Beef, it's what's for dinner

Leviticus 3:10
And the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, which is by the flanks, and the caul above the liver, with the kidneys, it shall he take away.

I was reading this verse today and had a better understanding than if I had read it before living in Chile. When I lived in the United States I had this dream world that when a cow was butchered, his meat just sort of magically was cut into perfect pieces of edible beef. In fact, I'd never really even imagined an actual cow dying, being cut up into pieces, and wrapped up to be placed in the meat department and wait for me. You see, my American friends, when a cow gets butchered, his meat does not look like this:

In fact, when a cow gets butchered, it's meat looks like this:

The former is something you walk into your Albertsons, Ralphs, Stater Brothers, etc to purchase. It does not exist here. The latter is what you purchase in Chile. You just go to the butcher and you say, "I'll take a half," or, "give me one and a quarter," referring to how many kilos you want. And then undoubtedly he'll give you much more than you asked for because it means more money in the till for him. The number of "cuts" is much fewer here. Forget T-bone, Porterhouse, Strip, New York, Top Sirloin, Filet Mignon, Round, London Broil, Flank, or Skirt steak. There are three steaks in Chile: loin with fat, loin without fat, and fillet. They all come riddled with sinew, nerves, and about 10% inedible parts. So yes, your average Chilean housewife knows how to clean meat better than your average American man.

So that takes me full circle back to the verse. It says that when the priest was going to sacrifice a steer (bullock), that he had to take away the fat that covered the bowels. I've never done that, but now that I've got some experience under my belt of cleaning meat up, I think I have a little more respect for the Jewish priests who must have been pretty expert butchers.

On another note, did you know that milk actually comes from cows? It does! I saw it happen the other day and we bought some. We have a farm about 5 minutes from our house where you can get fresh milk.

Patrick Thomas

Patrick is our little miracle baby. He has had more blood tests done in his short 3 months of life than I remember having in all of my life. I think we're up to 12 now. He had a common problem among babies, jaundice. This problem is common on the 3rd and 4th days of the life of a baby, but most babies recover without a problem. Patrick was treated in the hospital multiple times, but just couldn't seem to kick it. We took him in to a good pediatric when he was like 7 weeks old. She said if he was still yellow at 8 weeks then he needed to get blood work done again. The results came back poor and she said it was probably because he had a liver disease. With some more testings done she sent us to a specialist in Santiago, a children's gastroenterologist. We had to fly to Santiago to see this dr. and so we were able to accomplish a lot of north during our visit. We met with a U.S. embassy officer, and were approved for Patrick's birth certificate and passport. The hospital where we took him might be the nicest hospital in Chile. It was impressive; by far the nicest hospital I've ever been in. The doctor looked at Patrick and said that he was a very healthy baby (by this time the yellow had dissipated), and said that he believed that blood tests were adulterated. He sent for us to get more blood work done. Once the test results were in, and he was able to check them online we communicated through email and he said, "Don't worry, your baby is 100% healthy."

As I look back I can see God's hand at work in so many ways. The biggest and most obvious is the miracle of Patrick being healed. There is no way that it was an error in the exams because he was as yellow as a "zapallo" as they say here in Chile (a zapallo is like a monstrous pumpkin that's very yellow on the inside). Praise be to God for his healing. Another little detail that was special was that the hospital was costly; we had to pay to see the doctor and pay to get blood work done. Two churches invited me to preach for them during our stay in Santiago. One of them gave us a love offering and it was about the same as the cost of seeing the specialist. Also at the blood work counter the lady told me the price and when I asked for a discount she took $60 off the price! Ye have not, because ye ask not!

A few of my favorite pictures of Patrick

Enduring another goodbye

It's 1:00 AM on the morning of my parents' departure. I am sitting here with a heavy heart reflecting on the fact that they are leaving. This is the first time this has ever happened. For many years I have been leaving the U.S.A., and they have had to endure seeing me off. It is my turn to say goodbye and watch them walk away. It is a painful feeling. I wonder if it hurt Christ to leave the perfection of heaven as He humbled Himself to be born among sinful men.

They say David Livingstone (Africa, 1800's) said, "God had an only Son, and He made Him a missionary." I know that there is inherent error in that quote, because Jesus is not God's only Son, but rather His only begotten Son. Anyways, I understand what the quote is trying to communicate, and I see its truth.

