It's been another month full of activity! We received such a warm welcome in Vina. It was nice catching up with the friends there and getting our fill of English. We got to rest up too, going to the beach and relaxing a lot.
From there we headed back south to Coyhaique just in time for the special campaign for the memorial. We got to go to their pioneer meeting with the circuit and their 2-day assembly which were very encouraging. The protests got a little worse and then the government stepped in and started negotiations, so things have basically returned back to normal here. Corinne headed home right at the end of the month...was so nice having her here!
Vane and I had an extra special treat this last week. We got invited to travel south with some of the friends from Cochrane who had come up for the assembly. There were 2 history-making meetings we got to attend: the 1st memorial to be held in Tortel and the 1st public meeting to be held in Villa O' Higgins. At the memorial we went to 4 from the local territory came. One of them is a woman who basically already considers herself a witness...for years a friend of hers who receives the mags would send them to her and she would pray that the Witnesses would arrive to Tortel soon. At the special talk there were 10 who came from the local territory. We went with a group of special and regular pioneers who encouraged us to always trust in Jehovah to help take care of our needs and talked about the blessings they've seen as a result of serving where the need is great.
Now we are back in Coyhaique with Steph and Juan which is nice. Hope all is well for all of you!
A lot has happened in this month! Just as we were getting settled in, a group started protesting in tranquil Coyhaique. Basically they have a list of 11 demands they want the government to address. They've blocked entry to Coyhaique, organized marches, & regularly built fires on main intersections out of tires, garbage, and cut down trees. It has actually created a good opportunity to witness. We had good experiences w/a woman from California who had never talked to witnesses before and a young couple from Denmark who were stranded in Cochrane and Juanito was able to offer a ride up to Coyhaique...both sets were very favorable & accepted a Bible Teach book.
It was an adventure to get to the airport, having to cross through 3 barriers. This week negotiations have started with the government so we've heard that things are returning a little back to normal...we'll see since we head back down in a couple of days.
The day we picked up Corinne from the airport we got meet up w/some long time friends, Tiana & Juan Carlos, which was a nice treat. In Donihue we got to visit with Ponce relatives and friends from the south of Chile.
A special privilege was to visit friends serving at Bethel, catching their family study and morning worship.
Now we are in Vina with some friends from the English congregation. I'll include updates about how things have been going here the next time I write.
Chao!
Things have been busy here! I arrived to Donihue just in time for a baby shower of one of the sisters in the congregation. It was Hawaiian themed and so much fun with lots of games. The next day was a going away party for a couple who are leaving for their 1st assignment in the circuit work. They are assigned to the Arica area in the far north of Chile, right next to Peru.
The following weekend a group of about 40 from the Chilean coast by Vina del mar came to help work some of Donihue's rural territory. Their territory is extremely small and they work it very often so they especially enjoyed the change of scenery and were enthusiastic.
Last Wednesday Vanessa and I flew down to Coyhaique where Stephanie and Juan are living. Their congregation has 73 publishers and is very warm and welcoming. The views here are amazing! Reminds me of Yosemite. Because of that there are a lot of tourists who pass through, including English-speaking tourists, and several have even decided to move here. Today we went in service with an Australian family that is visiting and focused on trying to talk to those who speak English. We had some good conversations in the plaza down town and even found a couple of English speaking houses in the territory.Yesterday Steph spoke to a man from Massachusetts who had heard of witnesses but never talked to us. He likes to read so he took the truth tract and a mag.
So I'm happy to say that things have been going good. That's all for now :)
Hi again! So, for those of you who haven't heard I had to come home a little early for sickness in the family...how happy we'll all be when there's no more sickness and when all of Jehovah's promises will be fulfilled!
If you'd like to see how the rest of Corinne's adventures go you can go to:
http://cornchile.blogspot.com/
Ok, take care!
