The Dan Thompsons Serving in Chile

Better Internet Connection in Chile

2011-07-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

This will most likely be the only blog post I will do while we are in the States. I can't say our schedule is too terribly full but it is full enough. What is the most frustrating is our lack of adequate internet connection to be able to blog. Maybe that's exactly what the Lord wanted for us: to unplug altogether. But I did want to let you (my readers) know that we are still alive and doing well. And as soon as we get back to Chile I will start blogging again.

Liz

Now About the Not-So Fun Part of furlough...

2011-03-09T10:16:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Can you tell I have been putting off writing this blog post? Well, even if it wasn't apparent I was putting it off! Sometimes, it's much easier to talk about fun stuff and positive things than to open up and be honest about those things that one is worried or scared about. But here it goes... These are the things that worry me about going on furlough (you'll notice that they are directly related to the positive things from the previous blog):

1) Having to say many good byes: We will say many good byes when we leave Chile and then once we leave the States in September we will have to say many again. You'd think we would be used to this part of missionary life but even with past experience it doesn't make it any easier.

Pray for our family as we learn to say goodbye.

2) Lots of moving around: For 41/2 months we will be staying in many different homes. This can get old after a while especially for young children. Before we go, Danny and I are working with the kids on their table manners and proper etiquette. (You mean you don't go up to greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek in the United States?)

Pray for grace and flexibility as we stay in different homes.

3) Visiting with our churches: Danny and I are getting prepared to repeat the same things over and over... Of course we are excited to share what the Lord has done but seeing our presentation for the umpteenth time can get boring.

Pray for energy and patience as we share in our churches.

4) Can we enjoy going "home" without gaining weight? I have asked myself that question over and over. I know this has been a struggle for many missionaries in the past.

Pray that we could control our cravings and find time to exercise along the way.

5) Going on furlough doesn't mean leaving all our responsibilities behind. While we will be back we will still be in contact with a few people in Chile who are helping get the next camping season together. There is sooo much to do and thankfully with today's technology we should be able to help even long distance.

Pray for diligence in answering emails and working on camp matters.

6) Meeting new people is not everyone's cup of tea. What will these new pastors think of us? Are our kids to "wild"? Will we commit a "faux pas" or two? More than likely yes

Pray that we would act Christ-like.

7) Traveling: We will be crossing the United States lengthwise TWICE! We will need much patience with each other in the van. Can this part of furlough be enjoyable? Maybe it could with a little creativity and a good dose of long-suffering!

Pray for safe and fun travels.

8) Ultimately we know we are serving the Lord but the thought has crossed my mind that maybe people will think we haven't done ENOUGH. Maybe there are no results to show for their investment in us as a family.

Pray for thankful hearts

9) Raising four children is not a piece of cake and doing it away from a normal home routine scares me. I'm sure the kids are going to miss Chile and what they have grown used to these past 3 1/2 years. We might be dealing with some new emotions and struggles.

Pray for diligence as parents to raise God-fearing children.

Pray for Micah, Matthias, Morgan and Madeline as they adjust to new settings.

10) Our walk with the Lord is the most important thing to us. In the Christian life, distractions can be our downfall, steering us away from what is good. Slowly one wastes time on the things that don't matter and can then easily fall into sin. It's a downward spiral that comes from not filling our lives with what matters most to the Lord. We want to keep growing in spiritual walk!

Pray that we would DO what is needed to stay on track spiritually.

Thanks for reading this post and understanding my heart behind these ten things. It is scary for me to think that I will hit the publish button and it will be "out there" for all to read. But I would hope that it will spur some of you to pray specifically for those 10 things and that when we see you in the United States, we can rejoice in answered prayer!

Liz

I Am Excited About That!

2011-03-05T06:22:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Have you ever been excited and scared to death at the same time? When I start thinking of our furlough coming up in a little over a month, those two sentiments battle within me. I am excited about:

1) seeing my family - My parents (Mike and Elva Farrell and my sister Emily) will be returning to France for another term of missionary service in May. My sister Esther and her family are on deputation right now, raising support to go to France as missionaries also. We will be together the first few days of May. We haven't been altogether in 7 years!

I am excited about that!

2) seeing friends -We have many college friends and friends we have made in churches across the US that we are looking forward to reconnecting with. Many are in the ministry and we can rejoice together over what the Lord has done.

I am excited about that!

3) fellowshipping with our supporting churches - Once a year for missionary conference we pull out the English hymnbooks and sing in English. I am looking forward to joining in worshiping our great God with the Saints in our supporting churches.

I am excited about that!

4) experiencing the US: Wal-Mart, Olive Garden, Wendy's, Mountain Dew, Jelly Bellies and English Muffins... are just a few of the things we have been dreaming about eating lately.

I am excited about that!

5) a fresh perspective: Veteran missionaries have told us that furlough is a good time to take a step back and see one's ministry from a different perspective.

I am excited about that!

6) meeting new people - 2 of our churches have new pastors, 1 church is NEW to us, 1 church merged with another church, and we can be confident that God has added new believers to the churches that support us.

I am excited about that!

7) traveling as a family - Our kids don't remember much about the United States. What they do remember is from the pictures. We are looking forward to showing our kids a bit of the United States during our travels... maybe stop along the way at some landmarks.

I am excited about that!

8) sharing what the Lord has done - We have lots of things to be thankful for. God accomplished many things during our past three years on the field and we have a LOT to share.

I am excited about that!

9) being together as a family unit - We will be spending countless hours together, whether it is in the van traveling or in churches. On the field, our hectic lifestyle, work on camp, or constant visitors take up our time together as a family. More time together?

I am excited about that!

10) growing in our walk - We know furlough will not always be rosy but we are gearing up for a time of growth in our personal walks with the Lord. Many times trials bring growth.

I am excited about that!

Thanks for your prayers for us as we look forward to all these things during our furlough time. Come back to the blog to read about the things that make me nervous as I think about our furlough time.

Liz

The NEW Gym

2011-03-03T06:15:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

I have been meaning to write about the new gym on camp for quite a while but just didn't have any idea how to start the post. The whole project in itself involved a whirlwind of activities and even looking back at the pictures makes me tired!

It all started with a donation from the United States. This large donation came with one condition: it had to be used before the end of the year (2010). There are so many things that could be improved on camp with investments like this one. After praying and thinking much, we decided on a covered gym. We needed a place for campers or churches to play when it was raining, and boy does it like to rain here! Many times, our main eating/meeting hall is packed with kids or families and there is no other place to go when the downpours start.

The architect drew up the plans and later we submitted them to the municipality. After receiving the approval, a team of volunteers from Washington State came to camp to work on the project. Our family did the running around and the hosting for this group of 7 men. They were on camp 2 weeks and got this major project done. It involved: pouring the footings, welding up all the trusses, and then laying the roofing.

Micah learned a bit about welding with the help of Mister Dave.

The work days were long and harduous but this group of guys did it with smiles on their faces, even on very wet days. We can never be able to repay all that they did but they will receive their reward someday in heaven.

We made sawhorses for the work team before they arrived.

Almost complete!

Even before this work team came, there was much prep work to be done. Another team came, led by Pastor Bill Park.

the Pennsylvania work crew

We had to clear the site of a few trees and get the stumps out. The team also worked on our new work shop getting the second floor put in. It was nice to finally have a secure place for tools and equipment.

