February, 2024
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
To begin, we thank our God for each of you for your financial contributions, and especially in your prayers. God bless you richly! Our family gives thanks and praise to our God for allowing us to serve Him in the ministry in Puerto Montt, Chile. We are thankful that for the last seven years we have been able to enjoy working at the Genezaret Biblical Fundamentalist Presbyterian Church and in the work on the Island of Puluqui.
An additional matter of thanks to God is for His aiding Elizabeth as she was able to attend her third year at the Institute of Christian Pedagogy (IPEC in Spanish) of Santiago, with very good results. This is a teacher’s training school. At the closing of the January 14th IPEC service, Daniel received his Bachelor of Theology certification (pictured above). He gives God the never-ending thanks because He was the One who guided and helped Him during all the years of study. It was a very beautiful service, where Daniel was able to preach about the importance of genuine, true, continuous worship in the life of the believer. We rejoiced to have been accompanied by a group from our Puerto Montt congregation.
Since last December, the time has been one of hard work, and making many decisions and preparations for the future. We strongly ask for your prayer for us, because important changes and challenges are coming for the summer in our southern hemisphere.
For example, our camp on Puluqui Island shall begin on February 5. Registration had been slow, but we hope that more than one hundred young people will arrive to participate during the camp week. Please pray for the young people who will participate. They have a great need to be heard, and to share with other young people. Pray that we can reach their hearts with the Word of God.
Likewise, we need your prayers for those in charge of camp management: Pastor Juan Luis and his wife, Paulina. Also, for the brethren who will work as counselors, for those who will work in the kitchen, for those who will be in charge of the sports, and for Daniel, since he will be in charge of preaching during the six days of camp.
At the end of the camp, we will begin our new missionary life. January 26 was Daniel’s last day of work at the hospital. He submitted his resignation in order to dedicate himself completely to the work of missions.
The passage from Luke 14:26 is latent in his heart: “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.”
Yes, the time has come to begin missionary life. We are living in a time of leaving, and of abandoning. We have left a very good job at the hospital, a beautiful house in the countryside, and our material possessions. But we do not regret any of this, but we are joyful to be able to leave everything for the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ and dedicating our lives to Him.
At this very moment when we are writing this letter, our house is in chaos as we are packing suitcases, packing boxes, cleaning, and moving. We are tired, but joyful knowing that this change of life is the least we can do to please the One who gave His own life to save us. To God alone be the glory.
Daniel recently had a beautiful opportunity to visit Punta Arenas (pictured below). There he stayed at the house of brother Iván Cárdenas and Yolanda Rosas. They have been praying for many years for a work to be restarted there. On February 14 we will leave for Punta Arenas as a family. Brother Iván Cárdenas, and his wife, will be waiting for us there. God is Sovereign and faithful, and does His perfect will at the right time.
Pray for the delivery of the house in Puerto Montt and for our transfer. Pray for the children’s club that we plan to hold from February 20-25, so that God will work in the souls of children, young people and adults, with repentance and faith.
God is Sovereign over our lives and our lives rest in His hands.
In the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
The Matamala Family
Daniel, Elizabeth, Daniel Josías, Joaquín and Catalina