A story of redemption

Sometimes God redeems twice.

Denise had been coming to our church since she was about 9 years old. We loved her and her family. Denise learned to play the piano, by ear.. She is the only Chilean I know who can play hymns, gosple style. She just watched me, then she would imitate. Amazing!
Her parents always has problems, and a few years ago they sepated. This caused extreme emotional trauma, and soon none of the 4 kids were coming to church. It was sad to run into them on the street, and see the changes in them. We soon found out that Denise was playing the keyboard in rock band.

2008. Denise and her mom show up at my house. We spoke briefly. I invited them to come and talk anytime, but they never returned. Soon we found out that Denise was pregnant. Her mother kicked her out of the house, so she moved in with the baby's father and his family. One day last year, Denise showed up with her baby at church. She seemed distant and a bit defiant, but she was there. It was on-again-off-again for a while. Then she started inviting her boyfriend. He came occasionaly. Very nice, not your typical rock band drummer.
Two weeks ago, Denise came to me a told me that she was ready to make things right. But as long as she is living in sin, there is not much she can do. So we have been praying for Christian, her boyfriend, to be saved. For the past month they have come to all the services, including Wednesdays.

Well, yesterday morning, after a great sermon by a visiting preacher, Christian came forward to be saved!!!!!!! We were all so excited because not only is God saving someone, he is redeeming a bad situation. From the ashes of sin, he will raise up a Christian family. We are thrilled.

Quake victims

Neil and I were invited to a special event where a mission church was formally establishing ftheir new pastor. The night before there was a dinner fellowship for several pastors. We attended both. (first over-nighter without the baby...woohoo!)
Also attending the events were the pastors and their wives who were most affected by the earthquake. First, Juan and Monica, who lost their parsonage and church building. They are basically OK, but are overwhelmed with work. Their church is small, and Juan doesn't have help. His wife is 2 months pregnant and she has been helping to remove the rubble and help with reconstruction, not a good thing for a pregnant mommy. They need help.

The other, Gary and Loreto are better....and worse. Their kitchen has been rebuilt and their appliances replaced. But they seem jittery and unsettled. Their city was harder hit. The aftershocks still happen. Financially, they seem OK. Emotionaly, they seem to be not so good.

Would you pray with me for them? We are helping both families financially and with physical labor, but only the healing power of the Holy Spirit can soothe their souls.

Thank you

Earthquake relief and Blessings

There's nothing like an 8.8 earthquake to shake up a town! We had 170 people today in church! Yay!!!! We had never had 170, ever. We have also had people saved at almost every service.
We are so sad for all those who died without Christ, but we are thrilled for those who have put their trust in Christ!

Neil and a group from our Church is heading out tomorrow morning with a vanload of food and supplies for the quake victims. They will go to 5 different churches, each with different needs. Our Church has given almost 2000 dollars in food and supplies. We collected diapers, milk, cleaning supplies, noodles, beans and rice, sugar, tea and coffee. One man got his company to donate a large, 1000 liter tank to haul water. They are taking it empty, and will fill it in Chillan before heading to the disaster area. We would appreciate your prayers for their safety.
The kids and I will hold down the fort here. I will keep the kids busy with schoolwork. I am sure they will be thrilled.

God bless

We are OK!

Well, I had intended to write about the seminar we hosted with Preacher Smith, but early Saturday morning, our world shook us up! Around 3:45 am. we awoke to a huge earthquake. It lasted a good long time, long enough for Neil to go get our two big kids who were sleeping in a tent outside. I got the baby. We just stood around in doorways waiting for it to end. OUr lights were out. For all of Saturday we just tried to contact people. Our Church people, our fellow missionaries, our families. Preacher Smith and missionary Dave Disney were here for the seminar. Peggy Disney was alone in Santiago, on the 9th floor of their building. It took a while for Dave to be able to contact her. Their appartment was greatly damaged in the quake. I fell so bad because she was alone. She was able to contace Mrs Smith in Oklahoma City. The bad thing is that they can't leave because the airport in Santiago is closed indefinitely. They may try to set out by car tomorrow. We don't know.

