The Latin Bridge
This past month we were able to be with some great missionary friends in Santiago Chile for a special retreat called the Latin Bridge. There were several missionaries from, Chile and Peru and of course us from Bolivia. The desire is to work together to form a “bridge” of people and resources in South America and beyond to reach all of Latin America with the gospel. There are more and more people recently that think that Latin America is pretty much evangelized and there is no need for more missionaries or work to be done. Living in and traveling around South America I can testify that nothing could be farther from the truth. For the retreat we met together in a conference center Thursday thru Saturday while our wives had a great time together seeing the city. On Sunday I had the privilege to preach in three different churches, including the Hope Baptist Church where Bro. Jason Kenney is working, and the other two churches that we visited were started by missionary Jason Holt and the men that he is training. They have three churches in all that they have started and are getting ready to start another church in a city a few hours from them. It was a great encouragement for us to spend some time with them and see how the Lord is blessing in their ministry. There is a tremendous need in Santiago and Chile for the gospel. It is a city of close to six million people, many of which haven’t heard the gospel. Please pray for the work being done in Chile and all over South America.
Building the House of God:
It has truly been amazing to see how the Lord has been working in the northern part of Bolivia in the city of Cobija where the Laura family is working. We have written recently about their work in a small town an hour or so from them called Buyuyo, but the Lord is also working in their main church in Cobija. They started with a basic structure for the church, but it very quickly was too small so they have been working to extend the building to double the size. They finished the first stage some time ago when they built two classrooms on the lower level of the backside of their current building. They were recently able to put a solid roof on those classrooms which now forms the floor of the new part of their building. The people of the church have been giving of their time and donating materials and they are now on the last stage of the construction. They work mostly at night because of the extreme heat they have this time of year. All they have left now are the walls, roof and the details like wiring and lights. It has been encouraging to see how the church has sacrificed and worked to make this possible. If you would like to help them finish their church building it would be a great blessing and help to them. If you are interested just write us at kwhite@goreachtheworld.org.
Truly Thankful:
Celebrating thanksgiving in another country can be a little different than what you are used to. For example a Turkey here can cost as much as $60. Thankfully we have friends that can get us one for much less. Also you can’t just go to the store and buy a pumpkin pie and we don’t even have pecans to make a pecan pie. So although it was a little more difficult, we were able to have a wonderful meal and I can definitely say that I have so much to be thankful for. I am so thankful for my salvation and family and the opportunity to serve the Lord. I am also thankful for each and every church and individual for their faithful support. This time of year it is truly a blessing that so many churches send special offerings, cards and even gifts sometimes. In reality it is not the material things but the love and prayers that count.
Prayer Requests:
1. Pray for the Our Generation Summit in Gatlinburg TN the 31 of Dec, and the1, 2 of Jan.
2. Pray for the church in Cobija and the Laura family that work there.
3. Pray for the people of Capinota and Irpa Irpa where the church is that we are visiting.
4. Pray for the many areas of our city of one million that don’t have solid Bible preaching churches.