Eusebius on the Evangelists

"Very many of the disciples of the time, their hearts smitten by the word of God with an ardent passion for true philosophy, first fulfilled the Savior's command by distributing their possessions among the needy; then, leaving their homes behind, they carried out the work of evangelists, ambitious to preach to those who had never yet heard the message of the faith and to give them the inspired gospels in writing. Staying only to lay the foundation of the faith in one foreign place or another, appoint others as pastors, and entrust to them the tending of those newly brought in, they set off again for other lands and people with the grace and cooperation of God, for even at that late date many miraculous powers of the divine Spirit worked through them, so that at the first hearing whole crowds in a body embraced with a wholehearted eagerness the worship of the universal Creator."
Eusebius compiled a history of Christianity in the early 300's.

The Margin?

Halloween was my official start date for History of Christianity I. I have enjoyed the readings and study. My first week went well, and then two busy weeks and weekends in a row hit me. Now it is the fourth week of class and I am just into the second weeks work. The concept of margin has been a helpful one for me. The idea is that if you think of your life as a page with many things on it, you want to maintain some white space, margin. Filling your life to the edges is not healthy. So I am wondering, with travel home at the end of the year, summer project in January, and leading our team into new territory at the beginning of the school year in March, if I need to postpone my studies. I know that I will further my studies at some point, but it seems now may not be an opportune time.

Happy Birthday Blanca

Friday the 17th was also sweet! Our staff team meets on Friday morning to share a time of fellowship, development and planning. It was Blanca's birthday, so we celebrated a little during our staff meeting. She had no idea what we were planning for later, je je. After staff meeting Christian and I met with the businessman we had met the night before to talk about our idea.
Later in the afternoon we had our student leadership time, Raices. Christian did an great job laying out the vision and historical reality of spiritual movements. Everyone left the meeting like they were going home. But actually we were all headed to celebrate our good friends birthday. As Blanca left the subway on her way home she was surprised by Mariachi and many of her friends and students. It was awesome! From the subway stop we went to Christian's and Blanca's home to continue our celebration.

A Good Day

Thursday the 16th of November was a memorable day. The day before David, a STINTer from Argentina, got into Santiago to visit for a few days. Thursday's always start with a staff prayer meeting. I gave the talk at the weekly meeting about stress and final exams. The meeting went really well. We got lots of good feedback. Immediately after the weekly meeting I met with the other leaders here in Santiago to talk about our vision and goals for next semester. We needed to set the direction for getting to new campuses. The meeting served to reaffirm the vision of movements everywhere and helped us consider realistic steps for getting there. Later that evening Colo-Colo (a favorite Chilean soccer team) played Toluca(a Mexican team). Most of my team went to the game. I went home to rest and prepare for our staff meeting the next day. When I got home the electricity company had cut my electricity. A long story, but basically they were wrong:) It was already dusk, so I was at home with no computer or lights. Wanting to make the most of my time I went to buy groceries since my frige was pretty much empty. On the way I call Christian and tell him my story. He invited me to go watch the game on TV at a sports bar. Change of plans... I arrived at the bar as the first half ended. After the game (Colo-Colo won 2-1) we went up the street to talk to a friend and business owner in the area. He introduced us to another business owner who is a key contact for starting a new strategy that we had been dreaming about for over a year. A really good day.

Team Leaders In Talca

I got up early this morning to catch the train to Talca. We needed to be at Tulipanes restaurant in downtown Talca by 11:30 for a meeting with the ministry team leaders in Chile. There were 6 of us traveling from Santiago, Doug, Kurt, Christian, Clint, Maggie and me. Maria Jose and Veronica from Concepcion met us in Talca. This is our second meeting this semester with all the team leaders in Chile.
These have been important and productive times as we establish and grow the ministry. We are establishing a plan for national events (summer projects and conferences), adapting a discipleship curriculum for Chile and other resources essential to growing a healthy ministry where students are involved in spiritual multiplication.

Rolando

Today on my way home from church I decided to take the bus to Plaza de Armas. There are some international call centers there that are half price. Plaza de Armas is the main plaza in Santiago, surrounded old buildings that are now museums, the old post office, cathedral etc. It has also become the place where "evangelical" pastors and a few of their faithful go to shout at people. As I walked across the plaza on my way home I saw a guy reading some of their literature. I sat down next to him and asked him what he thought. Turns out he had just learned that his wife is cheating on him and... We talked for about an hour. Mostly about how we can love and forgive even when it is hard. And how God loves us and forgives us. Rolando responded the gospel of grace. He told me, "I've always believed God exists but I have never put Him first in my life. I am going to put God first. I feel a great relief." He leaves for Peru tomorrow.

