Is it too late to make a New Year's resolution?

I hope it's not too late to make a New Year's resolution. I really want to make one and I really hope to keep it. So what is it? Is it to lose some weight or to give up carbonated beverages or something else? None of the above. My New Year's resolution is to be more current with this blog. Why? Whereas I realize that there may not be a huge amount of people who actually check this site out, there are some who would like to know more of what is going on in our lives and ministries. So for you my dear people I resolve to be more current and consistent with my postings. We will see very soon (in the next couple of days) how this is going to go.
There has been much going on down here in Curaco. The Lord has been very good to us. We are ever aware of His amazing grace. Not only has He redeemed us from our sins but He has also given us the great privilige to testify to His glorious goodness. As the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans in chapter 1 of his epistle, the reason that we share the gospel is for the sake of (or for the glory of) the Name. That name being the Name that is above all names, the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are pleased to report that people are responding to the preaching of the Word. Should we expect anything different? Of course we realize that the Lord sovereignly works in ways that are above our finite comprehension, so we trust that His Word will accomplish whatever purpose that the Almighty has set forth. But what if we didn't believe that the Lord would reach people through His Word, what kind of servants would we be? We would be servants of little faith, maybe even unfaithful servants. We don't want to be like that. We want to pray and cast our nets and wait and watch and see what the Lord will do. To this day we have seen the Lord do wonderful works in the hearts of His people, through His Word and through the ministry of His Holy Spirit. To God be the glory, great things He has done!
Please continue to pray for us and the flock at Grace Baptist Church in Curaco. We believe that an effective door of ministry has opened up and just as the Apostle Paul said "there are many who oppose the work." Oh that God would work in their hearts as He did in the heart of Saul. That they would stop being persecutors and that they would become proclaimers of the gospel! Please pray believing that this could happen, just as the miracle of regeneration happened in your life it could happen in the life of any other hardened sinner. Of course it has to be the Lord doing it, but He can do it!
Thanks again for your prayers and support towards us. We truly appreciate you all in the Lord Jesus.
Your brother in Christ,
Daniel

Nov 18 2007 - VID00016

Thank you for your prayers and be careful with those street vendors

The long and odd title to this post actually has some meat to it. Many of you (hopefully there are many of you read this blog) have been praying for us. Again we humbly say "thank you". These last days we have especially sensed the need for prayer.
We have been here for almost three weeks now and have been overwhelmed with all the things that we've needed to do. We went from the near purchase of an "almost" new home to the need to fix various things in a "no way close to" new home. Mountains of paperwork from opening a checking account (not nearly as easy as in the U.S.) to getting a national i.d. card and a Chilean driver's license (both for Daniel) to many other beaurocratic wranglings. Fun, fun, fun. Well, not really but all quite necessary to live and minister most effectively. ***I know for those cynics out there you could say the Apostle Paul didn't have a driver's license nor a checking account. Amen. But we are living in the 21st century now aren't we?!?***
Then on this past Tuesday as I was beginning the first of my three day journey towards obtaining a Chilean driver's license (yes, that's how long it takes down here in southern Chile! So don't go complaining about the EXCELLENT attention given at your local Secretary of State) and I was getting a little hungry on my way back home. So as my friend Jorge and I were crossing over on the ferry from the main island to our smaller island I was intrigued by the street vendor's offer of some meat empanadas. (for those of you who might not know, an empanada is a baked or fried bread stuffed with meat, chicken, seafood and/or cheese) I am always up for an empanada and I was really hungry and she was selling them quite cheap so I went ahead and bought four, two for Jorge and two for me. It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that I shouldn't have eaten those empanadas! I was totally wiped out for two days. High fever, chills, head and body aches and I probably lost at least 5 to 10 pounds. When I called Jorge last night (Thursday) to ask him to fill in for me at Bible Study he told me that he as well had been knocked down by some bug but that it only stuck with him for 1 day. That was when we traced our infection back to the empanadas that we ate on Tuesday afternoon. Whereas I realize that I am not a detective (well, of sorts as the Scripture tells us to diligently search the Word of God-2nd Tim 2:15; Acts 17:11) the empanadas are the prime (and only) suspect. Anyway I am so, so thankful to be feeling better and I will be much more careful and disciplined when the next street vendor approaches me about purchasing their wares.
Some of you knew of this situation as it was going on and were praying for me (Daniel) specifically. There are those of you who were praying generally for me and my family. To both of these groups, thank you very much. The Lord used all of your prayers and the prayers of our Thursday night Bible Study group to bring about healing. After a 10:30 pm visit from the paramedic, an injection, and some "stomach calming agents", I actually had a decent night's sleep and woke up today feeling like a new man.
Have you realized how we tend to forget how good we have it until our situation changes for what appears to be the worst? If we are accustomed to feeling good we can take it for granted. If we are accustomed to being able to drink the water (without getting sick) or use a public restroom for free we can take it for granted. If we are used to having a hot shower or a large, warm house in which to live we can take it for granted. May it not be so. May we learn to be thankful and rejoice in the Lord for what He graciously provides for us. (Matt 6:25-33; James 1:17) But may we never cease to thank the Lord for His incredible gift to us in Christ. (2nd Corinthians 9:15) God is great and greatly to be praised. May we focus on Him and His Kingdom and His righteousness. And always be thankful! And once again, we are thankful for your prayers and ask that you continue praying for us and the work down here in Curaco. Your prayers are being mercifully and graciously answered by the Lord and we give Him all the praise for any good thing that results from our ministry down here on the island. To God be the glory!
Daniel (for Ruth and family)

