Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

Last week over 40 disciples from nine cities and five different countries came together with the brothers and sisters in Santiago to participate in the 2008 Southern Cone Discipleship Conference. We spent an incredible 5 days together studying God's word, praying, fellowshipping and eating all with the focus of fixing our eyes on Jesus. I'm not sure, but it seemed like a glimpse of the multi-national fellowship of Acts 2.

On Wednesday, we began with a typical Chilean lunch of Pastel de Choclo and empanadas while we got to know each other and shared about the various situations in our churches.

On Thursday and Friday morning we met together for a devotional time and then discipling groups. Norberto Dorantes, the leader of the church in Buenos Aires, Argentina led our thoughts on Thursday morning to the power of Jesus through the scriptures. My heart swelled with admiration as I listened to my brother who has to work part-time to support his family while still leading the church closer to God. Thursday evening Martin Bentley preached an encouraging and challenging message calling us to fix our eyes on Jesus and repent of our sins.

On Friday, Leo Santana from Santa Cruz, Bolivia gave an inspirational devo about the intensity of Jesus' prayer life and challenged us to follow Jesus' example. Each day we spent the late morning in discipling groups discussing the devo, sharing scriptures, confessing sins and encouraging one another. Having attended a similar time for leaders a year and a half ago, I could see how much God has done to work in the hearts of each church leader and to bond the churches closer in unity.

Friday afternoon we ate lunch together at the Mercado Central and then went up to the top of the hill in the middle of Santiago, Cerro San Cristobal. It was a special moment for me as I was able to see how God had answered my prayer of four years ago to be able to live in South America and help the churches here. At the top of the hill I was able to share my heart with dear friends, participate in unity-building talks and dream about the future of the church.

Saturday was a special treat for the Santiago Church as we were able to participate in a day-full of classes given by the brothers and sisters who had come from other churches, especially the US. Classes were given about marriage, finances, excellence in the workplace, dating relationships, parenting and more. During the lunch break, the fellowship was buzzing with reactions from the classes and hearts eager to change. In one day, it seemed as if the church had received an injection of maturity, wisdom, zeal and faith. Many thanks to all who shared and taught.

We finished the conference with a powerful and uplifting time of worship. Christian Amestoy reminded us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life that we are all searching for. Truly it was a time of renewed faith, renewed dreams and renewed unity. Although the churches in South America have suffered a lot in the recent years, it is obvious that God is not finished with us, but instead wants to call us higher each and every day as we fix our eyes on Jesus.

18 Anniversary - Santiago

April was a special month in Chile as we celebrated the 18th Anniversary of the church in Santiago. In 1990, a group of disciples from Buenos Aires crossed over the Andes Mountains and planted themselves in Santiago, a city that boasts a population of over 6 million. They came with great dreams and great faith that someday there would be disciples all over Chile. Today there are churches in Viña del Mar and in Concepción working together with the church in Santiago. We continue to dream for Chile and the 12 other regions yet to be reached.

 To celebrate what God has done, we decided to invite one of the former leaders of the church in Santiago along with his wife, Josué and Veronica Ortega. With incredible generosity, they offered their hearts and ears and experience to the church. For a week they poured out love and vision to the staff in daily meetings. They taught on subjects such as personal walk with God, church-building, leadership strategy and development and many other important topics. We had special workshops for the men one evening and for the women the next that inspired and challenged the church to have greater faith. Josué was also our guest speaker for an evangelistic event that was held Saturday evening. He spoke about finding direction and purpose in our lives through our relationship with God. Josué and Veronica wrapped their arms around us and injected all of us with much needed vision and faith.

Our Sunday morning celebration service was filled with emotion and gratitude. One of the heroes among us is a sister named Teresa who was the first woman baptized here in Santiago. She was able to share with the church about how God has been faithful to her in good times and in bad. The church stood and clapped for her with great appreciation for her example of faith in God and for her devotion to his peopleWe also watched a video that went through each of the 18 years of our history. One of the great surprises for the congregation was a message in the video from John and Sylvia Reus who are living in Miami now and formerly led the church in Santiago. We also saw special messages from Edson and Teresa in La Paz, Bolivia and Norberto and Yanina in Buenos Aires, Argentina encouraging the disciples in Chile. 

