The sun has been out all day long. That is a rarity in these parts. An entire day without rain is not very common here on the island of Quinchao. But we are definitely not complaining. Today I and the other "members" of the Grace Baptist Church are embarking on a new journey into cyberspace. We're kinda scared! Well, not really. I am surprised how easy it really is to do this. But anyway, we hope that this blog will serve as a way for us to be in more direct contact with those of you who are in one way or another involved in the ministry down here. So without further adieu, here's a quick report on what's been happening.....
We have been down here for a little bit over a month now, and it is starting to feel like home. Well, kinda of. We don't have you down here with us, nor do we have all of that beautiful snow! Please at least send us a picture of it, now wouldn't you? And just to settle any doubts that you might have, it is not always sunny and balmy down here. The average for a spring day is about 55 degrees and at least an hour of rain, sometimes more. But that's what makes the potatoes and other cool crops grow. It also makes all those cute farm animals happy. So we all rejoice in the Lord's goodness. (Even though we get wet alot)
The Lord has been so gracious to us. First of all in His great mercy He has decided to save us. We all should consider the fact that we were one day totally dead in our trespasses and sins without the possibility of saving ourselves when God in His great mercy sent His Son Jesus Christ to this world that He had created in order that He might pay the penalty for our sin debt. Incredible, amazing grace! Thank you Father! So first of all we rejoice in our salvation. Then we rejoice in the fact that the Lord has counted us worthy to serve Him in the harvest field. What a privilege it has been for us to serve among the brothers and sisters of North Casnovia Baptist Church in Bailey, Michigan and before that with the family of faith at Trinity Fellowship EFC in Big Rapids, Michigan. Together working in the harvest field of the Lord! What a joy it is to see brothers dwelling together in unity, serving the Lord with the common purpose of spreading His glory amongst the nations!
The work here in Curaco de Velez, Chiloe has been very interesting. The Lord has given us many opportunities to share with many people about the great news that reconciliation is offered through the Lord Jesus Christ. I think that that is my favorite message to share. It is so simple yet so profound. The Almighty God, The Holy One of Israel offers sinful man the great opportunity to have a broken relationship restored. Why would He (God) do this? For the glory of His grace! (I love Ephesians 1:3-14) God, thank you that you are Who and How You are! And thank you that you have given us the opportunity to declare Your great works among the nations. What a privilege. What a responsibility.
The people with whom we have been able to share are numerous and for that reason we don't share all of their names. But we do ask that you would please pray for those with whom we have been sharing and for those with whom we will be sharing in the future. Some have shown some real interest in the things of the Lord whereas others didn't seem to give a rip. Please pray for both groups that the Lord would be glorified in and through their lives.
We have been talking with some people about the possibility of starting a Bible study. Interest has been shown in the idea but getting them from that point to actually starting the study has been a little difficult. We trust that this delay will help us be more prepared for the time that we will actually be starting up. God's time is always best.
A real blessing to the work here has been the addition of a ministry vehicle. For the first month we didn't have our own vehicle. We needed to rely on the public transportation which is not always very reliable and if one uses it a lot it ends up being quite expensive. So when I went north to Santiago in order to speak at a reunion for the missionaries of Baptist Mid Missions I also took advantage of the opportunity of the varied selection that the capital city offers and drove back in a new (to us mind you!) Chevrolet four door 4x4 pickup. Some of you might remember us telling you about our interest in acquiring a van for the ministry down here. But when we encountered some nasty roads and we looked around and noticed that about 75 of every 100 vehicles on the island is a pickup, that the pickup was going to be our best option. It is big enough that we can all fit into it. (Like sardines, but we can fit in) It has gotten a lot of use already, primarily for getting us around to different places and also we have been able to bless many people with free transport to different places that they need to go. Another cool thing is that when you have people in the truck with you there is a real captive audience for the hearing of the gospel. It has been cool to see the people that the Lord has placed along our path and the opportunities that we have been given to testify about His great grace. Please pray for those who have ridden in the truck (aka MM3, for those in the know) and for those who will sometime in the future.
Ruth is doing well. She has had a lot of opportunities to use her teaching experience in the public schools as well as use her musical talents to participate in some festivities here in our community. Through these opportunities she has become quite well known in our new town. She of course thanks the Lord for this and seeks to glorify Him with the talents that He has chosen to give her.
We have had many people show interest in english classes that I (Daniel) am offering and music classes that Ruth is offering. Of course we would not ever want these offerings to eclipse what is the most important thing that we can offer the people here... the gospel of Jesus Christ. However, we do see these classes as a great way to get to know people and also to be a service to the community, which is very important to the people here. So please pray for those that we have and for those with whom we will have classes with.
I (Daniel) am playing basketball with a group of young to middle age plus men in the city of Curaco. This has also been a really great opportunity to get to know more people and to build bridges to share the gospel. (Also it helps a middle age guy stay in some kind of physical shape)
Elizabeth, Daniel, Grace and Rebekah have acclimated well to life on the island. Elizabeth loves her new school and will be finishing up with her classes on the 22nd of this month. Then she gets the "summer" off, to be back in school the first week of March. We will be doing home school with her during this time. Daniel is going through a period that we call the "tremendous" two's. He is a real handful at times. Then he is a real sweetheart at others. Some would say that he is a chip off the old block, following in the steps of his father. Hopefully only the good things. Grace and Rebekah are both growing up. Grace running after her brother and sister, loving to play with pots and pans, stacking her plastic cups, and straightening up everyone's shoes. Rebekah has "transformed" into a little girl, her face doesn't look like a baby anymore. She loves to drink milk and be held. At this time she seems to have some kind of respiratory infection and she is on some medicine. Please pray for her.
So, I realize that my short report all of a sudden became a very long one. Please respond to our blog with some info of your own so that we can not only be praying for one another but we can also encourage each other on to love and to good works as we serve the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Daniel (for Ruth and the kids)
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