$5.30 a gallon for gas and the need to eat jurel

Yes you read that title correctly. I was not too pleased when I pulled up to the pump and saw that my gas would cost me about 700 pesos a liter and that would equal out to about $5.30 a gallon. But we need to roll with the punches or just go out and buy some horses. We have noticed that the prices of a lot of things have gone up over this past year. Milk is about twice the price as it was a year ago, as are many of the fruits and vegetables. The price of bread is about 35% higher and the big thing with this is that bread is one of the staples down here. (Chile is said to be the country with the 2nd greatest amount of bread consumption, trailing behind France alone) Added to that the devaluation of the dollar it makes the foreign missionary seek to cut corners wherever possible. Seeings that we can't afford to eat canned tuna we have turned to one of its uglier sisters, jurel. Just today I was telling Ruth that it was a luxury being able to eat a can of tuna. With canned tuna you just open the can, drain the water (or oil) and eat. Not so easy with jurel. The canned jurel comes complete with the bones, the skin and the blood. The only things we don't find in the can are the internal organs and the head. So the process with the canned jurel is a little more complicated than with the canned tuna. I need to open the can, drain the water/blood/slime mixture, scrape off the dried blood and then take the bones out. Then I rinse it again and it is ready to eat. Not nearly as easy as the canned tuna and not nearly as flavorful, but still a good source of protein and Omega-3's and hopefully not too much mercury. But at least there is food to eat and just as the Lord Jesus said in Matthew 6 in His "do not worry" passage (verses 25 thru 34), He will take care of our needs and we see Him doing that most clearly as we recognize that He is the greatest need that we have. (Matthew 4:4)
So please take note that we are very thankful for being able to eat jurel in Curaco de Velez. The Lord has opened up many doors for ministry and I like the Apostle Paul ask that you pray for us that we would be faithful no matter what may arise against us. (1st Corinthians 16:9) There are those who seem very open and anxious to hear more about the gospel. Just last night we had the wonderful opportunity to share with a woman named Juanita. She is the employer of two ladies that attend Grace Baptist. They have been praying for her and just recently she expressed to them that she was glad that Ruth and I were back in town and that she wanted us to counsel her. Well last night was our opportunity to visit her and we had the wonderful opportunity to share with her the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. Oh that the truth of the gospel would resonate in her heart and that the blessed Holy Spirit would convince her of her sin and of her need for the Savior. Please pray for Juanita and many others like her. Religious people in need of a restored relationship with their Creator. May we never cease to thank God for the one way that He has established for man to be reconciled: by grace (God's gift) through faith (again God's gift) through God's Son Jesus Christ (and one more time, God's gift). To close I encourage you to meditate upon the words of the Apostle Paul in 2nd Corinthians 9:15 "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!"
At the end of the day it doesn't matter how much gas costs. It doesn't matter how much a can of tuna costs. It doesn't matter how clean or dirty jurel is. It doesn't matter how high or low the dollar goes. What matters is the gospel. May we never forget that!