Dario

Yesterday I met with a student who had come to a couple of our weekly meetings. In fact we showed a short interview with Dario at our meeting two weeks ago about self esteem. His honesty answering the questions was refreshing.
Dario is a classmate of several students that we have been getting to know. I think two of them have also trusted Christ and started follow-up Bible studies with Adriana, one of our Mexican STINTers.
When someone comes to our meeting we try to meet with them the next week and get to know them a little more. Dario and I talked for about an hour. We talked about how trust is so important for good relationships with friends, family and God. He indicated that he was about 60% confident that God would accept him. As we talked through the "Would You Like to Know God Personally" booklet Dario understood that God is completely trustworthy. And he placed his faith in Jesus Christ. It is a great joy to be part of God's working salvation in people's lives! What an awesome adventure Dario has ahead of him.

Against the Staus Quo2

This week I was inviting students to our weekly meeting when a student said (I think hoping that I wouldn't hear or understand) "these will brainwash you". His friend (I think hoping to make up for his friends blatant prejudice) asked me, "are you a religious group?" This is probably the most frequent question I get from students and administration. Given what we do on campus and how we have consistently presented ourselves this question can only be based in prejudice.
Today a student told me with a straight face that he has no personal conflicts. I wanted to ask him if he had ever told a lie! Another told me in his own way all truth (especially religious) is relative and that anyone who would try to persuade otherwise is not tolerant.
These prejudices, indifference, spiritual blindness and close-mindedness we see among students are difficult to deal with. "The world is unprincipled. It's dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn't fight fair. But we don't live or fight our battles that way--never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren't for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

Against the Status Quo

A few weeks ago I started a project to help improve the gym at USACH. This week I met again with the assistant athletic director and another person in the athletics department. This time I got more help than my first visit. Juanita was the person I really needed to meet. She knows about donations, an existing process to expand the gym that lacks funding and other politics of the university. Next week I will meet with her again to get the information I need. As I was waiting at the reception desk to meet the assistant athletic director the tennis coach talked with the secretary about his perspectives on spirituality and salvation. He hopes that his good life will help him earn his way into heaven. Maybe I will get to talk to him one day on campus. It is those instances that I am looking for as I serve students and the university. Pray that He would give us opportunities to share the gospel!

Vader Trap

Turns out those limits they put in elevators are good to follow. We were getting along so well at our staff conference that we decided we would stick together, all 13 of us on an elevator built for 8 people. Well, the doors closed and that was about it. So there we sat for a few minutes pressing the alarm button, and taking a few pictures. We didn't make it to the next meeting on time. I think the trap door on top only exists in the movies.

Expanding

September 21-24th all the Crusade staff in Chile gathered for our national staff conference. Just a little over one year ago there were 5 staff in Chile. There were 26 at the conference. This is a big answer to prayer. We are excited about what the Lord of the harvest has planned for us!

September Was Wacky

September has been a different kinda’ month. We had to cancel our weekly meeting on the 7th due to riots on campus. This was the beginning of our first week off campus. Friday the 8th was our first official student leadership meeting of the semester. The 9th we went to a concert featuring popular Chilean bands. The concert was put on by the Federación de Estudiantes of USACH to support the growing movement for reform of public education in Chile. The anniversary of the military coup, 11th of September, was another day of violence. Strange how people protest the violent deaths of many innocent people with more violence. We had a party for students at my place on the 14th. It was cool because students brought their friends and we got to connect with others that we hadn’t seen for a while.
The second week was all about independence celebrations. Our team has three Mexican’s. Mexico celebrates independence at midnight on the 16th. In Chile there the 18th is a holiday. The major city parks turn into festivals that they call “fondas”. There was lots of traditional Chilean food (empanadas, kabobs, sausage, mote, chichi) and musica andina. The national dance here is called the cueca, which is supposed to mimic a rooster chasing a hen. That being said it isn’t as strange as it might sound. When well done it is pretty cool. On the 20th we finally got back on campus. The 21st-24th we had our national staff conference, 26 staff! It was a good time of alignment and develop. The best part was building deeper friendships with the other staff. The 28th we had our second weekly meeting of the month, about life priorities and time management. And Finally on the 29th our second meeting with new student leaders.
What made September wacky? The main thing was that we weren't on campus. I think I expected that not being on campus and having two vacation days was going to be restful. But now that I look back, it was a full month.

Live Radio

It has a crackly sound but you can follow Husker football in Chile!

Spring Break

Thursday evening we had a party at my place. About 30 students from 4 different campuses came. We spent three hours together, talking, playing ping pong, foose ball and cards. It was a good time to talk to students I hadn't seen in a while and meet new people. The involved students are great about bringing their friends! It is also nice to see that we are impacting students on campuses all over the city in a very natural way. As we get more established I am excited to see what happens as we are more intentional about expanding to every campus.
This week campus was closed. Something like spring break. Our team got some special devotional time and also worked on content for our ministry (weekly meeting talks, small group materials, evangelistic resources). I am proud of our team. It is fun to be part of a team that is producing materials. We are trying to develop a culture in the ministry here that is balanced with action and thought. The hope is that our staff will feel like it is normal to be investigating the culture and producing materials that help us reach it.
Next week Chile celebrates it's independence. They say these are the best fiestas of the year in Chile.