Thank you to all the workers who came and made a difference at Lican Bible Camp. The Lord was faithful to burden hearts to give of their time, finances, and skill for the Lord's work here in Chile.

the Washington work crew

Liz

Summer Fun!

2011-03-02T07:03:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

It seems funny to me right now to be writing a blog on our summer fun as a family when outside it is raining today. All you know that our summer is a series of hectic moments as we work on camp hosting groups and then preparing camp for the next group. It is non-stop activity from the end of December to the end of February. Lican Bible Camp is blessed with a picture postcard vista of beautiful Lake Calafquen. We made it a point this summer to enjoy the lake once and while. We had really nice sunny days with temperatures in the high 80's, perfect for swimming.

Here are a few pictures of the kids at the lake.

Micah (8 years old)

Matthias (7 years old)

Morgan (4 years old)

Madeline (8 months)

Even neck deep, we can see our feet in the crystal clear lake water. Want to go for a swim?

Liz

An Official Chilean Resident

2011-03-01T06:07:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

When we arrived in Chile, November 2007, we started the process of getting my Chilean Residency Card. The first step was to secure a temporary 1 year visa. Having married a Chilean, and having 3 Chilean children made that process much easier. Once that expired we started the paperwork for the permanent residency card. Just yesterday, we picked it up. It is so nice to have this document in hand. It gives me the freedom to travel and also allows to me to stay in the country without having to secure another temporary visa.

Speaking of paperwork... Because Danny and the kids are chilean citizens we are in the process of securing their Chilean passports so we can leave the country come April. Thinking it would take a while, we went to the civil registry office as soon as we could to get the paperwork started. After filling out all the needed info, paying the fee and getting the pictures taken, we were flabergasted when they said we could come pick up the new passports in a week! That's amazing!

We count it as a blessing from the Lord that all this paperwork got done smoothly.

Liz

Making plans...

2011-02-26T08:46:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

We are finishing our summer camping schedule with one last church leaving this evening to go back to Santiago. So what is next for our family and ministry? Well, we are making plans. In November last year we finished our third year of being in Chile. We are due for a furlough and what better time to schedule it than during our winter months, when there is the least activity on camp. We recently bought our tickets and will be returning to the States on April 19th for a 4 month furlough or home assignment.

Terry and Carol Thompson have kindly accepted to fill in for us while we are gone. They will continue the preaching and teaching ministry in the Liquiñe and Coñaripe churches and will also take care of Lican Bible Camp in our absence. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers in this transition to our home and ministries.

So how does one plan a furlough? We didn't quite know to be honest but the easiest was to grab the calendar and a United States map and start planning our numerous trips. We will fly in to FL and make our way north to Pennsylvania. From there we visit family and friends and end up at our home base in Washington State. We will be traveling many miles in one of the mission's vans. We are contacting our churches and confirming our visit with each and every one of them. We would also LOVE to see as many of our individual supporters as possible while we are back on home assignment. Thank you for praying as we schedule all these meetings.

More to come in future blogs on our furlough preparations.

Liz

TEEN CAMP !!!!!

2011-02-25T06:14:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Teen camp is the most exciting week out of the whole camping season. Teens anticipate this week more than any other and will travel from far away to participate. This year, we had 50 teenagers come from as far as Santiago (Chile´s capital city). Churches and individuals were sent special invitations to come and attend the camp. Excitement was building up very quickly.

The day finally arrived and we were ready to start. Each day campers traveled to a different continent starting with the Americas. The teens enjoyed hamburgers and cookies for dessert for dinner that night! All the games followed the same theme with different activities or games having a focus on different cities in South America or North America.

team unity games

the red team emblem: explorer team

The next day, we traveled to Africa! The teens were divided into two teams: Red and Blue. They developed team unity by working together on a cheer and team song. By the end of the day, they were ready to travel to Asia and then on to Europe.

We are in Asia eating Teriyaki Beef... Can you tell?

now in a fancy restaurant in Italy... on the menu: Lasagna!

The program went very well but it only has value if it doesn't distract from the main emphasis of the camp which is the teaching of God's Word and the time each counselor spent one on one with each one of his campers.

Pastor Nilton Sepulveda was the speaker for the week. It was his first time speaking in a camp setting. He shared his testimony the first night with the group and then used his 2 sessions a day to proclaim the Gospel very clearly. God worked in an amazing way.

we had one service outside

We praise the Lord for 4 teenagers who made professions of faith and many who publicly expressed a desire to serve the Lord with their lives. As you can imagine, the bonfire night was special as we heard the testimonies of what the Lord had accomplished in the lives of the campers.

Great counselors!!!

fun times!!!

Thank you for your prayers for each one who made a decision. We hope to see each one next year and Lord willing see fruit in their lives.

Liz

2011-02-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

Dear Everybody,

Our kids camp, held January 3rd through 6th, was a blast! Our theme for the camp was a race around the world in three days. Each kid was given his own passport and "traveled" to three different continents during his stay.

Our speaker, Ricardo Green (works with CEF in Chile), spoke on turning our back to the things of the world. He did an excellent job of presenting the Gospel clearly to the 50 kids in attendance.

We thank the Lord for beautiful weather which made life on camp just that much more enjoyable. Can you imagine 50 kids cooped up in a small meeting hall? It was wonderful to enjoy the beauty of Lican Ray Bible Camp with no rain!

Continue to pray for the kids that participated in this year's camp. Some left having heard the gospel but not making a decision to trust Christ as Savior. Others did talk to their counselor and took another spiritual step in their walk with the Lord.

Favorite sport of all time!

Beach time!

Camp food YUM!

Thank you for praying,

Liz

We're back!!!

2011-02-23T10:34:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

After 2 months of non-stop work, I am back online and able to update our blog. Hopefully, I can get back into the habit of writting and keep you better informed of what is going on in our lives. With the summer comes many challenges but also many blessings. The work accomplished during the winter months bears fruit during the summer as we minister to people through camping ministry.

We hope to give you an overview of our summer month ministry over the next few blog posts and share with you what the Lord did! Let me just say that there is much to rejoice about! So come back to the blog often and don't miss out on the opportunity to glorify God for what He has done in Lican Ray CHILE.

Liz

2010-07-19T13:07:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

A beautiful sunset on Lago Calafquen. Pucura Beach

And... Volcan Villarrica in his best attire.

Just a glimpse of our neck of the woods. Anybody want to visit?

Liz

What our 4th of July looked like!

2010-07-04T14:45:00.001-07:00

Dear Everybody,

Of course today was the 4th of July but for us in Chile, it was just another Sunday. We did wake up to very stormy weather. The roads were flooded and the temperatures very cool outside. We didn't expect very many people in church since most walk to the service.

This morning we worshipped with our church in Conaripe. If you were to stop by for a visit you would notice many similarities with your own church services in the US. We sang hymns and choruses. We had a time of prayer and sharing. Then we divided into our Sunday School classes. The adults and young people stay in the main room and the kids go with their teacher to another class.

Danny has been preaching through the book of Ephesians. We are now nearing the end of the study after a whole year. Today we learned about the armor of God which is found in Ephesians chapter 6.