We had been without electricity until 3 pm today. I had been able to update my facebook page on Hubby's iphone, but even that services has been spotty.

We are fine and our house is fine. Mom's house was harder hit because she lives on a hill. She lost most of her china, dishes, mirrors, light fixtures etc. But apparently, there has been no structural damage to her house, the camp and pool. PTL.

Chile is a mess! We can no longer buy gas. I don't know how long it will be before stores are restocked. Many, many dead. We had 3 professions of salvation this morning! I pray that they will all stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit, that some good will come out of all this bad.
I also pray for the return of the Lord!

Thank you all for your concern and prayers,

Rhonda

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

Camp 2010 is officially underway. Of course the devil is doing his best to hamper all efforts. As I write, my printers are giving me fits.
We are looking forward to a great year.

On a side note, we had 161 people in Church yesterday. That's a new record. It was a special occasion, we had a baptism. We had many visitors come see their friends and loved ones get baptized. One visitor, a pentecostal, told me that she didn't like our church at all! She said that the preaching was OK, but that the music was sorely lacking. Oh well, you can't please everyone!

Among those baptized was an 85 year-old man. It took forever to get him up the stairs to the baptistry, down the ladder into the baptistry and the up the ladder again, and down the stairs.
It took more time to baptize him than the other 12 all together! Well, its never to late to get baptized.

We hope all who have been working hard to bring visitors continue, and that people will continue to be saved and grow in the Lord.

Our Guests

We had a team of 13 come down from California. They came to work on the church building, the camp, and do a VBS, couple's event, ladies meeting and leadership training. In 7 days. We all worked from sun-up to way past nightfall. The VBS went great, we averaged 130 for the three days. We had 6 children saved. This team brough all sorts of stuff to set up a a carnival with games and activities. It was amazing!

They had wanted to do some drama, but due to the obvious language barrier, it was decided that they would do mime skits. Excellent! Mimes go over great here.

We also had a great couple's meeting. The team included a chef. She made stuffed steak and stuffed tomatoes, rice pilaf, and sinfully delicious tarts. We had several visitors for this event, and one lady was saved.

On the last day, we had a big ladies' meeting. We brough over the ladies from Mafil and along with the ladies on the team, we had 46. Wonderful! One of the ladies form the US shared her testimony. She had been through so much during her life. Most of our ladies was able to relate to the story of abuse and sin that had made this woman's life one of great misery. They were also able to relate to the great Savior that has freed her from sin, guilt and shame, and given her the ability to forgive. Our ladies were just blown away.

God moved greatly in our midst and I thank Him for that.

Urgent Prayer request

Our trip to Santiago was not only to get the kid's passports, but to accompany Carlos and Josselin and their baby Carlita at the children's hospital there. Carlita's heart has only one chamber and she was taken to Santiago for surgery. We waited with them as long as we could, but we had to come home. They waited, as the surgeries are not scheduled. Today, Carlos called and said that they are taking Carlita in today. But before the operation, the Drs are going to have a serious talk with the parents, as this operation has a greater chance of failing than succeeding. If she doesn't have the operation, she'll die anyway.

Please pray for Carlita, who is 4 months old. Please pray for Carlos and Josselin, and their son, Michael.


Thanks!

All or nothing

That's what the Christian life is all about to me. Of course, we must be balanced, but not when it comes to love for the Lord. Then its all-out, nothing held back devotion. When we are sold-out for the Lord, He gives us the wisdom we need to find the balance we need.

The sad thing is when I see people I love trying to love God half-heartedly. They want to please God at Church and then live with a worldly world-view at home. This leads to all sorts of conflicts. I have a dear friend at church who is going through a terrible time. When she is honestly looking to please the Lord, she comes to me for counsel and advice. When she's not interested in what God has to say, she is friendly and nice, but doesn't seek counsel from me or anyone else who's able to guide her. The horrible thing is that she is suffering. I can see it in her face and I know she feels defeated. Please pray for my friend, that she would give in to God and let her suffering count for something good!

Oh, the missionary life!

