The Team in Santiago

Israel, Lisset, George, Maria Ignacia, Veronica y Juan Carlos on campus at USACH
As Jesus taught us, we are asking God for more laborers for the harvest. Our staff invest their time sharing the gospel with students and primarily training students who are following Jesus to multiply their experience with God through evangelism and discipleship. This year we have experienced lots of growth in the number of students being trained, the number of students coming to faith in Christ and the number of campuses were we are working.
It is a great joy to receive Juan Carlos, his wife Veronica and Maria Ignacia into the campus team here in Santiago. They have recently completed their team of ministry parters and are now with us on campus. I appreciate their faith and enthusiasm, as they trust God to use them to start spiritual movements.

Listen

Everybody appreciates it when someone listens to them. A few months ago in a staff meeting we were considering how to more effectively engage students and share the gospel more often. One of our main conclusions was that we needed to create a space where we could listen to them. During the past month we have been using a new evangelism tool called Soularium. Soularium is a set of 50 images that help people share their experiences, hopes and beliefs. The tool is used by a facilitator (staff or student leader) who poses a question to which the audience responds using an image to help them explain themselves. In this way it helps foster authenticity and allows people to talk about things they often do not share. While you can pose a wide range of questions, the main idea is to hear what their experiences and hopes are in life, both with respect to their personal plans and their spirituality. We also ask them to talk about God. It is really pretty special to have someone share these things with you. And almost universally students tell us they appreciated the opportunity to express themselves. At the end we offer to pray for them and contact them if they are interested in talking more. www.mysoularium.com

We already knew that individualism, pluralism, relativism and pragmatism are significant influences in the minds of young people. As we hear their stories there is a sense that this generation is generally full of hope, believes in a god without religion and is pretty comfortable with the “confusion” of conflicting ideologies. Many indicate they are searching, but a search for truth is seemingly out of reach. The search is much more passive and their choices while not unreasoned seem to be based on sentiment than evidence. While there are lost of answers that might be helpful in the midst of the confusion, belief is experiential for this generation. A good argument is interesting but rarely convincing. They need to see it work.
What a great challenge! And the church is up to it, because the Holy Spirit is at work in us.

Church Planting Among the Mapuche

Each summer we spend a week training our students in a cross-cultural mission’s experience. Planting churches among the Mapuche is a challenging task. In the region where we are working there is a clear need for a person who will disciple local church leadership. A couple weeks ago I was able to travel up into the mountains once again, to encourage the local church leadership, share from the Word with families and get a head start on the plans for the missions experience with students in January. During the trip three people indicated a decision to trust in Jesus Christ. We also were able to visit local pastors and encourage them.

Jerry and Daniel are pastors and missionaries who are also committed to helping establish churches in this region. It is great to partner with such quality people who work with a kingdom mindset. Unfortunately others who are “serving” in the area do not have this perspective. One of the biggest problems we face in evangelism in the area is a hypocritical and religious church that is divisive within the community and does not teach the Scripture.

Another challenge in evangelization in this region is the limited ability to comprehend texts. Reading is simply not a normal way of learning for these people. The Mapuche have an oral not written tradition. They are largely ignorant of the Bible. But asking them to read it is not practical. We are trying to overcome this difficulty with the use of solar powered audio devices which allow them hear the Scripture. We will also be using an audio and DVD based tool called, “God’s Big Story”. This material gives a brief overview of the Scripture from Genesis to Revelation, helping people understand more clearly what God has done and is doing.

This summer we hope to have 6 teams of students. They will spend significant time with families who are open to the message. Rather than visiting a family for a couple hours and asking them to come to a film showing, our evangelism will be based on two or three days teaching the Bible from start to finish with families who are open. In this way we hope to help these families know Christ and get involved in a local church that teaches the Scriptures.

No Reason To Believe

Our first time setting foot on the INACAP on Av. Apoquindo campus we met Juan Pablo, Kenneth and Camila. The week before a student from this campus, Felipe, attended our student leadership meeting, Raíces. I set up a time to visit his campus with some of the summer project students who were visiting us from the US. As we introduced ourselves and shared briefly the vision of Vida Estudiantil it was natural to ask them about their beliefs.

