Felipe

Pray for Felipe from the Talca church.  He was one of our translators and bonded with our team.  He will be defending his thesis on March 8th.  Pray for wisdom, peace, and a clear mind as he prepares and as he defends.  Pray for a fair exam and a good dialogue with the examiner.

Testimony from Talca Trip

I would like to share with you what I shared with our church on the Sunday following our return…

1^st relationships – The Talca church share our mission… love God and love people. They made an effort to learn several English phrases “God bless you” and “I love you”. They were very sincere and excited we were there to help them. You could feel the love radiating from them.  They are very proud of family and wanted to tell and show us about them.  Although there was a language barrier we were able to still communicate especially during the construction time. People are the same all around the world and that was evident as they enjoyed joking during work and meal time just as we do. They express love through food and we were fed (loved) very well.

2^nd Praising God – They directed all praise to God. The bus driver would not take any credit for the various times he used his buses to transportation us to destinations hours away, instead he pointed upward to God so he would get the glory. The pastor’s wife also, was constantly raising her hands upward toward God so he would get the praise. We (Americans) often times take credit for God working through us.

3^rd God Provides – These church members have limited resources, but their willingness to share was overwhelming. Many Americans give only when they have excess; however, these people gave and treated us like family. The Chileans are happy people and did not seem concerned with materiality like many Americans do. They put people first and you did not hear anyone complaining (like we do a lot of times). I know God will provide well from them. Our real reward is in heaven and I am sure their rewards will be great.

4^th God talks to us – I felt God was actually smiling and sensed his pleasure as he was looking down at us during the mountain trip. He put in my mind that he was literally smiling (I had never put a face to God before, Jesus yes, but not God) and how pleased he was watching us enjoy what he had created and the fellowship we were enjoying (only God can create and what we saw was very beautiful and he had the fore thought to give us sight).

5^th Realization -  The sad part is, it took 5,000 miles for me to know people in this church. Americans tend to isolate ourselves and become busy with our own lives. We seem to fill our days with stuff instead of people and how we can serve them.

6^th Opportunity to share – Sharing the Talca experience at work this week led to a gentleman asking about our church. He doesn’t like the church his wife attends and is looking for one for himself. I invited him to ours and directed him to the church website so he could hear one of Pastor Dave’s wonderful sermons.

My Wish – I wish I could share this experience with my grandmother (she has been deceased since 1972). She was a widow when mom was 5 and  never remarried. She believed the CMA’s mission to tell others about Christ so much so that she gave ½ of her meager earnings to the church. She would be pleased to see how this church supports missions and your willingness to tell and share God with others.

I believe we helped those in Talca in a physical way and gave them encouragement with their church construction project; however, we walked away with something more valuable, a spiritual awakening and a sense of how our priorities at times need to change.

Please join me in prayer…..

Dear Heavenly Father,

1^st and foremost, we give you all the honor, praise and glory. You are an awesome God. A God who is everywhere – we felt your presence as your children gathered together in Chile and we feel your presence now as we worship you in Centerville.

Thank you Father, for this congregation before us; for their willingness to support mission work by sending church representatives to other areas, their financial support, and their constant prayers so others around the world may be reached.

Please use each of us in this congregation to be a light for you within our own community/workplace and encourage those who have thoughts about serving you in places outside this community that you will help and equip them. As opportunities arise, please help us to be aware of them and allow you to work in us.

Father please give to our bother Filipe in Talca the words to defend his dissertation in March. May there be no more delays and that the professors will find his presentation favorable.

In your son’s precious name   Amen

Brothers and Sisters in Talca,

Thank you for the love, kindness, and generosity you have shown to our team members. You shared a part of yourselves and created lasting memories which each of us will carry in our hearts. May the Lord bless each of you abundantly.

Sharon Kirk

Talca Rebuild Partnership

Talca Rebuilding Partnership 2012 “The God of heaven will give us success; therefore we His servants will arise and build” Nehemiah 2:20 Once again, CCC will partner with the Alliance church in Talca to assist them in rebuilding their sanctuary after the earthquake of 2010. A team from CCC has just returned from Talca and helped them with the building foundation. The floor will soon be poured and steel beams will be going up. Once finished, the new sanctuary will be a shining light for Christ in Talca. The Talca church still needs help! As a part of our partnership, for every one dollar that the Talca church members raise in 2012, CCC is challenged to raise two dollars. The goal is $12,000 and will be a much needed help for them to finish out the building. Prayerfully consider giving to the Talca Rebuild.

Sharing at Church

We had 20 minutes in each of the CCC services this morning to share about the trip. A few members from the team gave testimony of how God worked through them during the Talca trip. Praise God for His wonderful workings through people. The trip was life changing for the team and for the people of Talca. We will continue to stay connected with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ in Talca and will frequently update this blog with news and pictures of the partnership and rebuilding process. Nehemiah 2:20.

Trip Slideshow

Home safely

The Talca team is back home safely. What a great trip with lots of stories to tell! While the trip is complete, the partnership continues. Follow this blog to see more info and pics of the building progress and the church partnership. Thanks again for all your support and prayers.