"You Are Reading!"

Sunday I went to church and was blessed to hear one of the most clear and relevant calls to mission I have heard in Latin America. It was perhaps the best sermon I have heard in Latin America. It is a blessing to be at a church that is sold out to mission and passionate about seeing the Holy Spirit empower the church for mission. Afterwards I was at the mall with Francisco, a young man that I have gotten to know at church. It was fun getting to know him a little more.

After Francisco left I got a cup of coffee and sat down to read for an hour. As I sat there I noticed a older man looking for a place to sit and invited him to take a seat at the table I was at. Always hoping for opportunities to share the gospel I wondered what might happen. I continued reading. A few minutes later I was interrupted by a young lady who made a simply observation to start a conversation with me, "You are reading!" Well, "Yes" Turns our Leonor is a geography student at Cambridge, in Chile doing a research project. Her observation was not quite as random as you might think, because Chileans don't read books at malls, especially at this mall. As I looked around I noticed that I was quite out of place. Anyway we had a fascinating conversation for the next hour. Her parents were exiled from the USA and Chile because of their communist ties. We discussed politics, consumerism and spirituality. She shared about her near death experience and how she sees God working in her life. Fascinating...what will God do next in her life. It will be a privilege to be a part of it, if that is His purpose.

Team Santiago

For one month now we have had all of our team members together in Santiago. There are eight of us, two couples and four singles. Kurt and Melissa Adams are from Colorado. They are international campus staff with Crusade. They have a one year old boy, Aiden. Kurt is outgoing, hard working and always learning. Melissa helps us by leading prayer and has a tremendous heart for the nations. Christian and Blanca Maureira are some of my best friends. It is a real joy to work with close friends. Christian grew up in Santiago. We became good friends in Jalapa Mexico while we lived and worked together on campus there. He married Blanca in Mexico and they moved back to Chile a year and a half ago. We are excited for them as they are expecting their first child. They are both very talented and passionate about making disciples.
Esther Kim is originally from Philadelphia. She is doing a one year STINT, which we are hoping turns into two. Esther has led many English clubs and gained the friendship of many students by loving and serving them. Carla Ramirez and Adriana Salas are both from Jalapa Mexico and doing a year long internship with Vida Estudiantil. Adriana and Carla were actually neighbors and best friends in Jalapa. Carla brings a lot to our team with her servant heart and skills with publicity, English and discipleship. Adriana is our most outgoing team member. She has a lot of energy to meet and love students. Adriana likes to have fun and include others in it.

Starting A Movement

On Saturday we had an awesome meeting! Students from three different universities gathered to take a look at the big picture for this semester. We talked about some basic leadership skills and gave students ownership of the ministry. What is really exciting is that some of these students have just started following Jesus! They simply want to see others experience Jesus as well. They are interested in starting a movement on their campus.

Basketball

Last semester I practiced and played a few games with the basketball team at USACH. It was fun and a great way to get to know some guys. The exercise was a bonus. Last week I connected with the guys for the first time in a few weeks. Marco lives just a few blocks from me. He stopped by my apartment on his way back from class Wednesday. We talked, ate dinner and played a few matched of ping pong. Marco is agnostic but knows that he needs to move towards a decision. We have been able to talk about Jesus a few times. It is great to have friendships with students like Marco. Rodrigo is also on the team. He came to a few things with Vida Estudiantil last semester. I like Rodrigo, he is real easy going and witty.

I need to decide if I will make the basketball team a priority this semester. I know 10 guys pretty well and there are 10 new players this semester.

Four Month Float Trip

Before I left for Chile I got the ball rolling for studying theology. I got the applications in. And figured out what classes I wanted to start with. But I didn't get the books ordered before I left. Things kind of piled up on me during December. In March I ordered all the text books for Church History I and Systematic Theology I. A substantial investment. So my parents dropped them in the mail at the beginning of April. I figured, maybe a month or so. About the first week of July I had given up. I told my mom on the phone that we needed to make one last effort to get the postal service to tell us what might have happened. The next day I got a slip in my mailbox telling me they had arrived! We are so used to having everything fast! Four months to get a package seems like something from the early 1900's. I'm pretty sure "surface" means the package came on a ship. A little worse for wear, but I got everything I need to start class.
As the ministry gets into a good rhythm this spring semester and I finish my adjustment to leading the team I hope to enroll in church history.

Literacy Exceeds Expectations

One of the things about Mexico and Chile that you just have to get used to is stray dogs. We met to pray in the park with our emerging student leaders last semester and a few joined us. Maybe they are really alien spies...

