Better Internet Connection in Chile

Dear Everybody,

This will most likely be the only blog post I will do while we are in the States. I can't say our schedule is too terribly full but it is full enough. What is the most frustrating is our lack of adequate internet connection to be able to blog. Maybe that's exactly what the Lord wanted for us: to unplug altogether. But I did want to let you (my readers) know that we are still alive and doing well. And as soon as we get back to Chile I will start blogging again.

Liz

Now About the Not-So Fun Part of furlough...

Dear everybody,

Can you tell I have been putting off writing this blog post? Well, even if it wasn't apparent I was putting it off! Sometimes, it's much easier to talk about fun stuff and positive things than to open up and be honest about those things that one is worried or scared about. But here it goes... These are the things that worry me about going on furlough (you'll notice that they are directly related to the positive things from the previous blog):

1) Having to say many good byes: We will say many good byes when we leave Chile and then once we leave the States in September we will have to say many again. You'd think we would be used to this part of missionary life but even with past experience it doesn't make it any easier.

Pray for our family as we learn to say goodbye.

2) Lots of moving around: For 41/2 months we will be staying in many different homes. This can get old after a while especially for young children. Before we go, Danny and I are working with the kids on their table manners and proper etiquette. (You mean you don't go up to greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek in the United States?)

Pray for grace and flexibility as we stay in different homes.

3) Visiting with our churches: Danny and I are getting prepared to repeat the same things over and over... Of course we are excited to share what the Lord has done but seeing our presentation for the umpteenth time can get boring.

Pray for energy and patience as we share in our churches.

4) Can we enjoy going "home" without gaining weight? I have asked myself that question over and over. I know this has been a struggle for many missionaries in the past.

Pray that we could control our cravings and find time to exercise along the way.

5) Going on furlough doesn't mean leaving all our responsibilities behind. While we will be back we will still be in contact with a few people in Chile who are helping get the next camping season together. There is sooo much to do and thankfully with today's technology we should be able to help even long distance.

Pray for diligence in answering emails and working on camp matters.

6) Meeting new people is not everyone's cup of tea. What will these new pastors think of us? Are our kids to "wild"? Will we commit a "faux pas" or two? More than likely yes

Pray that we would act Christ-like.

7) Traveling: We will be crossing the United States lengthwise TWICE! We will need much patience with each other in the van. Can this part of furlough be enjoyable? Maybe it could with a little creativity and a good dose of long-suffering!

Pray for safe and fun travels.

8) Ultimately we know we are serving the Lord but the thought has crossed my mind that maybe people will think we haven't done ENOUGH. Maybe there are no results to show for their investment in us as a family.

Pray for thankful hearts

9) Raising four children is not a piece of cake and doing it away from a normal home routine scares me. I'm sure the kids are going to miss Chile and what they have grown used to these past 3 1/2 years. We might be dealing with some new emotions and struggles.

Pray for diligence as parents to raise God-fearing children.

Pray for Micah, Matthias, Morgan and Madeline as they adjust to new settings.

10) Our walk with the Lord is the most important thing to us. In the Christian life, distractions can be our downfall, steering us away from what is good. Slowly one wastes time on the things that don't matter and can then easily fall into sin. It's a downward spiral that comes from not filling our lives with what matters most to the Lord. We want to keep growing in spiritual walk!

Pray that we would DO what is needed to stay on track spiritually.

Thanks for reading this post and understanding my heart behind these ten things. It is scary for me to think that I will hit the publish button and it will be "out there" for all to read. But I would hope that it will spur some of you to pray specifically for those 10 things and that when we see you in the United States, we can rejoice in answered prayer!

Liz

I Am Excited About That!

Dear everybody,

Have you ever been excited and scared to death at the same time? When I start thinking of our furlough coming up in a little over a month, those two sentiments battle within me. I am excited about:

1) seeing my family - My parents (Mike and Elva Farrell and my sister Emily) will be returning to France for another term of missionary service in May. My sister Esther and her family are on deputation right now, raising support to go to France as missionaries also. We will be together the first few days of May. We haven't been altogether in 7 years!

I am excited about that!

2) seeing friends -We have many college friends and friends we have made in churches across the US that we are looking forward to reconnecting with. Many are in the ministry and we can rejoice together over what the Lord has done.

I am excited about that!

3) fellowshipping with our supporting churches - Once a year for missionary conference we pull out the English hymnbooks and sing in English. I am looking forward to joining in worshiping our great God with the Saints in our supporting churches.

I am excited about that!