Saying Goodbye

Friday was a tough day as we had to say goodbye to our brothers and sisters in Christ. We spent time exchanging gifts, giving hugs, and taking lots of pictures. Friendships were made, relationships formed, and bonds in Christ were established on this trip. While it was time for us to go, we will continue to be together in Spirit. It will be exciting to see how the building progresses and how we may continue this partnership. While we didn't see a lot of progress on the building while we were there, Tomas did convey that we helped dramatically and saved them over a weeks worth of work. More importantly, we gave them a boost of encouragement to continue on. Pray for the continued work on the building and that the church will get a much needed loan. It is in God's timing and once finished it will be a shining light for Jesus.

Chilean Mountains

We took Thursday off from working on the church construction to spend some time in the mountains. We drove about 2 hours east of Talca into the Andes mountains to a recreational place by the river. There were beautiful views of the mountains and river. We spent time hiking and swimming in the natural pools near the river. It was another special time to bond and build relationship with the Talca church.

Gracious and Loving People

The people of the Alliance Church in Talca are so very gracious and loving. It is a privilege to travel here are continue to form our partnership with them. We are building great relationships that will prayerfully last a lifetime. Pray for the church and its leadership. Pray for the safe and timely completion of the sanctuary construction. Pray for the acceptance of a loan to achieve enough money to complete the project. Pray for Tomas, the project manager, who is a great man of God with a wonderful spirit. Pray that the new building will be a shining light in Talca for people to come and know about Jesus.

More Foundation Work, Building Relationships

Another great work day in Talca!! We spent a lot of time continuing to set the foundation for the church. It was tedious work of aligning and setting re-bar cages in the holes. It required working in pairs most of the day. What a wonderful thing God provided. Through this pairing up, relationships were built team member to team member, and team member to Chilean. This is what the trip is all about--coming alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ and sharing this experience with them. God is doing great things. The people here are so gracious and hospitable. It is truly the start of a blessed partnership. Thank you for your prayers.

Laying the Foundation - Day 1

Wow. We did some serious construction work today. Started at 8am clearing out 38 holes that were dug already for the foundation. Then we poured concrete in each of them. We had about 5 or 6 wheelbarrows and went out to the curb to get cement from the truck. We then brought the loads back to the holes and dumped them in. The only problem was limited space and trying to not fall in the holes (about 3-4 ft deep). We didn't fill the holes, just enough to make a platform for the re-bar. We will set the re-bar tomorrow and fill the holes with concrete on Wed. We are all sore but having a great time working alongside our friends in Talca.

Praising a World God!!

What a joy it was today to worship the same God in another country and in another language! This morning the team attended the morning worship service of the Talca church. The worship was amazing. We presented the Talca church with gifts from Centerville Community Church (a picture of CCC and a picture of our team) symbolizing our partnership with them in Christ. The team was recognized and Pastor Dave gave the message. It was a wonderful time!

After a meal at the church we traveled about 1 hour out to a rural outreach ministry of the church. The gathering takes place in a beautiful countryside where poorer people from the area walk a distance to sing praises and hear the Word of God. It started with a children's service singing kid's songs. Our group then performed a skit and followed that up with a craft and recreation time. The kids who came loved it. After that, we had an adult service with more praise singing and a powerful testimony from the outreach leader, Senor Nunez. After this, the gracious people served us some dinner. Another special time for the team.

Tomorrow we begin the help on the construction. It will be another busy day--a great day serving God with our friend!!

Arrived Safe in Chile

We arrived safe in Chile this morning and were given a wonderful greeting at the airport by some of the church members. We then had a four hour drive to Talca and to the church. Here they greeted us again with a big meal. These are wonderful people and it is a privilege to serve Christ with them. The space where the new sanctuary is still being prepared. We had a tour of the construction area and there is a lot still to do. They are digging holes for the concrete footers and some of the steel has arrived. It will be our task to help them in any way possible this week. We will begin on Monday with the construction.

Tonight we will attend and participate in the college/high school youth service. Sunday we will have church in the morning followed by a trip to a rural area where the church has an existing outreach ministry. The team will do a VBS and interact with the mostly farming community. More on that later. Thanks for your prayers. We are going to have a blessed week!!

Off We Go!!

The ten of us left the church at 2pm and headed out to Columbus Airport. We fly to Miami and then overnight to Santiago. We are looking forward to seeing Pastor Nolberto tomorrow morning in Santiago. After that we travel south to Talca (3-4 hrs) to start our ministry. Continue to pray for safe travels and a wonderful start to the trip. Acts 1:8.

We Leave Tomorrow!!

All the preparations are complete and the time has finally come. We leave tomorrow on our mission trip to Talca, Chile. We will be serving with our fellow Christians in Talca helping them with rebuilding their sanctuary that was destroyed in the earthquake of 2010. Pray for the team. (front row: Kim Powell, Marianne Monroe, Amy Hoptry, Aimee Meester, Jeff Lane; back row: Dave Presher, Sharon Kirk, Curtiss Monroe, Gerry Socha, Dave Meester). Pray that hearts and lives would be changed on our team and for those we minister to.