Its been a while since I sat down at the computer to write. We had a wild week, last week. Neil was gone on the 1st and 2nd of May, and the 4th and 5th. It changes everything. We had our super Puppet event on Saturday after several rehearsals. I only went to the last one. There were over 110 in attendance and 11 children were saved. We had about 25 first time visitors.

I had spent all of Saturday morning cooking. You see, we have no decent restaurant here. So, do you want to have a nice meal for your mama on Mother's day? Then you have to cook it yourself! But when? On Saturday morning, of course! I made our favorite, meat loaf. Nobody likes meatloaf but Mom and me. Too bad, its our day! I also made 7 layer salad, which must be refrigerated overnight. Hallellujah! We love, love, love 7 layer salad. For after the puppet event, I also made Mimi's Cafe's corn soup and corn bread. Mmmm! We actually had that for lunch and supper. It was just that good!

Its a good thing, too, because Saturday was wild. And after the event, we had to clean the Church! Yea! It wasn't too bad since there were several of us. Sunday dawned cold and rainy. We usually have a low attendance among the children on these days, but it wasn't too bad. My family wanted to buy me a Wii, with Wiifit for Mother's Day. Do you know how much a wii costs here? 500.00 dollars. !!!!!!! I graciously declined. Do you know what I could do with 500 dollars? Then Monday Eileen and I worked ALL DAY, making up for what we hadn't been able to do all weekend. And Today, we had ladies Bible Study. I am tired. The house is so-so.

But its all good.

Well, its almost all good. Neil went to get money out of our local ATM. And the machine didn't give him the money! We called our bank, the ATM's bank, opened a claim. This isn't going to be easy or fun. I hope we don't lose the money. Please pray for us.

I've still got tons to do, and Eileen's got a bad cold. But I don't think I'll do one more useful thing tonight. Enough is enough. I think I'll go watch some Star Trek!

Ladies Bible Study update

WOW! Things are going so good, I can't believe it. We had 29 today. Never had 29 before. We had to move out into the gym, and set up another table. Mom taught on Eve and the serpent. It was real good. She made the point that Satan offered Eve what he himself had wanted, to be like God.
I pray that God will work in the lives of all the ladies who were there today, that the Word that was taught might take root in their lives. We had 4 unsaved ladies there, we pray that they might understand their need for salvation.
Please pray for Georgina, Pati Veloso, Pati Huenchulaf and Sandra. These are my group leaders. We've already had a few problems, but that is to be expected when you are in the Lord's service. Pray for Eileen as she cares for the little ones.
The Lord always blesses us, but not always as visibly. We are thankful, but aware that there is still much to be done. And much more to be.

Great Weekend!

For most people, a great weekend is about getting away from work and having a relaxing time with friends and family. For most Christians, its about relaxing with friends and family and worship with the body of Christ. For us, its Game Time! Here is where the rubber meets the road. Here is 48 hours of work. For starters, we had kids Bible club. We had 51 kids and 14 leaders and helpers. This was amazing as it was not really anything special, just the results of prayer and work. The meeting was great and we all had a good time. Club was followed by church cleaning. There were 2 other ladies that came and did the bulk of the church cleaning. This was fabulous, as we now have a fairly large church. Auditorium, gym, 3 bathrooms, kitchen, dining room, and 5 classrooms.

After cleaning, they had rehearsals for the big puppet event in two weeks. Mom and Neil stayed for that, and I went home to fix supper.

At 6 on Sunday morning, we got a call from a pastor in a nearby town. He ahd taken the bus from Santiago, and the bus attendant didn't wake him up in his town, but dropped in in our town. He tried to get a bus home, but there was nothing at that time,. So, he called Neil to come a get him. I got up and made pancakes. We had a nice visit before he got a ride home. It was still so early that I had time to shower and do my hair before Sunday School!
Our preschool teacher quit last week, so I had to take the class. No big deal. But I was glad that, during the break, a lady came and offered to take the class. She had taught years ago, and wanted to start again. I said Great!

We had 102 in Sunday School yesterday which is our goal. We want to average 100 in Sunday school before the year is out.

