New Ministry Year
The ministry year has started of with a bang! I’m currently co-ordinating the entire ministry, continuing with monthly coaching conversations & monthly group sessions from the leadership course I took, and I was invited to partake in a weekly prayer group for Latin America. In February, the new students arrived to participate in the training programme, EMI. I accepted a mentoring role for one of the students in the programme and have been helping with interpretation throughout the month of February. To say so mildly, I am and have been well occupied. As the weeks have continued to fly by, I’ve been reminded repeatedly of one simple importance, remaining in Christ. Ministry is nothing without him, without his nearness and his communion.
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
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Children's Home CJMC
Each year it’s important that each ministry team has relevant objectives for the year. In the children’s home CJMC, there are two ministry teams. One works with the teenagers (VIDA) and the other team with children under the age of 12 (Rubí). I spent time working with the second in charge for the VIDA team while putting together objectives for Rubi myself. We are still waiting for the homes approval for the project we’ve submitted for the coming year for both teams. We are hopeful that they can confirm by mid-March.
VIDA is desiring to help the teenagers think and dream about their futures, especially being able to discern the difference between living a life in Christ and not. They were able to build and establish good foundations for intimacy with them last year and are looking to strengthen them. Rubí, on the other hand, is hoping to be able to teach the children about their potential in Christ, what it means to live purposefully in Him and for His kingdom. We hope to continue building on their understanding of friendship, and Jesus our friend. It shall be an interesting ministry year.
In just a few weeks we will also be receiving a large short-term group from Canada. I will be responsible for taking the team of 16 into Home CJMC to accomplish a painting & general maintenance project. I will also take in 6 of them on another occasion so that they can be involved in the normal ministry time we have with the children. I am rather nervous about the group coming in, especially about the language barrier but am hopeful God will bless this time tremendously for all involved.
Praise God: Ministry Visions, Short-Term Team, Successful Summer Activities
Pray For: More Volunteers, Short-Term events, Project Approval |
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Children's Home Belen
We’ve been working in the home since mid-January after a month break over the Christmas period. Upon our arrival, it was like we stepped into a different environment. The workers of the home were happy to see us, the children beyond excited for us to be there and we saw much less violence among the children. My Jamaican co-worker and I have consistently praised God for these changes. We are one step closer to being able to fulfil the calling God has given us for this home, to lead the children and workers alike to praise & worship the one true God.
Some of the workers have started to open up to me, sharingabout their personal lives and being very curious about mine. God has provided great opportunities to speak about my reasons for being in Chile and to speak directly into their lives about their own personal beliefs. I pray that God will continue to allow me to speak into their lives.
The children have been enjoying the 'sports' afternoons on Thursday's. Tennis is a favourite. It's almost impossible to get them to participate in any other activity. We continue to read them bible stories at the end of the day, taking in puppets with us. One little man asked about the lyrics to a children's Christian song. As a co-worker explained to him the meaning, she offered him the opportunity to live a life in Christ. He accepted. Likewise, another little child asked me when we were going to learn something about God.
Recently some of the children have been spontaneously grabbing my head and planting a super sloppy and wet kiss on my face while saying, "I love you, Tia." It's really cute and super rewarding.
Praise God: Growing Relationships, Lessing of Violence, God's Grace.
Pray For: More Opportunities, Committed & United Team Vision, God Curiosity. |
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Outside of Ministry
Over the Christmas & New Year period, I took some time off. For a few days I was able to travel to the south of Chile and enjoy its remarkable nature. Santiago has its highlights, but the city of about seven million habitants is entirely different to the small Island I grew up on. It was lovely to return to nature and marvel at God’s creation. I found it very refreshing.
In October one of my ex-colleagues offered to sell me his bike. When I wasn’t too sure about the price, he offered me a deal. If I was willing to financially support one of the Chilean missionaries serving cross-culturally, he would give me the bike, helmet and chain free of charge. I laughed and asked him if it would be cheating if I already was, as was the case. We struck a new deal, a slight increase in the regular gifts would suffice. I was more than happy to do so. God convicted me at least four years ago about the importance of not just tithing but also offerings, that which is on top of the 10%. At least three different missionary couples have led by example by supporting me which made a huge impact in my life. The bike has done over 500k’s in the four months that I’ve had it & I have been saving $40 per month on travel costs. It’s beneficial for my health and more importantly has enabled me to sow into the kingdom in a different way.
