Preparing for our Trip to Santiago

Dear everybody,

Saturday we are planning on leaving early and heading to Santiago. From our town of Lican Ray, it's a 8 to 9 hour drive so we like to be ready before we leave.

Bethany has been working with the kids and getting caught up on school. They have been hard at work and accomplishing much after their month long break.

Danny and I went to town to take our van in for a "Revision Tecnica". Every year, vehicles in Chile need to pass a test. Many things are checked as the vehicle passes through. We knew the shocks on the van would not pass the test so we got those changed before we took the van in.



We are really looking forward to our trip up north. Our trip north has 2 purposes. Danny and MAtthias need to renew their US passports at the American embassy. The trip will give Bethany the chance to see some Chilean countryside as we travel and to meet the Chile Field GMSA missionaries. The Christmas missionary potluck is the second purpose and something our family enjoyed last year and we are sure to enjoy it this year also!

Just a few pictures of Morgan with the new little chick and with her Dad.

Thank you for your prayers for us as we travel up on Saturday and return to camp on Tuesday,

Liz

Work, Work, Work

Dear everybody,

We have started the week working full force. Dan and I keep busy working on the house while Bethany teaches the boys in school. We are all trying to stay organized and get as much done as possible.

It is encouraging to see progress being made not only on the house but also on the camp. Today we hired a backhoe and machine operator to work on the beach and also dig up some old stumps on camp. Of course, the boys and Morgan loved watching the machine at work. As far as the house is concerned, we are focusing our time on the bathroom. The sheet rock is hung, mudded and taped and soon the bathroom will be ready for the floor tile. How exciting!

Here are a few pictures to keep you up to date:Thank you for keeping us in your prayers,

Liz

Our New Short-termer

Dear everybody,

Last Wednesday, our family jumped into the van and headed to the Temuco airport to pick up a new member of our family. A few months ago, our general director of the mission wrote to the missionaries to give them the opportunity of inviting, Bethany Heckman,a short-termer to live with them for a year. After some prayer we decided to respond and invite Bethany into our home. Through emails we started to get to know each other better and also introduced our family to her. Her desire was to minister primarely to missionary kids on the mission field.

Little by little we are getting to know her better. The kids have fallen in love with her and I really appreciate her sweet spirit and willingness to serve. She will be homeschooling the boys and helping us in the camping ministry here in Lican. She is learning to use the little Spanish she knows already and spends time every day studying the Spanish books she brought with her.

We thank the Lord for bringing Bethany into our family and ministry this year.

Here is a picture of her trying out "Mate", a south american tea, for the first time.
Thank you for praying for Bethany as she adjusts to a new home life, new responsibilities, and a new culture.

Liz

a few pictures of camp Lican Ray

Dear everybody,
For those who don't know the camp very well, here are a few pictures of camp.

Dear everybody,

Now that the work team is gone, we are left with what seems like an insurmountable task and that is to finish the house. What makes it more difficult is that we are also gearing up for our first camping season here at Lican Ray Camp. This weekend (Dec 6-8) is the first church retreat the camp will be hosting. All in all there isn't much that involves our family as such during the camp itself but we are "it" for all the clean-up and maintenance on the grounds before and after the retreat.

We have already passed throughout the camp and cleaned up all the cabins. Matthias helped pick up trash, as Micah and I swept each one out. Today, Danny is weed eating the entrance, around the cabins and making sure everything looks neat and picked up for the church group. We will be waxing the floor in the main building, cleaning out bathrooms and taking the 6 barrels of trash out to the main road for the weekly pick-up. During this time, the construction on the new admin. house is put on hold.

We would appreciate your prayers during this time of juggling family responsibilities, new house needs and the camp.

Counting it a privilege to serve the Lord here in Chile,

Liz

All alone

Dear everybody,
Last night we got our short termer, Greg Thompson, on a bus to Santiago. We are feeling a little overwhelmed with the work that is remaining but so glad that he was able to come down and help us for two months. Right before he left he worked on getting all the plumbing run throughout the house and also the gas line. We are so thankful for his ministry to us and his willing spirit to do anything asked of him, even watch the kids for us some evenings.

Welcome to our blog

Dear everybody,

This is how I usually start my weekly emails to friends and family but for a few months now, Dan and I have been considering a blog. Many of our supporters have been asking us to start a blog to keep them better informed on our ministry and family news. So here it goes! Hopefully it will be interesting to those who want to read it and make them feel even more a part of our lives and ministry on the field.

Liz