Worshiping with Chilean believers.
Dear Friends,

Thank you for your prayers! We are only just beginning to learn to live and serve in Chile. God brought us here safely early last month. There were a few delays and some bureaucratic hassles, but the four of us, Maya (the golden retriever), and our stuff (minus our collection of fridge magnets – thank you, TSA!) made it here with no significant problems. Since arriving, we’ve been getting to know the lay of the land, getting our apartment in order, taking care of government and school registrations, and starting to get plugged in with the church and local community. Amy has worked hard to eradicate the mold and mildew in the apartment, I have had the opportunity to preach, and the kids have gotten to know the school options. We were just granted our official Chilean ID cards, which will allow us to have basic services in our names. This is a huge help, as several things were on hold until now.

It’s been somewhat astounding to see how much God has provided: a great apartment, a vehicle we can affordably rent until we find something suitable to buy, all the support we needed to get here in the first place, and now the opportunity to learn and serve in a new culture. We are grateful to be in a beautiful place – this is by far the most picturesque setting we’ve ever lived in, and we’re expectant (and sometimes a bit impatient) about how the Lord wants us to reach and love his people here.

We’ve yet to see a place where ministry was truly easy. Chile is proving to be no exception. Pray, as some issues in the local church and some events involving a local pastor have us evaluating our involvement. We need lots of wisdom, discernment, and discretion.
We all (along with Maya) enjoy the beauty of God’s creation here. We love walks along the rocky coast, and almost every day there is a spectacular sunset.
Answered Prayer:

  • We made it here!
  • So did Maya and our stuff!
  • We had a good year-end, and our support situation is solid. Thank you so much for your support. We know that you are sacrificing for us to be able to be here.
  • So far, the mold & mildew control measures are working.
  • Our entry stamp situation was resolved without incident.
  • Our health has been good. I’m still not 100% following surgery, but I am progressively getting better!
Things to pray about:

  1. Pray that in the midst of transition, culture shock, and stress that we would have our eyes fixed on our savior and that we would put him first before all other things.
  2. As mentioned above, the local church is struggling and is currently without a pastor. My current ministry call allows for us to support the local church, but it does not allow enough time for me to be the full time pastor/church planter that the church needs – though several church members seem to want me to take that on. Pray for clear leading from the Holy Spirit for all involved in this church. And for us to know the best ways to serve.
  3. On February 7, I fly overnight to Mexico City for a Latin American church planting conference. Pray for safe travels, the opportunity to connect with leaders and form partnerships, and for me to have enough energy to hang in with all the conversation and planning. I’m finding it harder and harder to bounce back from these flights!
  4. From Mexico City I’ll have the opportunity to head to Guadalajara for a couple of days – saying ‘hi’ to some friends, getting to preach in the church we helped start, and eating some tacos!
  5. School starts March 1. Pray for an easy transition in – and also for grace in the eyes of all the officials here. The ‘Ministry of Education’ is currently determining the kids’ ability to go to school here.
Cultural Tidbit:

We are the rookies when it comes to Chile, so we are finding all sorts of new and interesting (and oftentimes confusing – to us!) things. Here are a couple:

1. Sellos – seals. Not the seals that swim in the cold ocean (we have those too), but seals as in ‘seal of approval.’ Except these are seals of disapproval. The government recently required that these sellos be placed on all foods items, telling you how bad for you they are. Any food deemed to be high in saturated fat, calories, sugar, or sodium gets a sello. Or multiple sellos. Generally, the more appetizing something is, the more sellos it seems to have!

2. Zebras – again, not the animals (we don’t have those) – but crosswalks! The white stripes painted on black asphalt are called zebras here. That in and of itself isn’t unusual. But the etiquette surrounding them is! Pedestrians have full right-of-way – so much so that most people don’t even turn their heads to see if there is any oncoming traffic. They just step into the street. Some of these zebras are across roads with fairly high speed limits, lots of congestion, and lots of crowded conditions. And people just step out without a care in the world. The coastal road here is the worst, as there is so much pedestrian traffic, vehicle traffic, alcohol consumption, and illegal parking (making it hard to see pedestrians in time). We’re pretty sure we’re going to have some close calls before long. We really don’t want to hurt anyone! But the programming that’s been in our heads since we were four years old that says, “Look both ways before crossing the street” is so hard to turn off. We naturally expect people to be on the lookout for vehicles. And they naturally expect us to be on the lookout for them.
How could a Mousse Capuccino chocolate bar possibly be bad for you?!?!
Your prayers and encouragement mean more to us than we can adequately express. Thank you so much for partnering with us!

Que Dios los bendiga abundantemente.

With love,

Steve

steveamyrobertson.org
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