Ezekiel 34:26 promises “showers of blessing” to God’s people. Our “summer of drought” has been followed by a winter of once-in-a-decade rains! Along with the showers come floods, leaks, high winds, and washed-out roads and yards but we survived. And then amazingly, the desert bloomed. How we enjoyed the añañucas, AKA “gravel-pit lilies”!
More exciting news:
After voting on July 14 to buy a small lot as the site of our future church property, we began the legal paperwork toward the purchase. Though the signing date was Aug. 23, we finally got the keys just before our Sept. 11 spring holiday church picnic.
The positives: The location is generally safe and good (although a little outside our ideal) on Las Dalias in our old neighborhood of “flower streets” (we used to live on the corner of Copihues and Añañucas). Excellent public transportation is available here.
The negatives: An unpaved street, a leaning front wall, and a yard full of weeds require immediate attention. Before much work can be done, we’ll also need to get (and pay for) water and electric hook-ups. The limited size of the lot means that most of it will have to be built on (little space for parking or play, in other words).
What’s next? We’re excited about what lies ahead! Please pray that as Curtis and the leadership meet with a Christian architect they’ll be able to come up with a plan to make the best of use of what God has provided. Maybe it’s a steppingstone to something else later, but for now, we’re moving ahead in faith with our building project.
Rain’s great, and the flowers are beautiful, BUT some of those plants carry vicious thorns, choke healthy life, and breed mosquitos. We’d be lying if we tried to say everything’s gone well this year in the Lord’s vineyard in Punta Mira.
After so long without a church home, people tend to forget they even have a church. Discouragement is more contagious than Covid. (There’s light at the end of that tunnel: Effective Oct. 1, most—not all— pandemic restrictions will end, PTL.)
“Behold, it is planted; will it thrive?” asks Ezekiel (17:10). Many have worked to plant this church, we have helped water it, but only God can make it grow (I Cor. 3:6).
Praise and Prayer:
Thanks for your part in praying our
church project to life, to the Chile
field missionaries at our July retreat
who reallocated funds for the final
1/5 of the purchase price, and to
other local churches who’ve lent
toward utility hook-ups.
We’re grateful to several believers who’ve all faithfully opened
their homes for church meetings
during this past year.
Thanks to your prayers, Diane’s
voice has healed. Wonderful to sing
again! Please pray for a quick
recovery from gall bladder surgery
scheduled for Oct. 4, and that I’ll be
able to attend the ministry women’s
retreat Oct. 12-15. Curt will go to the
tri-country pastors’ conference in
Nov.—in person after 3 years!