I asked them, “On a scale from 1-10, how interested are you in knowing God personally?” It doesn´t happen very often, but Kenneth answered “zero” with an honest grin. He indicated that he thinks people make too much of religion. He did not understand my question, but I could understand his point of view. Over the next month we got to hang out with them a couple of times on campus.

Last week when Felipe and I had made a time to go share our faith, we ran into Kenneth. After talking about girlfriends and different places in Chile, I reminded Kenneth of his response and asked him if he would be willing to share more of his story. He gladly accepted. While he went to buy a pack of cigarettes Felipe and I prayed.

Kenneth has just gotten to campus from donating blood to help his grandmother who is very sick. As he told his story it was easy to see why he found it so hard to “believe”. His story is full of difficulty. The injury that almost cost him his leg when he was young, his broken relationship with his father, the tension in his living situation with uncles and a very ill and cranky grandmother… He could find no reason to believe, even though he had tried. (Kenneth is at the far left, with the summer project)

Even though many things in life may not have a satisfactory explanation, Felipe and I could share how the cross of Christ and the unconditional love of God were even more inexplicable. Kenneth told us that he felt like something really extraordinary would have to happen for him to be able to believe. We helped him consider that perhaps something extraordinary was happening and had happened to reconcile him to God. Please pray that God help Kenneth to see light of the world, Jesus, and that God help us to be lights in the darkness on campuses in Santiago.

In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
(2Cor. 4:4-6)

Many Reasons to Believe

We met Tomas, a student at the Universidad Andres Bello, in English Club. Israel, who coaches student leaders at UNAB, copied me a portion of an email from Tomas

“After thinking about it and having it on my mind for several years, I decided that it is the best thing I could do in my life, and I feel very good about it, so during my winter vacation I decided to be a Christian… several factors influenced this decision: my mother has been a Christian for no more than 4 years, I have seen her happier than ever during these 4 years, my brother and I experienced a couple miracles (we had an accident 3 years ago, and today we are without adverse effects). Another important factor was the English Club of Vida Estudiantil, to which I went with the sole purpose of learning some English, but little by little I realized the quality of people who have a happy spirit, a kind-heartedness and availability, and a great strength in their beliefs which in an authoritative way coincide with each other.
Another very important factor leading up to my decision was a special Christian young lady who I had gotten to know. She is able to speak with ease about God in a simple way, coherent and pleasant, and with the same point of view as many others… so I told myself, I should belong to this group, it is without a doubt the best! On top of this I would have to add the services of the church in La Serena that my mom goes to, where there is a an equally pleasant atmosphere. I admire the pastor, very intelligent, and he knows how to apply Biblical values to everyday life. Also my mom is always reminding me of the things the Bible describes and how they are based in history and still speak to our world today, and this is very convincing!
So there are many reasons, I just was slow to see them and take them into account, but I am happy to have given myself to Christ because unquestionably, it is never late. That is all! Haha. I hope to see you more often this semester!" Tomas
After English club one day we went bowling with the students. Tomas is holding the dark blue bowling ball.

31

Two surprise parties for one birthday. The first was Thursday the 28th with students and also with Kelly, a leader of the summer project with whom I share the 30th of June as our birthday. The second was on my birthday. I had planned my own thing, last minute of course, and got together with 7 guys at an pub that evening. But I was blind folded and taken to a mysterious place (turned out to be my apartment, but with a few extra turns on the way there) where I was greeted by a room full of people. Turning 31 was special. I am deeply grateful for all that God has allowed me to live. It has been quite an experience, from being a introverted farm boy from southeast Nebraska, to living in Santiago Chile and following Jesus as the leader of a spiritual movement that is touching the lives of many people.