A missionary is one who is sent. Being sent means that you leave behind something, and though it ought not lessen your resolve, it can be very painful. Abraham left behind Ur of the Chaldees. Joseph left behind his family and his home. Barnabas and Paul (temporarily) waved goodbye to their local church.

I remember when my nephew Zachary and my niece Hailee were born I waited the whole time in the hospital. It makes me sad to think that I won't be able to be there for my sister this time around; there's just a couple of weeks left.

The United States is a great land, and although it is no longer my home it is home to many of the people, places, and things that I love.

This week I watched a video from a Birthday celebration at our sending church. I miss those people dearly.

I am so glad that missionaries are sent and not severed. The last two weeks have been so refreshing. It's wonderful to have family that is involved in your lives and ministry. It's not easy to travel from California to Patagonia, and especially so if you don't speak Spanish. I'm very thankful for the visit, and can't wait to see family again (here or there).

As I think of those who were sent (especially Jesus, because He is everything), it is overwhelmingly clear that the nobility of their commission outweighed the sorrow of their departure. He came to seek and to save that which was lost, what nobler cause is there?

It's time to get back to work, hand to the plow, don't look back.

Cults

This picture here is of various materials from cults that have recently been donated to our fireplace. I thought I'd snap a picture first because it really moved my heart. There are many (2 Corinthians 11:13-14), worthy of being anathema (Galatians 1:8-9), who preach a false gospel and who vigorously promote lies. It is incredible how heavily they are present, even in the ends of the earth. How much more we, who have the truth, need to put our hands to the plow and labor!

John 9:4
I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work.

Patrick Thomas Sheridan

Our new little bundle of joy arrived last week! It was a long journey. We hit a few struggles along the way in the hospital, but we are just thankful for a healthy baby and all of God's blessings in our family. I love his name! I got to choose it this time. I think it's neat that he has my dad's name and Annie's dad's name. The motive for choosing Patrick was after my dad, and there were actually three men named Thomas who inspired the middle name: my father-in-law, my grandpa William Thomas Sheridan, and my good friend Thomas Ware. I got a shot of Micah meeting Patrick the day after he was born...Micah is wearing his festive Chilean clothes for Independence Day (er, WEEK, because here we literally celebrate it all week long). Please enjoy these pictures, real baby pictures are coming soon, and hopefully an updated family picture.

Conference was a success

Our first annual missions conference went very well. We plan to start supporting our second missionary who is a Mexican brother serving in India. The only thing stopping us is figuring out a few logistical difficulties, but hopefully those will be resolved soon! We had our guest speaker and his family in. There is a gal who attends services who does art by burning drawings onto leather. We presented Pastor Cristian and his family with a personalized gift made by her. We were challenged to take the gospel to every creature in our generation. Here is a picture from one of the services, in the background you can see our new banner that says "TO EVERY CREATURE IN OUR GENERATION":

Murta, Sanchez, and Tranquilo

We planned to hit one more town on our evangelistic trip, but because of a flat tire we didn't make it to Puerto Guadal. It was a memorable trip. We passed out many gospel tracts, at least one to each home in these three places, and we also got to preach the gospel to people in each place. They all desperately need a church to be planted there. Sanchez is so small, maybe like 50-75, and it is not too far from Bahia Murta. It is a little community that up until the last decade was only reachable by boat or a very dangerous road. One of the most memorable moments on this trip was after witnessing to two men in Puerto Sanchez, one of them yelled to me as we were walking away, "Don't forget Sanchez! Come back to Sanchez!" I will not soon forget him, or Sanchez. Here are a lot of random cell phone pictures from the trip:

 I thought this waterfall that had frozen over was so beautiful. This was at the highest point of altitude as you are making your way towards the Villa Cerro Castillo/Puerto Ingeniero Ibañez area. The roads were pretty icy. This picture is from on the way, but if you want to get an idea of how icy the roads were check out the last picture in the post.

 These two pictures are from the entrance of Bahia Murta. Just under 600 people according to this sign, but I suspect it has grown a little. These are 600 people whom God loves very much. Most of the town was gathered the day we were there for a funeral, I was moved with compassion as they wept without hope.

 Oh, just a pig in the plaza at Bahia Murta.

This dear man welcomed us into his home. I preached the gospel to him and used his guitar to sing some gospel songs. He said Bahia Murta needs a pastor...he's right. He asked if I would send one and gave me his phone number for when we do.

This is on the scary road winding through the mountains on the way to Puerto Sanchez. From what I hear it is no where near as bad as the old road.