Humble Take Over

One year ago I made my first visit to Chile in late July. I joined a team of Mexican students for two weeks on campus. It was good for me to learn about Chile and create realistic expectations for leading the STINT team. As it turns out my good friend Christian decided to stay in Chile, and led the team this past semester. Having a Chilean to lead us through the first semester was a blessing, as he was able to help us navigate cultural differences that might have taken us much longer to realize and adjust to as foreigners. Christian and Blanca are great friends. It is great working along side them.

I will be leading the team for the next year as Christian focuses his efforts in developing a new strategy that will help us mobilize every student in our ministry for a lifetime laboring to help fulfill the Great Commission. Leading the team is a great challenge for me. I look forward to trusting God for this new responsibility.
While there are certain things that are expected of a team leader. I think of Jesus kneeling down to meet his disciples basic needs as a humble servant. I think of Jesus hanging there on the cross, as a humble Savior, meeting my most profound need. "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." My hope for leading the team well is that as we live out the gospel that we will be blessed by the King and people will know we are really following King Jesus

High Water

While I was in Chile last year a big news story was the death of about 15 Chilean soldiers in the Andes. They were poorly led into a terrible winter storm doing a mountain training exercise. Heavy rains July 11-13th led to extensive flooding in the same region of the country . Approximately 28,000 peoples homes or property were severely damaged. Many lost almost everything.

Doug, Kurt and I traveled down to the disaster area to help the family of one of our Chilean staff who lost almost all their livestock and whose home was almost completely destroyed. We visited neighbors to serve them some hot coffee and bring them food and blankets. We felt quite humbled and inadequate as we realized that these poor farmers had lost everything.
We had hoped to connect with some other relief organization with whom we could partner. The only clear signs of organized relief was the delivery of water by the municipality. And the Army delivered cots and sheets of plastic. It is still unclear how we can best mobilize students to help.

Get Out!

With students busy in finals our team took the past week to work on personal stuff and vacate. Life in the city truly makes you want to get out. We also said goodbye to the summer project this week. This past weekend, Carla, Esther, Chris and I took a road trip south. We were able to visit a cool park, 7 Tazas, which has some awesome waterfalls. My good friend, Christian, who is from Santiago, talked his uncle into renting us a truck. That came in handy as we probably drove 200km on dirt roads in the Andes.
A highlight of the trip was staying with Romi's family. She is a freshman at USACH. It was great to experience hospitality from a normal Chilean family. They run a bakery near Curico. We also got to go to church with her on Sunday morning.

We also went down to Chillan, which has a sweet ski resort. Cote, one of the Chilean staff joined us for a day. It was a great time talking and getting to know everyone better. Bummer was that it rained all day instead of snowing, so no skiing. That is my second failed attempt... But we are just starting the main part of the ski season.
The next morning after getting back I met with Patrico on campus. He is one of the guys I am discipling. He was doing a presentation in his class about the truth and fiction in the "Da Vinci Code". He has a great witness with his classmates. He told me today that he was surprised that his teacher, who is an atheist, commented favorably about the subject. He gave a book by Josh McDowell to each of his classmates. I also got to share my testimony with one of the guys on the basketball team and connected with a few other students. Amazing what happens in two hours on campus during vacation. Makes me think, "get out" life is good serving the King!

29 on the 30th

Yesterday was my 29th birthday. Being twenty-nine doesn't stand out much, it seems more like "almost 30". But yesterday stands out for a couple of reasons. First of all I didn't wake up in my apartment on my birthday. Before you come up with any strange ideas, there is a good explanation... A good way to break up the regular routine of life is to do something dumb, so I locked myself out of my apartment and ended up sleeping at the hotel with the summer project. I have broken into every other place I have lived at, but this one is impenetrable. Which is good news overall.
Yesterday also stands out for how people celebrated my birthday. At our final staff meeting in the morning I was greeted with various versions of birthday songs, gifts and a cake. My good friend Christian invited me to lunch at one of the few authentic Mexican restaurants in Santiago. Christian and I lived in Mexico together for a year and a half when I came on staff with Crusade.
Later in the evening we had a party for students to close out the summer project. It was exciting to see so many students come. We rented out a whole bowling alley and overfilled the place. Later we all had dinner together and invited students to come to our winter conference. Twenty five signed up! Many of them are students that we have been getting to know all semester. Personally I was surprised that several students brought me gifts and encouraged me by their kindness. We have been praying for and loving students, and it is awesome to see that God is giving them a love for us as well. As this sense of community builds we are also beginning to see students make decisions to follow Christ. Many of the students come to Vida Estudiantil with a few friends. It is our desire that God would spark movements of evangelism among these friends and that this would expand to the rest of their classmates on campus. We dream of the day when every student will know someone who truly follows Jesus.

