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.