This past month we hosted Zach, a young wunderkind that our mission sent to take pictures and video of all the GMSA missionaries in Chile. We enjoyed getting to know him for a few days, and of course, we showed him all around our city. It’s always interesting to see your city through the eyes of someone seeing it for the first time. Hopefully, you’ll get to see some of the fruits of his labor very soon.

Our regular schedule of church ministries and discipleship Bible studies has continued. Mark took on the responsibility of encouraging three elders from a small church about five hours away that is looking for a pastor. The men’s and ladies’ monthly Bible studies started up for the new year. Our church had a baptismal service yesterday at the oceanfront, where two adults gave public testimony of their faith in Jesus Christ. Please pray for their continued obedience as they learn to observe everything Jesus has commanded us.

This afternoon we are traveling to the United States for two and a half weeks. We have the opportunity to participate in a missionary conference in Massachusetts and to spend a few days with Bekah’s family. We appreciate your prayers for us during our travels and ministry.

This is our April 2024 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

Last week, we got to visit the Flincks in Arica for five days. We traveled there and back on an overnight bus (the trip is 8–10 hours), trying to maximize our visit. We got to see a good bit of the city, to meet the families that make up the core group, and to worship with them on the Lord’s Day. It was exciting to see how God is calling together a group of believers there and we look forward to seeing what he will do with them in the future. We appreciate your prayers for us.

This is our March 2024 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

This past month we spent two weeks in Paysandú, Uruguay. The first week was our annual GMSA missionary conference. We enjoyed getting to see our missionary colleagues from Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile, as well as several from the United States. While we anticipated very hot weather, a huge rainstorm our first full day there kept the temperatures down. The second week we served as part of the camp team along with GMSA missionaries and long-time friend Dan and Liz Thompson, helping out around the campground and getting ready for kids’ camp the following week. Mark got to spend some time mowing grass (it’s been a while since he’s done that!). We took a two-day trip with the whole camp team to visit the church in Gualeguaychú, Argentina where GMSA missionaries Tim and Cristina Goossen serve. We enjoyed the change of pace, the different scenery (green!), and the fellowship of our missionary friends.

It’s always good to get back home where God has placed us and get back to our home church. We’ve jumped back in with church ministries, Bible studies, and visits as the summer vacations wrap up. Lord willing, we will visit the Flincks in Arica the first week of March, and we also have the opportunity to host a short-termer who is helping the mission with audio visual media for a few days. We appreciate your prayers for us, for health and strength, both physical and spiritual. We need wisdom in word and deed. Please pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ here in the church in Antofagasta. Pray for us to live with Jesus Christ as preeminent in all things.

This is our February 2024 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

This past month we were excited to host the Flincks visiting from Arica. Our church family was very excited to see them again and catch up on what God has been doing in Arica over the past three months. We celebrated Christmas and the New Year with different families from our church, and once again, we thank God for our church “family away from our family.” In January, Mark traveled to the south of Chile for the annual pastors’ meeting, where he had the opportunity to preach to the pastors and leaders from all over Chile.

This week we travel to Payusandú, Uruguay for our annual missionary conference. It’s an enjoyable week of catching up with our coworkers, meetings, and encouragement. Lord willing, we will stay an additional week at the camp there to help out as we are able. We appreciate your prayers for travel mercies as well as physical health and stamina.

Please pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ here in Antofagasta. Many are going through periods of testing and difficulty, where they are challenged to trust Jesus’ eternal words over their own feelings of fear and confusion. Pray for us, as we too work through periods of uncertainty and frustration, that we would believe Jesus’ words and live according to them. We appreciate your prayers for us.

This is our January 2024 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

We always enjoy having visitors here in Antofagasta: several of Mark’s family got to see a slice of our lives, as well as an aunt and uncle who were vacationing in northern Chile. If you’re ever in the area, stop in and see us! We live in a masterpiece of God’s creative beauty.

Bekah had some lower back trouble this past month, but it seems to be getting better each day. We are thankful for health and strength and never want to take it for granted.

The elders of our church came to us a few weeks ago and asked if we would consider staying in Antofagasta for two more years, presenting us with a list of specific projects and goals consistent with our gifts and strengths. We both felt very well “shepherded” to have men who take seriously the spiritual oversight of our lives, who know us intimately and watch us week in and week out, attempt to steer us to ministry opportunities that line up with how God has created us and wired us. We were able to get a good deal of counsel, and after talking it over and praying together, we accepted their proposal. Lord willing, we plan to continue serving the Iglesia Berea in Antofagasta until October 2025.

We continue to minister to our brothers and sisters here in Antofagasta with Bible studies and visits most week nights. We appreciate prayer for good rest and physical stamina. This coming month will bring more travel: Mark will spend a week in the south at the annual Chilean pastors’ conference, then we will travel to Uruguay for a week of our annual missionary conference, and we will stay there an additional week to minister at a family camp. We appreciate your prayers for us.

This is our December 2023 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

Bekah had the privilege of attending a pastors’ wives’ retreat in Santiago along with Cle and Angela, and they were joined by Kristi Flinck from Arica. It was a great time of fellowship and encouragement for the thirty ladies from all over the country. Two weeks later, Mark and Andrés traveled to the south of Chile for conference of about 80 pastors and church leaders from Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. The conference topic explored creative ways to take the gospel to “closed countries.” In addition to warm fellowship, the topic sparked many edifying and fruitful conversations.

