Jesus promised, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt 18:20). Whenever Jesus’ church gathers, he is there with us. It doesn’t matter if we’re an influential church, a large church, a wealthy church—Jesus is with his church. What a great blessing to know that when we gather in his name, he is with us (cf. Matt 28:20).

This past month, after 18 months of waiting, we were able to meet in our building as a church for the first time. We have a limit of 48 people allowed in the building at one time (according to the current health restrictions), so we have asked our church family to let us know they are coming to make sure we’re under the limit (we’re close). It has been exciting but, at the same time, very normal. Nothing has changed except the address. It’s been a little quieter, we have enjoyed the nicer seats, but there’s less room to spread out and not as much parking space. Still, we meet in Jesus’ name, we sing his praises, read his Word together, pray in his name, and speak of him with one another, confident that he is with us. We have been able to meet three consecutive Sundays in the building. Please continue to pray as we try to determine the wisest course moving forward, because there are a lot of moving parts.

This past month, we presented a brother to the church as a candidate for elder. We believe that he meets the biblical qualifications and he desires to serve the church in this way. As a church, we will be praying and seeking God’s will over the next few weeks, leading up to a vote on October 3. Please pray that God will make his will clear and that our church will be built up and edified through this step of growth.

This past month, both Mark and Bekah suffered through persistent colds that knocked us both out for a week apiece. We’re on the mend now, but we’re still regaining our strength and working back into our normal schedule. Please pray for physical strength and healing.

This past month, Mark had the opportunity to teach a three-session seminar to the elders of several churches in Santiago via Zoom. He prepared three teaching videos with homework and then met and discussed the topics about biblical eldership and church leadership with about 30 men on a Zoom call. It was a great opportunity to serve other churches here in Chile. Please continue to pray with us for the resolution of our permanent residency documents.

This is our September 2021 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.