After the preaching time, the kids come back to the main auditorium and share what they learned in their class. We are thankful for a young lady from the Bible Intsitute, Pamela, who comes and teaches the kids. They shared a song and their verse for the week.

After the service we had a potluck. This is where the similarities become more scarce. Some brought meat and others salads and deserts. Most of the food was warmed on the only source of heat for the building: a wood stove!

No drinks were served except for "mate" for the adults and some warmed up chocolate milk for the kids. is a crushed, loose tea served in a little tin cup.

They pour hot water into the cup, along with a teaspoon of sugar and sip the liquid trough a special metal straw. Two "mates"got passed around with the meal.

Pamela, Matthias, Micah and Cesar

As we ate and fellowshipped we could hear the wind howling around and through the church floorboards and walls. One definately has to dress with layers to stay warm during the service!

Keep praying for the work in Conaripe. Because of past sin and neglect, the church now needs much prayer and sound teaching to start over again and grow.

Will you pray with us?

Liz

Family

2010-07-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

Our family just returned home yesterday from a trip to Santiago. The main purpose for the trip was to visit our family here in Chile. As missionaries we leave family and friends to go where the Lord calls, but in His goodness to us God provides us with a NEW family and NEW friends.

Back Row: David Flinck, Sharon Bisbee, Dan Kunnari, Daryl Thompson, Hartmut Beyer, Curtis Steward, Dan Thompson, Richard Allen, Jonathan Rea.

Middle: Diana Kunnari, Earlynne Thompson, Diane Steward, Elizabeth Thompson and baby Madeline, Carolina Rea.

Front row: Kristi Flinck and Kaylee, Leah Kunnari and Lukas Flinck, Jordan Flinck, Ben Flinck, Troy Kunnari and Morgan Thompson, Matthias Thompson, Timothy Rea, Micah Thompson and Noemi Rea.

We are thankful for each GMSA missionary here in Chile.

The Rea's are from Northern Ireland and the Canary Islands and serve in Santiago in church planting.

Sharon Bisbee is a single missionary also serving in Santiago. She teaches at the Bible Institute and also ministers weekly at various jails.

Curt and Diane Steward are working in a leadership capacity. He is our field director in Chile. Both teach at the Bible Institute and serve in our churches in the capital.

Dan and Diana Kunnari are new missionaries to Chile. They are serving in Santiago, in a church that went through a split.

In the south of Chile, Daryl and Earlynne Thompson are directing the Bible Institute in Temuco. They are the house parents for the live-in students there. Daryl also teaches classes at the BI.

Hartmut and Gaby Beyer are German missionaries working in association with GMSA. He teaches at the BI in Temuco and she heads up the correspondence course ministry.

David and Krisiti Flinck are also newly arrived on the field. They minister in a church in Temuco with discipleship and also teach at the Bible Institute.

Will you pray for the Chile Field missionaries?

We all have our struggles in ministry. What a joy it is to meet together and through prayer and fellowship, return to our ministries with lighter hearts.

Liz

Part II - The Surprise Project

2010-06-09T06:10:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

It's always exciting to have a work team on camp. Why? Because we can tackle so many projects that are put on hold for lack of manpower. With the Nazaret Cabin remodel as the main project, we thought the NTI team would be busy enough during their stay, but a few days before they arrived our tool shed was broken into and tools stolen. After getting over the shock of the breakin, we decided to make a new and more secure tool shed a priority project. God provided the finances for the project through a donation to the camp so we were ready to start the work.

Here is what the tool shed looked like before. Years ago, when German missionaries were in charge of the camp, the tool shed was actually a chicken coop.

Some big chestnut trees that were leaning over the neighbor's fence had to be taken out to make room for the new shed. The team helped clear the area.

Then started tearing out part of the old shed.

The new shed was then built over the existing tool shed.

We brought a sawmill in which milled up the lumber needed from the trees taken off the camp.

Later the guys installed metal roofing and skylights. One half of the shed is for firewood storage and the other half will be for the shop.

As finances come in to complete the project, we want to pour a cement floor in the shop and enclose it with metal sheeting.

While the men worked on the new shed, the ladies of the team painted the inside of one of our cabins. Unfortunately, over the years, campers have been allowed to write all over the walls and ceilings of the cabins. They leave their autograph and a mesage for prosperity's sake but it looks more like grafiti. The ladies did a great job painting Galilea cabin. Now we will have to finish painting the trim. Only 10 more cabins to go!!!!

Thanks for your prayers for this ministry. As you can tell, there is more work on camp than there is time to accomplish it but little by little projects are getting done. We are thankful for the help NTI was to our ministry here in Chile.

Liz

2010-06-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

The first three weeks of May we hosted Nehemiah Teams International headed by Matt Chamberland. This mission board is based out of South Dakota and this is the second time they have come down to Camp Lican Ray to do some work projects. Each time the team is composed of different team members so we have the privilege of meeting and serving different people. Would you like to join a team and come down to Chile?

Visit: http://nehemiahteamsinternational.org/

The renovation of Nazaret cabin was the main project this time around. The main use for this cabin is as a kids classroom during our summer camps and church rentals. The back part of the cabin had been divided years ago to make room for two smaller bedrooms. Unfortunately, the wood floor in this cabin was rotting out and was a danger for kids and adults alike. The NTI team responded to the challenge of pulling out the old wood floor, doing away with the cabin division and pouring a new cement floor. What a job!

This is Nazaret with the bedroom division and some of the floor taken out.

At least three dump truck loads of fill had to be shoveled into the building to make it higher for the cement floor.

Here are Jeremiah and Evan becoming experts at cement mixing!

We are thankful for this power trowel that made a super nice finish on the floor. Matt spent some sleepless nights working on the floor to get it just right before it was completely dry.

As an added bonus, the team built a deck onto the back of the building so that during the summer, classes could be held outdoors.

Our job will be be to roof it and add some steps, railing and benches.

That is phase one of the Nazaret renovation project. As you can probably see by the pictures, the whole building needs replaced but for lack of finances we are doing it little by little. Next year we hope to tear out the walls, the roof and rebuild.

Come back for the second part of this posting on NTI to see what ended up being the surprise project they tackled.

Liz

Baby Madeline

2010-05-31T12:53:00.001-07:00

Clearing trees and brush on camp

2010-04-13T15:17:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

One of our favorite jobs to do on camp is to clear brush.

I think it's our favorite because we can all participate and do it together. Dan has the monopoly on the chainsaw work and that's fine with us. The boys are great at stacking firewood and hauling off the brush to the burn pile.

Even Morgan has learned to throw firewood into the back of the pickup.

One of our problems on camp right now is the lack of sunlight. We get plenty of rain for which we are thankful for because it keeps everything green. But when the sun does shine, vegetation is so dense that the sunlight doesn't reach the ground. Slowly but surely we have picked areas on camp that need cleared so that we can grow grass and so that other trees which are more picturesque can thrive. People also enjoy the sunshine during the summer because the shade is often very cool.

Work is never ending here on camp, but every little bit counts.

We hope to see volunteers from local churches come to camp and help with this type of work in the near future.

Dan has given the challenge many times and we are praying that the churches see the need and are willing to participate. Would you pray with us?

Liz

Church Service in Llonquen

2010-03-28T15:59:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

Every Sunday Danny preaches in our church in Conaripe.