Whole New View

Yesterday was a holiday here in Chile. We have had beautiful late fall weather. It was refreshing to get out of the city and enjoy nature. The summer project students and some of my team went on a hike to El Pochoco. After a steep climb you get rewarded with a whole new view of the central Andes from the summit. They are big! The creation declares the glory of God!
Today on campus I met with Patricio for discipleship. We went to a classroom of freshmen and invited them to our winter conference. Afterwards we ran into one of his classmates. She had just given a talk in her class about world hunger. And it wasn't just homework for her she truly values the needy, working for a social service organization here in Chile that creates jobs for the poor. We started talking about world hunger and ended up talking about the gospel for over an hour. It was great to be able to take her to a few new places where she could begin to gaze into the beauty of God. He is BIG!

"Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God." Psalm 90

My Heavenly Father

As I think about my dad, all the memories, I am filled with gratitude to my Heavenly Father. There are so many good things, indeed everything comes from Him. And as I think upon the good memories I can't help but recall things I would like to forget. But thank God I am free! Thank you Heavenly Father for the cross where your Son died for my sins and set me free! The wonderful cross, that bids me come and die and find that I may truly live. This love so amazing, so divine, demands my souls deepest affection, my life, my all. Thank You Father, your steadfast love is better than life.

My Dad

I grew up on a farm in southeast Nebraska. As I grew up I was able to do more things and spent more time working with my dad. We would work together in the shop fixing and maintaining the machinery. Listening to Christian radio as we worked was a significant part of how I began to walk with God in the mid 90's. My dad had already laid a foundation in my life by reading the Bible as a family on Sunday mornings when we were kids.

My dad loves music. He plays the guitar and encouraged and taught me to play as well. My dad is a learner. I remember him reading lots of books during the winter when there is a little less work on the farm. He modeled to me the value of reading. My dad and his dad are inspired. When they talk about certain things their eyes will tear up and you can tell that it is more than an idea, but truly inspiring to them. They have shown me to be passionate about things. My dad is fascinated by maps and loves to travel. We would pile in the van as a family every couple of years and take off on a long road trip across the USA, good times. My dad and his dad are faithful men who have loved their wives. My dad is talented and knowledgeable. After many years being a farmer, when God gave him the opportunity to work at the nuclear power plant, he studied hard and passed all the exams to work as an engineer. I am proud of my dad! And thankful for all he taught me and for his love.

My dad loves God and is growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. He has made knowing and following Jesus the main thing in His life.

Dancing In The Streets

On Saturday I spent the afternoon with Chilean students and summer project students. We went to La Moneda, which is like the capital building and went to Bellavista, a part of town with lots of places to hang out. Joel is a project student who happens to be a dance instructor. He surprised the Chileans by inviting them to dance in the street. It was a fun afternoon hanging out with students and building friendships. I had a few of the project staff over for dinner that evening.
Most people aren't dancing in the streets, more like protesting in the streets. Tonight as I went to buy groceries I got a good dose of teargas. Classes are still suspended at USACH and many other schools. Protests will likely continue most of the week. They are usually not too violent. But if they are not authorized by the government the police do break them up with force. They have these big trucks that spray water on the crowd. Chileans call it the guanaco, which is an animal like a llama that spits a lot. Rumor has it that they use sewage water. But I took this foto of them filling up at the fire-hydrant on the corner by my apartment building.
We will have to be extra creative as we try to keep moving forward in establishing a movement during this last month of the fall semester.

Summer Project in Winter

The summer project from the USA arrived last Saturday. And Chilean students gave them an interesting welcome week! The protests have continued to escalate. The major public universities (USACH is one of them) decided to join the high school students in pressuring the government to change the laws that guide education in Chile. This means a strike, with classes canceled most of the week, and probably next week as well.
On Wednesday I was waiting at USACH to welcome the project students. Everything was very normal, and then all of a sudden 1000 high school students showed up and started going nuts. Marco, one of the basketball players, helped me escort the students away from the violence and we were able to get in the back entrance. We had a great day on campus! Meeting students, hanging out and doing a survey about the Codigo Da Vinci. In just over an hour we had 200 students fill out a survey. We gave them a magazine that addresses the fiction and provides the facts about the secret societies, the church and Jesus. It was very interesting to see the different viewpoints of students as we looked through the surveys later that evening. One student wrote, "I am just starting to learn more about Jesus." Another said, "Jesus was just like us, not important." Other expressed their faith in Jesus.
We are also spending time at the private universities. They don't close when there are strikes! Hopefully we can establish student led movements at these campuses next semester from the contacts that we meet through the summer project. Oh, the weather is not all that wintry, but it is definitely not summer in the southern hemisphere.

Following Jesus with my Pañuelos

Pañuelos are the Spanish equivalent to Kleenex. I have used way more pañuelos in the past year than I might like. The subject comes up again today as I am battling my monthly respiratory infection. Being sick one week of every month this year makes me think, what is wrong? While some of my theories and solutions might be interesting, I want to offer a more universal observation. Basically the human spirit is set on having a good life, the best life. We all have our own vision of it. Whether it is considered or largely unconscious, we are in search of the good life. Parenthetically those of us from Nebraska may have a distinct advantage to the rest of the world, since Nebraska is objectively the state of "The Good Life".

