Boat arrives at Chacabuco!

Our boat has made it closer to home! It arrived at our port here and now we have to do some paperwork to get it out. Hopefully we'll have it here at the house in a few more days!

We still have to name it so be sure to vote!

At the baptizm in Puerto Cisnes

Baptism Cisnes 11/14

Uh oh

So there I was in Santiago, I had just bought a pen drive and I whipped out my trusty pocket knife (Kersaw assisted opening drop point),sliced open the package and it occurred to me...Why do I have my pocket knife on me?  Seems I forgot to take it out of my pocket and took it on a 3 hour flight through 2 airports.  I'm not sure to be happy I didn't lose my favorite knife or be concerned about airport security.  Yes, they use metal detectors.

Vote!

Seems our new STL boat will head down soon.  Hopefully we'll be able to get it fixed up and headed out to sea in a couple months.

One of the things we have yet to do is name it! 
For this I'd like your help.
To the right of the page is a survey with a few choices, please select your favorite (please just vote once).
Also, feel free to suggest a name yourself by sending it to:
chilestlboat@gmail.com

Thanks!

Good news!

As many of you know, we've been given a boat to use in our work here in Patagonia.
The 41' (yet to be named) arrived in Chile about 3 months ago and has been stuck in the port of Valparaiso since then accumulating port storage fees. 
Well, finally, it looks like the paperwork is done and the boat should be released to head down here this week!  The customs broker told me that the storage fees have accumulated to around $28,000!
The broker and a lawyer friend (Elena) apparently have gone to bat for us and petitioned the port for a reduction in those fees. 

Last night I got word that the port is going to charge us $0 for storage!

Can somebody say Praise the Lord?

Busy weekend

Hey everyone, we had quite a busy weekend and we needed and really felt your prayers.

Some of the things that stand out now that we're back home:

Sunday morning I preached a missions service in Puerto Aysen.  They really put a lot of effort into it and most of the kids and several adults dressed in national costumes.  We had to leave before the end of the service to get to Puerto Cisnes in time for the evening service.  (Just got word that 4 adults gave their hearts to the Lord!)

We made it to Cisnes in about 3.5 hours, Rhonda made some sandwiches Sat night and we stopped and ate on the way.

Service was packed, it's a tiny place and there were 27 present.  Including those who attended Sat night and didn't come Sun AM they reached 33 this weekend.  Very good for Cisnes!

2 people gave their hearts to the Lord, a neighbor lady and a young girl.

A 91 year old lady and her daughter walked nearly an hour to attend.  When I took them home I had to lift her in and out of the car.

We forgot kerosene and the firewood is too wet to light in the cabin.  We never did get a fire our whole stay.  Temps were in low 40's in the AM inside.

Mon afternoon it got hot!  Temps must have been in upper 60's and everyone is out in t-shirts and shorts.  Very nice weather!  Spent the day visiting and counseling.

Tue AM we headed home, good weather and made it back safe and sound if rather tired.

Thank you for praying for us and for the pastors and work in Puerto Cisnes!

70 days

Raul Bustos lost his job in Talcahuano when a tsunami destroyed his place of work at the end of April.  He moved to Copiapo to find work in the mining industry and August 5 entered the San Jose mine to fix a truck.  Yesterday, after 70 days he, along with 32 others, ended the longest work shift in Chilean history.

It's not often that good news captures the worlds attention and even rarer that good news captures the medias attention like this story has.

Last night everyone in Chile and many around the world celebrated as 33 men were given another chance at life!  At 10pm, as the last miner was hoisted to the surface, every siren and church bell in Chile sounded, horns honked, and people shouted and waved flags.  It was a great moment and an event that will be engraved in Chilean history.

Many of the miners wore a t-shirt over their coverall that says it pretty good:  "Thank you Lord!"

Iquique mens retreat

On October 8th I went to speak at a men's retreat outside Iquique.  Kind of a long trip.  left the house at 9am and arrived at the hotel in Iquique 6pm.  And that was travel by air with a VERY fast plane change in Santiago!

We drove another hour and a half into the desert to finally arrive at the retreat site.  Very different climate than here in Aysen.  Hardly any clouds, dry, dry, dry.  Chilly in the morning and very hot mid-day.

There were just over 100 men there from Chile, Bolivia, and Peru.  We had a great time and it was good to see many lives touched!

Sept 18

One of the important parts of Chile's Sept 18th festivities (independence day) is cooking out. Sunday a bunch of us got together and pastor Hector and I put dozens of shis ka bobs on the grill. Rhonda kept pretty busy making sure we had enough raw ones to replace the quickly eaten cooked ones!

First service

Last Sunday we went to Coyhaique where they had their first service in thier new building!
We have all waited and worked for this day for at least a year.  Needless to say everyone was very happy and no one seemed eager to leave after.