Twice month, we drive up into the mountains and minister in the church in Liquine. Liz teaches a junior high Sunday School class and Danny teaches the adults.

This past Sunday, Danny visited the church in Llonquen for the first time. The work in Llonquen is new. It is located half way between Conaripe and Liquine.

Matti rode up with Dan

A few people in the Liquine church started the work there and it is under the oversight of the elders in their church. Danny was invited as pastor to preach and celebrate the Lord's supper with the group. We hope to encourage the believers who meet there every so often. They are very starved for good teaching!

short clip of the congregational singing in Llonquen.

Pray with us for this group of 20 or so believers who walk for miles to meet every Sunday. They need a better winterized building but more than that, they need good teaching from the Word of God.

Liz

Friends

2010-03-27T13:50:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

We were so thrilled to have some guests come to our house lately. Mark and Bekah Perry are friends of ours from our Bible College days at Northland Baptist Bible College (now Northland University). During those days, we talked of "some day" getting together again once we were on the mission field. And that day became a reality!

Mark is an assistant pastor in a church in Ohio. They also help out with the Seniors and Teen groups in their church. It was so much fun to reconnect with them and to hear how the Lord is using them.

We also enjoyed showing them our neck of the woods. Of course they fell in love with Lican Camp - Who wouldn't? :). Here's a picture Bekah took of Dan and I on camp property.

We took them to our churches in Conaripe and Liquine. They shared a word of testimony and Bekah joined me in the teen Sunday school I teach.

We went souvenir shopping in Villarrica and Pucon, where they took us out to eat.

Not only did they spoil us with their visit but also brought us some goodies.

What does a missionary miss from the Good Ol' USA?

Chocolate Chips! Bath and Body Works products, Bible study books in English, ziploc bags (yep, I'm not kidding)...

The kids were thrilled with some new walkie talkies and Morgan received some new hair ties. Even our baby girl on the way got some new clothes. Thanks Mark and Bekah!

Mark did me a huge favor when he volunteered to trim the kids' hair for me... no trip to the barber this month! Thanks again Mark!

There would be much, much more to mention but those were the definite highlights. We enjoy visitors so if you get a chance, come and see us!

Liz

New Sign!

2010-03-26T15:26:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

Many people wonder what we do on camp during the "off time" which follows the crazy summer season.

The best answer to that is:

We LOVE working as a family.

Today was one of those opportunities. We each had our job to do and got the work done.

We installed a new camp sign. We had been working on this sign during the last few weeks of camp. Our neighbor carved the words out and Dan and I painted the logo on it. After getting the posts ready, we were finally ready to mount the sign and set it up at the entrance to the camp property.

The boys helped dig the holes and fill in once the posts were in place. They thought they were pretty big stuff posing by their handy work!

After setting up the new sign, we worked on the new parking lot. We used an invention of Danny's to mark out the perimeter and the new parking spots. He turned a coffee can into a useful tool. He attached the can to a stick, poked a few holes in it, and filled it with chalk. As Micah shook the stick, the chalk came out and marked the line. Voila! Morgan and Matti's job was to hold down the rope while the line was being marked.

Later Dan went into our woods and thinned out a few slim trees that we will use to make the parking spots more defined. Of course Danny had lots of fun while doing that!

Here's Morgan, showing you a beautiful Copihue: Chile's National Flower

Thanks for your prayers as we continue to work on camp in the days ahead.

Liz

Will you Pray?

2010-01-24T14:31:00.000-08:00

TEEN CAMP LOGO 2010

Dear everybody,

Summer is definately a hectic time for our family. On the heels of a pastor and missionary camp, comes a youth group renting the grounds for a 2 day retreat. Following that, we start up our family camp. We are expecting families from all over the region and also some coming from the capital city for a week long camp.

Before the end of family camp week, we will be traveling up to Santiago on bus, to then catch a plane to Argentina. Another missionary family will give us a ride to the Paysandu Bible Camp where we will attend our GMSA annual missionary conference. The conference lasts one week and then we will do the whole process back to Chile to arrive just in time for our teen camp at Lican.

Will you pray for us? We are tired and getting worn out. Each week brings its blessings and challenges but we look forward to each one. As we work hard and pray faithfuly we are watching God at work in the lives of adults, teens and kids.

Pray with us for spiritual fruit from this hectic time in our ministry.

We would especially covet your prayers for safety as we travel on the 28th of January and back on the 6th of February.

Pray for strength for Liz as she has entered her 6th month of pregnancy.

Pray for the preparations for teen camp underway.

We are thankful for a team of volunteers helping in getting things lined up for the camp while we are out of the country.

Thank you for your prayers.

Liz

Youth Camp NEWS

2010-01-17T07:29:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Here is our brochure for our youth camp 2010. Pray with us that a good number of church kids as well as unsaved kids would attend and hear God's Word preached. The dates for the camp are February 8th through the 13th.

Liz

A New Family Picture

2009-12-27T12:39:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

So today we just decided to DO IT. Do what? Get that dreaded family picture taken. We have been planning on doing this for a while now, but it never seems to be the right timing. Either one of the kids fell and has a huge scrape accross their face, or at least one of them is not in a smiling mood.

After church today, while we were all still looking put together and clean, we set up the camera and got that chore taken care of. I hope you like the result.

Liz

PS: We changed the color to black and white because we needed it that way for a mission annual report.

2009-12-22T13:54:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

So it's been a month since I have posted on this blog of ours. I wish I had an excuse but I don't. If I were to claim some reasons for not writing, here would be some of them:

1) Our busy time has begun: We are hosting churches over the weekends while finishing up the last few projects on our "to-do" list before the summer rush starts in January.

2) I am half way through my pregnancy: which means I am either overly tired or trying to catch up on some rest. I have been enjoying a pregnancy where my kids are older and a little more independent. They have helped around the house but still there are many needs that only Mom can meet.

3) Teaching end of the year Bible studies: my ladies Bible study in Lican ended and thanks to God's working in hearts, it ended well. I am so pleased to have been His instrument in teaching these past few months. It took many hours of preparation and studying the Bible in Spanish! Not only did I teach the Lican Bible study but also the end of year retreat for the Liquine ladies. I don't know what is more nerve racking: teaching a group of ladies you have gotten to know over the course of a few months and think you should be doing better in Spanish or teaching a group of new ladies who don't know anything about you! But God is faithful and present in time of need. The words flowed and when they didn't, the ladies helped out! It was a blessing.

4) Work on camp and feeding extra people: Because we are attempting to finish projects, we have asked for more help. Victor and his son, Dan, have come to help. They are renovating a house that their family will live in during the summer on camp. While they worked on their kitchen, I fixed lunch and dinner for them. The last three months we have had very few days with just 5 people at the dinner table.

I could give many more reasons that would equaly fill you in on my lack of time lately to write but I did want to apologize to those who do follow the blog regularly.

Thank you for your prayers and interest in our family and ministry. We rely on every one of them!

Liz

A Camp Ministry Opportunity

2009-11-18T08:51:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

At the beginning of the month of October, we received a phone call from one of our national pastors from the north of Chile. For a number of years, Pastor Guillermo Soto had pastored the Villarrica Bible Church located about 20 minutes from Camp Lican Ray, a church we attended for a year while living in Villarrica. His purpose for calling was to rent the camp for 5 days and bring a school group down from the town of Vallenar in north where he is currently pastoring. His son just graduated from a public high school and his class needed a place to go on their senior trip.

