Getting to Chile—Monday-Tuesday

Since I had not been on a plane since my honeymoon, six years ago, I had forgotten that airplanes are not the most graceful form of transportation. I immediately was reminded upon takeoff that an airplane is in fact controlled chaos—a bottle rocket duct-taped to a matchbox car. Anyway, we flew from LAX to Lima Peru and then  on to Santiago, Chile. We transferred planes in Santiago which included re-checking our luggage—more on that later—and then flew into Temulco, Pastor Neal, his wife Rhonda, her mother Jodie and a great servant of Christ’s church Caesar met us at the airport in Temulco and showed us around town. As I am writing this, we are in the vans heading out to Lanco, about an hour and a half drive.

We had a few eventful moments on our way down here. In the following, we will detail some of those events.

The first was at the start of our trip. After an emotional departure, an easy ride down and the hustle to get our bags checked, we had some questions which needed to be asked regarding how exactly our bags were getting to the plane. I’m fuzzy on the details of how this all went down, but we had a run-in with a member of the airport personnel, which was all in reality misunderstanding. Tempers flared on many accounts and many of us faced the challenge to keep cool. God challenged us from the beginning to lean on His son and to reflect of  His love.

The second came up in Santiago when we were changing flights. Apparently, you are not suppose to bring sausage from Littlerock, CA into the country of Chile. Who knew? I’ll let Pastor Jim tell that story at another time.

All in all, we had a relatively painless trip down, but are all very happy to be here. Here are some specific things to be praying for based on the events of today.

1.      Pray that we would see God leading.

2.      Pray that we would have patience.

3.      Pray that we will have the strength to do all that God has called us to do.

Here are some notes from the other Chile Team members. God bless and thanks for supporting us now through your prayers—Anthony Delgado

Its has been a long but yet fantastic voyage to get to Chile. We are all very tired but excited enough to get through the first day and evening.. I already miss my wife and thank God she has been so understanding . I appreciate the prayers of all for myself and the entire team. Take care and God Bless.   Love ya all—Tom

Well we made it here in one piece.  We had a great lunch and did some shopping in Temuco and we are now on our way to Lanco.  I am excited to see and be apart of all that the Lord will be doing through all of us these next few days.  Thank you for all of the prayers and support because we would not be able to do what we are being called to do without them.  Take care and God Bless—Vicki Gartrel

We are so excited to be here in Chile.  We are tired, but all excited and are passing out all the treasures we brought our missionaries. Ministry starts in 2 hours, so we will try to catch our breathe and cleanup.  Your prayers are coveted—Val Mercy