December newsletter

Adriana and I in Puerto Montt… that is the volcano Osorno behind us.

Happy New Year!

I hope you were able to enjoy the holidays with good food, friends, and family. I was able to spend Christmas with the family of Cote (a Chilean staff member and good friend). Although I missed my family, her family really made me feel as though I were a part of it. It was interesting spending Christmas in another culture, especially since it was so hot and there was no snow! It really didn’t feel like Christmas. But one thing the Lord really taught me this Christmas is that this season is truly about him and His birth… there was no cold, no snow, not too many decorations, no family, no traditional food, different traditions, but Jesus was still there, and he was still the reason for Christmas.
For New Years, I was able to travel with one of my roommates and a couple of friends to the south of Chile to the city of Puerto Montt. I think it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life! It was great to get out of Santiago for a while, and to see more of this beautiful country.
Our team has also started out the New Year with two new people coming to join our team! Dave is from Kansas and will be here for 6 months with us, and Marion is from Germany and will be here for a year. We’re really excited to have them here with us!

My team with the new additions: (back) Clint, Dave, Vince, Holly, me, Jason, (front) Maggie, Kristi, and Marion.

This week all the Chilean staff are taking a class about worldviews. We’re reading “How Now Shall We Live” by Chuck Colson. We go to a class everyday and have a couple of papers to write, as well as a test. The class talks about how our faith affects how we live, and how we view the world around us. Our faith isn’t just personal, but affects every area of our life from politics to education to art. It’s really challenging how I think, and I’ve realized how much the world has affected my thinking without me even realizing it. I would highly recommend this book if you get a chance to read it.

Argentina and the Mapuche Project

This month we’ll be taking some students and heading to Argentina for a week for a leadership conference. We’ll be joining together with the Argentinian staff and students for this week. After that, we’ll head to the south of Chile for another week to work with the Mapuche Indians, an indigenous group in Chile. We’ll be showing the Jesus film to them, as well as serving them in practical ways. It’s a great opportunity, not only to reach out to the Mapuches, but also for the students to put their faith into action. It will also be a great time of character building, as there are no showers, and we’ll be sleeping in tents… with bugs… in the cold. But I’m looking forward to this project, and it’s really exciting to me how we’re able to send out students to reach other people. This is our goal!

My roommates and our Christmas tree

Prayer Requests
· Unity among our team and with my roommates, especially as we add 2 new people
· That we could learn Spanish quickly
· For the Mapuche project- for the students raising support and the project itself.
· For us as we continue to plan and prepare for the next semester. That we would be guided by the Lord.
· For encouragement and continued trust in the Lord as a lot of changes are taking place in the ministry, as well as people’s lives.

Happy New Year! I’m looking forward to continuing to serve the Lord with you this year. It has really been a blessing to me partnering with each of you.
Julie Sorensen

Carlos Antunez 1867
Edif. 18 Depto. 1007
Providencia
Santiago, Chile

Tel. 011-562-236-2434
Email: julieanne77@yahoo.com

Staff #: 0585600