October, 2021
The LORD taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those who hope in his mercy. Psalm 147: 11
Greetings to you, dear brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and we trust you are enjoying the Lord’s loving care and blessings with your loved ones.
We are always grateful to our good Heavenly Father for his infinite mercy and revealed truth. We praise Him as He has taken care of us, our family and the church brethren, throughout this pandemic. God is indeed to be praised because the pandemic in Chile is already being controlled and we are now in phase three, which gives us more freedom. Still, we must continue to be careful since Arica currently has the highest rate of infection of the Delta variant in Chile.
All the activities of the church were still being done through the virtual platform of Zoom. But now, from October onwards, we will be able to have in-person services, but with all the protocols required by the government. Praise the Lord.
Also, we thank the Lord Jesus for the Women’s Society of our church as they have been faithfully meeting every Wednesday at 6:00 pm, and on Wednesday, October 6, they finished studying the book Women of the Bible. They began that study in 2019. Each sister who participated was given a certificate for their support and involvement in the study of this beautiful book, which taught Christian values through these characters who were faithful to the Lord. Fifteen certificates were given to those who participated through Zoom.
The sisters are also grateful for being able to participate in the second Zoom meeting of the Chilean Fundamental Presbyterian Women’s Group, Northern Zone, back on September 10th. They were in charge of the whole program. There was special music and contributions from the sisters from Peru (La Perla), Bolivia and the Manantial church here in Arica. They invited the missionary Luz Erices, who spoke on the theme “Growing in the Work of the Lord, Always”, based on 1 Corinthians 15:58. It was a beautiful activity that united the sisters of this area, encouraging them to remain faithful to the Lord even in difficult times of a global pandemic.
We give thanks for our church deaconesses, who are always attentive to the needy brethren, especially the children of “Cerro de la Cruz”, children who live near our church building and who were very faithful before the pandemic. They visited them and took food and photocopies of Bible stories to color. It was a good opportunity to encourage them and share the gospel with parents who are not yet saved. On the last visit to one of the homes of these children, Mrs. Esperanza Tapia (pictured right), a mother of four children who used to attend church faithfully, asked Janeth to teach her from the Bible! They are studying the Gospel of John.
Iglesia Sembrador de Iquique (the Sembrador Church of Iquique)
It is an immense joy for us to tell you that after many years our brothers and sisters in the Lord have begun the construction of their own building. They have raised money for many years and now, according to the will of our great sovereign God, they are carrying out their great dream, a church where they can serve and worship our God! There is much joy in the hearts of our brothers and sisters. We are always joining together with them through Zoom, once or twice a month, sharing the blessed Word of God.
Dear brethren and sisters in Christ, we would like to ask for your valuable prayers for them so that they can successfully conclude their work, and that many souls can embrace Jesus as the only savior by faith.
We also ask you to pray for the difficult situation that our country is going through as crime and drug trafficking has increased considerably, and politically, we are also concerned about the upcoming situation. November 10th will be the presidential elections, and there is a possibility that a communist president may be elected. There have been several polls showing this party winning, which could be disastrous and unfortunate for the churches of Jesus Christ. We long to continue to carry the Gospel with freedom and to have the possibility of congregating as always. May our Lord help us and give us his strength to remain firm and faithful in our faith.
Also brethren, we are very grateful to each one of you for your prayers in our ministry here in Arica and for the health of Janeth. We likewise thank you for your generous financial support.
Prayer requests:
1- Continue to pray for the on-line seminary classes and its professors.
2- New member class: Sister Karen Bravo and Sister Guillermina Sanchez.
3-Christmas Program: December 19.
4- Future studies of our youngest daughter, Melissa.
This people have I formed for myself; they shall shew forth my praise. Isaiah 43: 21
Your friends and brethren in the Faith,
Rev. Jonathan, Janeth, Ruth Meylí, Jonathan Edward and Melissa Jara