We were thrilled to welcome this school group of 40 to the camp on November 13th. Some of the teens attend the Bible Church in Vallenar but the majority were unsaved. They came with some parents who helped with food preparation and crowd control.

Each morning, Pastor Guillermo gave a devotional from God's Word. He also had the opportunity to pray before each meal and spend one-on-one time with each teen.

They LOVED camp!

The city they are from is 24 hours north and is located in a desert part of Chile, where everything is dry and dusty. What a shock it was for these teens to see our beautiful green and lush camp! They enjoyed the view of the lake and even took a brave dip in its cold waters during their stay. Most did not want to go home after their five days in the south.

What was most exciting about their time with us? A young teenage girl accepted the Lord as her savior! In addition, each teen accepted a Gospel of John Bible track. We were also able to give a Bible to the young lady. Seeing this, another teenage boy asked if we might have an extra one for him. He had been reading the pastor's Bible during the five days on camp but didn't have a Bible of his own! Of course we jumped at the chance to give him a Bible also.

Our new sister in Christ, Valesca is seated second from the right, next to Micah.

As they left we started praying that God's Word would change lives, that these teens would take the time to read the gospel tracks and reflect on their condition before an Almighty and Holy God, and make a decision. We are looking forward to staying in contact with Pastor Soto and asking him in the next few months if there was any more fruit from the ministry of the camp here in Lican Ray.

Liz

An Updated Family Picture

2009-11-07T06:22:00.001-08:00

Dear Everybody,

Have you forgotten what we look like? This is an attempt at getting a new family picture taken on a Sunday morning a few weeks ago. We are hoping to try again soon and maybe getting a new prayer card made and sent out to you.

Dan and Elizabeth

Micah (7yrs. old), Morgan (3yrs old) and Matthias (5yrs old)

Thanks again for your prayers for our family. We depend on the work of God in our personal lives and also on His working in our ministry here in Chile.

You are an integral part of our ministry through your prayers. Thank you!

Liz

It's been too long!!!!

2009-11-04T11:07:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Posting on the blog is so easy and I don't really have any good excuse for not having written. So, my apologies for the great lapse of time between posts for all of you who faithfuly come on the blog. Thanks for not giving up on us! We do appreciate your prayers.

Our biggest news as of late is not concerning camp. It isn't about Chile or Lican Ray either.

It really is important to us though as a family and that is that we will be welcoming a new member of the family in May 2010.

YES! I am expecting again. I have just finished my third month of pregnancy and I am feeling ok. Some of you might know this and some of you might not, but I was very sick during my other three pregnancies. We are thankful that this one has been milder. I do covet your prayers concerning my health and the baby's for the remaining 6 months. We will be extremely busy with camps and ministry responsibilities for the summer, but are so excited about this new gift from God.

Liz

The Makings of a Greenhouse

2009-09-01T16:45:00.001-07:00

Dear everybody,

Dan loves to plant... anything really, but especially things that later he can harvest and eat! We have miscellaneous pots in the house right now with herbs and flowers that he likes to grow from seed. He keep many different seeds from fruit he eats, or from plants he has liked along the road. So the idea came to transfer these plants growing out of yogurt containers on my window sill to a greenhouse where Dan can grow vegetables of all kinds for our eating pleasure.

The kids of course took a liking to the idea. Dan let them each pick one packet of seeds to plant indoors first. Morgan picked out the yummy cherry tomatoes. Peanut's mouth watered just thinking about his watermelon seeds producing and Micah picked out the green pepper packet... must have liked the picture on the front... So they planted their seeds and had a blast doing it.

But then the work started for Dan. He had to get the backyard ready first. There were trees to remove to make room for some sunlight and then some stumps to take out.

Then, Dan plowed the soil up with a pick, throwing out any unwanted roots. He set up a sturdy 2x4 base and then used PVC for the rest of the frame.

I helped him on the stickier part of getting the plastic up and over the frame and tacking it down.

This evening, Matthias and Dan planted the first few rows of radishes. Peanut just sat himself down in the dirt afterward just waiting for these radishes to pop right out, ready to eat... What a disappointment to find out he would have to wait a little while longer!

Tomorrow, the rest of the seeds get planted. And then my job will begin.... WEEDING!!!!

Liz

A New Ministry Opportunity

2009-08-26T10:02:00.001-07:00

Dear everybody,

Last Sunday was a special day for us. After attending a regular morning service at our church in Conaripe, and eating a quick lunch, we packed ourselves in a van and headed into the mountains.

Dan was asked at the latest district meeting to help with the preaching and teaching in the UCB Church of Liquine and our new Conaripe church family decided to go with us for the first Sunday up there.

The church in Liquine was started by Gospel Mission of South America missionaries 50 years ago, but just recently has found itself without a pastor. Dan and I will be traveling up at least twice a month to go and minister to the congregation.

The trip was an interesting one! Leaving Conaripe, it's over an hour long drive on gravel roads, going straight up and down switch backs and curves. We saw breathtaking rivers, gorges and valleys surrounded by lush vegetation and towering snowcapped mountains.

I know it's small!!! On the top left is where we live in Lican Ray, then to the right in the middle is where the Conaripe church is located. Finally on the bottom right, close to the Argentine border is the location of the Liquine Church.

We arrived at the church in time for the service... our first stop? the wood stove. We were pretty frozen when we got there. We enjoyed the wonderful time of worship with guitares and accordion accompanying the singing.

Then Dan got up to share his salvation testimony and message from God's Word. It was neat for us and for the few that accompanied us from the Conaripe church, to see the thirst the Liquine people had for sound Bible teaching. They were on the edge of their seats and the message went long! Many of the people had walked 2 to 3 miles to be at the service and we were having record low temperatures and rain that night.

We would appreciate your prayers for the Liquine church.

We are praying that God would also touch the heart of a young man or couple and call them to this needy ministry of visiting and pastoring the many country churches still without fulltime pastors.

Liz

Anthony and Heather

2009-08-25T06:27:00.001-07:00

Dear everybody,

We had the privilege of hosting two short-termers for a couple weeks. Anthony and Heather are from Pennsylvania and came to Lican Ray Bible Camp to WORK and that's exactly what they did!

We had a few projects planned out for them and they saw them through to the end.

Here is a sampling of the work they did:

1) Clean and paint the camp bathrooms - Heather did the majority of the painting and on her own for that matter. She got a little tired of that periwinkle color in the girl's bathroom!

2) Take out the rotten wood flooring in the camp kitchen pantry and replace it with a cement floor - Anthony helped with this project which entailed taking out a block wall dividing the kitchen from the pantry.

3) Framing up and pouring sidewalks in front of the main meeting hall and bathrooms.

5) Painting the kitchen walls and cupboards - Once again this job fell to Heather.

4) Raking leaves and burning brush on camp.

6) Build a covered porch in front of the administrator's house - Anthony works in carpentry so this was a fun project for him.

We worked hard but we also took some time off to relax. Sundays, they accompanied us to church in Conaripe and got to taste first hand some Chilean cooking and hospitality. We also took them for a trip up into the mountains to the hot springs for a dip.

May God watch and care over Anthony and Heather as they return home and may He guide them in their walk with Him.