These two frost-bitten pictures are from in front of our cabin in Puerto Rio Tranquilo. I plan to take my parents and family here in a couple of weeks. It got really cold that night. It was so cold when we woke up that I went and had devotions in the car with the heater on! What a whimp! I remember doing that once on deputation with Annie. 

What a trip! This was my last shot I snapped when we were still about 2 hours away from home. I was so excited to get home to the family, sleep in my bed, and I was thankful for what God had done on this journey.

Redeeming the time

I am over halfway through my 20's, and although I'm still very young I am beginning to see that life is not as long as one might think. I wonder if as you get older you become more aware of the fact that life is short. Here are some Scriptures that challenge me to live for God today, and to efficiently use my time to carry out the great commission.

Ephesians 5:16
Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 

I love the King James Bible in English, and I also love my Spanish Bible. They're the same Bible, and often times reading one of them helps me to understand the other. One example is Ephesians 5:16. Where it says "redeeming" in English, the Spanish says "taking advantage of". I want to take advantage of the time I've been lent.

James 4:13-14

13  Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 

14  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 

Life is short.

Proverbs 27:1

Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. 

I don't remember where I read it, but I remember seeing a quote that impacted me:

"Most of us underestimate what we can do in 10 years, and overestimate what we can accomplish in 1 year."

I have a vision that will take decades to accomplish, but I don't want to get lost boasting myself of tomorrow and not being faithful today. Have you ever asked yourself how to be faithful in 10 years? The answer is to be faithful today. And then tomorrow, "be faithful today". And if you continue being faithful "today" then in 10 years you'll be found faithful.

Mathew 24:45-46

45  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 

46  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 

When I see the Lord, whether it's because my life on earth came to an end or because He returned to the earth for me, I hope that I will be found a faithful servant. What does a faithful steward do? In the absence of his Master he does what the Master bade him do.

Evangelistic trip to 4 communities

What do Bahia Murta, Puerto Sanchez, Puerto Rio Tranquilo, and Puerto Guadal all have in common?

They are isolated communities in Chile's Patagonia
They are all very small
They are without a Bible believing church
Their homes will each be receiving a gospel tract on Monday or Tuesday of the week to come
They are all places where we hope to start a church in the years to come

Although these are small communities, which might make them insignificant in the eyes of some, they still have human beings with precious souls for whom Jesus Christ shed His blood. These people are included in the "every creature" of the Great Commission. I am heading out early Monday morning with one of the men in our church and we'll be doing a two day evangelistic trip. I am so excited and cannot wait to see what God will do.Here is a snapshot of what our route looks like:

 If you would like to see some of God's greatest scenery then look up the names of those cities on www.google.com/images. I remember speaking with this brother about Cochrane which is a city in the southern part of our state. He goes there from time to time for work related reasons. He told me that not only is there a Bible believing church there, but he wasn't even able to find any church that wasn't Roman Catholic. What a great need there is in Cochrane! I can't help but think that maybe God is working in his heart and maybe one day he will go and plant an independent Baptist church there.

I have this 3 phase plan to get the gospel to every creature in our region and plant churches in every village. The planting churches part is part of the 3rd phase, but I have been thinking about the fact that maybe God doesn't want to do things according to my "plan". Isaiah 55:8-9 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Maybe on this trip somebody will get saved and offer their house for weekly meetings, and then maybe we will have our second church plant in the works. God is good and serving Him is so exciting!

Note: this trip was supposed to happen about a month ago, but my partner had to cancel because of work; I'm so glad it's finally coming together!

Read the Bible through

I stumbled across a super cool website!

http://www.howlongdoesittaketoreadthebible.com/

If you test your reading level at this free website http://www.freereadingtest.com/, then you can use the first site to determine how long it would take you to read the whole Bible! I calculated if I read the Bible for 2-2.5 hours daily I'd finish it in just one month. That is with my below average reading speed. I read somewhere that the average reading speed of an adult is 250-300 words per minute and for a elementary school student it is 200. Surprisingly my reading level is pretty low, I came in at about 185 words per minute and scored an 80% on the comprehension test.

How long would it take you to read the Bible through? If you are the average adult reader then you could read the Bible through in one year by reading for just 7 minutes a day!

John 17:17
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

It's a cold one tonight. It feels like one of those set-your-alarm and put another log on kind of nights. It's about 20 degrees right now. Last night I went to bed with a good amount of rain coming down and woke up to a winter wonderland! It's quite a sight. I love the way the cherry tree looks like snow resting on its bare limbs, or the icicles coming off of the parking garage. The pine trees look majestic with snow on their needles.