After Church, I rushed home to put the crockpot dinner on the table. We had great roast beef. Then off to a 50 minute nap. At 3 we head of to the mission Church in Mafil. There were 20 from Mafil, besides the 10 that we take from Lanco. We had a nice service, and one young man got saved.


Then, we rush back to Lanco for the evening service. Now, for most US churches, Sunday evening is for the church family. Its a little more relaxed than Sunday Morning. Not so for us. Its our prime evangelistic service. We had several visitors. We had a total of 118 people yesterday. Don't get me wrong though, its not about the numbers. Its about the souls those numbers represent. And its about seeing fruit from years of labor. So all in all, it was a great weekend!

Ladies meeting confession

We've been doing Ladies Bible study for years. For the past 2 years or so, we have kind of "peaked" at an average of 17. Good but not really growing. I also was getting weary of the ladies arriving late. We start our meeting with prayer requests and prayer, but it got to the point that we would strech it our to wait for stragglers, often half the group. Being an American, that was unacceptable. But not just as an American, but as a Christian who does not like using prayertime as a time-killer while latecomers arrive. So Mom and I had an inspiration. We divided the group into three, at three different tables. We chose leaders for each table. These ladies would be responsable for visiting their group, advising us to any particular need of one of their ladies and most important, have prayer requests and prayer in their group. The somewhat unexpected outcome what a friendly rivalry between groups. We had 19 the first week and 21 the next week. Visitation was done by the group leaders. Yay! We have delegated successfully! And I told the leaders that they were to start prayer time at 4 and end at 4:15 on the dot. We had fewer latecomers on week two! Yay! There is more than one way to skin a cat!

Ladies Bible Study

Well, my insanely busy life just got busier. Yes, I need to cut back. But, where? Which one of my kids should I give up? I cannot give up the ladies ministry, as they need it so badly. And to add to all the fun, we started a
2 o'clock study in Mafil, followed by a 4 o'clock study in Lanco.
The Mafil study is unique in that the ladies have 2nd grade reading level, well, those who read have a 2nd grade reading level. The others just listen.
Today, we learned the names of the first 5 books of the Bible. They got stuck on "Deuteronomio". That's OK. A lot of people do! I gave a flash-card lesson about Adam and Eve and the fall.

In Lanco, we had a great meeting. We had 21, which is great. I taught about hearts, my heart, my husband's heart and my kids' hearts. I am trying to get them to understand that they must reach out emotionally and spiritually to their kids. Only time will tell if any of them got it. I have to trust that the Holy Spirit will lead them to the truth. A lady visited on Sunday, and got saved. She came today, and she was so excited!

But now, its all over and I am tired! So is Eileen, since she cared for the children during the class. She really needs a good helper. She is a real trooper.

I have really wanted to spend some blogging time, but some days, I hardly have time to read your blogs. I get such a blessing from reading!
God bless and keep you.

Hope you are basking in the Son!

Soulwinning and the Disney Store

When we were newly married, I worked for nine months at the Disney Store. I was having the time of my life. I got to work at a new store, and I was the first person that they hired. We had two days of training and it was a blast. We learned the Disney guest service cycle. Five steps to ensuring that we were exceeding guest expectation. Every month, we would receive two secret shoppers who would grade us on the guest service cycle. If we passed, we would get a 101 grade, and a Dalmation pin to prove it. Now, at that time, there were at least 2, maybe 3 cast members to wait on the guest. That meant that we had to use teamwork. One person alone could not follow through with all five steps. If the three cast members successfully achieved all five steps, the whole cast, all 44 of us, got pins.

During the first three months, we didn't make the grade. But one day, as I arrived, Stacey, one of our managers, approached me and told me that we had made the grade! And, that my name was on the report! Yay! We started thinking back, trying to determine who it had been. I remembered that lady. Why did I remember? Because she had actually allowed me to go through the process. Most people just responded to my inquiries with a polite "just looking" I knew not to push. We didn't want to alienate someone who could become a regular guest.