This week on campus I asked a lot of students what was most important to them in life? The most common response is family. But one guy this week said health. A unusual response for young people, who usually don't consider that it is hard to enjoy life when you are not healthy. How do you know if you are living the good life? Well you have joy! You are enjoying life!

So here I am this past week, with too many things to get done, and a cold that is slowing me down, and frankly not enjoying life all that much. The weird thing is that when I get exhausted I find it can be harder to go to God. When I don't feel good I think I have this rather strange idea that maybe I can control God by not loving Him until he makes my life better. There are these frequent moments in life when I would rather have my way than have God! Of course God certainly doesn't become any less worthy of my love when my life doesn't go the way I would like it to.

I guess this is all as old as the serpents question, "Did God actually..." For me today it is "God, do you really know what is best for me?" Well if God doesn't know then who does? My own choices in life have shown me that I probably don't know what the good life really is. It makes sense the creator of life knows what is really really good. And it is Him! In a love relationship with God we have the best!

No, I don't think disease is God's best for me, but it does lead me to truly find my joy in what is best. Health is good, God is better.

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."
(Psalms 16:11)

Linda, madre linda

This is my beautiful mom, Linda. Linda means beautiful in Spanish. It is hard to even know just how much your mother influences who you are. My mom's unconditional love and pursuit of godliness bless me every day. My mom is compassionate, encouraging, a teacher, a steady doer, interested in culture and merciful to those in need.
My mom taught me to get a job done and done right. Her help and encouragement with all those 4-H projects taught me a variety of skills. Thanks mom! My parents lived in Germany for a few years and my mom also helped place international students with host families in our community. It was cool to get exposure to different cultures as a kid even though we couldn't travel overseas. My mom is compassionate. She worked in special education for several years. She also is constantly making herself available to single mothers or other women who need support. Currently my mom is studying to be more effective in counseling people from a Christ centered perspective. She is a blessing to many many people.

I Love you Mom!

Bomba Lacrimogena revisited

I cried on campus today. The police bombarded the campus with tear gas (bombas lacrimogenas) for several hours. We had planned to have a party on campus today. We are trying a variety of things to see what works and what doesn't to gather students.
For two weeks now there have been protests by students in secondary education because of increasing charge for the PSU (like ACT of SAT) and inefficiency in distributing the transportation ID for low cost transportation. The police showed up at campus to try and disperse the crowd of students with tear gas and other tactics.
Four days in the past two weeks I have showed up to campus to find the main entrance closed. There is always another way in. For the most part we have been able to keep doing things on campus. Today I spent four hours on campus. It was sweet to be able to interact with lots of students. Our exposure of the freshman class and other efforts to get connected on campus are paying off. We are constantly running into students we know.
Schedule seems to be one of the major obstacles. We hope to start a number of groups so students that really want to get involved can find a spot that fits their schedule. These groups, which we call "Punto de Encuentro", will be the basic community where students can build or explore a relationship with God.

Happy Dia Del Trabajador

Well it is the beginning of fall here after all. And what better way to celebrate Labor Day than with a day off work, so you can go downtown and... start a riot, walk around naked with burning flags and destroy stuff. All the action was just two blocks from where I live! "Bomba Lacrimogena" is among the many new words I have been learning here in Chile. Luckily I left early in the morning to climb a mountain with some friends. With a minimum wage of $247 a month clearly there is need for change. Maybe some of the leaders we will influence on campus in Chile in the coming years will help bring change so the workers in Chile can have good jobs and a fair wage. I hope that we can see Matthew 5:16 being realized in this an many other ways.

Polarized

I went to church on Sunday excited to celebrate Jesus' power over death and simply amazed that the God who created everything went to such great lengths to save rebels like us. I can barely get my mind around a group of Christians who don't make mention of the historical reality of His resurrection from the dead after Passover, but that is what happened. This illustrates the tendency to polarize that is part of Chilean culture. Some say the tendency to polarize into one group or another among Chilean's comes from the colonial times and the polarization between indigenous and Spanish people. That makes sense. Not celebrating Jesus' resurrection on the other hand... This effort to not identify with the Catholic church seems to have gone too far.

There are extreme circumstances where the search for and giving of identity happens in society. However I think this search for identity is just as real but more subtle in our ordinary lives. The first question we ask a stranger is often, "What do you do?" Why? Because we think that their line of work will help us identify them. It would be highly irregular to ask, "Who do you love?" But that question would probably help us know the person better. Maybe that question asked as frequently as "What do you do?" would begin to change how a society understands and creates identity. That would be an interesting experiment!