Our missions conference went well with a great turn out of people. We're hoping to start supporting a second missionary soon; I am just being careful to choose the right missionary. In the last two weeks we've had some of our highest attendances. A Sunday morning with 26, a Sunday evening with 30, and this last Sunday night with 26. I've noticed that at times it is like we are two churches. The night when we had 30 there had been twenty some in the morning and almost nobody returned that night so really there were about 50 people in services that day.

Tomorrow we are doing a sort of "interview" to try and find a new teacher for Annie. It sounds like what we're looking for is someone who will be at the house for 4 hours a day. In the beginning the idea is for Annie to study for 4 hours a day and then when the baby is here then she'll probably dedicate some of that time to Spanish and then some of the time to help with some house chores like dishes, laundry, and helping with the kids. It was so nice having family around during Micah's early stages as we learned to adjust, and so I hope it'll be nice to have a little help when this baby is born. We still don't have a name for the baby, but I think we may be leaning toward Lucas Patrick or Patrick Lucas. Either way we'd call him Lucas, but I think Patrick Lucas Sheridan rolls of the tongue a little better.

Right now there is a special with LAN Airlines where you can fly anywhere in Chile for like $100 or less. It is perfect because I am planning to be in Santiago in December for my friend Yerko's graduation from Bible College. It will be great to see friends during that time even though I think I'll just be there for a couple of days (arrive Thursday and leave Saturday). In these early stages of the church plant we are not really able to get away for any great length of time. I think in 2014 though I'll be able to start doing some travelling to preach for others and to attend conferences. God is good.

In other news, I took a crazy spill today. I didn't expect the snow to be slippery since it wasn't ice...well my expectations were wrong. The scariest thing was that I was carrying a sleeping Micah. I've always been afraid ever since he was really little that if I was ever carrying him when I fell that my reaction to flail my arms would send him soaring into the air... The good thing today was that I had like a perfect fall and Micah didn't even know I'd fallen! That was the good news, the bad news is that my rump hurts!

Merkén

What is merkén you ask? It is a gift to the world from the people known as the Mapuche. The Mapuche are one of the indigenous people here in Chile. They are a proud people who were never conquered by the Spaniards.

While in Temuco I visited a city called Pillanlelbun (pee-'yan-lel-'boon <-- no idea if that is the proper way to spell how to pronounce something, but the ' means accent). There I met a pastor and his family who work the Mapuche. As we enjoyed dear fellowship they served us a delicious lunch. One of the condiments on the table was a small dish with merkén in it. As always, I went straight for it and once tasting it I pretty much dumped it all over my food. 

What is merkén? It has similar qualities to chipotle. Chipotle is a smoked jalapeño that is usually then put into some kind of an adobe sauce. Here in Chile we don't have jalapeños, but we do have some other chile peppers. One of those peppers is call the "cacho de cabra" (goat's horn). This is what it looks like:

What is done to the cacho de cabra is that they are smoked. Once smoked they can be used in many ways while cooking. One way I use them is to make a delicious colorado sauce. Back to merkén... After the cacho de cabra is smoked it is some how ground up with a number of other spices until the condiment known as merkén emerges. Here is what it looks like:

I have tasted various versions of merkén, and the general concensus is that the best ones come from Temuco. Having said that, I've tasted several from Temuco, and while I enjoy the condiment it is not really something I go super crazy over. However, this merkén that I ate at the pastor's house was definitely different and it was the very best I've ever tried. After raving about it they found what was left in the kitchen, put it into a bag, and gave it to me to bring back home! Needless to say, I have been putting it on everything since we got home. We have merkén coming out of our ears!

Teaching 16 times in 9 days

The trip to Temuco was wonderful! I’m so glad for the new friendships that we were able to establish and for being able to care for some old friendships. That week ended up being one of my most tiring weeks in a long time. When I laid my head down last Monday night I had taught 16 times in 9 days. Here is a recap of our trip to Temuco:

Wednesday

Take a bus to the airport, 1.5 hour drive

Take a 1 hour flight to Puerto Montt

Go to the bus terminal, purchase tickets, wait for bus, 2 hours

Take bus to Temuco, 6 hours

Take taxi to church service

Enjoy wonderful fellowship with the Pastor and his family

Finally get to our place where we were being put up at about midnight

Thursday

Preach a chapel message

Teach 1.5 hours in Bible Institute

Go to Pizza Hut while the Thompsons watched Micah (yeah!)