We are thankful for our teammates here in Antofagasta: Marco and Priscila, Andrés and Cle, and Adrian and Angela. Lord willing, we will host several of Mark’s family members for ten days. We are looking forward to seeing them and showing them the beauty of God’s creation as well how Jesus is building his church here. We always appreciate your prayers for us.

This is our November 2023 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

We thank God for the unity he has given to our church in Antofagasta, and regularly pray that we will abound more and more in brotherly love (1 Thess 4:10). This past month, our church took a step forward, unanimously, electing another elder to join our leadership team. Please pray for Andrés, Adrian, Marco, and me as we seek to lead, teach, and care spiritual for this group of brothers and sisters in Christ.

This month has seen us getting used to our new location (the mission house in Antofagasta), closing out our apartment, and taking a trip to the United States, as Mark was honored to officiate the wedding of our good friends’ daughter. We thank God for good health and safe travels. We celebrated Chilean independence on the 18th of September with our teammates, and Bekah had a birthday. A couple in our church got married, and we celebrated God’s good gift of marriage with them.

When we return, we will begin several weeks of travels: Bekah will go to Santiago for a pastors’ wives’ retreat with Cle and Angela. Mark and Andrés will fly to the south of Chile for a tri-country pastors’ conference with the men from Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. We are looking forward to times of refreshing and ministry opportunities and we ask your prayers for safety and good health.

This is our October 2023 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

Our teammates, the Flincks, moved to Arica (450 miles away) this past month, and God providentially brought them safely there without incident. They are currently settling in to their rental house. This past week, we moved out of our apartment and into the mission house. As of today, we think everything is in the house, we just don’t know where in the house it is! We appreciate your prayers as we settle in and readjust.

Our church in Antofagasta has partnered with the Flincks as they seek to plant a new church in Arica. We had a “send them on their way” time their last Sunday with us (in the spirit of 3 John 6 and Romans 15:24), with a time of testimonies of God’s grace through the Flincks here in Antofagasta, a few speeches, a few gifts, and a time of prayer commending them to God’s grace. The church presented them with a lettered verse which we all signed the back of. It was a mix of joy and sadness, as it always has been when churches send out their members to take the gospel to other places: joy because we desire the good news to be spread, but sadness because we miss the fellowship we share.

September 18 and 19 are national holidays (probably most similar to July 4 in the United States), so Chileans are generally in a good mood the whole month. Flags are flying and you see kites everywhere (September is the southern hemisphere’s equivalent to March). Since everyone has next Monday and Tuesday off, they are looking forward to the extra long weekend. We hope to celebrate with Andrés and Cle and the boys, have a cookout, and enjoy the fellowship together.

This is our September 2023 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

This past month has been “quietly busy” with message preparations, Bible studies, and church events. We both struggled through persistent colds, but we have been thankful for the winter sunshine that warms everything during the day and keeps the night from being very cold.

Our teammates, the Flincks, continue to work toward moving to Arica (450 miles away), and God has providentially provided them a great house to rent. Yesterday they signed their rental contract, with plans to move the first week of September. We’re excited for them! This means that, Lord willing, we will move out of our apartment and into their house (owned by the mission) sometime during September and live there for the rest of our time in Antofagasta (at least another year).

Our church is exploring how we can partner with the Flincks as they prepare to move to Arica. We are trying to teach biblical principles as well as take concrete steps. It’s been fun to hear the brothers and sisters growing in their understanding of missions as we walk through the process together. We appreciate your prayers on behalf of a young church that is seeking to reproduce itself.

One of the blessings of this past month was having Ben Flinck (the Flincks’ second son who is a rising senior at Faith Baptist Bible College) come to Antofagasta as part of a missionary internship. He accompanied us on three of our Bible studies, and we enjoyed several great conversations with him. It’s exciting to see how God is working in his life. We continue to pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send laborers into his harvest field.

This is our August 2023 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.

I embarked on a missions trip to experience the mission field and take the next step in following God’s calling to missionary service. I spent two weeks in Antofagasta, Chile with the Perrys, and it was a life-changing experience. I was faced with the reality that missions work is a lot harder than I thought. The mission field isn’t very glamorous or comfortable and indeed is often filled with uncertainty and danger. Despite this, God used this time to solidify my desire to serve Him on the mission field and bring to light parts of my life that I needed to surrender to Him.

 I was welcomed with open arms into the loving and caring community of believers with a depth of sincerity, a genuine hospitality and selflessness. The poverty and extreme joy, contrasting one another, struck me as something rather odd. Starting my trip with a visit to a church family’s house, I was encouraged to hear how God is working in their lives and was privileged to share my testimony with them. After that, I attended a ladies Bible study at the church. Here I had the opportunity to build relationships with a few sisters from the church. It was wonderful to fellowship in mutual love for God and each other.

 This trip was laced with the themes of submission, trust, and servanthood. God reminded me to allow Him to make the plans for my future, to allow Him to direct my steps and lead me to where He would have me serve Him. Along with the reminder to set my gaze on heavenly, eternal things, the greatest lesson taught was to depend on God alone. Temporal things in my life were being given a higher place than they ought. My comfort, safety, and stability are not more important than God’s glory or the advancement of His kingdom. Instead of deterring me, these realities have reminded me of Whose strength I must rely in: God’s. I experienced so much love and joy throughout the entire trip, and I thank God for the opportunity to have partaken in it.

—Nia Wesley

This is our July 2023 email update. You can sign up to receive our updates in your inbox here. You can download a printable PDF here.