April, 2022
The LORD hath done great things for us; Whereof we are glad. Psalm 126:3
Dear brethren and friends in Christ,
As we share warm greetings to all, in the name of our beloved Savior, we trust you are well and enjoying the blessings of the Lord, together with your families.
We want to give our sincere thanks to each one of you for your valuable constant prayers and kind financial support to our ministry here in Arica. We want to tell you how grateful we are to see how our children have grown, with some of them even finishing their university studies. Melissa, our youngest daughter, traveled to the US in January 2022 to learn English for seven months. Our son, Jonathan Edward (pictured left), will finish his studies in Criminal Justice at Pensacola Christian College on May 13 of this year. Lord willing, we will be traveling to the US to be with him at his graduation. Our oldest daughter, Ruth Meylí, is only one year away from finishing her nursing degree. We are very grateful to the Lord for His faithfulness and tender loving care for the entire family.
Speaking of traveling, God is to be praised that Janeth was able to travel to the town of Coihueco, in southern Chile, in order to care for her elderly mother, whose health is getting worse. After four years without seeing each other, it was a great joy for them to meet again.
Thanks to the Lord, we have resumed some of our regular church activities this past March, following the difficulties of the pandemic. The Women’s Society continues its meetings on Zoom on Wednesdays at 6:00 pm. Janeth is in charge of the meetings. Currently they are studying the book: “How Can I Love Those Difficult People? We give our gratitude to God for the faithfulness of each one of them, as well as their faithful service in His work.
Our Sunday School will continue to be held on Zoom, until June. We have been studying the Westminster Shorter Catechism. It has been a great blessing for both the adults and children of the church. Also, every Saturday we are in contact with the children of our church community, Cerro de la Cruz. We carry out various activities with them, such as Bible classes, games and manual work, as seen in the picture on the right. Unfortunately, these are children with many needs and lack love.
On April 5th, the classes in the Seminary in the Northern Zone started again. In total there are 12 students, one new one joined this year. Most of them are from the “El Sembrador” church of Iquique. We are encouraged by the great effort that each one of them makes to prepare themselves to serve in the Lord’s work, since most of them work and have small children.
Classes for the seminary this year are: Methods-Four will be taught by Sister Melody Bjur; Synthesis-Three by Pastor Jim Bjur, and Analysis of the Book of Revelation by Pastor Jonathan Jara. Please pray for this team that God will use them, and be granted His wisdom in preparing their students for ministry.
In summary, dear friends, please continue in prayer for these items:
1) Our trip to the US in May, and the graduation of our son Jonathan.
2) Janeth’s health, and for the medical exams she has to take.
The LORD is my Shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23: 1
May the Lord bless you greatly; Your brethren in Christ,
Rev. Jonathan, Janeth, Ruth Meylí, Jonathan Edward and Melissa Jara