In August last year, I made one of the more difficult decisions that I’ve had to since being in Chile, to change churches. Unfortunately, I struggled to find my place in the church that I was attending. In five years, I hadn’t developed friendships and community was non-existent. It was not a spur of the moment decision but a long and methodical one. I praise God that he led me and Emilio to a church that’s missions orientated, smaller and community focused. I’m already starting to develop roots in the church and am feeling very blessed by the teaching.
I've also been asked to read the book, "growing in prayer" by Mike Bickle, an IHOP (International House of Prayer) leader. It's to guide and grow us in the Latin American OM prayer group.
Praise God: Bike, Safety, Holidays, Church Community.
Pray For: Safety, Relationships in the Chilean Community |
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Reality Strikes Home
Wow, what a month! It’s been filled with incredible highs and incredible lows. I think what stands out the most has been the concept of mortality. At the beginning of the month I had a young child, one whom I’ve been quite close to, reveal suicidal thoughts. My desire is to see them able to overcome their internal battle. Only a few short days later, I received news that my Gran had had a stroke. She’s doing well but recovering. Within 10 days, her husband and my Grandad was taken into hospital. The family was told not to expect him to come home. Three days later, he died. It has been a whirlwind of emotions. At the same time, I’ve seen how blessed I’ve been. God has been with me. He has provided people, both near and far, that have been more than supportive and understanding of the processes I've been going through.
Please Pray for my Family
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A Growing Ministry & Snow Excursion
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This past week I’ve been reflecting quite a lot on my friend Chelsea’s visit last year. I remember at one point she said to me, “Libby, I know that it’s tough right now but I firmly believe that you are going to see the biggest changes and blessings in this home.” At the time, it was a huge encouragement but seemingly impossible. Today, I must admit that she was right.
As we’ve finished up the first semester of ministry in the home, we have a lot to be grateful for. Relationships have been well built with the children’s direct carers, Tía’s. This is a huge step and has given us the opportunity of more personalised ministry. The Tía’s are expectant of our arrival. They feel enough trust to leave the children with us and have time for themselves. They are inviting us to cook with the children or feel confident to ask specific things from us. The “House of Prayer” has been reintroduced into the ministry. The children are invited to write prayers to God and ‘send’ them via the House of Prayer. They’ve been motivated to write to God which has been cool to see.
One of the most exciting aspects of the ministry this month has been the ability to reintroduce outings or excursions. As a ministry, we were blessed with the funds to be able to organise a trip to the snow. It took some preparation, travel arrangements, packing of snacks, hot chocolate and lunch as well as ensuring they all had snow clothes, but it was an incredible day. There were no fights. It was surprisingly a day filled with joy and a desire to make the most of the opportunity before them. I was really impacted and feel God has cemented another chapter within the story.
This next semester, I hope to be able to reintroduce praise & worship into the activities. I’m so grateful that we could play the exact same music on the bus to and from the snow fields. Each time the music stopped we heard a cry of disappointment followed by a request to keep playing it. Each time we play it, it’ll hopefully bring happy memories and experiences.
Pray For: the house of prayer, praise & worship introduction, finding a relationship in Christ, testimonies.
Praise God: resources for doing an outing, established relationships, growth and development within the ministry.
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During the month, I was given a rare opportunity. In all honesty, I didn’t understand what was being asked of me when the Princess’s social worker called me and asked to come into the home that Tuesday. When I arrived, he informed me that the children were being transferred to the home where their older brother was. I was asked to accompany them to the new home. They were being transferred to the same home that they’d run away from a year previously.
During this Tuesday afternoon visit, I witnessed their response to the news, the excitement, nerves, uncertainty and expectation. I also met their father and witnessed how he interacts with his children. I spent a good 40 minutes in the car sharing with and speaking through things with the Princess. I was there that first Thursday for visiting hours and witnessed the intensity of emotion that each child had, especially the disappointment that their father didn’t come to visit them. Some of the most heartbreaking conversations happened, where dark emotions and thoughts were revealed.
Now, the Princess has distanced herself. Instead, her youngest brother clings onto me. The two youngest siblings ask me to take them home. I’m in a position that I don’t understand, or what God desires from me. It has been a roller coaster. In my almost six years in Chile, this has been the first time that I’ve been so immersed in the process that a child goes through which was incredibly revealing.
Pray For: wisdom, good conflict resolution, an ability to speak into the pain, developing trust & love to remain in all circumstances.
Praise God: an opportunity to share deeper moments with them, open doors & possibilities to walk with them. |
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This month has also been about celebrations and wonderful surprises. Since the first day that I arrived in Chile, I had been praying for snow to fall in the city centre. This past month, God answered a six year long pray of mine. At about 3am, snow started to fall in my backyard. It was one of the most spectacular things I have experienced to date about God’s creation.
