Someone Stole My Cell Phone

Wow have we been busy!  Our AIM Team has come and gone and boy did God move!  We ministered in many practical ways and saw God move in the hearts of many children and families in 3 separate communities.  It was hard work (mainly for Bob) who made sure that all of the details were covered for the teams’ arrival.

The AIM team from Nebraska came so prepared and we were so grateful because it made everything flow easily.  We were given the opportunity to minister in a public school with 760 children.  The doors were opened and no restrictions were given.  We also ministered in a daycare where 115 of the cutest Chilean faces were amazed and full of energy (see album for pictures).  The team painted houses and a community center within Ñuñoa (a pretty poverty stricken area filled with drugs).

In the midst of all the events that took place my cell phone and coat were stolen one evening during a service.  I was singing with the worship team and decided to take off my coat (yes I was actually wearing my coat; there is no heat in any of the churches here in Santiago).  I hung my coat on the back of a chair and when the service was over my coat disappeared.  I made a public announcement that anyone who needed my coat could have it, but what I really needed was the contact information off of my cell phone.  The team prayed that night that whoever had the phone and coat would be convicted and return them.

The next morning a new convert from our church plant came and found me and returned my coat and cell phone.  Her nephew had stolen it and decided to give it back!  Amazing isn’t it?  I made sure that the boy did not need my coat, but she told me that he had only stolen it for fun!

God is amazing!  Through this whole experience Paulina, the new convert continues to come to our church and we are helping meet her needs in a very practical way.  I recently visited her home with another pastor’s wife to bring some groceries that were joyfully received.  Please pray for Paulina and her family that God would meet all of their needs and heal her sister (who is also living with her) of breast cancer.

Michele

Filed under: Crime, Evangelism

Caught in a RIOT

Hello again, this is Michele.

Tonight was a really scary night for the girls and I.  Bob has been away for 3 days at a General Council Conference in the South so that means that I have been holding down the fort and tonight I found myself caught in the middle of a pretty bad protest right in the heart of our little community of Penalolen,

Every year in Chile a group called “Jovenes Combatientes” (the day is called “Dia del joven combatiente) protest because several years ago a teenager was killed by police officers.  These protest are not peaceful in any way, shape or form.  As I made a left onto the main road I noticed that there were news cameras and lots of people standing around.  As I continued to drive down the road I was surprised to see a huge army tank on the road and about 15-20 police officers armed with riot gear and wearing army fatigues.  Priscilla and Isabella were sitting in the back seat and as I quickly realized what was going on I immediately began to pray out load.  Silla was very frightened as the teenagers began to throw things at our vehicle and she also saw trash cans in the middle of the road that the teenagers had filled and lit on fire.

I knew that I had to get off of that road as quickly as possible so I put the pedal to the metal and sped through praying the whole time.  I picked up the teenager and rerouted my way through the city trying to avoid as many of the main streets as possible.  It took twice as long to get home, but amazingly I did not get lost and we made it home very frightened but unharmed!   I know that we made it home safely tonight because of all of your constant prayers for our family.  Thank you family for keeping us before the throne!

I checked the newspaper and it says:
1 dead
232 arrested including 74 minors
8 officers wounded

Here is the full story:  They targeted this area and it says Penalolen in the article!
They even have a short video with the action on this website

http://noticias.tvn.cl/detalle.aspx?ids=2&idc=248069&p=on

Filed under: Crime, Santiago

Peruvian attacker apologizes, accepts Christ

JESUS Film Project.
They approached a truck that seemed to have stalled, and before they knew it, they were surrounded by 45 heavily-armed terrorists, with guns thrust at them. The terrorists interrogated them and searched their belongings. They found their projection equipment and took it with the intention of showing revolutionary films. With the projection equipment a loss, Bruce handed over the JESUS Film as well, praying that it would not go unwatched. He and Jan were not harmed.

When the couple returned to that region a a year later, one of their attackers found Bruce to tell him an incredible story. The man named Jose apologized for the attack a year earlier and revealed that they had planned to kill them. However, whenever the topic came up something stopped them.

They terrorists had brought the film back to camp where 700 people viewed the film. As they watched, they realized that Jesus was a true revolutionary, and many were so moved they wanted lay down their weapons and quit right there.

Best of all, Jose told Bruce he had become a Christian and apologized for the attack a year earlier.

Today, Jose is a pastor and director of a large Bible school in Argentina. He also sends out missionaries all over the world.

Article courtesy of: http://www.mnnonline.org/article/10530

Filed under: Crime, Evangelism

Sept. 11th Manifestations

Hi all, Last night was a mess here in Chile. Right down the street from our house, the youth here in Chile held some of the most violent manifestations in years….

Filed under: Crime, Santiago