It's called Tedeum. What it is is a thanksgiving service celebrated around Chilean independence day. All the community leaders and churches are invited. Usually kind of a big deal.
This year I was asked to be the speaker for the Tedeum for Puerto Aysen. I felt pretty honored to be the speaker, especially being a foreigner. I asked our friends to pray that the Lord would give me His message to the community and went to work preparing the message.
Sunday Sep. 13 came and the church ended up packed with a good number of people having to stand. All of the community leaders showed up including the police chief, mayor, and governor. We even had the official police band!
The Lord really helped me share a message on how to be truly free and I was able to work in an illustration from Chilean traditions to give them something to associate the message with.
At the end many people commented how much they appreciated the message including the leaders. One ex naval official told me how much he appreciated it as well. He went on to say that in all the years he's attended these Tedeum's he had never heard a salvation message preached!
I really want to give thanks to our Lord for His anointing and for the prayers of so many friends. Thanks also for your many kind words and comments!
