Some News...

To My Most Amiable Readers,

May the grace and peace of Christ be with you!

The last few months have been very challenging, but we have been keenly aware of the Holy Spirit's presence in the midst of some of the most difficult experiences of our lives. Reuben had a serious fall from a tree house and was operated on to put a plastic plate in his head where the bones were crushed (see blog post below). That was a very frightening time for us. On top of that were painful relationships that brought much confusion and heartache. But we can truly say that God brought us through and brought healing for all involved. Praise the Lord!!!

The rowing kid's Bible study has been such a joy. We've gone through John, Acts, Philippians, and are now working through Romans. Yenny, a former rower who comes with her husband and children, asked us the other day a question about Romans chapter six. Dustin reminded her that we're only at chapter two, and she laughed saying that she gets caught up in the story and can't stop reading! We recognize in her and her husband the hunger for growth and the gifts of leadership and integrity. She has, on her own accord, started reading John with another friend who cannot come to the meetings. Please pray that Yenny and her husband Angelo would be lights in Chile among the people of Puerto Montt!

Our work with the church plant with Voni and Gigi has undergone major transformation. Previously we met in homes, but outgrew those facilities so we rented a house. No sooner had we done that that one of the families moved away and numerous others stopped coming. This was a time of both discouragment and hope (people were coming to Christ through the Bible studies we held and through visitation). But they didn't come to the house. This was a bit perplexing for us, and after discerning together we decided to stop renting the house, and just continue working in and through our giftings and natural relationships to bring people closer to Christ. Voni and Gigi are both in a very busy season of life and we are glad to see them released to focus on their friendships without the burden of leading a church. This also frees us up to invest in our relationships with neighbors and friends here in Puerto Montt.

I (Dustin) along with Eduardo (Chilean brother) have been visiting the mountains faithfully every month for 3-4 days. The group has grown to about 14 with 8 of them becoming believers and getting baptized. We have been very encouraged by this group of believers as they never cease to amaze us. Almost every time we get up there they have more people for us to share with spiritually or practically. I always come back from the mountains filled with the love and encouragement of Christ. Eduardo is a pastor of a Mennonite Church in Alerce(government housing project) and some of the people who live in the mountains also live in this neighborhood during the school year. That has been a great way to encourage the believers in the mountains and Alerce through more continuous fellowship.

One of my newest ministry oportunities has been riding mountain bike with some guys in our neighborhood. So far in the three weeks of riding bike I have met three new men and have been able to share about God as we are riding bike. We are praying that they will want to come to our men's Bible study that we have been doing with some other men in the community.

Now to some news. Through discerning as a family and with our EMM boss Steve Shenk, we have decided that this term will be our last here in Chile. Unless the Lord speaks otherwise we will be returning stateside around March of 2011. This is not a popular decision amongst our Chilean friends, and though I'm not glad that they're hurt by our leaving, I am overjoyed by their love and caring of us as a family. It wouldn't be so nice leaving and everyone thinking “Good riddance!” ; ).

We love our life here in Chile. Our children have many Chilean “grandparents”, “aunties”, and “uncles”. Chile is the only home they remember, Sophia being two when we arrived. It has been such an adventure, and I admit, I'm not quite ready to leave it. I (Sarah) know that my heart will break the day we leave Chile. But I am resting in Dustin's conviction that it's time to move on to what God has next for us. Please pray for us, that we might finish well, using our remaining time wisely and effectively.

We feel strongly that though our time in Chile is drawing to an end, our vocation will continue. We will have a one-year furlough when we return, during which we will likely take classes to prepare us further for future work. We are praying about two opportunities of service, both with EMM, within Central America and Spain. We appreciate prayer for our family as we discern and adjust to upcoming changes!

We would also appreciate prayer for this final year in Chile, that:

-the rowing youth would grow in faith and devotion to God

-the church in the mountains would grow and bear fruit

-God would give us words to speak to our neighbors and show us ways to reach them

-that our financial support would come in in full

-God would raise up leaders to spread His love and Word like wildfire here in Chile!

Thanks so much,

Love, Dustin and Sarah