Faithful and Fun

Diego and Connie got connected with Vida Estudiantil back in April through our effective study seminar. After the seminar we offered personalized coaching to help students apply some of the study techniques and allow us to get to know them better. Lisset led their coaching times and was able to connect them with our mission on campus.
They are from Osorno, in southern Chile. And have been dating for a year. They both knew Jesus personally, and asked us to train them to share their faith and how to establish new believers in the Christian faith. It has been a real treat to teach them and get to know them over the past few months.
I think they are probably the most faithful students I have ever had the opportunity to train. They showed up for every meeting and generally had prepared the lesson. Diego has also been able to involve a classmate of his. It is a real joy to work with such great people. Cote, pictured also invests time with Connie in discipleship. It is sweet to be part of a team that invest their lives in others.
I am confident that Diego and Connie will both see the lives of many of their peers transformed by the Lord. They both have 5 more years of studies at the University of Santiago de Chile. Diego studies Electrical Engineering and Connie, Surgical Medicine.

Good Time For A Protest

Each year May has great potential for some riots or strikes here in Chile. The month starts with Labor Day, in which Chileans celebrate with tear gas and marches to protest the law which allows the wealthy business owners to employ people for $300 a month, far less than a living wage. May also is a month in which students usually protest the inequality of education. This May’s protests and strikes lasted all the way through June. Two weeks ago they voted for a very important reform to the law. This new legislation will give more administrative power to the national government. The municipal governments had been empowered under the old law. But this was creating a very unequal education, in which the quality of education in poorer areas was not adequate. Students from poorer areas were less likely to get into the university because their education did not adequately prepare them for the national entrance exam.

For our ministry the strikes have historically been harmful, causing us to loose our momentum on campus and loose touch with the students we were getting to know. But this year it has been a tremendous opportunity for us. The reason is that we now how a critical mass of involved students leaders and have a base of contacts already established among the freshmen that allows us to continue our ministry. In fact the strike helped us in significant ways because students had lots of free time. For the newly involved students it allowed them to spend lots of time together during the past 6 weeks. And the contacts that we are developing relationships with were also able to participate more. In the end our relationships with key students have really grown through the shared experiences we had this past month.

Two weeks before the strike started I was able to get an English Club started with the freshmen in Electrical Engineering. We have had English club every week except one. And as a result I have gotten to know Oscar, Cristóbal, Pablo, Jaime and Carlos. I have also been able to continue to involve Alan and Nicolas, seniors who are preparing their thesis, in co-leading the English Club. Students have been enthusiastic about English Club and have also been open to the gospel. With classes re-starting this next week I hope to continue the English Club for a few more weeks and grab lunch with them from time to time to continue the spiritual conversations that we have started.

Roommates: From all over the world and now one who is not of this world

In January we moved into a new apartment. But we knew that in six months David would be leaving to go back to the U.S. We would have to find another roommate. In the past few months we have had the world come through our door: Swiss, Kiwis, Australian, Venezuelan, Bolivian, Peruvian and Chilean/Mexican.At the end of October we were once again a few days away from having to pay for our three bedroom apartment between Israel and myself. Israel posted an advertisement on a website one evening. An hour later Guillermo calls us to set up an appointment to view the apartment and meet us. An hour after that he was sitting on our couch and we made a verbal agreement. Amazing, 2 hours from advertised to occupied.
Tonight we had the tremendous privilege of seeing Guillermo place his faith in Jesus Christ. He moved in almost exactly a month ago. We have had several good spiritual conversations. His marriage troubles brought him to the end of himself. As he came to the King in his need, he received repentance, the forgiveness of sins and new life.

Developing Multiple Generations of Leaders

The first weekend in November we simultaneously hosted our second Student Leadership Encounter and the first LeaderTreks workshop. Development and multiplication of students leadership is a critical step in communicating the gospel to every student. The fellowship and community we experienced as the proven leaders, emerging leaders and staff spent the weekend together were extraordinary.

