We met Mrs. Gene Murphy and her husband Allen in the early 1990's, when we were missionaries in Venezuela. Gene and Allen were retired, and decided to use their gifts to serve the Lord as volunteer missionaries. They were wonderful, patient, and loving co-workers, and became instant surrogate grandparents to a whole bunch of young MKs (missionary kids), ours included. In fact, we lived with the Murphys in their Caracas apartment for three weeks when Liisa was pregnant with Ben (our youngest), waiting for him to be born. Liisa's doctor was in Caracas, and our home was over 5 hours away, in Barquisimeto.
One delightful memory was when we hosted a team from Guardian Lutheran Church (Dearborn, MI) to build our church in Barquisimeto. A member of that team, Dorcas Schudlich, was Gene's college roommate! Gene came out to be with Dorcas and the team for the whole week. What fun they had! I think they did some work, too.
Gene recently left this "veil of tears" to be with her Savior. While we are sad to see her go, we rejoice in her victory over sin and death through her faith in Christ. But that's not the end of the story - to our surprise and delight, we found out that
Gene remembered the work of Global Lutheran Outreach through a bequest! (The bequest is not for us, the Tinos, but for the Global Lutheran Outreach organization). Even in death, she continues to support God's work around the world through the ministry of the missionaries of Global Lutheran Outreach.
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* Praise God for a wonderful wedding for Gabi and Daniel! May the Lord continue to bless the new Mr. and Mrs. Sipp.
* Praise God for the opportunity to be with family over Thanksgiving! We are so thankful that we were able to be with both the Tino and the Mattson families, especially since we will not be with family over Christmas.
* Praise God for the warm reception our congregation has been receiving in the neighborhood around our new church property! Pray that we can be faithful and friendly witnesses to the love of Christ.
* Praise God that we were able to buy two converted shipping containers for our new church. They will serve as temporary office and classroom space during the construction process.
* Praise God that we were able to share about His mission in Chile at St. Pauls Lutheran Church in Orange, CA over the Thanksgiving weekend.
* Praise God for the group from Christ Church Lutheran in Phoenix that has committed to a Chile mission trip for July 2016. Pray that their number may grow!
*Praise God for Allen and Gene Murphy (see story, above).
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 Double your Gift!
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"Black Friday" came and went, with no discernable reaction on our part. Cyber Monday - not even a twitch. Giving Tuesday, and we didn't even ask for money! What's wrong with us?
Fortunately, we have people (like you!) who are looking out for us. A generous ministry partner has pledged
a MATCHING GIFT of $7500 for our ministry! This is a dollar-for-dollar match for December contributions to our ministry, either: 1) new gifts; 2) renewed gift (gift from one who has not given for at least 3 months); or 3) over-and-above gifts (contributions over and above the amount normally given by our monthly ministry partners).
We are very excited about this challenge! We see this as an opportunity to bring our ministry funding up to the at least the recommended minimum, which is three months of funds "on hand". Right now, we are below that level.
Please prayerfully consider supporting God's work in Chile, knowing that your December gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar!
(
for more info on giving, click here)
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Are you a member of Thrivent Financial who's eligible to direct Choice Dollars®? Choice Dollars charitable grant funds can make a world of difference to our organization as we work together to send missionaries! By directing Choice Dollars, eligible Thrivent members recommend where they feel Thrivent should distribute a portion of its charitable grant funds.
Directing Choice Dollars is easy. Simply go to
Thrivent.com
to learn more and find program terms and conditions. Or call 800-847-4836 and say "Thrivent Choice" after the prompt.
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Wedding, Thanksgiving, and Christmas preparations!
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| Happy newlyweds Mr. & Mrs. Sipp! The wedding was on Nov. 22 in Phoenix. Jim officiated along with brother-in-law Scott. |
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| Ben Tino and Luke Mattson provided music for the wedding. |
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| Thanksgiving with Liisa's side of the family in Tuscon, hosted by cousin Rick and wife Cindy. Liisa's mom and two sisters were reunited for the first time in 14 years! |
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| Then on to California for Thanksgiving with Jim's family, including his parents who flew in from Michigan for the wedding and stayed for a visit. |
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| Back to Santiago just in time to lead the first rehearsal for the Christmas Pagent to be held in a public plaza in front of our new church property! Here the children are making a Christmas ornament. |
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And of course, we are looking for ways to share the true meaning of Christmas with the neighbors of our new mission in Ciudad Satelite (in Santiago).
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| Lutheran creche in the plaza in front of our mission rental. |
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| Making Christmas ornaments with some of our new neighbors. |
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"For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will be on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." (Is. 9:6)
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This well-known verse immediately puts me in the "Christmas mood". Does it do the same for you? When we read it or hear it in Christmas worship or Bible studies, the emphasis is usually on the names given to this Child. Lofty, powerful, divine names for a tiny baby in Bethlehem.
But what about this part: "
the government will be on His shoulders"? I can't recall hearing a sermon about that.
In many parts of the world - Chile included - the government is seen as being both the cause of most of the problems in the country, and also as the solution. People think that if we can change the government, everything will change. While some things can be achieved through good governance, there are others that the government will never change. Things like Hatred. Evil. Selfishness. Human suffering. Heartache. Lostness. Sin. To change those things, we need something else. Some
one else. A child. And not just any child, but the Child who was born to save us. We need Jesus.
In the manger is the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace. And King. That's why the government is on His shoulders - because He is King.
May the King rule in our hearts this Christmas
and always!
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