NEWS FROM HQ

Frontline Update: The Jaras in Chile

ARICA, CHILE—We want to thank the Lord, with this beautiful text taken from the Bible, for giving good health to Janeth who has been fighting against cancer for eight months. It has been a hard ordeal and she has had to travel to Santiago and Antofagasta for very strong and painful treatments which have meant a big sacrifice both mentally and physically for her and also for all our family, but we have always seen God’s hand guiding us through the maze, strengthening our spirit even in the darkest moments.

“I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will show forth all thy marvelous works.” Psalm 9:1

Thanks for your prayers since they are very important for us all. Janeth is much better, and at the moment finishing her chemotherapy and radiotherapy treatments. She spent one and a half months in Antofagasta. But despite that difficult time, she managed to evangelize her room-mates and her nurses at the house where she was staying, leaving reading material on John’s gospel for them. She had a lot of acceptance, but also rejection; may everything be for God’s glory.

Through our Lord, we also want to thank Pastor Thomas Chapman and his wife Connie, who live in Antofagasta. As soon as they knew Janeth was there, they came and gave her spiritual support. That was vital, as she was away from her children. How great is our Lord’s family!

On September 6th we had our congregational meeting. We took the opportunity to plan all activities for the rest of the year, all in order to enhance our growth and the search for new leaders who can contribute to our Lord’s work.

Thanks be to God for a new teenager group that is ministering in the Sunday school with the younger members. They are Gonzalo and Francisco Pantoja, Ruth Jara, Javiera Salinas, and Jonathan and Melissa Jara. They have all grown spiritually, thanks to God’s guidance. Every Sunday we (Pastor Jonathan, with Janeth and Melissa) pick up the children from Cerro La Cruz. It’s amazing how these children are loyal to their faith and in Sunday school attendance. Let’s pray for their parents that they will receive Christ as their Saviour someday as well.

Throughout all this time we have been evangelizing and visiting people at their own homes in order to help those in need. In some services we had the great help of Pastor Máximo Mardones (from Chillàn) along with his wife, Iris, and their son Jonathan whose support was really valuable. We had a service at Iris Lopez’s house and we also celebrated Janeth’s birthday. She turned forty-nine and we thank our Lord for supporting her in all these years working for Him in Guatemala and Chile. She has been the principal of the Sunday school for 15 years and has incessantly worked and dedicated her entire life to our Lord’s service. We dearly hope that she can fully recover from her illness.

Important Prayer Request

Dear brethren, we would like to ask for your prayers, since we are having a serious problem with the house we are renting at the moment. The owners have asked us to leave so we have to find another place to move into. We are currently paying US$600, but houses for rent are between US$800-1,000 and are hard to find. We want to do our Lord’s will in Arica, but to be able to continue here, we would need an extra US$300 each month to rent a house, so we need your support for this. May our Lord bless and reward you all.

We thank our Lord for your help, provision and endless love for us.

“They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:23

Your brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Jara family

PS from the Executive Director:

I would like to bring to your attention the item mention in the last paragraph above. The cost of living in Arica, especially housing, has grown tremendously over the past couple of years. This is in part due to an increase in employment (mining) in the region. The influx of workers and the limited housing is the source of this rent increase. The Board knows that the Jaras are doing a great work in Arica and want them to stay in that immediate area, but their support has been low and currently cannot sustain a housing allowance increase. Will you sincerely pray for this need, as they may have to move before the end of 2015? Thank you.