La Ultima Frontera
We had a great meeting with 9 students on Thursday in an eclectic coffee shop called "La Ultima Frontera." We walked away encouraged but also with a clear sense of how different our ministry here is going to be compared to what we expected! The students are sooooooooo eager to learn English, which is exciting but at the same time difficult, because the more we speak English, the more it hinders our Spanish, but at the same time it opens up doors to build relationships quickly! There are so many students that long to have a bibligual Bible or New Testament! Who knew?!?!
Another interesting thing is that we thought we would be starting an authentic faith community (AFC) that would meet in a coffee shop or on campus, anywhere but our home, because we wanted the community to not depend too much on us. But as it turns out, students LOVE coming to our home and eating our weird American food (chocolate peanut butter cookies, barbeque sauce, ranch dressing, mexican dip, cheesecake... they are stunned, initially confused, and always amazed.) Our American gadgets are conversation pieces as well. Today Marco was completely baffled as he played with a lint roller. "What does this do?!?!?" he asked, open-mouthed.
At the coffee shop, hardly anyone bought coffee, because they couldn't afford the $1.50 cup. Yet they all came, because they want to practice English with us. After having some one-on-one spiritual conversations with them, about half are also interested in learning more about the Bible.
Which leads to another thing we didn't expect. When we envisioned an AFC, we didn't expect it to be a Bible study, because with as many churches as are here, we figured they had been beaten over the heads with Bible knowledge but what was lacking was Christians filled with the Holy Spirit who authentically live out their faith on a day to day basis. As it turns out, this is lacking, but so is knowledge of the Bible! There are so many misunderstandings about who Jesus is and why He died on the cross, and what He offers us today, and what it means to be a Christian. There are over 3000 denominations in Chile, we found out recently, and the mixed messages have left these students' heads spinning.
So who's our group so far? Let me describe them... We've got church-grown kiddos, brainiacs, goths, a girl who is in love with everything oriental (acupunture, yoga, meditation, kendo karate, etc.), students burned by the Catholic church, students burned by the evangelical church, students who don't know what to believe, students who aren't sure if they want to believe, a forty-year old man whose wife left him, a fifty-year old woman whose husband left her, a handful of Germans, and on and on. We love the diversity and are praying for unity as we seek the next step! How fun is our God!
Another interesting thing is that we thought we would be starting an authentic faith community (AFC) that would meet in a coffee shop or on campus, anywhere but our home, because we wanted the community to not depend too much on us. But as it turns out, students LOVE coming to our home and eating our weird American food (chocolate peanut butter cookies, barbeque sauce, ranch dressing, mexican dip, cheesecake... they are stunned, initially confused, and always amazed.) Our American gadgets are conversation pieces as well. Today Marco was completely baffled as he played with a lint roller. "What does this do?!?!?" he asked, open-mouthed.
At the coffee shop, hardly anyone bought coffee, because they couldn't afford the $1.50 cup. Yet they all came, because they want to practice English with us. After having some one-on-one spiritual conversations with them, about half are also interested in learning more about the Bible.
Which leads to another thing we didn't expect. When we envisioned an AFC, we didn't expect it to be a Bible study, because with as many churches as are here, we figured they had been beaten over the heads with Bible knowledge but what was lacking was Christians filled with the Holy Spirit who authentically live out their faith on a day to day basis. As it turns out, this is lacking, but so is knowledge of the Bible! There are so many misunderstandings about who Jesus is and why He died on the cross, and what He offers us today, and what it means to be a Christian. There are over 3000 denominations in Chile, we found out recently, and the mixed messages have left these students' heads spinning.
So who's our group so far? Let me describe them... We've got church-grown kiddos, brainiacs, goths, a girl who is in love with everything oriental (acupunture, yoga, meditation, kendo karate, etc.), students burned by the Catholic church, students burned by the evangelical church, students who don't know what to believe, students who aren't sure if they want to believe, a forty-year old man whose wife left him, a fifty-year old woman whose husband left her, a handful of Germans, and on and on. We love the diversity and are praying for unity as we seek the next step! How fun is our God!
posted by johnanderin at 3:30 PM
1 Comments:
How cool is that? What an amazing story. How we envy the chance to sit and have a cafe con leche with you and the gang!
Isn't it funny to see how God works not exactly against our reason, just simply beyond it? We can honestly say that we never thought that Germans would be a part of your ministry in Chile. And yet, what else could God have meant when you were asked to serve the nations?
God bless you, keep you, and make His face to shine on you.
With tons of love ~ the Ohais
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