The shocking thing about a church not celebrating the resurrection is that it is the church that should be most given to finding identity in relationships and not work. Our relationship with Jesus should cause us to celebrate Him, and our salvation in Him. Having been reconciled to God by grace not works, this relationship with God is the center of this community, the church. There is plenty of room to celebrate in different ways. But to polarize so much as to not even mention the resurrection on Easter Sunday seems to fail to apply the gospel to life. Being Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal or Evangelical does not give a CHRISTian their true identity. Those titles define the form of religious practice and point to important doctrinal beliefs. And while I love God with my mind by pursuing sound doctrine, I don't think I can love God at all until I am reconciled to Him/identified with Him in love. We love God because He first loved us. The good news is we can know the most wonderful King as our King. Our identity, first and foremost, is in relationship to Him, not in what we know about Him or what task He gives us.
How do we create a movement on campus where the gospel does not isolate us from a culture that is already prone to polarize? By understanding and applying the gospel to our lives! Our good works and our speaking in love are what students will see.

Freshmen

The freshman class is getting the hang of things. Last week was 'semana cachorro' or 'freshman week'. There were lots of activities for the first year students. Thursday between 4000 and 5000 students piled onto 100+ buses for a huge beach party. You can imagine what a all day beach party of freshman and sophomore college students is like. The trip is financed in part by the donations that the freshman gathered as people pitied their mechoneo experience during the first week of classes.
This week we have been tracking down the classrooms of freshmen so they can get to know us. Just before the professor starts class or as he is leaving we take a few minutes to present Vida Estudiantil to students. We invite them to our meeting and English clubs. We also give them a pen and a contact card so they can let us know if they are interested. We are trusting that the follow up of hundreds of interested students will provide opportunity for spiritual conversations and an open door for the gospel.

I'm a pluralist

I sat down to speak with the secretary of the Federacion Estudiantil at USACH. After explaining a few of the things we do and the purpose of Vida Estudiantil he summarized what we are doing with the word 'pluralism'. My first thought was, "That is not a word I would use to describe our work." My second thought, "Fantastic!" Paul said, "I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some." As we explain who we aim to serve and what we do it seems that this administrator understood that we want to appeal to everyone. We want to remove all excuses that are keeping people from the truth about Jesus. We are carefully engaging a culture that has embraced pluralism so that they can see the gospel, hear it and believe.
Later that day, Christian, my good friend and teammate met with the president of the federacion. After a month of bureaucratic maneuvers to get a room for our meeting with other administration, this guy offered us the Salon de Honor (the name speaks for itself) for our first meeting. These kinds of experiences are encouraging because we are becoming known as a group that serves students and is a blessing to the campus.

Concepcion

I will be traveling to Concepcion once a month to support the ministry there. Cote, Veronica and Delia are Chilean staff working on 3 campuses in Concepcion.
Yesterday at the Universidad de Concepcion I met Gustavo and Tania. They are first year biology students. They showed me around campus and we talked for about an hour. Later on they came to the Vida Estudiantil meeting. In some ways this is a very small thing, but these simple things are how a movement grows.
Today I will be meeting with the men involved here in Concepcion for discipleship. And we will also have a meeting to equip students leaders to lead a movement on their campus.

Creating and Joining

Last week I started training with the basketball team at the university. Soccer is the undisputed favorite sport of chileans. I don't play much, and fankly was missing a good game a basketball. I told the coach that I wasn't a student, asd was just looking for a good game. He invited me to practice with the team. Besides enjoying basketball I also hope that by joining this community that already exists I can be a blessing and influence in those young mens lives.
Our ministry team is also working to create a community for students. As we meet more and more students each day we are inviting them to English clubs and will also have a meeting every other week for students to come together, have some fun and interact about some topic that relates to what they are facing in life.

Raices

One of the best parts of serving the Lord and people is you get to see people grow and change. This past Saturday we had our first meeting with a group of committed students who's lives are being transformed by the good news that the King of heaven has included us in His kingdom, and gives us everything we need for life and godliness.
Raices (roots) is a time we have each week with students who are committed to bearing fruit as they know and follow Jesus. We want to help them experience the promises that God has made about those who have good roots, getting abundant life from Christ. Our goal is develop mature people who will follow Christ and be effective in accomplishing the commission He gave us. Many of these students have come to Christ in the past year.

God has some sweet promises for the those who trusts in Him:
"He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers." (Psalm 1:3)
"Abide in me [Jesus], and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)

On a fruitful mature life:
So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. (2 Peter 1:5-9)

Mechoneo

Bienvenidos??? Mechoneo is the official term for the welcome that all first year students get at the university in Chile. This was the first day of classes at the Universidad Santiago de Chile, and the first year students were subjected to all kinds of crazy stuff. The typical thing is to smash an egg in their hair, spray them with water and then put flour and other stuff all over them. They also cut their hair and clothes up, steal their shoes and make them beg for money for a party that they will have at the end of the week. Sometimes it gets extreem. I am not sure how I would feel about it if I was a student. But it seems like it might help them take themselves a little less seriously.
As you walk around campus and talk to students you will find the occasional first year students who decided not to show up to their assigned classes today. However I am not sure that strategy actually works, I think they track you down eventually... What would you do if you knew that you were going to be "welcomed" to campus some time this week?

