November, 2023
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 15:57
Dear friends, brothers and sisters in the Faith,
We greet you in the love of Christ. We hope you are well and enjoying the love and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father. Thank you always for supporting us with your prayers and financial help. May the Lord bless you and your loved ones.
Sunday School
For three months now we were studying the journeys of the Apostle Paul in our adult Sunday School class. This was a great blessing for the church. We finished this unit on evangelism with an outing to the streets nearby where our church is located. We organized into three groups. Each group was assigned an area where they went house to house, inviting people to church and giving out gospel tracts. It was a great joy for all participants, from the youngest to the oldest. We are leaving the outcome in the hands of the Lord, yet we are all happy to fulfill the Biblical command to “go and preach” the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
On Sunday, October 22nd, we saw that the work for the Lord is not in vain. A new family arrived at the church: Mrs. Graciela Vera, her husband, and their eight-year-old son. The two of us will be visiting them often to talk with them about the gospel. We ask for your prayers so that their hearts will be open to receiving God’s message of salvation.
Children’s Class
The two of us, along with some members of the church, organized and prepared some lively activities for the children each Saturday afternoon. The purpose was to teach them about the Lord by sharing, and playing some fun Bible games. God gave us great joy on Saturday, September 14th, as we had such a large group of children (more than we have seen for a long time) come to the house of the Lord. We were surprised to see how they had grown, as many of them were no longer children but now teenagers. It was great to see that once God’s Word was planted in their hearts, they will always come back to His ways. The Lord encourages us to continue evangelizing children, having certainty that His Word would not return empty. Please pray that God will keep them faithful in the midst of a lost world.
We also celebrated the Day of the Child on August 13th, with very good attendance. Then, on Saturday, September 16th, we celebrated the Independence of Chile with the children of the church and the Sunday School teachers. We had a fun afternoon filled with games and, most importantly, the Word of God. We thank Him for these beautiful activities. God bless these little children, since most of them are the ones who choose to attend the church, as most of their parents are unbelievers.
Children’s Evangelization
In the month of August, the Sunday School department had ten t-shirts made to identify us when we go out to the streets to “evangelize children for Christ”. Our first outing was on Saturday, September 30th. Although we reached different areas around the city, especially the area where the church is located, we were surprised that there were not many children out on the street. We believe that the reason behind this is the increase in crime in Arica, and the influence of technology in their lives. Yet nothing that we do for the work of God is in vain since we passed out many gospel tracts. We can only pray and continue to be faithful in the service of the Lord.
“El Sembrador” Church
As God has given Jonathan the blessing of helping as a coworker and pastor to the El Sembrador Church in Iquique, he has been traveling between Arica and Iquique many times this year. On September 9th, he had the joy and privilege of again attending and to lead the annual congregational meeting.
At this meeting the various departments gave their reports on their activities this year. Also, decisions were made regarding the need to give more attention to the church’s work. One of the decisions made was to continue with the children’s evangelization in the park in front of the church, and to continue with a small service in the same place for adults, with the distribution of gospel tracts. Thanks to God, they have had excellent results, since several people from abroad, such as Venezuelans, Peruvians, and Colombians, have been coming to the church and are eager to learn more about God. We praise the Him for these beautiful results!
Brethren, we thank you for your support and your prayers for these our petitions:
1) The Berea Church Christmas Program on Saturday, December 16th
2) The El Sembrador Church Christmas Program in Iquique
3) Good results of the Evangelistic outreach of the Berea Church
4) The trip of brothers Francisco and Gonzalo Pantoja to Coquimbo on December 2nd to participate in a mini Youth Congress
5) Janeth Jara’s health, and the results of two biopsies
“For we are his workmanship, Created in Christ Jesus unto good works…” Ephesians 2:10
Your brethren in Christ
Rev. Jonathan, Janeth, Ruth Meyli, Melissa.