We are in Chile!

Yes it is true. We finally made it back to Chile. We haven't made it to the town of Curaco de Velez yet, but we hope to in a couple of days. The trip down here was quite uneventful. The kids were relatively well behaved. A little cranky at times, but that is to be expected. We didn't miss any of our connecting flights. (probably helped that we only had one to make!) All of our luggage made it down with us. And we had zero complications with immigration and customs. So overall it was a good experience.
Now we will be in Santiago until Tuesday when we plan on flying down to Puerto Montt and then catching the bus that will take us down to Quinchao Island and the town of Curaco de Velez. During our few days here we plan on getting some paperwork done for me (Daniel), visit with family and catch up with some old friends. Some of those friends are fellow missionaries, Pedro and Stephanie Garcia. They are just across town and we hope to see them tomorrow. (Saturday)
We would like to thank you all again for your prayers and financial support of the ministry in southern Chile. May the Lord be glorified as His gospel goes forth!

We have a launch date!

It has been a while since our last post and if you have actually been looking for something new here I say "lo siento". From the multitude of comments that I find here I doubt that many people are actually checking this out. But for those of you who are we say "gracias por su interes en nosotros y el ministerio de Chiloe Island Mission."
We are excited to announce that we are scheduled to leave for Chile on November 8th. Just last night (Sunday the 30th) the church voted to release us to the field. Now the pressure is on to get a lot of things ready in a not-so-spacious time frame. However we trust in the Lord for what He has for us and the ministry. Please pray for us and the many decisions that need to be made and the many, many things that we will need to accomplish over the next five weeks. May the Lord be glorified in and through our lives.
One of the things that we had been prayerfully considering was someone to help us with the kids once we get back to the island. Well, the Lord has provided a young lady from our local church (her name is Kristina, please pray for her) to come along with us and be sort of a big sister to our children and help Ruth out as needed. She will not be an employee, she will be a member of our family. Please pray that the Lord would knit our hearts together and that we would seek to glorify the Lord as we serve Him together.
In the next couple of days I hope to get some new pictures up. I have misplaced my "cable-from-camera-to computer" and without that I cannot upload any new pictures. I hope to find that cable soon. (obviously)
Thanks again for your interest in and support of Chiloe Island Mission and Iglesia Bautista Gracia. (Grace Baptist Church) We anticipate the Lord doing great things in and through our lives. May we never forget how great and mighty our God is and that He alone is worthy of all honor and praise!
Grace to you all,
Daniel

Back to normal

Normal. What does that mean? I imagine that the word means different things to different people at different times and under different circumstances. In this instance I refer to my vacation being over and getting back to our "normal" schedule.
Our three oldest are back to school. Elizabeth goes five days a week, all day. Daniel and Grace go four days a week, just in the morning. So Ruth, Rebekah, and Tabitha are experiencing some good bonding time. I enjoy being back in the office and being occupied in the work of the ministry. I really feel blessed to do what I am doing, helping to pastor the church here in Michigan and pastoring the church (by correspondence) in Chile.
We are excited to share that I (Daniel) have been invited to travel down to Chicago on the 21st to get my visa. I will also be turning in the final paperwork for Tabitha's Chilean citizenship. The only other logistical things that we need to do before leaving for Chile are 1) purchasing a vehicle 2) obtaining the shipping container 3) purchase our airline tickets 4) liquidate our remaining assets here in the States (home and stuff that we don't need to take with us). So, please pray for us and the accomplishing of these things. We have definitely seen the Lord at work in our preparations. We have committed our way unto the Lord and we have seen Him give us the desire of our hearts. (Psalm 37:4)
Thank you again for your prayers on our behalf. Please keep it up. As well, let us know how we can be praying for you.
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen. -Galatians 6:18 (NASB)