Liz

GOATS !!!

2009-08-24T14:06:00.001-07:00

Dear Everybody,

The past few weeks have been full of activities for us, not only camp activities but personal family ones as well. I would like in the next few blog posts catch you up on these activities but I will start with the most interesting and fun for our family: Purchasing goats!

One of the young couples in our church in Conaripe was selling some of their goats. This gave Dan an idea. Goats are relatively easy to care for and reproduce like rabbits, which is to say, very quickly. We thought long and hard about it and decided to buy a few goats.

Here are a few of our reasons:

- Meat producers for our family= Goats can have up to 2 kids a year (and most of the time they have twins)

- Brush clearers= Goats can eat just about anything and are great brush clearers. We are overwhelmed with brush on camp.

- Easy to care for= Our kids can lead the goats out on a leash to pasture during the day. they are very docile animals.

- The start of a petting zoo = we would like to have a mini petting zoo for the kids who come during family camp to enjoy.

- New responsibilities for Micah, Matthias and Morgan= they are learning what it means to care for our new "pets".

Dan, with the help of another young man, built a nice pen and shed for the goats and last week, we went and picked them up.

It was out in the country, about an hour away from our house. It was pouring down rain that day and the goats were nowhere to be found when we got there. Dan and the boys climbed the hills all over the property looking for them. They got soaked in the process and enjoyed getting warmed up by the stove for a bit.

Finally, in the afternoon, the goats came down the hill and we were able to take four of them home with us. That was a fun process.

The goats are enjoying their new pen, and today we were took them to pasture. They are getting used to their new surroundings very quickly. We are discovering each one of their personalities and qwirks.

Liz

Raking on Camp

2009-07-29T09:59:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

We love our beautiful Lican Ray Bible Camp. The property is covered with beautiful trees of all different species.

What results from having lots on trees on camp is lots of branches and leaves to rake up in the winter!

What a job! This time around we started a little earlier in the year since we are actually living on camp now. We've been at it with the kids for the past few weeks, working most afternoons after they get done with their schooling.

Yesterday, we had Teresa, a young lady from the El Tume church, call and ask if she could come to camp and work wherever needed. We never turn anyone down that wants to work!

She worked really hard and got the main part of camp cleaned of all leaves and branches.

Dan used the pitchfork to pick up the piles and throw them in the bed of the pickup.

Even Morgan helped!

Then we would drive to another part of camp to dump the leaves.

This was our kids' favorite part of the job! They helped push on the tarp to dump the leaves out and then got to jump in the piles.

We appreciate all who sacrifice of their time to come and work on camp.

The work is never ending but it is gratifying at the end of a day's work to see progress.

Liz

Where have we been?

2009-07-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

It has been so long since I have posted on the blog that I don't really know where to begin. I am hoping in the next few days to make the time to update all of you who have been following the blog faithfully.

The latest thing on our agenda was a trip to the capital city of Santiago last week. Dan and I were asked by the admnistrator of Pirque Bible Camp to come and give some work shops on counseling to their prospective counselors and helpers.

We droppped the kids off with Uncle David and Auntie Kristi in Temuco, and drove up to the BIG city. What a difference from our little town of Lican Ray!

Pirque Bible Camp at the foot of the Andes Mountains

We enjoyed the beautiful day God gave us and ended up teaching in the great outdoors on camp Pirque. It was a very profitable time for both the counselors and for us.

We realized after the sessions with the counselors and also a session with the current administrator and his assistant that this part of our ministry was vital for the camps.

We need to be doing much more training and capacitating of camp staff.

Pray with us that we could organize and clear our schedules to make room for more training opportunities in the south, central and northern camps.

Liz

Anniversary of the Conaripe Church

2009-05-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

May 21st in Chile is a national holiday. It was a special day for our family for two different reasons. First of all it was Morgan's 3rd birthday. Second, it was the anniversary of our new church in Conaripe. The congregation held an all-day get together and special meals at the church. We celebrated Morgan's birthday the day before knowing that we would not be around to celebrate it on the day of.

Yesterday was a stormy, rainy day. The church in Conaripe is located around lake Calafquen, about a fifteen minute drive from the camp. It is much closer to the mountains and therefore usually has cooler temperatures.

The church celebrated 16 years of worshiping in their current building. The congregation used to count 70 to 80 people in attendance but now, only a handful come to the services. They had been without a pastor for 2 years and are starved for good teaching from the Word of God.

Yesterday, however, was a day of remembering the past and looking toward the future.

How do Chileans celebrate?

Well, they celebrate by eating together, drinking mate together and laughing together!

We were served a typical Chilean soup called Casuela, along with different salads and home-baked pastries. Delicious!

We drank enormous quantities of sweet Mate (loose leaf special tea).

After lunch, the ladies cleaned up the dishes and got ready for the service. Many people shared testimonies of years past and then Danny gave a message from God's Word, sharing about the two fold purpose of the believers on earth, namely to be salt and light in this world.

He admonished the congregation to also look toward the future and not dwell on the past!

Nehemias (Nehemiah)

We are praying for the church in Conaripe to bear fruit. We want to invest our lives, not only in the current generation but also in the next.

Belen (Bethlehem)

After the service, we sat down once again for a meal! This time it was an "asado" (barbecue).

It was pouring down rain and the storm was raging outside but that didn't dampen spirits any. They built their fire and put the "disco" (metal disc)on the hot coals ready to grill.

The meat ends up being stir-fried with onions, bell peppers and carrots and cooks in its own juices.

YUM!!!!!

God opened up this opportunity for us to minister in this church. We are getting to know our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Pray with us that we can be a blessing to the church and that God would do a work in hearts and transform lives for His glory.

Liz

Part 3 of our vacation trip to Chiloe

2009-05-14T07:54:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

Our family really enjoyed our time in the islands. For Dan it brought back many memories and to see his kids walk the same streets he walked as a child was neat. Micah, Matthias and Morgan LOVED the ferry rides and spotting porpoises and seals in the cold waters of the pacific.

The wind on the ferry was cold but the kids were nice and warm in their wool sweaters and knit hats purchased in Dalcahue.

Above: The kids are sitting on the dock on one of our daily walks. We were glad to have brought their rubber boots along for the trip so that they could tromp along on the muddy beaches.

Here the kids are standing on a version of an old anchor system used in the past in the islands.

Micah wore his "chilote" sweater like a second skin. It kept him toasty warm, even if he did smell like a sheep!
Thanks for following the blog.
I'm hoping that the articles give you a glimpse of our life here in Chile.
We would love to hear back from you.
Don't hesitate to comment!

Liz

Part II of our vacation trip to Chiloe

2009-05-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

We spent four days in the Chiloe Islands. Every day we walked down to the docks. On the way we noticed many different things.

One of the differences we noticed was the siding on the houses. Most of the houses have wood shingles - all different shapes and sizes.

Reaching the docks, the boys loved looking at all the boats and smelling the fishy sea air. The salmon and shell fish industries keep the islands alive economically.

Below - Here are a bunch of clams ready for shipment to the mainland.

Here is a fish market store. Can you recognize some of the different types of fish or seafood offered on the menu?

The islands have a beauty all their own. Danny was glad that we had rainy and windy weather because that is the typical weather down there.

