Dear Pastors, Family, and Friends
We are thrilled to report that we continue to see the Lord bless and open doors for us at Iglesia Bautista Libertad in the community of Pudahuel. We have had visitors almost every Sunday morning, the youth meeting on Friday nights continues to grow, and we have had several people accept Christ as their savior.
Morgan, Luke, and Meredith are starting to grow more in the language. The Friday night youth meeting has not only opened doors for us to reach young people with the gospel, but has also allowed Luke and Morgan to make new friends; which is helping them learn more Spanish. Erica and I are both advancing in the language also. The Lord has really helped us, but we still have a long ways to go. Please continue to pray for the Lord to help us learn the language.
In September Chile takes the whole month to recognize and celebrate it’s independence. September the 18th is the official day of recognition. This month and day is always a very special time and one of our Children’s favorites of the year. They enjoy all the festivities, special events, and dressing up in the traditional clothing. This year we invited the members of Libertad to our home and celebrated with an “Asado” or cookout, and had a wonderful time with them.
Erica and I have both starting teaching at Seminario Chileno Bautista. A Bible college started by missionary Jason Holt to train men and women for the ministry. We have five full time students and twenty or so part-time students. I am teaching a class on the “The Gospels and Parables.” Erica is teaching a part of a class for the ladies in the Bible college on biblical womanhood.
We are excited to report that we have been given the opportunity to be a part of a church plant relaunch. The church is Iglesia Bautista Redentor. We will be working with a man named Juan Carlos Lopez and his family. Our first service together was Sunday November 06 and we had twelve in attendance.
We are using an english class that I will be teaching on Wednesday nights, an hour before our service starts, to make contact with the community and as a way to show them we are in the community to serve. We have fifty or so signed up for the classes that start this coming Wednesday.
This past Sunday we had a visitor who registered for the classes visit the church. So, we have already seen the Lord use this tool to help us invite people to church. We are praying that through these clases we will see people saved, baptized, and discipled.
Please pray with us for God’s favor in this relaunch. We are in area where it seems Satan has a strong hold. We have been looking for a house or building to rent for some time now, and have not been able to find anything. We are currently using a community center. The building is nice and has ample space, however, the location is not ideal. Also, we need of a few items for this work: speakers, microphone, soundboard, etc. We do have some funds available, but we are trying not to use them for these items because when we find a location there is a good possibility that we will need to pay multiple months rent up front for the building. If you would like to make a gift for any of these items please note that it is for “Iglesia Bautista Redentor”
It really is hard to put into words all that we have been able to see and be a part of in our first seventeen months on the field. We want you to know we are grateful for the investment you have and are making in our lives and the ministry here in Chile. We truly believe that the best is yet to come.
In Christ,
The Smitheys
Jamie, Erica, Morgan, Luke, and Meredith