The Encouentro de Liderazgo Estudiantil was a time of teaching and practical ministry training. The theme was “Sowing”. We were able to engage the scope of world evangelization and process as a team how to communicate the gospel on the university campus. This space is one of the key elements that we have been able to generate this school year.
One of our new staff, Israel, has been attending a training in Bolivia for a leadership development curriculum called LeaderTreks. The first workshop, “Fundamentals of Leadership” was attended by 9 students from four different universities. This is a great start for another program that will help us see students lives changed. It works well for both Christian and non-Chrsitian students.

The ability to generate multiple generations of leaders is important on the college campus where leadership necesarily changes every few years. Establishing the programs and culture of multiple generations is an important step for us as we consider the challenge of reaching the nearly 250,000 students in Chile.

Invasion and Progress

Once a month student leaders from different campuses are gathering to help establish the ministry on a campus that is not their own. Yesterday we had a great experience at Universidad de Ciencias Informaticas. Student leaders from 4 campuses showed up. The sense of teamwork among the student leaders in launching and building movements was stellar.

The primary goal of Invasion is to equip students in evangelism. While we are also publicizing the activities that we are doing to serve students the main focus of this time is to train students in the art of initiating gospel centered conversations. The benefits of doing this together are many. It allows our staff to model evangelism with student leaders. It creates an awareness of the scope of every campus and every student. It deepens the sense of teamwork among students. It creates momentum on the campus we visit. It fosters the sharing of ideas. It builds up the faith and courage of the staff and students. And it created the instance for at least 20 students to hear the good news and consider Jesus' offer of new life; abundant and eternal. In the future I believe that Invasion will become an instance where student leaders launch movements on new campuses.

There is still a lot of work to do, but many of the key elements of the ministry are beginning to take shape. As this second school year draws to a close, I am really grateful and a bit surprised at all that God has given us.
We have developed and refined several ministry tools that are helping us step into the lives of lost students: English clubs; a campus meeting format and content that is getting positive feedback from non-Christian students; the Effective Study Seminar that will help us reach freshmen and has caught the attention of school administration as a valuable service to the university; a fall retreat format that got positive feedback from non-Christian students who attended.
We have also refined and adapted our student leadership development. Raices is a community of personal and leadership development that is structured so that we can develop multiple generations of leadership. We have a yearly calendar of student leadership retreats, and have seen God bless these times. In January we will have our first national conference aimed specifically at developing Christian students for mission. In January we will also establish our national summer missions project which will cast vision for and train students in trans cultural missions.
We have seen God bless us in the development of key resources. One of the biggest challenges has been to form small groups where non-Christians can engage with Christians in life and seeking the truth. We are still working on this but have made significant progress in the past year. We have been blessed with the financial support from Chileans to advance needed initiatives. Right now we are in the process of getting a new evangelism tool into print. Our website is also a significant resource. http://www.vidaestudiantil.cl/

The progress we can see after two years here in Santiago has been the result of hard work and the grace of God.
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (1Co 15:10)

A Hard Winter

We arrived in Icalma, just a few kilometers from the boarder with Argentina at 11 a.m. It was sunny and warming up. As we left Temuco that morning around 6 a.m. it had been raining and as we climbed into the Andes it began to snow. The road was quite slippery last 20 kilometers before we reached the tunnel. On the other side of the sierra it had already stopped snowing and the road was clear. This was a good sign as we would soon leave the highway for dirt road winding along the side of the Bio-Bio river valley.

In Icalma the pastor and others from the community quickly gathered after our arrival. Visitors were a welcome site after a very difficult winter. The pastor told us, "In my 63 or 64 years I have never experienced a winter like this." Meteorological records indicate this was the most severe winter in over 80 years. The first snowfall came in February, which would compare to our month of August in the northern hemisphere. In some ways this was helpful because it sent a very clear message that a long hard winter was coming. The people were able to collect extra firewood and buy additional forage for their animals. But it often was not enough. In Quienquen, one of the few communites where there is no church, Ricrado told us, "We stored up double the normal amount of forage and concentrate. It was not enough." There is still several feet of snow covering the grazing areas in this narow valley.