Enjoy a mall (I hate malls, but this was cool!)

Teach 3 hours in Bible Institute

Friday

Preach a chapel message

Teach 2 hours in Bible Institute

Go to lunch at a pastor’s house in Pillanlelbun (good luck saying that right)

Eat a delicious lunch and receive a bag of merken as a gift (more to come about Merken in a future post)

Get back to the institute

Walk to McDonalds (I hate McDonalds, but I’ve never been so happy to eat below average food)

Lay down for a little before getting to the bus terminal at 2 in the morning

Saturday

5.5 hour bus ride to Puerto Montt

Picked up by pastor friend and enjoyed breakfast with he and his wife

To the airport for our 1 hour flight to Balmaceda airport

Take the transfer back home from the airport, 2 hours

Get home and make a fire!

Living for the Prayer Letter

        In my meditations lately I have stumbled on a concept, “living for the prayer letter” I call it. It is not a positive thing, in fact, I’d call it a very negative thing. I noticed something happen the other day: I had just witnessed a victory in the life of a dear person we are working with and the first thing I thought to myself was, “Oh great, I can put that in the prayer letter.” My first thought was not, “Glory to God!”, or “Praise the Lord!”, or “I’m so happy for him!” Ultimately, when it boils down to it, living with that mindset is nothing but vainglory.

        Don’t get me wrong…I love to write exciting things in the prayer letter. I also believe that sharing good news from the field can be of great benefit to those who have invested in a missionary family and their work. However, I think sometimes as a missionary your work can slip from serving God to serving the church that sent you and the churches that support you. The work of God is so much more than sharing good news and getting a pat on the back! You can't lose sight of the goal, living for God and desiring to see Him receive glory. Here are a few verses that I want to keep in mind as God allows us to work with people whom He loves and as we report on that work to others:

Galatians 6:14

But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Jeremiah 9:23-24

23  Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:

24  But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD.

1 Corinthians 1:29

That no flesh should glory in his presence.

1 Corinthians 1:31

That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. 

1 Corinthians 3:21

Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 

I'm still alive

This is a much needed blog post! I have seriously been slacking off, and the truth is that I'd actually really like to have the record that writing here provides. Also, I don't want to let down all of my adoring fans.

Church attendance has gotten a little lower. Some say because of the cold that always happens, but we still go to the grocery store when its cold, and so we can still go to church. There are other circumstances at hand as well.

I have noticed folks will walk by our building, look inside, take a few steps back, look at our banner, consider coming in, and then walk away. So, I built a sign that will go on the sidewalk when we are in services that says something like, "Welcome! We're in service, come on in." with the church logo. I almost finished the sign, I'll have to snap a picture of it for the blog. Speaking of projects, I really need to do this wood fixture that will go on the wall for our tithing envelope system we're going to use. I have to have it ready before the missions conference, I've decided that. I'll get a picture of that too when it's ready.

It is getting dark pretty early these days, at about 5.

We're in June and that means that the coldest months of the year have started. We woke up and it was about 20 the other morning, burr. People have said that so far it has been a very mild winter, and for that I am thankful. I feel so blessed that Micah hasn't gotten sick or anything. Chopping wood, bringing it in the house, and starting/maintaining fires is like a part time job. I do really enjoy the heat that a wood stove puts off though, I think I would missed it if I lived in a cold place that heated their homes with central gas heating.

Chaplaincy at the local school is going well. Today I had the amazing privilege to witnessing to and then helping a girl in her profession of faith in Christ.

On Wednesday we are heading out to go a few states north of us, but still considered southern Chile. I will be teaching in a Bible seminary on the subject of a biblical philosophy of music and some of the dangerous trends that exist with some contemporary music. I can't wait! My favorite part is that I will be meeting two independent Baptist pastors that I've never met before: Jaime Cid and Fernando Astorga, both Chilean pastors. If I can be transparent for a second, I have really been growing in the area of how I treat pastors who are the product of missions. For some reason, I'm sure detestable pride, in my heart I unconsciously justified treating "national" pastors in an inferior way to how I treated pastors in the United States. God has shown me that that was wrong and I have been working hard at showing any pastor from any culture or ethnicity the respect that he deserves. Sometimes the tendency is for one to think himself better because of his culture. Every country is guilty of it, and often times in the name of being patriotic. I remember talking to a man here in Chile and he said that Chile was the best country in the world; when I asked him how many other countries he had visited during his research he said that he'd never left Chile. The world is a much bigger place than we sometimes realize.