Busy, busy, busy

Interesting how busy one can be when supposedly it's time to relax. I have been on vacation this week and have felt overwhelmed by all the things that I know I should be doing when the thing that I really want to do is: relax!
A while back a friend introduced me to a book "When I Relax I Feel Guilty". At the time I wasn't that busy, or didn't feel that pressed for time, but now I am and now I do. And I do feel guilty for doing nothing. So I'm doing things that I probably "shouldn't" be doing on vacation. I stopped by the office yesterday and was told "you don't belong here." But I needed to be there. When one is on vacation, it doesn't stop the fact that there are things to do. Maybe next time I take some time off, the family and I should go to Hawaii or Mexico or to the U.P. . Actually get away and leave the phone and the laptop at home.
With all this being said, I realize the need for balance. I love the idea of sabbath rest. We need to recharge our batteries: physically, emotionally, and spiritually. And better said, we need the Lord to recharge our batteries. He is our strength and He is our rest.
We praise the Lord for the ministry to which He has called us. We thank Him for the busyness that at we times complain about. But most of all we thank Him for who He is and for who He has made us; His children through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
May we all "be still before the Lord our God, our Maker" and enjoy Him and all the bounty that He has brought into our lives.
A Dios sea la gloria,
Daniel

It's been a long time, baby!

Wow. A lot of time has passed since our last post. We are going to try to be much more consistent. Kinda like a mid-year resolution.
So much has been going on these past months. We are excited about getting back down to Curaco de Velez and continue shepherding the flock at Grace Baptist Church. Thanks to all of you who have so supportive in so many ways.
I'll write with more detail later, but wanted to get the ball rolling.....

The Gospel in Curaco de Velez

The gospel. The good news that God the Father sent His Son Jesus Christ to the world (that they had created together along with the Holy Spirit) to live a perfect life and ultimately to pay the price for our sins on the cross of Calvary. This is the message that we have been commissioned to share with the world. The message of the gospel, that although we have turned our backs on our Creator we can have a broken relationship restored through faith in the finished and perfect work of Christ on our behalf.
The gospel is powerful. How do we know this? Well, those of us who have come to faith realize that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God." And as Paul said a few chapters before to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God." The power of God. No power like that! Only God can save and the way that He works it out is through the gospel that testifies to His gracious working through Jesus Christ. And that is the message that we are called to share. Not just us down here in Curaco de Velez but each one of the Lord's servants. May we never take the power of God for granted. May we never doubt its ability to transform others as it has so transformed us. The gospel. The power of God!
Today we had a beautiful time of fellowship in the Lord. I had the privilege to share the gospel with the young ones and then with the not so young ones. Please pray along with us that the seed of the gospel would fall on fertile soil and bring forth much fruit, and fruit that would last unto the glory of God!
Tomorrow Pastor Kelly Carlson and the Soto family will be down to share with us. The Soto family for just a day and a night but Pastor Kelly for the whole week. We are looking forward to the time and trust that the Lord will use it in our lives in order to build up His church.
Thank you again for your concern for us and the ministry down here in southern Chile. We truly pray that the Lord would open the hearts of the people that they would turn their eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith. (Hebrews 12:2)
May we be found faithful in our service unto our Lord and His church.
Daniel

For Whom Did Christ Die? by John Piper

For Whom Did Christ Die? by John Piper

Algunas palabras en "Spanish"

Hola, hola a nuestros amigos hispanos. Decidi que ya habia pasado mucho tiempo para nosotros a no tener algunas entradas en espan~ol. Aunque mi computador no me deja poner los tildes ni otras cositas, voy a hacer lo mejor que posible.
Primeramente a contarles que nos encontramos bien, gracias a la misericordia de nuestro gran Dios Padre y nuestro Salvador Jesucristo. Aqui en Michigan estamos super ocupados con las cosas en la iglesia, con la escuela de los chiquitos (Elizabeth y Danielito) y bueno con la vida en general. Me parece que estaremos aun mas ocupado en los dias siguientes cuando vamos a estar visitando varias iglesias compartiendoles acerca del ministerio alla en Chiloe, Chile.
Extran~amos mucho a la gente de Curaco de Velez. Ojala que Dios nos permite a regresar pronto para reestablecernos en la comunidad. Que la gente pueda ver el amor de Dios manifestado en y atraves de Su Hijo Jesucristo! Y a pesar de nosotros no estando alla, nos da mucho consuelo que Jorge y Vivi estan ministrando a la gente en nuestro lugar. A Uds. que oran por el ministerio, les pido que por favor orasen mucho por estos hermanos y el labor que nuestro Dios ha puesto en su camino. Que ellos sean encontrados fieles al Sen~or y a Su ministerio.
Bueno, podria seguir escribiendo pero ya estoy super cansado y man~ana va a estar igual o mas ocupada que hoy. Me voy a despedir de Uds. con estos ultimos pensamientos.....
Dios nos creo en Su imagen y en Su semejanza. Todos de nosotros hemos pecado. Merecemos el castigo de Dios pero en vez de castigo, El nos ofrece perdon. Sublime gracia. Imaginanse.
"Al que no conocio pecado, por nosotros lo hizo pecado, para que nosotros fuesemos hechos justicia de Dios en El." 2a Corintios 5:21 Gloria a Dios! Alabado sea el Sen~or!

