Family Update

Since October 2013, Jim has been "on the fundraising trail", visiting churches and schools to share the story of what God is doing in Chile. In addition, this past January he had a book published! "Meeting Ananias" is a collection of 10 stories from our years in Venezuela. You can order the book online by clicking here.

Liisa has completed her last year as Spanish and music teacher, and Director of Music at Shepherd of the Coast Lutheran Church in Ft. Lauderdale. She resigned her job there in anticipation of our move to Chile later this year.

Nika graduated from Concordia University-Chicago in May. Congrats, Nika!

Soni and her fianc�e Ty are busy making plans for their wedding on September 20th.

 "Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut." (Rev. 3:8)

     We recently learned  that the above Bible verse is the "permanent theme" of the Lutheran Church of Chile. Knowing a bit of her history, that detail becomes a remarkable statement of faith.

     Beginning in about 1920, Lutheran pastors from other countries conducted several "exploratory visits" to Chile to assess the possibility of starting a Lutheran church, but the conclusion was always the same: It's not the right time. There is no "open door" for the Gospel in Chile.

     In 1954, the Lutheran Church in Argentina ordained the first Chilean Lutheran pastor, marking the start of the Lutheran Church of Chile. A couple years later, the first church building was dedicated, and Revelation 3:8 was the sermon text. Inspired by God's grace and determined to persevere in Chile for the sake of the Gospel, the Church declared Revelation 3:8 to be her "permanent theme".

     In 2010, an earthquake and tsunami in central coast of Chile led to the opening of Lutheran ministries in Talca and Constitucion. This year, in April, an earthquake struck northern Chile, and a devastating fire destroyed thousands of homes in Valparaiso. Again, the Lutheran church is responding with the love of Jesus. Even in the midst of fires and earthquakes, the pastors and members only see "open doors" to the Gospel. (Click Here to read a story in the Reporter on the Chilean Lutheran response to the disasters).

      Over the last several years, the Lutheran Church in Chile has  nearly doubled in size and in the scope of her ministry.  God has, indeed, set before us an open door! Will you go through it with us?

We PRAISE GOD that our schedule has been filling up, and we are grateful to those who have helped us in the process of "support discovery"! If one of our "dates" is near you, we hope that you will stop by for a visit!

We are trying hard to fill in our remaining dates before our planned deployment to Chile at the end of September. If your small group or congregation is open to it, we would be happy to visit!  PLEASE NOTE that we are NOT asking to be included in your congregation's budget. As we share what God is doing, we know that those whom the Spirit moves, will partner with us in this ministry. 

• June 1 - Good Shepherd, Ft. Myers FL.
• June 8 - Our Savior, Livermore, CA. Worship 9:00 am, presentation 10:30 am
• June 11 - St. John, Oxnard, CA - morning chapel
• June 11 - Sta. Maria, CA - 6:00 pm potluck with presentation to follow
• June 13 - Redeemer, Thousand Oaks, CA. 10:00 am
• June 14-15 - St. Paul, Orange. Worship 6/14 @ 7:00 pm; 6/15 @ 8 am, 10 am, and 6 pm.
• June 22 - Christ Lutheran, Troy, NH. Worship 10 am, presentation to follow.
• June 29 - Messiah, Fitchburg, MA. Worship 8:30 and 10:30; presentation at 9:30.
• July 13 - OPEN (Florida preferred)
• July 20 - OPEN (Florida preferred)
• July 27 - Zion, Ft. Myers, FL. Worship 8:30 and 10 am.
• Aug 3 - OPEN
• Aug 7 & 10 - Guardian, Dearborn, MI. Worship 8/7 @ 7 pm; 8/10 @ 8 and 11 am; presentation @ 9:30.
• Aug 24 - OPEN
• Aug 31 - OPEN
• Sep 7 - OPEN
• Sep 14 - OPEN

THANKS TO YOU, as of May 31 we are at 32% of our support target! 

You may have noticed that we have a new "thermometer" to display our progress toward deployment to Chile. We hope this is more descriptive of the funding process.

To be deployed, we need to raise 100% of our 'outoging' costs, and 60% of our 'ongoing' costs. Ongoing costs are what it takes to maintain our ministry in Santiago for one year.

We know that the Lord is faithful! Is God calling you to partner with us in this ministry?

If you pledge $25 per month or more to our ministry, we will send you a FREE copy of Jim's book, "Meeting Ananias" .