We still have a lot of work to do and we could really use some help finishing.  If you would like to help us out on this important project please contact me!

aysensteve@gmail.com

Wood Splitter

When our car came day before yesterday it had a large box inside.  We had a few guys help us offload it and yesterday Rhonda and I opened up our new firewood splitter!  It was lots of parts, even the engine was in a separate box.
And there weren't any instructions on how to put it together.
We did the best we could, at least there weren't any parts left over and fired it up today.
That thing is nice!
Pastor Hector, our visiting evangelist Daniel, and Carlos came down just then.  None of us had ever seen one before so we spend a while playing with it.
As you can see from the video it is very fast and easy to use.
We are thinking of ways we could use this thing for evangelism and helping some of the older folks in the church.
We want to really thank our friends in Alaska and Louisiana (New Iberia, First Assembly of God) for this very valuable gift.
I thank you!  My back thanks you! 


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXHcI2oxhgk

Good news, Bad news

Good news: In Punta Arenas pastor Pedro took us out to eat.
Bad news: He didn't tell us it was at a families house until we got there.
Good news: They were very nice and the soup (Patagonian mussels and abalone) was delicious.  We were quite full.
Bad news: The soup was just the appetizer.
Good news: Once back in Aysen we were told our STL car was at the port!  We've waited months for this! 
Bad news: Everyone is on strike.

Patagonian mussel and abalone soup, very tasty.

We were able to get it out of the container but nothing else.

Thank you Speed The Light!

Punta Arenas

We had a good trip to Punta Arenas.  The airport in Balmaceda was COLD!  Must have been under 40(f) inside.  Trip was uneventful and pastor Pedro met us at the airport.  We met with a lot of people there, we got to take our pastors out to eat, and we had a good time all around.

We also met with Carlos Rivera and his wife who are interested in starting a new work in the northern part of the city.  We gave the go-ahead and will be working with them getting going.  We're excited to see our Lords kingdom growing here!

One thing happened you might like to hear:
Sunday Pedro asked if it would be OK not to go out to eat but instead just share a simple meal with he and a few others at an apartment someone had loaned him.  Of course we said that would be fine.

After church we went to the small and simple apartment near the church.  Maybe was 200 sqare feet inside.  Some folks came with chicken, potatoes, lettuce, etc.  Then more people came with other stuff, then more people came... there ended up being around 17 people eating lunch there!  Rather snug but great fellowship.

Looking out the window at the airport

Blizzard update

Ever since the blizzard our region has been in national news pretty much every day.  They are now calling it "white earthquake" it has affected peoples lives so much.

Snow is still deep inland although most main roads are open.  Power is back to most folks as well but other hardships remain.  Firewood is in short supply for many and food is also tough to get for some.  The other day they found a lady (3 kids) who was burning her furniture so they could keep warm.

The government is trying to get help to folks but there is only so much they can do about all the livestock that's in trouble.  They fear up to 100,000 head could die before spring.

Hospital

We took Pastor Hector and Berta to Coyhaique yesterday to check into the hospital.  She has had a tumor for over a year and today was to be the day she was to be operated on.  We drove an hour to get there, went to the office, and they told her the surgery was canceled.  Seems they are out of supplies.  She has to try again the 29th.

Blizzard

They are saying this was the heaviest snow in over 30 years.  In 28 hours (starting Friday night) up to 60 inches of snow fell in the region.
Here in Aysen we just got a few inches and that melted within 2 days.  The next town east is Coyhaique, the GPS says it's 28 miles from here, the odometer says 40 miles and the watch says 1 hour.  They still had some 20-30 inches on the ground by the time we got there yesterday.  Further east a few miles they got up to 60 inches. 
As you can imagine, the roads are a mess, some roofs have collapsed and the airport has been closed since the storm.  I'll enclose some photos (I didn't take all of them) and a website with lots more:

http://www.fotos.emol.com/index.asp?G_ID=15101#

http://www.fotos.emol.com/index.asp?G_ID=15090

 During the storm over 100 people had to be rescued on the highway.  The snow just got too deep for the vehicles and fallen trees blocked the road in may places.

There are reports of a number of buildings and roofs collapsed or damaged.  A new school gym and new store downtown are included. 

On the way to Coyhaique we were surprised at the amount of trees down.  Apparently the weight of the snow was so great that they simply fell over many times tearing out the roots and all.  The road was down to one lane numerous times and it looks like more blockage is on the way as there are lots of trees just hanging over the road.

Fortunately we have a very good STL vehicle and we have good studded snow tires so we didn't have any problems driving yesterday.  We did get held up for about an hour at the pass (along with lots of other folks) when some truck driver decided he could make it without chains.  He couldn't.

We made it back safe and sound last night, it looks like the conditions should be even better when we go again tomorrow.

Snow day

We don't get all that much snow here in town.  We're real near the coast and that seems to keep the snow away.  A few miles inland it's another story.  So, when we get a snow day here in town it's worthy of a few pictures...

High water

We've had a lot of rain the last few days, even for here.  I think over 5 inches in 2 days.  Makes the Months total 18 inches.  River got very high, Austral Highway is cut in several places, some flooding of houses.
Here at the house we lost a large tree as the river undercut part of the bank behind the house.  Our dock also suffered as one of the billets was swept out from under the dock and part of the dock looks broken.  I don't dare go out on it to see closer until the water drops quite a bit more.

Video!

Below is my first attempt to post a video anywhere.  Looks like it might work so... any requests?