What does that have to do with soulwinning? Well, we don't have a guest service cycle, but we do have a Roman's Road. But often, as we get started, we receive a polite, "No thank you, just looking" response. In my opinion, this is the time to politely back off. Apparently, the Holy Spirit is not at work in this person at this time. I will leave a door open for next time, and I'll make sure that there is a "next time"

The good thing about this is that with us, we also must work in teams. One person greets and makes friends, another witnesses and invites, and yet another draws in the net when the person is ready. I just have to be ready and able to do my part for the team. If I've done my part, I must trust the next person to do theirs. There can be no manifestations of ego. We work together for the lost.


And when 1 soul is saved, its a victory for the whole Church.

Some thoughts on Soul Winning

Here in Lanco we love to win souls. We do some door-to-door, but find that generally unfruitful, except for making first contact. We have big events at the Church, but also find that relatively unfruitful in the long term. Why are those two tried-and-true methods not entirely useful here? Simple. It takes time for a seed to grow. Faith cometh by hearing. When we go door to door, the people we meet usually have no real idea about the truth of God. Well, you say, tell them! Yes, of course, and we do. But it takes time for truth to sink in. And even if they agree intellectually, spiritually it is close to impossible on a first try. So we take our time and let the Holy Spirit work. We don't get a lot of instant soul-winning gratification, but it has proven very effective in the long run.

We have been criticized recently by one of Neil's preacher boys for not being more agressive going door-to-door. He thinks thats the only biblically obedient way. But thats not true. We bring people, grown ups and children, to church, where we share the Gospel. We encourage everyone to share the truth with their friends and family. We find that the best, long-term results are from our people bringing their friends and loved ones who get saved (after a few visits) and stay.

I hate being criticized. This one is kind of hard to just shake off because our friend is insinuating that we aren't obedient to God and that we don't care for souls. Its insulting. If I didn't care for souls, I wouldn't be here!

Of course this young man is just that, young. And just a little bit full of himself. I will try to calm down, and not be hurt. I wish I could just shrug it off. And it is a reminder not to be judgemental. Just because I disagree with someone on the finer points of soul-winning, that doesn't mean that they are disinterested in souls or are disobedient. That is up for God to decide.

Happy Missionary-versary to me!

26 years ago today, we arrived in Santiago Chile to start our lives as missionaries. I was 1o years old.
I thank God for my life. Not always peaceful, not without troubles. Never boring, never without purpose. Always in His hand.

Camp!

Yep, its that time of year again. Its warm and sunny. Poor Tori is dealing with darkness at 4 pm, and here it is, 8:30 pm, and the sun still has not gone down.

Camp starts next Tuesday. We still have a lot of work to do. I am waiting for Neil to finish writing the devotionals so that I can type them up and print up the booklets.....for both youth and family camps....before this weekend. Hurry, honey, please!

The theme for this year's youth camp is "I commit to serve the Lord in 2009" Not a really catchy theme, but we are excited about the possibilities. I have made 8 posters showing ways to serve the Lord this year. During the week, they can commit to one or several. They will sign the posters publicly to announce their committment. I'll take plenty of pics and post them when I can.

For family camp, the following week, our guest speaker asked to speak about money, and Dave Ramsey's total money makeover. His view on money and debt has changed radically and he wants to share. So many Americans are in debt, but they have jobs. Here everyone is in debt and jobs are so scarce. I am really hoping that Bro. Epifani can get through top them about this important issue.
We are going to play a game all week. We are going to give them funnymoney, and a chance to earn more. They will have to "pay" for their food each meal. If they do not have enough money, they will have to work or go into debt. We are hoping to have fun, and also to illustrate what they will be learning about savings, debt, tithing, work, and trusting God.

We do have one very special prayer request. The camp, on my mom's property, is supplied of water by a no-to-good well. The well goes practically dry every summer, and this year it is nearly critical. Please pray that God would miraculously supply us with water!

My blogging may suffer over the next few weeks, but I do keep reading. God bless each of you, my friends, and you know who you are!