Opening Doors

There are campuses all over this city. I couldn't begin to tell you where they are at, how many students they have or when we might show up there. Some time in the future we might figure all that out. But for now our team is going to focus our efforts on the Universidad Santiago de Chile (USACH). Not so much on the campus really as on people, on students, reaching lost students and making disciples.
One of my roles on our team is to think about expansion, how we will get to students that are on campuses where there is not a movement of students reaching their peers with the good news about our God who saves.
Yesterday as I sat in the metro waiting to meet someone, I struck up a conversation with a man who was a professor at a growing private school. Today he introduced us personally to the public relations director, who received us very well and put in a good word for us with several other staff at the university.
As I went back home I stopped in a barrio that has a number of larger private schools. At one university I was introduced to the assistant to the president. He was extremely helpful and interested in the possibility of having us serve students on the campus.
These seemingly open doors do not mean that we have to go to these campuses. When someone asks us to come, then we have to go. Pray that the doors continue to open up for us to share Christ.
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison-- that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
(Colossians 4:2-4)

First Day

This was the first day our team went to campus. I went to the Universidad Santiago de Chile. I figured out the geography of campus by walking around and praying for the students. Unlike most Chilean universities this one has most of the areas of study grouped together in one major campus. After getting the lay of the land I introduced myself to some students. Juan, Jonathan, Jose and Joanna are second year math students. There were planning the hazing that many first year students go through. We talked for about an hour.
Yesterday was my first full day living in my apartment. I had been praying for direction in reaching the young professionals and others who live in the building of about 400 apartments. God answered that prayer yesterday as I returned from my run along the Maipo river. Pablo was walking down the street, and I asked him about a large business whose headquarters is across the street from the apartment building. From there we ended up spending several hours together and talk about many things, following Jesus, golf, economics, family, the kingdom of God. He knows others who are Christians in the building and is very open spiritually. Pray this would be the beginning of a community of God seekers and Christ followers in this building.

Move In

Moving into an apartment downtown is a surprisingly significant achievement. I am grateful to have a place that is very centrally located for getting to the major campuses in Santiago. Being a block and a half from the metro is a plus.
The process of finding a place and getting moved in has been much more challenging that I had expected. Learning about the different areas in Santiago, figuring out how to utilize websites and newspapers, getting a cell phone to communicate... Finding the place took me about two weeks. Then I spent another week getting the papers, securing a co-signer and getting his papers together. Getting the contract signed and then getting the keys took a few more days. Moving in has taken a few more days.
Along the way I have been surprised by the culture shock that I have experienced. I have had to adjust my expectations. Things will be more difficult, move slower and require more effort than I think they should.
Being in a new place means I am around new people. I am praying for opportunities to bring the blessing of the gospel to people around me where I live. And I am thankful for God's provision.

Following Jesus

A Christian is a follower of Jesus. But I think we see a lot of Christianity that is at best an attempt to follow Jesus' example. However you can´t really do that unless you love Him in an intimate, relational, joyous way. Without really wanting to we define our Christian faith by a very small subset of things Jesus does and goals that our church or mission organization helps us take on.
Jesus did everything the Father gave Him to do and spoke what the Father gave Him to speak. And He did it so that the Father would be glorified. (John 14) We can´t really follow Jesus and try to follow His example if we won´t love God with all we are. I can´t follow Jesus unless I experience Him personally today and want to be with Him, love Him, obey Him, and bring Him honor and glory with all I am. Thankfully He gave us the Spirit to help us do just that. The promise is that He will teach us and empower us to be witnesses of Jesus. What do you see Jesus doing today? The greatest adventure ever, seeing and following Jesus!

Oh The Places You´ll Go

Before I left for Chile a good friend of mine, Kip, told me to go to Borders and read Dr. Seuss´s "Oh The Places You´ll Go" That was a great read standing there in the isle. As I walked up the hills and valleys in the southern Andes of Chile last week I was often struck with the thought, "Who would have ever guessed I´d end up here.."
The Mapuche are the indegenous people of southern South America. Mapu means land and che means man. And they are a people who´s identity is deeply connected to the land and the araucaria tree. We were told to expect resistance and social problems. They certainly are skeptical, but they should be after hundreds of years fighting for their land and their rights. Meeting the community leader, called the lonco, and hearing his stories and reflections on their lives, goodness, politics and spirituality was an amazing experience. We got permission to show the Jesus film in each of the four communites and showed it in the Mapudugun language.
One day we faced significant spiritual battle and it looked as if we might not be able to show the film or get to the remote houses to meet the families. In the midst of it God continued to give us a love for these poeple that would not quit. It was an emotional experience to see a pickup full of people arrive to the film that evening.
On this first trip we established trust and learned a lot about the people. I hope to return in May before the hard winter sets in with several students. We will follow up with several families that received us well and expressed an openess to the gospel. Pray for Luis and Cresencio's families.