We're back!

Hey, it feels good to be back in the "blogosphere". I'm not sure if that's actually the correct wording, but it is good to be back to blogging about God's gracious working in and through the ministry of Grace Baptist Church.
It has been around 5 months since the last blog, just before we left from Curaco. Why you may ask did we take so long off from informing you of the happenings? Well, it definitely hasn't been for a lack of things to fill you in on. Much is going on at Grace Baptist Church in Curaco.
As mentioned before, our last blog found us preparing to leave from Curaco and come back to the States. Our departure was bittersweet. Whereas we knew that we were to go back to see and share with many of our loved ones, we also knew that we would be leaving the little flock at Grace Baptist Church and the many people of Curaco that we were hoping to reach with the gospel. Well, now we are back in Michigan and excited about our opportunities to minister here and equally as excited about the current and future ministry in Curaco.
When we left from Curaco in April, the assembly was meeting in an old building without any modern conveniences. No water, no bathroom, no electricity, etc. But we praised the Lord for the place that He gave us to meet together and worship Him. It was beautiful to see the group of people that the Lord brought together: men, women, boys and girls. Many hearing the gospel story for the first time. And as we read from the Scripture, about the Scripture, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17)
Just two months ago in late July I (Daniel) made a two week trip down to southern Chile. The main purpose of the trip was to encourage our partners in ministry, to check on the well-being of the sheep, put on a VBS, and do some intense discipleship and teaching. Our co-workers Jorge and Viviana were being faithful in their shepherding of the sheep and they were all greatly encouraged by the visit. It was also a wonderful time to strengthen some relationships and start some new ones.
The last night that I was in Curaco I went to play basketball at the local gym. Right before we started to play, a friend named Omar came up to tell me that the building that we had been using for our services was about to be demolished and that we (obviously) were going to need to find some where else to have our services. I thanked him for the heads up and spent the rest of my time in the gym not only playing hoops but also playing scenarios around in my head of what we could do about obtaining a new place to hold our worship gatherings. I returned to the house and shared with our partners in ministry about this new challenge. Interestingly enough we had just went through a study on the providence of God and prayer. So we got to business. We prayed about it and trusted that God would make a way where there seemed to be no way.
And He did!!! (Of course)
The next morning I spoke to Jorge and I encouraged him to talk to the man who had rented us a building to use as a fitness center. This is the man, Francisco, who told us that we could rent the building to use as a fitness center, but not as a church. His reasoning behind this was to avoid persecution for himself. But over the past six months we had built a pretty good friendship and I felt that the Lord was leading us to approach Francisco about this matter. And he said "Yes!"
So now the assembly is meeting in a place where there is water, a bathroom and electricity. What a huge change! Please pray that the Lord would draw Francisco and his family into a saving relationship with Himself. There is much opposition to the gospel in Curaco and we want so much for there to be a testimony to His glorious grace.
Now we are in the process of raising the funds necessary to return to Curaco for the long-term. We are seeing our calendar fill up with opportunities to share the ministry in other churches and we are of course praying that the Lord would touch the hearts of people that He would have be a part of this exciting ministry.
Please pray for us, that we would be found faithful to share the gospel as we ought.
(Ephesians 6:19) Thank you again for your prayers and your support on behalf of us and the people of Curaco de Velez.
Daniel (for Ruth and the kids)