4) experiencing the US: Wal-Mart, Olive Garden, Wendy's, Mountain Dew, Jelly Bellies and English Muffins... are just a few of the things we have been dreaming about eating lately.

I am excited about that!

5) a fresh perspective: Veteran missionaries have told us that furlough is a good time to take a step back and see one's ministry from a different perspective.

I am excited about that!

6) meeting new people - 2 of our churches have new pastors, 1 church is NEW to us, 1 church merged with another church, and we can be confident that God has added new believers to the churches that support us.

I am excited about that!

7) traveling as a family - Our kids don't remember much about the United States. What they do remember is from the pictures. We are looking forward to showing our kids a bit of the United States during our travels... maybe stop along the way at some landmarks.

I am excited about that!

8) sharing what the Lord has done - We have lots of things to be thankful for. God accomplished many things during our past three years on the field and we have a LOT to share.

I am excited about that!

9) being together as a family unit - We will be spending countless hours together, whether it is in the van traveling or in churches. On the field, our hectic lifestyle, work on camp, or constant visitors take up our time together as a family. More time together?

I am excited about that!

10) growing in our walk - We know furlough will not always be rosy but we are gearing up for a time of growth in our personal walks with the Lord. Many times trials bring growth.

I am excited about that!

Thanks for your prayers for us as we look forward to all these things during our furlough time. Come back to the blog to read about the things that make me nervous as I think about our furlough time.

Liz

The NEW Gym

Dear everybody,

I have been meaning to write about the new gym on camp for quite a while but just didn't have any idea how to start the post. The whole project in itself involved a whirlwind of activities and even looking back at the pictures makes me tired!

It all started with a donation from the United States. This large donation came with one condition: it had to be used before the end of the year (2010). There are so many things that could be improved on camp with investments like this one. After praying and thinking much, we decided on a covered gym. We needed a place for campers or churches to play when it was raining, and boy does it like to rain here! Many times, our main eating/meeting hall is packed with kids or families and there is no other place to go when the downpours start.

The architect drew up the plans and later we submitted them to the municipality. After receiving the approval, a team of volunteers from Washington State came to camp to work on the project. Our family did the running around and the hosting for this group of 7 men. They were on camp 2 weeks and got this major project done. It involved: pouring the footings, welding up all the trusses, and then laying the roofing.

Micah learned a bit about welding with the help of Mister Dave.

The work days were long and harduous but this group of guys did it with smiles on their faces, even on very wet days. We can never be able to repay all that they did but they will receive their reward someday in heaven.

We made sawhorses for the work team before they arrived.

Almost complete!

Even before this work team came, there was much prep work to be done. Another team came, led by Pastor Bill Park.

the Pennsylvania work crew

We had to clear the site of a few trees and get the stumps out. The team also worked on our new work shop getting the second floor put in. It was nice to finally have a secure place for tools and equipment.

Thank you to all the workers who came and made a difference at Lican Bible Camp. The Lord was faithful to burden hearts to give of their time, finances, and skill for the Lord's work here in Chile.

the Washington work crew

Liz

Summer Fun!

Dear everybody,

It seems funny to me right now to be writing a blog on our summer fun as a family when outside it is raining today. All you know that our summer is a series of hectic moments as we work on camp hosting groups and then preparing camp for the next group. It is non-stop activity from the end of December to the end of February. Lican Bible Camp is blessed with a picture postcard vista of beautiful Lake Calafquen. We made it a point this summer to enjoy the lake once and while. We had really nice sunny days with temperatures in the high 80's, perfect for swimming.

Here are a few pictures of the kids at the lake.

Micah (8 years old)

Matthias (7 years old)

Morgan (4 years old)

Madeline (8 months)

Even neck deep, we can see our feet in the crystal clear lake water. Want to go for a swim?

Liz

An Official Chilean Resident

Dear everybody,

When we arrived in Chile, November 2007, we started the process of getting my Chilean Residency Card. The first step was to secure a temporary 1 year visa. Having married a Chilean, and having 3 Chilean children made that process much easier. Once that expired we started the paperwork for the permanent residency card. Just yesterday, we picked it up. It is so nice to have this document in hand. It gives me the freedom to travel and also allows to me to stay in the country without having to secure another temporary visa.

Speaking of paperwork... Because Danny and the kids are chilean citizens we are in the process of securing their Chilean passports so we can leave the country come April. Thinking it would take a while, we went to the civil registry office as soon as we could to get the paperwork started. After filling out all the needed info, paying the fee and getting the pictures taken, we were flabergasted when they said we could come pick up the new passports in a week! That's amazing!

