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...