Evangelistic campaign

We had a revival/evangelistic campaign last week. It was exhausting! The Lord worked mightily, first in our Church members. We had great turnout every night and visitors. The first three nights were focused on revival. Then, Sat and Sunday was all gospel. We had 6 people make professions of faith, two of them being particularly meaningful because we had been praying for them for years! One man Francisco Reyes (yes, Francisco is quite a popular name)
Well, we've prayed for him for 12 years. The other in Judith (pronounced Joo-deet´), we have prayed about 2 years for her.

It in not always easy for me to have guests several days in my house. I must say that hospitality is not always easy, but I do my best not to complain to DH. You see, here we cannot just put the visiting preacher in a hotel. Even if we had a hotel! Of course, my DH loves having guests, the more the merrier! I did find myself hiding out a bit more in my room. I guess my hormones have got me a bit more sensitive than normal.

It was also hard because the Preacher and I are early-to-bed people hosting late-to-bed people. Neil stayed up with them, but its a strain for both of us. I say this not to complain but to share that Preachers, Evangelists and their families are all-too-human, and aren't always as smiley inside as they are outside.

Of course its almost a sin to even mention a complaint when the Lord was so gracious as to work in our favor. Anyway, next time your Church has special services with special guests, pray for your preacher's family. They could probably use the extra measure of grace!

Fire!

Our terribly long building project was finally coming to an end. There were details, to be sure, but only a few "biggies". One, the flooring in the main auditorium, and two, the black iron fence.
This week, the men laid tile where it was supposed to go, and today, they were going to lay the carpet. My DH would not be there today, as he had a dentist appointment in the city. While we were waiting at the dentist, he got the call. You see, our church is heated with an airtight, wood burning stove. They had been keeping a fire going to continue drying the newly-laid cement.
Well, Miguel spread the glue to lay the carpet and after a while, the fumes from the glue caught fire. It didnt cause any structural damage, as our building is brick, but the smoke blackened everything. The ceiling will have to be covered with plaster again, and painted, as will the walls,
after we ladies have washed off as much soot as possible. The guys that were there are pretty shaken, as the flames grew quickly. We praise God that none of the men were injured in any way, and that the damage was minimal. Neil brought the electrician over to check the newly-installed wiring. We are going to have to replace some light fixtures and the like.
So, the building project continues. I am sorry, for Neil doesnt know how to pace himself. He works himself ragged, then gets sick. We have visitors from the US coming next week, and we had hoped to have all this done by then. I know it does not really matter, the visitors will not care. But we will. Oh well, at least every one is OK

Earthquakes and Hurricanes

I'm a California Girl. No matter that I haven't lived there in years, I was born there. My folks are Californians. Its who I am. I love LA! I love driving on the freeways! And that also means that I am used to earthquakes. Now, a few years back, while on furlough, we just happened to be in Milton, FL, for the arrival of Hurricane Ivan. We were not used to hurricanes. The one thing that I remember is the fact that you know, days in advance, that the hurricane is headed your way. You watch the news, you debate evacuation. You wonder if its really going to be as bad as they say. Two days before Ivan, we left Milton, FL, and headed north to Birmingham (led by God to a wonderful church) Still, the storm followed us to Birmingham, though by the time it reached us, it was only a category 1, falling to Tropical storm status. We watched the news, felt the storm bands as they arrived, paid attention to possible tornados. My DH has tornado-phobia. Then, after about 5 days of worry and concern, and 5 hours of actual storm, it was over. We survived Ivan!!!!
I'm telling you, I'll take a 3 minute earthquake any day! No advance warning, no advance worrying, and its over in a flash.
Now, I say all that to say this, I'd rather have a spiritual earthquake than a spiritual hurricane. However, God chose to send us two, simutaneously. We saw them coming, we knew that we were in for a time of uncertainty and possible loss, possibly great loss. I cannot blog in a hurricane!!!!!
But today, the storms are past, clean-up has begun. The loss was not as great as feared, and most of it can be repaired in time. Some of the damage is permanent, but for the greater good of the Lord's work here in Chile. DH and I are heaving sighs of relief and thanking God for working in our lives.