NEWS FROM HQ

Missionary Correspondence from the Bjurs

November, 2018

“Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” I Thes. 5:24
“God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” I Cor. 1:9
“If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.” II Thes. 2:13
“Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised.)” Heb. 10:23

Dear Prayer supporters,

On October 31st, our church, “Manantial” Fundamental Bible Presbyterian Church, celebrated its 25th Anniversary. As we look back over the 25 years since we started the church in our living room, what we see most is the great faithfulness of our God. Yes, there were trials, setbacks, and even heartbreaks along the way. There were “ups and downs”; people came and people left. Quite honestly, there were times when we wanted to quit. We would often remind ourselves that “the work” is God’s and we just need to be faithful. But the truth of the matter is, that we are unfaithful so many times. Yet, Hallelujah! Our God is STILL faithful! And as we celebrated with our people, that was our theme: He is always faithful. That should motivate us in our desire to be faithful to Him. What a great God we serve!

We were excited that Pastor Ángel Calderón was able to come for our anniversary celebration and preach for us. As the Chileans would say, “Le sacamos el jugo” which means that we squeezed the juice out of him! He preached for our special service on the 31st, and then again at our church picnic two days later. On Saturday he spoke at a men’s meeting and then again for the youth meeting, where one young man asked Christ to save him. On Sunday morning he spoke to all the young people and adults and then went to Pastor Jonathan Jara’s church and spoke on Sunday night. It was a joy to have Pastor Ángel here with us.

In September, Melody accompanied five of our teens (including our daughter Debbie) to the annual Youth Congress down south. All five of the young people were attentive and enjoyed the Congress, each mentioning later how the Lord had spoken to them through the messages. We are thankful for the Lord’s special provision to make this trip. Since our church is so far away from other Fundamental Bible-believing churches, we believe it’s important for our young people to be able to fellowship with other young people who believe as they do. The Christian fellowship is always such a blessing.

In early November, Melody went to another Congress, this time with five ladies for the National Ladies Congress held in beautiful La Serena. From some look-out points, you can see the unique view of the Pacific Ocean, the Atacama Desert and the Andes Mountains all at once! Over 200 attended the Congress,
and it was a blessing to all. All of our ladies gave testimony to the Lord’s conviction in different areas of their lives, through the messages preached. We thank the Lord for His provision, protection and blessing on the trip.

Well, December is fast approaching! That means preparations and practices for our Christmas program to be given on December 23. We would really appreciate your prayers. The program will be simpler this year as we have recently lost some of our main choir members, but we pray the Lord will use it to speak to the hearts of those attending.

Another December activity is our Ladies’ Christmas Evangelistic Tea that we will be having on December 13. Each lady in our group is encouraged to pray for and then invite two unsaved ladies to bring to the Tea so that they may hear the gospel. Please pray that the Lord will use this to bring souls to Christ.

We are also excited that Jeremy is coming to be with us in December. It is always a blessing to have him home for Christmas and we are so thankful the Lord has made it possible.

Please remember these December activities in your prayers, as well as other happenings as we start the New Year. Becky is planning a very quick trip home the first four days of February. Then Debbie and Melody are planning to go to a “missionary kids camp” in Peru from February 5 – 9. Lord willing, they will be flying back with Melody’s niece, Jocelyn Smith, who is coming to be with us for a few months to help us and also to learn the language and culture. Then from February 19 – 24 is our Summer Vacation Bible School. Lots to pray about!

This week we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with several other missionary families. However, we don’t need Thanksgiving to remind us to be thankful for you, our faithful prayer supporters! We appreciate you all very much as the Lord in His faithfulness has used your faithful prayers to help us to be faithful here in this place He has called us to. We are so grateful!

Wishing you all a blessed Christmas season, with much love in Christ,

Jim, Melody, and family