January Prayer Letter

Students and staff from Chile at the Argentina conference

Argentina Conference and Mapuche Project

I’ve done a lot of traveling this month, and there’s more to come, but it’s great to be back home in Santiago for a few days to catch up on things. To start off, a few weeks ago, I went with most of the Chile staff and about 20 students to a conference in Argentina. The students and staff from Campus Crusade in Argentina were also there. The theme of the conference was “Mission Impossible” , and the speaker, who is the director of Campus Crusade in South America, had many challenging messages about sharing our faith and realizing how short out time here on earth is. I learned a lot, and it was encouraging to see the students learning too. It was also great to get to know some of the people from Argentina, as well as just have some time to spend hanging out with our own students.

Then we headed down to the south of Chile, close to Lonquimay, for the Mapuche project. I was on a team of 14 people– 7 staff and 7 students. The Mapuche’s live in a very rural area of Chile, and their living conditions are like going back in time 100 years. No electricity or running water, outhouses, wood stoves to cook on, and lots and lots of dirt. We stayed in a boarding school (with cold showers) and everyday we headed out to different locations in the area. We would split off in groups of 3 and walk to the Mapuche’s houses to invite them to come to games for the kids in the afternoon and the Jesus film that night.

It amazed me how hospitable and friendly the people were, inviting us in for homemade bread and mate. Then in the evening, we had the games and film. One afternoon we had over 10 kids indicate they wanted to receive Christ as their Savior! It was really great for me to see the students really stepping out in faith on this project and taking leadership roles and sharing their faith. This is what we were praying for. It was definitely a unique experience!

Chile Facts
Chile is the first country in Latin America to have an elected female president, Michelle Bachelet.
Divorce was just legalized in Chile in 2004.
The country is considered to be politically liberal, but socially conservative. It has one of the most stable economies in Latin America.

Sitting with the Mapuche children listening to the Christmas story

Random Notes...

We were really saddened to find out that one of our students we got to know last semester, Galecia, has thyroid cancer. She’s going to have surgery in the next couple weeks to try to remove it, but it doesn’t look good. Please keep her in your prayers. She’s not a Christian, and she’s pretty bitter at God right now. It’s hard to share with her because she really doesn’t want to listen. However, we’ve spent a lot of time with her and she’s really on our hearts.

This week, we’re heading to Algorrobo, on the beach, to have a STINT Mid-Year conference. It’s hard to believe the year is already half over! The conference is to talk about how things are going and to be refreshed spiritually and physically. After that, we have an all-staff retreat to plan and get on the same page for next semester. It’s coming quickly!

Prayer Requests

· Unity among our team and with my roommates
· That we could learn Spanish quickly
· The upcoming STINT mid-year conference and staff retreat
· Wisdom for me as I’m deciding what I’m going to be doing next year– right now I’m planning

on going back to pharmacy school
· As we continue planning and preparing for next semester
· For Galecia that the surgery will be successful and also that she will be open to the Lord

I really appreciate all your prayers and encouragement- your letters and emails mean so much— thank you!!

Julie Sorensen