.  We shared with him the story of Peter.  Like J., Peter was also a fisherman.  Peter was going about his normal day's work and one day, Jesus appeared and Peter heard the call from Christ to become a fisher of men.  Many people hear or think God is calling them - unfortunately, many never make the step to actually follow Jesus.  We explained to J. that he has to open his heart and be willing to allow the Lord to work in his life.  Respond to what he knows, ask Jesus to reveal himself, and Jesus will not deny his request. 

The Gospel is meant to be shared simply.  I could easily share the Roman Road, EE, the Faith Outline, or a myriad of Gospel presentations.  Many people here would pray a prayer to receive salvation for me out of being polite.  We are not interested in false conversions.  We learned a long time ago the work is truly the Lord's.  As we scatter the seeds (His Word) in the hearts of many; we watch Jesus do what He does - change hearts.    We saw M. yesterday.  For the first time, she smiled as we entered her home.  She has a lot of work to do and we look forward to watching her heart change.

The Wade Family

We have known our friends, Ryan and Somer Wade, for several years.  Ryan went on the first mission trip we led as a family to Arica.  Ryan taught Tyler guitar and has helped us with a myriad of things I can't name here!  They are now a family of three as Somer had a son who is almost two - his name is Jonah.  We met his mom, Lynn, and his dad, Chris, before we left the States for Chile.  Not long after we left, Mr. Wade was diagnosed with ALS.  

On Monday, May  18, 2009, Mr. Wade went home to be with Jesus.  He will be buried tomorrow, May 21, in Carthage, Mississippi.  Please pray for their family as they begin a new journey of healing.  Mr. Wade shared his testimony at church before the ALS became advanced and you can read it here...Download Chris Wade Testimony.  His testimony touched many people and I pray if you read it, it will touch your life as well.

Her name is M.

After two visits, we could tell M. was interested in being set free.  She is 47 years old with seven children.  She has had three husbands, one of which died from drinking.  Two of the seven children are twins and one of the twins is mentally handicapped.  Apparently she did not receive medical care when she was very young (mom had no money) and a simple infection which could have been treated went untreated and her daughter does not speak nor hear very well.  This inhibits M. from working consistently because she can't leave her at home alone. M's job is selling used clothing which someone else gives her.  She hasn't sold much lately.  The bills are piled up and the electricity might be turned off very soon.  As you can imagine she is suffering from alcoholism, depression, and insomnia.  Her question to us is why can't I get ahead? 

You learn very quickly in ministry that many people suffer from problems which can't be solved overnight.  You learn about people like M. who truly suffer despite the fact she might be reaping the consequences of a string of bad choices.  You learn only God has their answers and although you might be able to quote many scripture verses, they are not consoled by them.  Hard lives often create hard hearts.  The tears don't flow because they are too numb and too tired. 

Her name is M.  God knows M. and Jesus has sent us for a season to be His messengers to proclaim the Gospel of peace which is only found in Him.  Please pray for M. today.   

Finally Restored

Well, my computer is now officially up and running again.  This was the first time my computer has ever crashed.  We have now learned the value of an external drive in keeping precious data.  Thankfully, we were very glad we were able to download all of our information before restoring the drive. 

We have both been teaching a lot.  Randy has been covering Sunday morning adult Sunday School.  I am teaching for the women's group on Friday's.  We are studying The Mind of Christ  which was the same study we were doing in Chiloe.  The Lord obviously wants me to let His mind transform my mind and I am a willing and desiring nothing less but to change! 

Randy is at church and I am home with Garrett.  He ran fever yesterday with an upset stomach.  Today he was better with just a stomach ache. 

We appreciate your prayers and thank you for keeping up with us!

Are you a Mormon?

I can't say how many times I have been asked this question since arriving in Arica.  The buses do not run by our house like in the island so we have been forced to take more taxis.  We have had some interesting experiences we will not soon forgot.  It is amazing how many people in these taxis have asked me if we were Mormon Missionaries.

Flashback...2005.  I remember when a Brazilian missionary, our friend, Pastor Jean Marc taught in my Sunday School class.  Time was nearing for us to leave for language school and we were at the point where it was go for it or stop it before it's too late.  Pastor Jean did not know anything of our struggles as we had not shared them with him.  We were like, Lord, if we have missed it, please tell us.  Not only were we struggling with needing one last confirmation, but we wanted to make sure we were to go to South America.  I was thinking there are places in the 10/40 window that could surely use us more than Chile or Peru.  When Pastor Jean Marc got up, he shared how while he was growing up he used to see missionaries all the time.  However, in Chile he rarely saw them and had wondered where all the missionaries were because Chile needs missionaries.  Well, we had our confirmation. 

Present day Chile...I think if you were to check statistics you would find Chile as majority Christian.  Or I guess I should say it is largely Roman Catholic and this is considered Christian among some statistics.  What is interesting is you would never hear a Roman Catholic here call themselves a Christian.  As a matter of fact, you would be corrected and quite sharply told that they are NOT Christian, they are Catholic.  There are some basic differences here between Christians and practicing Catholics and the following comparison only skims the surface.  The Catholic's here pray to the Saints and Mary the mother of Jesus, attend weekly communion, confession, and the like.  Any research will reveal that this goes along with the doctrine and teachings of the Catholic Church.  Christianity on the other hand prays only to Jesus and allows direct access to Him.  We do have traditional practices such as communion, however, the method and meaning are  different in the way it is taught.  Hang with me, I am going somewhere. 

Since we moved in to our house, about ten weeks ago, a Jehovah's Witness has knocked on our door every single week as well as knocking on doors in other communities because we have seen them (and met them).  The other missionaries here?  Mormons.  Both of these groups are here working because they believe they have the truth.  (On a side note, we saw a few Harry Crisnas in the center the other day - they are an interesting group!)  The point is not one taxi driver or person has asked me if we were Christian.  This has been very sad for us because we as disciples of Jesus Christ should be making the difference.  It should be our voice heard louder than any other group because we have know The Truth, Jesus Christ. 

Please pray that our work here will be effective and bare much fruit. 

Border Crossing

We are finally getting used to crossing the Chile/Peru border alone.  In the past, we have always had a national with us, but sooner or later you have to step out on your own.  Tyler had a glad removed from his lower lip in Tacna last week.  Dental work is super cheap in Tacna, so we found someone reputable and the minor procedure was finished is about ten minutes.  We had to go back yesterday to have him checked.  While we were there, he had two small cavities filled for a whopping $25 (yes, both were filled at that price).  As missionaries, we are always looking for the best bargain!

It takes us about an hour from Arica to Tacna.  This is the view we have on the way:

The view barely changes.

Just mile after mile of desert.  Then, once we arrive in Tacna, the view changes...

Palm trees decorate the center of town.  And do you see those white cars?  Those are taxis.  You learn NOT to step out in front of them or if you are in a crosswalk and they are coming towards you, you run the other direction.  Pedestrian right-a-way means nothing here. 

This man is sewing up a bag of some sort.  These type of antique looking machines can be found all over South America.