We count it as a blessing from the Lord that all this paperwork got done smoothly.

Liz

Making plans...

Dear everybody,

We are finishing our summer camping schedule with one last church leaving this evening to go back to Santiago. So what is next for our family and ministry? Well, we are making plans. In November last year we finished our third year of being in Chile. We are due for a furlough and what better time to schedule it than during our winter months, when there is the least activity on camp. We recently bought our tickets and will be returning to the States on April 19th for a 4 month furlough or home assignment.

Terry and Carol Thompson have kindly accepted to fill in for us while we are gone. They will continue the preaching and teaching ministry in the Liquiñe and Coñaripe churches and will also take care of Lican Bible Camp in our absence. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers in this transition to our home and ministries.

So how does one plan a furlough? We didn't quite know to be honest but the easiest was to grab the calendar and a United States map and start planning our numerous trips. We will fly in to FL and make our way north to Pennsylvania. From there we visit family and friends and end up at our home base in Washington State. We will be traveling many miles in one of the mission's vans. We are contacting our churches and confirming our visit with each and every one of them. We would also LOVE to see as many of our individual supporters as possible while we are back on home assignment. Thank you for praying as we schedule all these meetings.

More to come in future blogs on our furlough preparations.

Liz

TEEN CAMP !!!!!

Dear everybody,

Teen camp is the most exciting week out of the whole camping season. Teens anticipate this week more than any other and will travel from far away to participate. This year, we had 50 teenagers come from as far as Santiago (Chile´s capital city). Churches and individuals were sent special invitations to come and attend the camp. Excitement was building up very quickly.

The day finally arrived and we were ready to start. Each day campers traveled to a different continent starting with the Americas. The teens enjoyed hamburgers and cookies for dessert for dinner that night! All the games followed the same theme with different activities or games having a focus on different cities in South America or North America.

team unity games

the red team emblem: explorer team

The next day, we traveled to Africa! The teens were divided into two teams: Red and Blue. They developed team unity by working together on a cheer and team song. By the end of the day, they were ready to travel to Asia and then on to Europe.

We are in Asia eating Teriyaki Beef... Can you tell?

now in a fancy restaurant in Italy... on the menu: Lasagna!

The program went very well but it only has value if it doesn't distract from the main emphasis of the camp which is the teaching of God's Word and the time each counselor spent one on one with each one of his campers.

Pastor Nilton Sepulveda was the speaker for the week. It was his first time speaking in a camp setting. He shared his testimony the first night with the group and then used his 2 sessions a day to proclaim the Gospel very clearly. God worked in an amazing way.

we had one service outside

We praise the Lord for 4 teenagers who made professions of faith and many who publicly expressed a desire to serve the Lord with their lives. As you can imagine, the bonfire night was special as we heard the testimonies of what the Lord had accomplished in the lives of the campers.

Great counselors!!!

fun times!!!

Thank you for your prayers for each one who made a decision. We hope to see each one next year and Lord willing see fruit in their lives.

Liz

Dear Everybody,

Our kids camp, held January 3rd through 6th, was a blast! Our theme for the camp was a race around the world in three days. Each kid was given his own passport and "traveled" to three different continents during his stay.

Our speaker, Ricardo Green (works with CEF in Chile), spoke on turning our back to the things of the world. He did an excellent job of presenting the Gospel clearly to the 50 kids in attendance.

We thank the Lord for beautiful weather which made life on camp just that much more enjoyable. Can you imagine 50 kids cooped up in a small meeting hall? It was wonderful to enjoy the beauty of Lican Ray Bible Camp with no rain!

Continue to pray for the kids that participated in this year's camp. Some left having heard the gospel but not making a decision to trust Christ as Savior. Others did talk to their counselor and took another spiritual step in their walk with the Lord.

Favorite sport of all time!

Beach time!

Camp food YUM!

Thank you for praying,

Liz

We're back!!!

Dear everybody,

After 2 months of non-stop work, I am back online and able to update our blog. Hopefully, I can get back into the habit of writting and keep you better informed of what is going on in our lives. With the summer comes many challenges but also many blessings. The work accomplished during the winter months bears fruit during the summer as we minister to people through camping ministry.

We hope to give you an overview of our summer month ministry over the next few blog posts and share with you what the Lord did! Let me just say that there is much to rejoice about! So come back to the blog often and don't miss out on the opportunity to glorify God for what He has done in Lican Ray CHILE.

Liz