The motive for this trip was to provide some basic provisions in the way of food and clothing to the people, and to continue to develop a partnership with local pastors. We were able to pass out bags of food containing, flour, rice, sugar, oil, yeast and mate to 60 families. We left clothing with the pastors to distribute to those in need. They were glad to hear that we would be back in the summer, helping with children's ministry and evangelism training. In all we visited 7 communities in the region.

Pato's CM2007 experience

Patricio, on the left with other Chilean students who went to CM2007, just got his degree from the Universidad de Santiago de Chile in Human Resources (Administracion de Personas). He is currently completing an internship required by the school. Before leaving for the US in June I sat down with Pato to help him establish a biblical perspective for determining his vocation and invited him to join us as campus staff. A month later Pato was on a plane to South Korea for CM2007. This was the first international student missions conference for Campus Crusade for Christ. I wanted to share with you his comments about the experience. They are tremendously encouraging to me as we trust God for movements everywhere, specifically that Vida Estudiantil would be used to increase involvement of Chileans in world evangelization.

“CM2007 in South Korea was an unforgettable experience because God put in my heart a passion for missions. I know that I am called to be on mission and share the gospel with others students in Chile and the world, and in reality we are all called to this. I came to understand this much better in Korea. Personally I would like to go to another part of the world where there is great need for Christ. I could see, because of my experience at CM2007, the great need for Christ in other countries is shocking. They lack people who are guiding others to Christ. Yet first I want to work to reach the students in my university, and if God permits to be a missionary in another part of the world. This is what I feel that the Lord is calling me to every day and it is what I want to do.” Patricio Maricán

Honor Thyself

Saturday I heard that Barry Bonds tied the home run record. When it was reported on TV, they gave equal time to Alex Rodriguez hitting his 500th. I opened the Sunday paper to the sports section and it did not even make the lead article. When there is so much sensationalism in the news, it struck me as strange that the media seemed to be playing down this achievement.
While in Colorado, a friend of mine said, "I have always thought of you as driven." I think he meant it in a good way. But God wanted to test me with it. I was getting burned out during the last semester in Chile. Unless I am led by the Lord I will mainly have my own strength to depend on. And that is not enough. And even worse the result would be me getting the honor for any accomplishments. Another friend of mine always tells me, "God is not so interested in what you do for Him, as He is in who you are and who you are becoming in Him." God simply wants to be the source of our strength and make us more like Christ. He wants us to live out of abundance for His glory, rather than live to get what we lack for our good.
What is interesting to me is that this is a universal value. Most everyone seems to know that what really counts is character, what is inside of a man. The lack of integrity of Barry Bonds and his "it is all about me" attitude are repulsive. They totally undermine his stellar achievements.

"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." James 4

New Semester Soon Underway

The spring semester in Chile is about to start. I was able to chat on instant messenger with one of the guys I know from the USACH basketball team. He is already practicing and is back to class on Monday. The ministry staff in Chile had the national staff conference this past weekend. It was a good time to seek God together, strengthen relationships and establish focus for the rest of the year. There have been lots of changes. Nine short term missionaries completed their term in July and have returned home. We will have to work smarter with less people this spring.
One of the most encouraging things from the first semester is the commitment of student leaders from seven different campuses. God is raising up committed laborers who are trusting Him for spiritual movements everywhere.
The staff and students are currently making plans for the semester. There are many things we could do. Please ask God to help us follow His lead with great sensitivity.
"Expect great things from God. Attempt great things for God." William Carey