I am reading a book, almost done with it actually, that has been a very good read. It is called The Road Ahead, by Paul Chappell. I strongly recommend the book for anybody who considers themselves to be an independent Baptist or unaffiliated Baptist or fundamental Baptist.

I believe that is enough random thoughts for the night. We moved our mid-week service to tomorrow night since we are out of town on Wednesday. I love our mid-week prayer and Bible study service. Prayer is so important. Busy day ahead tomorrow. Need to study for the Bible study, need to finish up my material for the music class, need to do some financial things, need to run an important errand in town, about 50 emails to get back to, and service in the evening. I think I'll pack Wednesday morning.

Trying to stay on top of my game

I remember one time when I was at my sister’s house and she was doing some online graduate course. I thought it was weird because she’d already graduated with her master’s degree (which I’m convinced she bribed them into rewarding her cause she’s definitely not smart enough). When I asked her why she was taking the class she explained something to me about how in order to maintain her license or certification or something she was required to take a class or something a semester (and maybe the other option was to be a practicing therapist). This made me do some reflecting on pastors and missionaries.

For the most part, we study intensely for four years, to get our bachelor’s degree in theology, missions, pastoral theology, etc. After graduating, some go on to get a master’s degree, and a rare few go after a doctorate. For the most part, once a pastor leaves Bible College or seminary, he stops being a student in the conventional sense. Now that I am teaching and preaching the Bible 5+ times a week, I realize that being in the ministry does not mean you stop being a student. I study all the time. However, there is a difference between the pastor’s study and sitting in a classroom, doing assignments, etc. I think we should subject ourselves to classes like my sister was. That is why I am thankful for Bible Colleges who offer things like a Ministry Refresher Institute (which I recently got an email about) or for churches who offer Leadership Conferences with classes. I also think that online graduate degrees are a good option.

I think missionaries have their own set of dangers where they can get comfortable and stop growing. I have reached a place with my Spanish, for example, where I can say anything that I want to say and I can understand anybody I want to communicate with (whether I have to say, “Pardon me?” a few times or not). Don’t get me wrong, my vocabulary is still low compared to the average Chilean, and there is definitely room for improvement. The danger I sense though is that I will get comfortable with my level of communicating in Spanish and never put myself to work again like I did in the days of sitting in Spanish class. To kick against that I picked up a book last month. It is a high school Chilean history book. I am enjoying the book for many reasons: I am learning a lot about Chile’s history, I am seeing the difference in vantage point of historical facts learned under a Chilean education and a United States education, I am learning the Spanish version of names I already knew like Christopher Columbus, and every few sentences has a new vocabulary word that I’m unfamiliar with which I look up and try to use in my daily speech. I am thoroughly enjoying it, and hoping to keep myself sharp through the years.

The Sheridan Hotel

Most of my life people have said things like, "Kyle Sheridan? Like the hotel?" Well, no, not like the hotel, but rather like the general. However, this week the hotel seems more fitting. We have visitors coming in from Argentina. The Merlo family. They are independent Baptist missionaries in Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina's side of Patagonia. According to my knowledge, the church they started is the furthest southernmost independent Baptist church in the world; they beat us by a hair ; ) We are really looking forward to the visit. They'll be in town for a couple of days doing some money changing because of our better rates here in Chile. After they leave missionaries Louis and Kathy Long from Puerto Montt, Chile, will be arriving on Friday to stay until Monday. It is going to be a full house this week, but it's going to be great as we enjoy some company from like-minded missionaries. I'm hoping that we can be a blessing to them all and that we'll truly live up to the Lord's standard in this verse:


Romans 12:13
Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. 

Un nuevo integrante

That's what people say sometimes in Spanish when they are congratulating you on a pregnancy or the birth of a child. It means "a new member". I was thinking about that this week. Sometimes there are words in Spanish that sound like their English counterparts; these are called cognates, and they are one of the easier parts of language learning. Some Spanish cognates are piano, mango, tecnología, comunicar, cristiano, etc. Any English speaker can know what those words mean in English whether they've studied Spanish or not. Anyways, all of that was a big rabbit trail just to say, "integrante" is not a cognate...haha. But although it means "member", if it were a cognate the English word it sounds like to me is "intricate". This is how my weird mind works.