I also received a wonderful gift from the Monday Morning Ladies group at my church in Australia. It had been filled with gifts and tokens that are very Australian. Each gift was thought of well. Even now, the crossword puzzles (which I fail at) is nice to have in the house. It reminds me of my grandfather who passed away this past Thursday. I’m so thankful for the church family that I have at home.
We also said goodbye to our finance officer of four years. The team decided to throw him a goodbye party which was a dress up theme and cards night, two things which he really enjoys. It was nice to be able to say goodbye to him in this way.
Pray For: God's blessing for my home church family.
Praise God: The way in which he provides. |
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Welcome to 2015
Your
involvement in this ministry encourages me a lot!
Thank you for being consistent and faithful in
lifting me up as well as the ministry that I've been called
to before God in prayer. My sincerest apologies for the silence.
It's been some rough months which has made it difficult to write.
Please refer to this link, Serving in Chile, for
a more detailed journey of what these months have been like. In
the meantime, here is a current, official update!
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Christmas Party in the home Cardenal José Maria Caro
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In September 2014, the 6
year ministry in El Arca ended quite suddenly. It was expected but we
were all hopeful that they'd be able to pull through the challenges
that faced them. From one day to the next a ministry closed. In the
weeks that followed I asked for the transferal details of the
children. They have been divided into at least 8 different locations.
Each new home has a Catholic foundation to it with varying levels of
commitment to living out their faith or investing in the children. We
hoped, despite these challenges we'd be able to invest in one of
these new homes, maybe a few. We spent hours upon hours praying,
searching God's heart and asking for direction before we were finally
able to present a ministry plan. We have three new homes in mind. The
first is called, "Cardenal José Maria Caro." We'd like to
have the main ministry in this home. When we had the interview they
said that we had a 90% possibility of starting. We were able to work
briefly in the home doing follow up with the children from el Arca
and celebrating Christmas with the 40 children. Since, we've lost
contact with the home and it has become difficult to communicate. The
other home is called, "Fundación Koinomadelfia." Since
July,/August of last year me and a Chilean lady, Kika, have been
visiting the home on and off. It's been hard to develop consistent
visitation and we have had various setbacks during the time. We'd
like to be able to visit the children once a week, help with homework
and doing team building activities. We've been strictly told we can't
talk about God in this home. The last home is called,
"Pleyades." It's a home for smaller children, still within
an easily adoptable age bracket. During the past week we were able to
confirm with the home and implement an annual ministry plan with
them. I had hoped that by the time the students arrive in February
that we'd have a fully operating ministry. It's not quite there yet
which continues to be a discouraging part to my time in Chile. I sink
in and out of patience, gratitude, hopefulness and frustration as
well as despair. In the foreground of everything is a quiet
confidence that if I'm patient I will see great changes within the
ministry.
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A recent outing with the children from Pleyades
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Last Wednesday my co-worker had the privilege of going
on an excursion with the children of Pleyades. It was our first
interaction
with them home bar the interviews and formal
communication needed to
start a ministry. The children went
to a place where they could
experience a variety of work;
cleaning cars, making pizza, shopping
etc. It was a great way
to start the ministry. This week my co-worker
and I will go into
the home, play on the water slide and then watch a
movie with
the children before we officially move into the regular
ministry
activities. We will also be needing to take the students
into the
home, to train them and to start them in the ministry. This
will
be our focus within the next month. I'm also hopeful that we'll
have answers this week to the other possibilities brimming
under the
surface.
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An Evangelism event in the North of Chile, Calama
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One of the greatest
blessings that I've had during this time was the ability to
participate in the Adventure Team Outreach. We travelled to the North
of Chile and worked with local churches and ministries before ending
our time getting to know the landscape a bit better. It was a
challenging time but also a time where God started to repair some of
the damage that had happened through the ministry this year. I was
able to work with immigrant children, go to jail, do street
evangelism and encourage the youth of the churches to become involved
in ministries and mission. I was encouraged greatly by God and how he
can use me to touch the lives of others, something that I had been
struggling to believe at that time. I put together some clips of my
time on the Adventure Team which you can view here.
It's not fantastic but I hope that you enjoy it!
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Last year I saved my
holidays to be able to fly home for my friend’s wedding. When I first heard that she
was getting married and wanted me to be her maid of honour I was
astounded. I didn't think it would be possible, it shouldn't have
been possible. However, through a very generous donation, I was able
to fly home and get to know her husband, spend some time catching up
in person, pretending to know how to help and signing her marriage
certificate. It was a blessing to be able to participate in some of those
moments with her and her husband.
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