 A special gift from God that day was to watch a teen be baptized into Christ, Emmanuel Sowicz. God had been preparing him for this day for a few months and the brothers shared enthusiastically about the incredible change they had seen in him from the inside out. The church laughed as Emmanuel challenged the friends visiting church that day to study the bible and discover the reason for the huge smile on his face. 

 The celebration was closed as we sang "Feliz Cumpleaños" to the church and blew out candles on a cake for hundreds. It was a great day of reflecting with gratitude on what God has done and looking forward with faith to what God will do in the years to come. 

 
 

Patricio and Daisy sent to Concepción

Wednesday, March 26th, the Santiago Church sent off Patricio and Daisy, who will be leading our sister church in Concepción, Chile. For the last few months, Pato and Daisy have been traveling to Concepción to help and encourage the brothers and sisters there. Daisy used her vacation time and traveled by herself, moved by the need for more people to help study the bible with friends who had been visiting the church. God put in the hearts of this incredible couple to move to the southern part of Chile, leaving behind work and other personal goals to serve the Lord in this way. Patricio stepped down from his work as an IT Engineer and Daisy who recently received her degree in Nursing, turned down a great job, to be able to go where our Lord was sending them.Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)

Patricio and Daisy have responded to the call of the Lord. We are so grateful for their hearts to love God and be guided by him. They are an example for us to follow. Our hearts and prayers are with them and the church in Concepción.

"To An Unknown God"

2000 years ago Paul spoke in Athens to a group of philosophers and thinkers with incredible pose. He saw their statue in the city with the inscription "to an unknown god" and announced to this group of learned men that this was the God that he would proclaim. The God that created the world and everything in it had sent Jesus and had raised him up from death. It is one of the most powerful sermons that we have in the scriptures.

In light of Paul's message, we decided in Santiago to have a special event for campus students to really examine who God truly is. The weeks leading up to the "conferencia" the campus students spoke to thousands of students about how they view God and if they were interested in finding out about the God of the Bible. It was an incredible, faith-building month. Many of those invited came to hear a great message by Luis Fernando Herrera. They heard testimonies by some of the disciples and were able watch a video about how people view God on the campuses in Santiago.

We are praising God for the power of his word and for those that he brought to the event. There are many who are studying the bible and digging deeper and we are anxious to watch God continue to work in their hearts and lives.

Dr. Douglas Jacoby visits Chile

Challenging. Deep. Refreshing. Inspiring. These are words that disciples in Santiago, Chile used to describe the visit of Dr. Douglas Jacoby. In just four days we learned principles of parenting, strategies for studying the Bible, and the truth about the Holy Spirit. He also spent many hours teaching the staff and answering their questions.

On Sunday March 12, the church heard two classes on the Holy Spirit. The first session focused on the basics of the Holy Spirit, including how a person receives the Spirit and how the Spirit works in our lives. The second session dealt with common misunderstandings and false doctrines surrounding the Spirit. For some, the classes brought added clarity, while for others the teaching brought new perspectives that clashed with previous understandings. For all it was a challenge to think more deeply. Many friends and visitors were present and afterwards the fellowship was abuzz with conversations and questions. The Wednesday class on Bible study strategies called all of us to go deeper into the Word. One of the most convicting moments was when Douglas asked the church how many had read the entire Bible. A number of hands went up, while many realized their need to read the Old Testament as well as the New. A number of brothers and sisters started that week with the goal to read the whole Bible. At the end of the class we saw the strategies applied as we examined a few scriptures regarding lukewarmness, division and church discipline. Our convictions were strengthened by the call to love our brothers while dealing firmly and biblically with sin. The disciples were very grateful for the input, and surrounded our guest speaker in the fellowship to ask him even more questions.

A special part of the trip was having Douglas' son James here as well. On Sunday morning James spent time with the teen ministry, encouraging them to remain true to their convictions. All in all we are very grateful for how God inspired us and taught us so that through God's word we might be "thoroughly equipped for every good work."