NEWS FROM HQ

The Jara Report: Arica, Chile

We hope you are all well and continue under our Lord’s care and endless love. We are all fine, thanks to God. Our children are on their winter school break for two or three weeks.

Happy and thankful to our Lord for the spiritual and financial support you have granted us for so long, making our work in Arica possible, we carry on. It makes us glad to be able to work for Him here.

Arica, ChileOne night after our worship service, a woman called Janet Campos came to Jonathan and invited him to her house to pray for her sister, Cecilia Campos, who was suffering from terminal liver cancer. He went and prayed for her and she accepted Christ as her Saviour. Some of the members of the Women’s Group also visited her house and she (Cecilia) even came once to our church, but a couple of weeks later, she passed away. God had mercy on her and forgave her sins and gave her eternal life; her sister Janet and her husband sometimes come to church and we are praying that they might faithfully follow Him. They also asked Jonathan to be present at the funeral, so he had the opportunity to talk to a lot of people about our Lord’s message and the Gospel.

There is another lady, called Nadia Salinas, who has just become a member of our congregation. She is a Nursery school teacher and has invited Janeth to give some religion classes to the students (ages six and under) in her school (pictured left). Janeth loves working with kids of that age, so she is looking forward to going there more often.

At church we had the opportunity to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. It was a great time to see the young members of our congregation showing their musical talent playing the violin, recorder and piano. Others read some poems, and one of the girls, named Gonzalo Pantoja, wrote a beautiful poem to her beloved and caring mother, thanking our Lord for her guidance on God’s path. We gave each parent a present, with some snacks and beverages afterwards. There were also some guests who had the opportunity to hear about Christ.

North Women's CongressThe North Women’s Congress took place in Iquique on June 7-8. Janeth traveled there with a group of church ladies. She gave a talk (left) called “Foolish Virgins”, a condition in which many Christians are living today, without any conviction or service to our God. Our Lord’s return is near. “Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus.” Revelation 3:20. Communion, and different topics of discussion were really important and a great benefit for all the people who attended the Congress.

We are always thankful to our Lord for the ladies of the Women’s Group. They are very hard-working and do monthly activities like visiting the sick, giving out leaflets or having meetings at people’s homes. Last week they visited Sister Elena Reyes, who is 82 years-old and suffers from diabetes and cannot walk. Therefore she cannot attend church, so she is very happy each time they visit her. She also suffers a lot because of her daughter who is a drug addict and is now in jail. Please pray for her and her daughter that God will give her relief from this burden.

On July 12 we had a meeting with married couples in order to help the young ones who are going through hard times in their relationships. We tell them if they place Christ as the foundation of their lives, they will have a happy marriage. We always give these meetings an evangelistic emphasis, as new people always attend.

2 Major Items for Prayer:

  1. Sunday, August 18th – Special Children’s Day
  2. National Young People’s Congress in Iquique September 17-19. We hope our teens can attend.

Thank you very much, dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

“Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer or his mercy from me.” Psalm 66:20

Your brothers and sisters in our Lord’s love,
Rev. Jonathan Jara, Janeth, Ruth Meylí, Jonathan Edward and Melissa Jara