The Son is shining in our hearts and is radiating its warmth to the children of God. There is excitement in the air as we prepare for our evangelistic meetings that will start tonight.

This morning the Mayor of the city along with the health administrator came with us to look at our medical clinics. There is a huge new motor home/bus that is has been transformed into a roving dental clinic with the newest of equipment. A joy for our staff to work in, and Dr. Turner, Dr. Lee and hygienist Donna Bainam all had patients seated comfortably as they worked on them. It has been parked outside of where we are holding medical and optical clinics in the town of Antihual They were in the town of Pengae until today. We are using the schedule that the Health Administrator has asked us to use for how long to stay in each area. The houses are very far apart in these sections and do not receive care as easily. You can drive for some distance and not see a house. This area is particularly poor. While In Pengae Dr. Price had an experience where she thought a little 2 year old was going to beat her up. The little girl was so out of control, pulling off the sheet from the examining table, hitting her brother and then hitting the doctor. The poor young mother was not able to control the child at all. Dr. Price said this is one child that should be medicated for her ADHD was severe. Things seemed a lot calmer today at the Antihual clinics. I talked with one young woman being fitted for glasses by Nancy and Stuart D. She seemed very embarrassed and ashamed that she had only one eye. She had her hair pulled low over one side of her face to cover her loss. She said she lost it when she was 3 years old in an accident. I was able to identify with her and set her at ease about her condition as I pointed to my husband, the Director and told her that he too only had one eye, which he had lost it during the war and has done just fine through the years. The Lord seems to bring us to the right people at the right time.

Not far from the clinic was a little one room type school house. The teacher there served in all capacities, teacher, director, and principle to her 14 students. She had set a beautiful table, complete with white table cloth and tea cups. On the table were freshly fried bread, bread pudding, honey, coffee and tea. All in our honor and she pleaded with us to stop and refresh ourselves at her table. She also had a large plate of a slightly soft white cheese that was tasty and not to salty. It looked on the order of feta cheese but not as crumbly or as strong flavored. She went to such great lengths to bless us and it was the kindness endeared her to us. There were some Mapuche drums, tambourine type bells and horns of such as we had never seen before. We tried them all out and tried to move to the beat as she encouraged. The Mayor is having Mapuche women come to our dwelling place this week in full regalia and show us their traditional dance. That should be very exciting. Bob talked to him once again about being able to pay him for that wonderful loan of the bus or at least pay for the gas but he insisted we could not do that saying he didn’t have forms to fill out for a donation so he couldn’t even accept that. This man is being called by God and while I think he knows something is happening in his heart he is not sure what or where to go. Hopefully before we leave he will know his calling and how to answer it totally. He did tell Bob on the pre trip that he is searching for something. He is a very intelligent and humble man who has a heart for the people. He has done wonders for Los Alamos in the 7 years that he has been mayor. The town is now out of debt and does many things to better the life of the community. He told us that in this area that you don’t even have to pay funeral expenses to be buried here. It is not the same in other counties in Chile. If this man becomes President one day I will not be surprised. Although he said the cost to run for that is way out of his league. It cost him $14,000 (US) to run for Mayor and he makes no where near what he was making as an engineer.

Bob asked him about using the bus to take us to Conception for the start of making our way back home next week. He asked what time, and when Bob told him 8 a.m. he asked if that was 8 Chilean time or American? Time schedules here are the same as they are in Central America, no one rushes and a given time is always approximate and can mean any time you show up.

The nursing home visit last night was a real hit with the residents, the oldest which was actually 108 years old and not 107 as I reported yesterday. Nancy D. played her guitar and our folks sang and ministered to these delighted age wizened souls. Music is like love, it transcends all languages and goes straight to the heart and heals and brings hope.

Our church building is really shaping up nicely. It is really looking like a church and you can visualize fairly easy what it will look like when done.

The medical team treated 102 people today. Medical 38, dental 30, glasses 34.

The Evangelistic meeting was filled and the preaching was very dynamic. Pastor Rigo preached on the love of Jesus and Him only as our Saviour he gave 10 reasons why we should love and turn to Him. There was a call at the end of service and several stood in acceptance. The service was well received and I am sure even more will come tomorrow night. Marco who is one of our drivers but is not an Adventist came to the meeting tonight and enjoyed it. There was joy in Heaven tonight as adults and children lifted their hearts and voices to the Lord of creation and re-creation. Our children’s program was very successful and the little ones and some bigger ones had a great experience. There never is shyness about singing in these Spanish speaking countries and they do it with gusto. I am sure that makes the Lord happy too.

Keep praying for us. Prayer changes things, for those being prayed for and also for the one doing the praying. Remember, you are never as close to God as when you are on your knees interceding for the ones He loves so much.

Peace be to you and all joy through Christ Jesus.

Still smiling,

Jennifer L Young

Mission Reporter