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Mission Trip to Chile February / March 2013

November 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Dear Vision for Chile Friends and Family, we pray that you had an awesome Thanksgiving. This past October, we were truly blessed. With two great teams and over 180 volunteers we were able to accomplish all that we had hoped to. We also had the opportunity to minister to several hundred children in the La Pintana community. Our goal in 2012 was to reach  La Pintana for Jesus Christ.

In February / March 2013 we are going back to complete phase two of a three phase project on our newest construction project. Attached is our informational flyer inviting you to come and be a part of us. We are looking to take a team of 15 to 20 people to build and minister.

Will you be one of them ?

Let us hear from you ! If you have questions, please call 615 973 9837.

Tom Orme.

Link Flyer in Pdf

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Update 5 On the Job 2012.

November 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

 

Dear Friends, we greet you from sunny Santiago.  Our last few days we have been blessed with great weather.

The roof is going up!  The rafters are all in place and a third of the tin sheets are in place.  With our limited crew God has given them limitless perserverance. God bless them!  The painting in the caretakers house is almost done.

Our special treat has been the 2 evenings we have spent at the Feeding Program run by Pastor Andrea and her family.  These ´street children´are so precious.  Here they are taught manners, values and the love of Jesus.

 

Pastor Andrea has the unique opportunity this morning to meet with the president of Chile and we pray that her program will continue to serve and bless the La Pintana community.  Be in prayer for Johnny today as he heads home.  He is in great pain.  He has blessed us so much with his talents and Christian spirit.

Bless the girls of the HOH and that we may complete the work as required.

Cindy

To donate, please  click here “Donate Now” and complete the information for secure online transactions.  Or send a check by mail to Vision for Chile, 1176 Olde Cameron Lane, Franklin, TN  37067

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Team 1 – Update 3

October 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Team 1 – Update 3

 October 16-17:   Two full days of work, work, work!  Words cannot begin to describe what this small team has accomplished in the past nine days.  The second floor is completely floored, stairs are finished, and walls are going up!  In fact, we are amazed at what God is doing—having to order lumber seems almost a constant job (and unloading the trucks when they come!) and boxes of nails disappear as well.  We are grateful for good weather and for God’s faithfulness.

 

October 17:  We are starting our days with some surprises!  Our very own House of Hope girls are giving their testimonies each morning during our devotional time.  Today we heard of God’s grace to and through Estefania.  What a beautiful daughter of God!  Stefi is studying to become a teacher and is burdened for kids in our neighborhood schools.

 

October 18:  Lissette shared during devotions this morning; she also is studying to become a teacher.  Although she wanted her testimony to be translated by Diane, Lissette’s English has really improved and she could have done most of her presentation by herself!

Once again we joined the feeding program at Las Parcelas for dinner on Thursday evening.  That was another exciting experience to watch as the kids stood up to say their Bible verses—and then trying to converse with them at dinner time (they want to practice their English!  As far as the worksite goes, by the end of today (Thursday) the second floor exterior walls were all up and some of the interior walls were in place!

 

October 19:   This morning was Kathy Cerda’s turn.  We are overwhelmed by just how godly this young woman is becoming!  She is studying nursing in school and truly has a heart of compassion for people.

By 9:00 am the people here for Team 1 were riding on a bus and headed out of town.  What a day—what a sight!  The mountains were truly awe inspiring.  BUT the promised thermal spring pool, was NOT HOT (or warm for that matter)!  There were a few brave souls who tested it out, though.  Bill, Tom, Tall Lee, Jessica and Debby chose to watch as Bob, Bety, Rachel, Daniel and Anais played in the cool pool.  (It was about 83 degrees which was much warmer than the snow melt!)

Meanwhile back at the ranch…Kerry, Short Lee, David and Johnny finished all the hallway walls, more room partitions and had everything ready for our 20 plus construction volunteers to appear on Saturday morning.

 

October 20:  And appear they did!  It sounded a lot like an attack of woodpeckers on Saturday morning as a busload of workers came to Casa Esperanza!  About 50 people came—half construction helpers and half over at Las Parcelas for a special time with the street kids.  When the hotdogs came out at lunch we were all ready for them!  Cynthia, Damy, and Claudia helped with the children’s program while Stefi, Kathy, and Lilo were kitchen/cleaning assistants. 

We were also happy to welcome Diane, who flew in a day early for Team 2.  So lastly, Team 1 packed their bags and rode the van over to the airport, and is on their way home.  Yep, with modern technology, we’re writing this update while waiting in Atlanta’s airport for a connecting flight!

BUT Team 2 is on the job!  Continue praying for God’s faithfulness to all of those who are involved in the ministry of Vision for Chile.