Intricate is a good word to describe a child. I don't say that because they in and of themselves are intricate, but because they are an intricate part of the family. I was reflecting this week on Micah. Micah is such an important part of our family. It blows my mind though to think of the fact that a year and a half ago he wasn't really even a part of our lives (although Annie was pregnant with him). It is crazy to think about how our family was fully functioning without Micah, but now that he has become an intricate part of our daily reality I can't even imagine life without him, and I don't want to! As I thought on that, it made me think about our next child who is slowly forming in the womb right now, which is a miracle in itself. Everyday we live our lives in our current reality, and that reality pretty much excludes him. It is crazy to think that come September, that reality with be changed forever! I can't wait!

Here is a beautiful picture of my current reality : )

Whooo it's cold!

A couple of random pictures from the last week:

When we got into the car to go to our church meeting on Sunday and there was a little owl about the same size as my fist just a few feet away from me hanging out in the cherry tree.

I walked out of Lyon's College the other day where I do chaplaincy work, saw the snow on the hills, and realized it was absolutely cold! It actually snowed a little that day here in Coyhaique; they called it rain-snow. The temperature almost as low as 20 degrees farenheit...and we're just about to get into the coldest months of the year! June, July, and August are supposed to be the coldest months. Don't mistake this for complaining, I actually love the cold. Just ask me in a couple of months though ; )

Missions Conference

I'm so excited! We are planning our first ever missions conference. We are flying in Pastor Cristian Alarcon, a Chilean pastor who I became close friends with while I was living in Maipu in Santiago. He pastors Iglesia Bautista Fe where I taught in the Bible college and who is the sending church for Iglesia Bautista Vida that I helped start in its first year.

We already support one missionary whose name is Miguel Triano. We began supporting them on our first Sunday in hopes of setting the pattern for the rest of the life of this church. They are Mexican missionaries serving in Cape Coast, Ghana, Africa. I wrote to him tonight and asked if he could participate in the conference in some of the following ways:

• Record and upload to youtube a special song done in a church service in Cape Coast
• Record and upload a greeting (as long as he wants) to be played in the conference
• Send us a Spanish sermon about missions, like about surrendering to go to the field or financially supporting missions (to be burned onto CDs and given to the brethren here)
• If it could work, maybe we could try to skype with him in a service...and although we do have wireless at the property that one sounds a little more tricky

I am planning for us to take on at least one more missionary. We are hoping to be able to support a lower amount of missionaries at a higher amount of money per missionary. My idea is that because of that we'll hopefully have more interaction with the missionaries and be able to have a bigger impact in the regions we are invested in. Ideally this will also lend itself to church members being more involved our missionaries' lives like praying for them, writing to them, knowing the names of their families, etc.

Aren't your feet cold?

The other day I was having work done in the house. The handy man who came to do the work saw that I had no shoes or socks on...not a big deal for someone from California, but he shockingly said, "Aren't your feet cold?!", and he almost looked offended that I didn't have shoes on. Truth is though that I had a nice fire going and you could have comfortably worn shorts inside the house and not gotten cold. I have to remember to wear shoes when Chileans are over!

I've been slowly working on Annie's kitchen trying to make it better. Here's a few things that I did last week (well, I paid for the water heater installation).

This bad boy took me like 3+ hours...and I still wonder if it will just collapse

No more running to the cupboard on the other side of the kitchen for spices when we're cooking.

This little water heater is going to make doing dishes much easier; no more washing with the electric kettle.

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday was Mother's Day in Chile, or Sunday is? I don't know, I'm confused about it all...but that's not the point. The school where I do chaplaincy work invited me to a special Mother's Day Assembly and asked if Annie and I would sing and if I would give a reflection. I was thrilled to see well over 100 moms there, and also the 250 member student body. I read this Scripture:

2 Timothy 1:5
When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

I spoke of the importance of mothers being a model for their children and specifically models of faith. Then I spoke of how important faith is: it is the entrance into God's family (Acts 16:31) and it is what we live by after we are saved (2 Corinthians 5:7). What a great opportunity to preach the gospel to hundreds of people who may have never heard it presented clearly!

A second mile kind of guy

Matthew 5:41
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. 

There are some people, where if you ask them for something it's harder than trying to get grape juice out of a raisin. I want to be a second mile guy.

What happened to the little flutters?

Last night I had my hand on Annie's stomach and felt the baby kick; she's only 4 months along! She was asleep. Well, tonight she felt a pretty monstrous kick herself, very neat.

