November Prayer Letter

Student Spotlight

Glenda and me

One of the blessings that God has given us here in Chile has been a couple of students who are already Christians and are eager to not only help us, but to reach their classmates for Christ. One of these students, who has been absolutely amazing, is Glenda. She is studying Biochemistry and has an extremely full schedule of classes, but has still been so faithful to be a part of Vida Estudiantil here, as well as having a great desire to reach her friends with the gospel. She’s been a

great help to us in getting classrooms for English

club (things always go better when the Chileans talk to the administrators here!), getting posters approved, and bringing friends to English club. She’s also gone sharing with us, and often comes to our prayer time and English club.

This summer, she’ll be leading a Bible study for us– in Spanish! Glenda’s been so encouraging for us, and is always so willing to help us and work with us however she can. None of her friends are Christians, and it’s the desire of her heart that she could share Christ with them, but it’s hard for her to know how to.

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to share the gospel with a couple of them, Claudio and Dany, along with her. I went through a survey with them, and we started talking about spiritual things, and then Glenda was able to talk with them and answer a lot of questions that they had. It was so good to have her there, not only for the language, but also just to have her be able to share with her friends. Claudio and Dany have a lot of questions and at the moment, are very closed to the gospel. But hopefully, through Glenda’s example and words, these students will come to know the Lord as well. I’m planning on meeting with them again this week to talk more about Christ.

Keep Glenda in your prayers, that she could continue to be a light to her classmates and be a leader in Vida Estudiantil, while as balancing her studies and family life as well.

Chile Facts

It’s really strange for me that Christmas is coming, and it’s summer here. It just doesn't make sense in my head to have flip-flops and bikinis next to the Christmas trees and lights in the store! Here, the Chileans spend Christmas Eve together and then open their presents at midnight. Then they relax all of Christmas day. I’m excited to spend Christmas with Cote, a Chilean staff member, and her family!

Students at Raices, (roots) the monthly student leader meeting for Republica and USACH.

Mapuche Project

The Chileans have their summer break from mid-December through the beginning of March. Thus, we’ll be taking students on a summer project in January down in the south of Chile to work with the Mapuche Indians. We’ll be taking students to show the Jesus film and do social projects with this indigenous group of Chilean Indians.

The Mapuches speak their own language, and live in completely different conditions than the people of Santiago. It’s a great opportunity for the students to step out of their comfort zone and share their faith, as well as learn about another culture within their own country. Pray for the students as they raise support to go, as it’s hard to raise here in Chile. Also pray for not only the Mapuche’s lives to be changed, but for the students’ lives to change as well.

Week of Faith

This semester our team has done a lot of relationship building, and we’ve been able to share the gospel with a lot of these students we’ve become friends with. This week, however, we wanted to step out in faith and share the gospel with as many students as possible, especially ones we don’t know. We’ve spent a lot of time praying, and are trusting God to do great things through the power of his gospel.

Already today, two of our guys had the privilege of praying with a student to receive Christ! I talked with a girl who was said accepting Christ was the desire of her heart, but she needed more time to think. I pray she will continue to think about it. It’s intimidating to go and start conversations with the students we don’t know, but incredible to think about that these conversations have the possibility to change these students lives for eternity. I’m excited to see what the Lord has in store for the rest of the week as we continue to step out in faith.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
-2 Cor. 4:18

We got to go horse-back riding in Argentina! It was so beautiful there.

Semester Highlights

It’s crazy to think that this is our last week on campus for the semester. We spent some time as a team reflecting on what the Lord has done this semester– it’s so easy to get caught up in the difficulties, but it’s so encouraging when we begin to focus on all the blessings we’ve had this semester. Some of the highlights are…

*A couple of Christian student leaders
*Students who are our friends and faithfully come to English club
*A room for English club
*The administrator at the main university, Andres Bello, supports what we’re doing and wants

to help us
*We know the campus much better now
*We’ve had 3 students pray to receive Christ
*Over 100 students have heard the gospel
*Our Spanish has improved greatly!
And much more! Praise the Lord for all he’s doing in Chile!

Argentina

We got to go to Argentina for a few days to renew our Visas! The visas are only good for 90 days, so we have to leave the country to get new ones… which meant our team got to go to beautiful Mendoza, Argentina last month. It was good to be able to travel and to take a vacation for a few days. Everything there is so cheap! We bought nine steaks for $5!
We also got to meet some of the staff that works in Argentina with Vida Estudiantil, as well as just being able to spend some good time together as a team. Argentina is completely different than Chile– they take a 4 hour siesta in the middle of the day and it’s not uncommon for them to be 2 hours late to an appointment– I think we all returned with a new appreciation for Chile!

Our team at our Thanksgiving meal– we had one with my team and roommates, and a couple other staff members. There were only 2 turkeys in the grocery store and I bought one! We also had stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

On a Personal Note…
Looking back over the semester, it’s incredible to see all that God has done. There have definitely been challenges and difficulties, but also so many blessings, victories and personal growth. The Lord has been so faithful, and I’m excited to see what this summer and next semester has in store. Knowing more about the campus and city, I’m looking forward to dreaming and planning for next semester on campus. Thank you so much for your faithful prayers and support. I couldn’t be here without you. Let me know if you have any prayer requests– I’d love to be praying for you too.

Prayer Requests:

· Continued unity among our team and with my roommates
· That we could learn Spanish quickly
· For the Mapuche project– for students to be able to go and that it would impact their lives, as

well as the Mapuches
· For Glenda and her friends Claudio and dany
· For the summer– our schedule will be changing a lot and we’ll be doing a lot of traveling
· For spending Christmas away from our families-
· For our two new team members that will be coming in January– Marion from Germany and

David from Kansas

In His love and grace,

Julie Sorensen