To donate, please  click here “Donate Now” and complete the information for secure online transactions.  Or send a check by mail to Vision for Chile, 1176 Olde Cameron Lane, Franklin, TN  37067

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Update from the Interns of Vision For Chile.

June 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Hi, I’m Rachel from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Hi, I’m Carrie from  Akron, Ohio. And we are both interns with Vision for Chile in Santiago, Chile.

 For the six weeks that we have been interns here, we have gotten to be involved in several different ministries. One of which, is getting to know the girls living in Casa Esperanza, where we eat meals with them, help them in their studies, play games with them, pray with them, and sightsee with them.  They’re an awesome group of young ladies who love the Lord, and it has been a blessing to get to know them.  Another one of our major ministries is going to Forjadores del Futuro where we assist an English teacher, and play with the kids at recess, and have conversations with them while helping them with their English studies.

Many of the kids come from Hogares and  broken and dysfunctional families and are craving love and attention. It’s been a blessing to get to know them and to share Jesus with them.  They’re willing to tell us about their lives, which makes for an awesome opportunity to share our testimonies, and talk about Christ’s love for them. We also spend time teaching English next door at the church, to church members and the community.  Finally, we get to help with a ministry around the corner that tutors kids in English on Tuesday nights. Overall, there is a lot that interns are involved in here in La Pintana — there are so many different opportunities to share Christ’s love in the community, which so desperately needs it

 

 

Painting with Blood.

Tuesday night, at prayer meeting, the church prayed for Carrie and I at one point — praying for our continual protection and that we’ll be lights for God in the school we are working at and within the community.
Wednesday, we woke up. It was STILL pouring down rain. There isn’t really a drainage system, so the streets were RIVERS. literally,
rivers. Carrie and I walked our normal route to school. When we got to the main road, we couldn’t figure out how to cross it. We called it the “Red Sea” … except that it never parted and Moses didn’t show up. It took us about 5-10 minutes to figure out how we were going to cross the street without getting soaked up to our mid-calves.
We spend all day Wednesday with Cecilia’s homeroom, the 7th grade — which have become near and dear to our hearts in a short time. We went early so that we could sit in on their religion class and see what they were doing — which happened to be Father’s day cards. On the board there was an acrostic poem about Father’s and how great they are: how they teach you respect, discipline, and love. How they are always there for you, and what not. It just confused me, because probably half of the kids in the class don’t live with their parents, and the ones that do don’t ever see their parents. Cecilia says its a very “touchy subject” at school. There were kids making gifts for the grandparents, a brother, or a friend. A few for their parents, but I don’t know when their Father’s will get the card OR if they even care. I don’t really understand who Ester will give her card to, she has 21 siblings, all from different fathers. Does she know who her Dad is?
Besides this, do they know that there IS a Father who LOVES them. Do they see God like they see their earthly fathers who have failed them so much? Do they see Him as someone who will abuse them, or as someone who will cherish them and love them deeply? Who sent his son to take their place, so that they can know Him.
The day just gets better, let me tell you. After religion class, we were standing outside talking to Linda (Lean.da) and I noticed on a large post a star of David with a circle around it. Underneath it was the number 666. I asked Linda what it meant and she gave me a grimaced look and pointed down to the ground and was like “bad”. I talked to my friend Felipe later on in the evening to ask him what it meant, and he said those are Satanic symbols. Jorge wears a necklace around his neck with a star of David in a circle, and Catalina was drawing these all over her paper today.
We got back into class, and the kids had English class. Carrie and I were whispering in the back, while the kids had a make up quiz for English — they didn’t know any more this time than the last time they took the exact same quiz. We noticed Catalina, who was pricking her finger in the back of the room and pushing the flesh of her fingers to make blood come out. I offered her a tissue and she declined — eventually, we realized that she was trying to make herself bleed. She got enough blood on her finger and then would twitch her finger really fast to make it splatter on the wall. Then, she shared the broken pencil sharpener with Jorge so HE could prick his finger. He brought a drawing over to Catalina and she proceeded to paint the girl’s hair RED, with her BLOOD. The Jorge went back to his seat where he proceeded to write ‘death’ (in English) in blood on the wall. a few minutes later he added “note” (pretty sure it’s the name of a band..) Needless to say, I don’t do well with blood — and it was we weren’t quite sure what to do in the situation.
Afterwards, we talked with Tía Cecilia, and she simple replied with a shrug and was like “that’s just how it goes, she just wants attention” The truth is, there isn’t much you can do. or anyone can do. I think Daniel put it best – they can get help from a psychiatrist..or counseling.. but the truth is the only thing that will change their lives is Jesus Christ. Seeing their blood today made the reality of the situation come to life a bit more to me. For me, it was like seeing their blood was like seeing their scars and hurts come to life.
Carrie and I both walked back from school in a bit of a phase. We weren’t quite sure what to think. I kind of moped around confused for a while. At night, we prayed about it. I talked to a Chilean friend just for advice, because I don’t always understand the culture here. He gave a few encouraging words to Carrie and I about working at the school. Before we went to bed, we prayed about it a bit — and then I just prayed that God would show me something — or instead of having nightmares, he would speak to me through a dream – and he did. Well. in a God speaking in plain terms to Rachel kind of way.
Don’t laugh. Yeah, it has to do with track.  I dreamt that I was staying overnight for a track meet and was rooming with Suzette (haha, hi Suzette, if you’re reading this) and Jess D left all her stuff in our room? Sorry, side note  Anyways, I got up in the morning and looked in my bag and it was completely empty. I took an empty bag to a track meet — I didn’t have anything I needed. No shoes. No spandex. No uniform. Nothing. Needless to say, I was panicking.
I woke up and was like “what was that all about Lord?” I was prompted to read. yep. you guessed it. The Armor of God.
The Armor of God – Ephesians 6:10-20 — verses 19-20 in particular
This just kind of hit home this morning.  Just like we should be prepared for a track meet — we need to be prepared for battle. a spiritual battle. Carrie had a really good point this morning. We were talking about all the Satanic stuff — and talked about how it isn’t about Jorge cutting himself, the blood on the walls, the need for love, the kids fighting, the kids in need of a hug. It is SO much deeper than the physical stuff we can see, there is SO much more going on behind the scenes — a battle for the soul of each kid at the school. Everyday, Carrie and I need to be in the word — we don’t have the option to shy away, because there is nothing we can do on our own strength for these kids. We need the Armor of God and for Him to fill us up each and every day — to declare fearlessly, and boldly. To make His name known.
Love, Rachel (and Carrie)