Another blog

You may or may not know that I have another blog. I am not as frequent on that one, but from time to time I have the desire to write something that doesn't really fit on here, so I will post it on the other blog. I guess the other blog is more geared towards sharing Bible and this one is more towards sharing experiences; although any Bible believer knows that the impact of believing the Book is intricately woven together with our experiences. Anyways, if you are interested, here is the link: http://goyeintoalltheworld.blogspot.com/.

Chaplaincy bearing fruit

This new opportunity of being chaplain of a local school has already proven to be fruitful. We have had at least 3 first time visitors at our church in the last two weeks who are affiliated with the school. Two of them are children who attend there and who absolutely loved Annie's class. Also, this last Monday I had the privilege to counsel a troubled teen. It did not take much convincing from the Scriptures of his need for a Saviour because he was already well aware of his sinfulness. It was my joy to lead him in a profession of faith in Christ. I am picking him up a half hour before Sunday School this weekend so he can be a part of our church. There is no greater joy than winning a precious soul to Christ!

Twenty Minute Blitz in the Plaza

I have had the privilege of working alongside some great people at a tract company called Chick Publications. I really love to use some of the tracts they print. They have a saying around there, "Chick Tracts get read!" It may sound kind of cliche, but it certainly is true. I have passed out dozens and dozens of types of gospel tracts, and even thousands of copies of those various kinds. Many times when I pass out gospel tracts after all is said and done I will walk in the general direction that the recipients were going to pick up crumpled and torn up tracts that have been littered. Sometimes the number is very high, and sometimes the number is low (depending on a multitude of variables). One thing is sure though, of the thousands of Chick Tracts that I have passed out, it is very rare that I have seen one on the floor.

We are thrilled to have received 10,000 custom printed Chick Tracts with our church's information on the back. They are beautiful on the outside, filled with a powerful message on the inside, and we know that people are reading them. Just the other day with my father-in-law we passed out 125 in about 20 minutes. We didn't see one on the floor!

The house is quiet

My in-laws left yesterday afternoon. It was a sad time for all of us. A lot of crying and hugs. It reminded me of the time after Paul had spent three years in Ephesus and he was saying goodbye to the elders it says this,
"And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul's neck, and kissed him, Sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more. And they accompanied him unto the ship." - Acts 20:37-38

It is tough to say goodbye to ones you love. When you say goodbye as you are leaving for the mission field, when you say goodbye to your children as they return to the United States for college, and then, if one day you should leave, saying goodbye to the saints with whom you have worked. Goodbye's are one of the most difficult parts of the life of a missionary.

But you have to ask yourself, are the goodbye's worth it? Yes, they are! That the Lamb may receive the reward of His suffering.

Family in town

My in-laws got here a week and a half ago and we are loving it! It has been great, and has made me really excited for my parents to visit later this year. I had dad, who is also my pastor, preach for us last Sunday morning. He preached a good message on the resurrection and I translated. We've done lots of fun things like: seen local places and get to know in town, went to see el velo de la novia, did a bonfire and roasted hotdogs for completos at Laguna Verde, fished in an isolated laguna called Laguna Brava up in the snowy mountains with dad (quite the adventure getting there) and caught brown trout which I'd never caught before, went on a date with Annie, did an Asado al Palo, and of course church ministry continues on. We have started our third month now since opening day service for our church. This morning there were 25 in attendance and 8 first time visitors. Annie had 11 in her class! Wow! Here's some pictures from the last week and a half or so.

Smoke stacks coming up from every home in town

The weather is starting to get cold here. We've been in the 30's, and so our house and everybody else's have smoke coming out of the chimney. I actually like the smell, unless the neighbors are burning rubber or something. I think if and when we take a furlough to go home I'll miss the smell. Seeing those smoke stacks make me think of this famous missions quote:

"Many a morning have I stood on the porch of my house, and looking northward, have seen the smoke arise from villages that have never heard of Jesus Christ. I have seen, at different times, the smoke of a thousand villages - villages whose people are without Christ, without God, and without hope in the world."
-Robert Moffat

Lord's Supper

Last week we celebrated the Lord's Supper! It was a very special time. As you are aware of, the biblical Lord's Supper has two elements: fruit of the vine and bread. I truly enjoyed making homemade grape juice and homemade unleavened bread. Annie snapped a picture of the experience.

This ain't no fish story, I've got proof!

This afternoon I went out to do a little fishing is a man in our church. We had a great time and both caught big Chinook Salmon! Definitely the biggest fish I've ever caught. I think it was like 15 lbs! Here's a picture of mine: