June, 2022
Dear Praying Friends,
And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint (Luke 18:1)
The time to pray is now! The time to send is now! The time to go is now! Yet, what to pray for, who to send, and where to go?
Chile needs your prayers desperately – the vote to approve or reject a new constitution is to come this spring (autumn in the U.S.). A “yes” vote will likely undercut important liberties that have been safeguarded by the current constitution, such as religious liberty and the right for parents to educate their own children and make other educational decisions. Current wording in the proposal gives broad power to the executive branch for curtailing many personal liberties should a state of emergency be declared. The restructuring of the legislative branch may also be included. Since early 2020, a three-month State of Emergency was renewed five times so that it continued for one and a half years, even though it had to be approved by the Chilean legislature. Please pray that the people would rise up and vote an overwhelming “no” so that not even widespread fraud would be able to overcome it. Please pray for the Lord’s mercies towards His people with respect to the social unrest that is sure to come and the rapid slide into a recession that Chile is now heading toward.
We had a good time at our recent prayer meeting! Here are two photos of our recent fellowship with the Lord on May 26th, praising Him and beseeching His mercies. You see in the photos that we pray separately, in groups, as shown below. It is a blessing to hear many of the young children lead in prayer.
We are very encouraged by our church family. We have a good little group here with us all day, each Lord’s Day. We worship, share a great meal together, have Bible classes in the afternoon, worship again in the evening after supper together, and then fellowship around some tea and coffee. Surprisingly, three families travel a good distance to join us for the day. Please pray for the Lagos family, who are in an area near the mountains (for work) where there has been a lot of unrest lately due to criminal activity (such as blocking roads and cutting off utility services), and are looking for a change of work and location. Please pray also for Sol, her mother and two children who come from a neighboring county. Sol also brings the children on Thursday afternoon for a visit and prayer meeting.
On one of the Lord’s Days last month, Julianna (pictured at left with her coach, Cheryl) answered all 107 Westminster Shorter Catechism questions in Spanish in front of our ladies and children, while the men had a Bible Study upstairs. She did a great job and has learned a lot of good doctrine. Please pray for her. She continues working on memorizing the WSC in English and is about 1/3 through it. We have also received Julianna into our home school all week long (once again) along with Joaquín and Isaac, so that she accompanies us in our devotions and daily activities as well. She is studying with us especially with a view toward improving her English, so we have had much more opportunity to minister to and help her. She is an eager learner. Her mother Jessica has been very faithful in attending worship along with Julianna and her two young brothers. Please pray for her Dad, Elías, who attends occasionally.
Bulnes’ offering of a free tennis workshop, twice a week, became accessible for us this fall (April-May) and was integrated into our weekly schedule as part of our physical education curriculum! Joaquín, Isaac, Julianna, Katie, Faith and Bapty, Pablo and David all love it. There is a break this June and whether it will continue in July remains uncertain for the time being.
Please pray for the Santander, Miranda and Gómez families also. In addition, please pray for Rosita M. who suffered a serious stroke in early May and has little movement in her right arm and leg.
We praise the Lord for a tremendous answer to prayer, that the proposed amendments to the “World Health Organization” constitution were retracted for the time being! That would have given the W.H.O. power to obligate countries worldwide to follow centralized measures anytime they might declare a health threat “of international concern,” which would make missionary travel (locally and internationally) even more difficult than it already is (our furlough has been postponed for 2 1/2 years). Please pray for rejection of their proposed treaty for 2024 as well.
Praise the Lord with us for another answer to prayer: Geneva and Isaiah made it safely to Missouri on June 3rd. We hope it will be possible for us to be able to follow them to the U.S. in August. Please pray for Grandpa Goldner as they read the Scriptures together, which is also an answer to prayer. Please pray for those of Paul’s family and our friends in Colombia, that the Lord may open the doors for us to visit with them and minister to them on the way home. Currently, Colombia has been requiring injections and/or tests for entrance.
In Christ our Lord,
Paul and Cheryl, Geneva, Isaiah, Josiah, Anna, Sarah, Katie, Faith and John-Baptiste