Our hosts during our time were Rafael and Paola Arroyo. They are Chilean but from the capital city of Santiago. At age fifteen Rafa took a trip down to the Islands and God called him to ministry during that time. He met Paola during his years in Bible Institute and soon after they were married they moved down to the islands to minister. They have served the Lord for 17 years, preaching and teaching in the islands.

Above, is the church in Dalcahue where they minister. We enjoyed a Sunday service worshiping the Lord together. I shared my testimony and Danny preached in the evening service.

What a neat experience to visit the islands and gain a fresh perspective of the Lord's work in a different part of Chile.

Come back soon to view more pictures of our time in Chiloe,

Liz

Our vacation trip to the Chiloe Islands

2009-05-09T10:26:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

Last week, Dan returned from a two day pastor's retreat held three hours south of where we live, in Puerto Montt. He walked in the door and announced that he was ready to take our family on a vacation and that we should go to the Chiloe Islands. Some of you know that Dan was born in the islands, in the town of Achao. He hadn't been back to visit in 13 years. So I packed up our bags and we set off on our vacation.

The kids traveled well for us. The scenery was beautiful. The farther south we got, the greener the grass.

We traveled all the way to Dalcahue. Can you find it on the map? We took a ferry to cross over from the mainland to the Island of Chiloe.

Gospel Mission of South America has had many years of ministry in the islands. The majority of the islands were very remote and it was not uncommon to meet people who had never stepped foot onto the mainland.

Dan's folks, Terry and Carol Thompson, held evangelistic meetings using a boat to travel and carry all their equipment (tents, etc...) to and from all the different islands.

This ministry still continues today with "El Mensajero II" with its captain Misael Avendano.

Misael and Dan had some good opportunities to talk about the boat and its ministry. Unfortunately for the past year, the boat has been on shore because of motor problems.

Would you pray that a solution would be found in order for the gospel to reach people on the islands?

The Catholic Church has had a major stronghold in the islands. Hundreds of years ago, Jesuit priests came and built huge catholic churches which still stand today.

This is the catholic church in Achao, the town where Dan was born.

Come back to the blog soon to meet Rafael and his wife Paola who have been national missionaries in the islands for 17 years and to hear what else we saw and did during our trip.

Liz

Family Heritage

2009-04-20T10:45:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

I LOVE the new technology that missionaries have at their disposal in this day and age. One in particular that I enjoy is talking through the computer (FREE of CHARGE) to my family scattered around the world.

Some of you might not know this, but I (Liz) grew up as a missionary kid in France. My parents, Mike and Elva Farrell, just celebrated their 27th anniversary of being on the field. They shared their memories of arriving in France with three kids (3 and under), 9 pieces of luggage and countless carry-ons!

27 years ago in France
Emily, Elizabeth and Esther Farrell

Mike and Elva Farrell, missionaries with Baptist Mid-Missions in Reims, FRANCE.

Not only do my parents still serve in France, but my younger sister, Esther, is heading that way with her husband and family. They are currently living in Indiana raising support to go to France as full time missionaries.

Marc and Esther
Owen, Emma, Sophia and Keegan

My older sister, Emily, lives with my parents in France and is involved with their ministry. Even with her handicap (Downs Syndrome) she is a blessing to the church.

We have been able to visit my parents periodically and hope to go again in the future. We are also excited about someday showing them a bit of Chile, our new home.

I am thankful for the heritage I have as an MK with parents still serving the Lord faithfully today. Our prayer as a family is that God would grant us the privilege of serving Him in Chile at least as long.

Liz

Chestnuts everywhere!

2009-04-11T06:46:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

We have many different kinds of trees on camp but at this time of year, we notice one in particular. All day and all night we hear the chestnuts falling to the ground, hitting metal roofs on the way down. Many of the big chestnuts were planted years ago by German missionaries who lived on camp in its beginning.

Here in Chile, chestnuts are treated like a potato. People buy them, boil them, shell them and then mash them up just like we would do to a potato. They are high in starch and carbohydrates.

Tomorrow, we head to church in Villarrica. The kids volunteered to pick up chestnuts for anyone at church who would want some. They picked up a whole wheelbarrow full (about 40 lbs worth!).

While the kids were picking up chestnuts, Danny was painting our house a chestnut color! Our project for the house this month was to get the siding painted. The siding is made out of cement board and needed a couple coats of paint before the rains come this winter. April seemed like the perfect month to get this project done with less rain and more sun.

We started with the back side of the house just in case the chestnut stain color was not the right one. In the end, it looks beautiful so we continued onto the front side facing the camp.

Danny did most of the painting up on the scaffolding.

The house will need a second coat of chestnut stain, but it went on very easily which was a nice surprise.

What do you think? Do you like it?

The Lord has been faithful in allowing us to move forward on one project a month for the house. We are thankful for those who have donated financially for some of the projects.

There are still many things that need done on the house, but we are taking them one month at a time.

Thank you for your prayers as we continue to work.

Liz

Rainy Days

2009-04-06T15:14:00.001-07:00

Dear Everybody,

Our weather has definitely turned to Fall. Sunny days are being replaced by cooler, foggy ones but I still believe we live in one of the most beautiful parts of Chile.

It has rained these past four days now, and the camp is decorated with puddles. Of course the kids just love that! Each one of them owns a pair of rubber boots so that they can go outside and still enjoy playing.

The Lord has been faithful to us in providing for our every need. This month we were able to buy each of them new shoes for our "outings" to town and church on Sundays.

Both the boys needed winter coats as well and we were pleased to find some good deals in Temuco over the the weekend. They will be nice and warm this winter!

Having spent some years in Washington State has prepared us for the rainy and damp weather here in the south of Chile. We feel privileged to serve Him here.

Liz

Lots of Work!

2009-03-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

This is the view of Lake Calafquen that up till a few days ago was hidden from view on the camp. The Lican camp is located right on this beautiful lake and the campers enjoy swimming in its clear, clean waters. Unfortunately, brush and trees have grown up and overtaken many areas on camp and blocked the view of the beach. People have nowhere to sit and just talk and enjoy the view.

One area in particular, very close to the entrance to the beach was in need of a makeover.

The beach is just beyond those trees. We started working on this area last week. Our only crew was our family but the kids are learning was it means to lend hand and work hard!

This is the result after days or cutting, raking, burning, and cleaning up. We are hoping to pour some nice round cement table that will be weatherproofed for the rainy weather we often get around these parts.

Micah did his part by cutting away smaller trees. Morgan raked and Matti helped clean-up the trash that littered the area.

We are looking forward to seeing families, teens, and kids use this area for relaxation. We hope to pour 10 tables that can accomodate 6-8 people each so that churches can have the option of having their meetings or special meals outside.

Many projects on camp are just like this one. There is barely any cost involved just a lot of hard work!

Thank you for your prayers as we continue to work on camp. We know God will use these beautiful grounds for His glory and for a harvest of souls this year.

Liz

A Weekend Youth Retreat

2009-03-23T16:08:00.000-07:00

Dear Everybody,

We had the privilege over this past weekend to participate in a youth group retreat from our own church in Villarrica. Dan spoke twice during the retreat. About half of the kids present were not church kids and were hearing the gospel for the very first time.

We were thrilled to see the camp used during the "off" season. We are hoping to get the youth groups from churches in the area together for a combined retreat. Many of these kids don't see others from the same fellowship of churches. What an encouragement it would be to spend time together around the Word of God! Please pray with us that this event would take place. We are hoping to plan it for the spring when the weather is better.

Liz

A few hours at the beach

2009-03-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Dear everybody,

A few days ago, we decided to walk down to the beach and spend some time with the kids. It felt like one of the last days of summer before fall comes. Now that camps are over, the grounds are extremely quiet and peaceful. Of course the kids miss all the friends they made this past summer!

Here are a few pictures of our outing:

Micah learned to swim this past summer. He also learned to dive. He loves to dive off of his Dad's shoulders.

Matthias can't dive yet but he loves getting launched into the water. He does fairly well swimming.

All three kids enjoy the water and the sun.

The boys are back to school to finish their last semester. Please pray for them as they endeavor to pick right back up after a whole summer off.

Liz

The end of a season

2009-02-21T04:57:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

When we arrived in Chile at the end of November 2007, we spent a few months getting our feet on the ground in the capital city of Santiago. In March 2008 we moved to the town of Villarrica, 8 hours south of the capital and a half hour from the Lican Ray camp, our main ministry.

The Pastor of our church in Villarrica helped us find suitable housing for our family and we ended up renting for a year.

Today, Dan is handing in the keys of the house to the landlords and we are saying goodbye to Villarrica and hello to Lican. Since mid-October we have been living at the camp but with our belongings still at the house in Villarrica. It is a good feeling to be turning that page of our ministry here in Chile.
We are "full-time" now at the camp, living on the grounds and ministering to the different groups coming to use the camp.

As fall approaches, we are endeavoring to finish the construction on the new administrator's house. In the next blog post, I want to give you a tour of "my" new house. We are so thankful for the Lord's provision for our needs and for even some of our wants.

Thank you so much for your prayers for us as we serve Him here.

Liz

We're still alive and well

2009-02-19T04:35:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

I look at our blog and at the last time I actually posted something and I am embarrassed that it was so long ago . This past summer has been a whirlwind of activity for our family. You see, the summer months, December through February are our busiest months as camp director. Before that we were concentrating our efforts on the new administrator's house being built and the process of moving in. Thank you so much for your prayers because I type I am sitting in the new house!

In the next few posts I would love to tell you all about what we've been up to so I will endeavor to do just that, with pictures too. Next week we head up to Santiago once again where we will be attending the wedding of one of GMSA's MKs. We will be spending time with David and Kristi Flink (Kristi is Dan's sister), brand new missionaries on the field. David does a really nice job writting on his blog (www.chilejournal2@blogspot.com) and I hope to spend some time with him, learning the ropes to improve our ministry bog.

So 'till next time. We are thankful for all your prayers for us.

liz

Preparing for our Trip to Santiago

2008-12-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Saturday we are planning on leaving early and heading to Santiago. From our town of Lican Ray, it's a 8 to 9 hour drive so we like to be ready before we leave.

Bethany has been working with the kids and getting caught up on school. They have been hard at work and accomplishing much after their month long break.

Danny and I went to town to take our van in for a "Revision Tecnica". Every year, vehicles in Chile need to pass a test. Many things are checked as the vehicle passes through. We knew the shocks on the van would not pass the test so we got those changed before we took the van in.

We are really looking forward to our trip up north. Our trip north has 2 purposes. Danny and MAtthias need to renew their US passports at the American embassy. The trip will give Bethany the chance to see some Chilean countryside as we travel and to meet the Chile Field GMSA missionaries. The Christmas missionary potluck is the second purpose and something our family enjoyed last year and we are sure to enjoy it this year also!

Just a few pictures of Morgan with the new little chick and with her Dad.

Thank you for your prayers for us as we travel up on Saturday and return to camp on Tuesday,

Liz

Work, Work, Work

2008-12-16T03:15:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

We have started the week working full force. Dan and I keep busy working on the house while Bethany teaches the boys in school. We are all trying to stay organized and get as much done as possible.

It is encouraging to see progress being made not only on the house but also on the camp. Today we hired a backhoe and machine operator to work on the beach and also dig up some old stumps on camp. Of course, the boys and Morgan loved watching the machine at work. As far as the house is concerned, we are focusing our time on the bathroom. The sheet rock is hung, mudded and taped and soon the bathroom will be ready for the floor tile. How exciting!

Here are a few pictures to keep you up to date:Thank you for keeping us in your prayers,

Liz

Our New Short-termer

2008-12-14T10:46:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Last Wednesday, our family jumped into the van and headed to the Temuco airport to pick up a new member of our family. A few months ago, our general director of the mission wrote to the missionaries to give them the opportunity of inviting, Bethany Heckman,a short-termer to live with them for a year. After some prayer we decided to respond and invite Bethany into our home. Through emails we started to get to know each other better and also introduced our family to her. Her desire was to minister primarely to missionary kids on the mission field.

Little by little we are getting to know her better. The kids have fallen in love with her and I really appreciate her sweet spirit and willingness to serve. She will be homeschooling the boys and helping us in the camping ministry here in Lican. She is learning to use the little Spanish she knows already and spends time every day studying the Spanish books she brought with her.

We thank the Lord for bringing Bethany into our family and ministry this year.

Here is a picture of her trying out "Mate", a south american tea, for the first time.
Thank you for praying for Bethany as she adjusts to a new home life, new responsibilities, and a new culture.

Liz

a few pictures of camp Lican Ray

2008-12-06T04:39:00.001-08:00

Dear everybody,
For those who don't know the camp very well, here are a few pictures of camp.

2008-12-05T05:08:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

Now that the work team is gone, we are left with what seems like an insurmountable task and that is to finish the house. What makes it more difficult is that we are also gearing up for our first camping season here at Lican Ray Camp. This weekend (Dec 6-8) is the first church retreat the camp will be hosting. All in all there isn't much that involves our family as such during the camp itself but we are "it" for all the clean-up and maintenance on the grounds before and after the retreat.

We have already passed throughout the camp and cleaned up all the cabins. Matthias helped pick up trash, as Micah and I swept each one out. Today, Danny is weed eating the entrance, around the cabins and making sure everything looks neat and picked up for the church group. We will be waxing the floor in the main building, cleaning out bathrooms and taking the 6 barrels of trash out to the main road for the weekly pick-up. During this time, the construction on the new admin. house is put on hold.

We would appreciate your prayers during this time of juggling family responsibilities, new house needs and the camp.

Counting it a privilege to serve the Lord here in Chile,

Liz

All alone

2008-12-03T04:27:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,
Last night we got our short termer, Greg Thompson, on a bus to Santiago. We are feeling a little overwhelmed with the work that is remaining but so glad that he was able to come down and help us for two months. Right before he left he worked on getting all the plumbing run throughout the house and also the gas line. We are so thankful for his ministry to us and his willing spirit to do anything asked of him, even watch the kids for us some evenings.

Welcome to our blog

2008-11-20T06:17:00.000-08:00

Dear everybody,

This is how I usually start my weekly emails to friends and family but for a few months now, Dan and I have been considering a blog. Many of our supporters have been asking us to start a blog to keep them better informed on our ministry and family news. So here it goes! Hopefully it will be interesting to those who want to read it and make them feel even more a part of our lives and ministry on the field.

Liz