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Change the lives of La Pintana children.

April 23, 2012 By Leave a Comment

“I am not beautiful, don’t lie to me”, she said to me. “No, Alicia, you really are beautiful, you are a child of the King. That makes you a princess.” Shaking her head, I gave her a hug and silently prayed for her in the back of the classroom. Five orphanages in La Pintana send their children to one school as well as other children in La Pintana, Alicia comes from one of these orphanages. Yet all the kids come from broken homes.

One girl in the 7th grade classroom lives with her older brother who is 32 and he has two sons, but she lives with her brother because her mom is an alcoholic and she has no idea where her father is. Another girl in my 7th grade class told me that she found out a week ago that she is pregnant. She is probably 14 years old and the father of her child is her ex-boyfriend. She is scared and doesn’t know if she will be able to stay in school with a baby coming soon. During one typical day I was asked if I drink or smoke, one kid was kicked out of class, and another boy took his shirt off in the middle of a lesson for no apparent reason. This is a normal day at this school. But I am bombarded with a hundred hugs each morning and enjoy working here even though it is difficult. There is so much darkness in this school. So why work here? Because you have the amazing opportunity to partner with God and be a light in this school and physically manifest the love of the Lord to these Chilean children. These children crave love and need to find it in the Lord, they need Jesus desperately.

 

Working with Vision for Chile in Santiago has been at times, overwhelming but working for the Lord whole heartedly should be. Overall, it has drawn me closer to the Lords heart for his people and hopefully I have drawn others to His heart as well during my time here. Involvement in the House of Hope, Hogars (orphanages), School and Church has shown me more about the Chilean culture and things of the Lord. This ministry is truly seeking to glorify God in everything. The House of Hope invests into girls who desire further education and builds them up to be well-rounded, God-fearing women. Chileis a beautiful country yet there is a lot of brokenness within the homes. You are needed to reconcile all people to God’s heart (Romans 10:14-15). God is the Great Redeemer for these Chilean children, but how will they know if no one tells them that they are loved?

 

Working here in La Pintana is not only necessarily providing food, shelter or clothes for the people in Chile. The basic needs are met, but there is so much more to life than basic needs. They crave love, attention, care and a simply a true friend. They need to know who Jesus Christ is and they need role models to show them what a life with him looks like. You are not going to be passing out literal water, but instead be showing them how a life with Jesus quenches all thirst.

 

I truly recommend this ministry to you, not only to change the lives of the children in La Pintana, but to change your life as well. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with Vision for Chile and hope that you will join the team in bringing truth, love and overall Christ to these broken and desperate areas of Santiago,Chile. Will you join in the longing of the Lords heart for reconciliation and healing here?

By Marie Ardill.

International school. Runner. Azusa Pacific University. Third Culture Kid. Christ follower. Psychology major.

INFORMATION.

 

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