U.S. Staff Conference

The national staff conference is held at Colorado State University every two years. Now that I am international campus staff I am not required to come. But I may still come occasionally because of the valuable interaction with our fantastic staff and the way God uses the time to refresh us in the singular vision for seeing spiritual movements everywhere.
During the first few days of the conference the staff for each ministry meet. I serve in the campus ministry, but there are dozens of different ministries that are part of Campus Crusade for Christ. One of my passions in ministry is to be a sender, to mobilize young men and women as missionaries. I have been seeing that we lack some expertise and resources to make our campus ministry more effective in this area. It was great to hear that they have assigned a new leader at the national level to address this issue. The vision, 100% sent, that every student who is involved with us is prepared to make their lives count for fulfilling the Great Commission after they graduate. I also felt like God was challenging me to think outside of Chile and try to help the campus ministry throughout South America create solutions to common problems or needs that we face in each country.
The second part of the conference is for all the staff. One of the ideas that was repeated was that of story, how our lives are a story that God is writing and how we can use story to tell the good news. I also really enjoyed seeing staff friends from around the country. The whole time helped increase my desire to trust God for supernatural things in my life and in Chile.

Mori Mattias

Kurt and Melissa Adams are in X-track with me right now. We have been working together in Chile since January 2006. They are fantastic people that I really admire. Yesterday Melissa went into labor and Mori Mattias was born around 9:30 p.m. July 2nd. They are thankful for a natural birth and a healthy little boy. We visited them today over in Greeley.

Golden Birthday

Having your birthday fall on a Saturday is a definite plus. I celebrated my 30th birthday last Saturday June 30th. I had not heard of this much before but apparently when the day and the year are the same that is called your golden birthday.
A highlight so far this summer has been the good times with the other staff. I had a great day with the other staff who are preparing to go overseas long term. We hiked in Rocky Mountain National Park for most of the day. And in the evening went out for dinner and a refreshing beverage. As one who enjoys a good beer I appreciate the many microbreweries and variety of beers here in Fort Collins.
30 is definitely a milestone. Someone asked me to share a highlight for every five years of life. As I scanned over my life I can appreciate both the big and the small things. And looking forward I am full of anticiaption that God has many more experiences, both unmistakably large and creatively subtle in store for me.

X-track

I have been in Colorado for three weeks. X-track is a 6 week course to prepare cross-cultural missionaries to live and minister in a foreign country long term. I am planning to live in Chile until 2010 or 2012. My desire is to help establish a ministry that raises up young men and women who will go to the world with this good news of abundant life in Christ. This training has been helpful in processing the experiences of my past year and a half in Chile. I have also enjoyed the fellowship and fun times with the other staff.

This past week we learned about language acquisition. The language learning method we learned is comprehensive, covering the process of learning a new language from beginning to advanced stages. I learned my first 20 words in Mandarin during our first meeting with a language helper. Xin Ching had been in the U.S. for less than a week. He helped me learn by listening; saying the words as I pointed to the object they referred to. My Spanish is pretty good. But I am excited to now have a plan and some methods to help me continue to improve when I get back to Chile. In a few years perhaps we will be training our first team of Chileans this method as they prepare to go to a country that does not speak Spanish.

This summer 4 Chilean students will be at CM2007, a global missions conference with 18,000 students from 105 countries. I am encouraged by this and hope that in a few years we will see not just a few students but a movement of students going and sending to the nations from Chile. The conference will expose our students and new national staff to the global campus movement and give them vision for their part in helping fulfill the Great Commission.

superNaturally

After the fall getaway we have continued to connect individually with students. Developing a community of students is important. On Sunday afternoon we invited all the men involved in Vida Estudiantil to come to the apartment. This space, which we will have about once a month, is just one more example of how things are slowly but steadily moving forward.
These guys lives will be transformed as they pursue truth together. One thing that is true of university students today is that if they do not feel like something is relevant and comfortable they are probably not going to come back. Commitment is not evaluated based on some objective truth, but rather on how they feel about the people and the experiences they have. This is just fine because Jesus is real, personal and is inviting us to live an abundant life. Commitment will come naturally as they have an authentic experience with their Maker. But it is a battle to help them move towards God in the midst of a society that invites them to be their own gods in so many ways.
On Sunday we invited them to get together once a month to build authentic friendships, consider what the Christian life is all about and pray for each other. We started by sharing with them how to experience the abundant life Jesus promised, the Spirit-filled life. Next month we will consider the signularity of Jesus Christ among so many other religous leaders or gods.