Focus

From Global Lutheran Outreach missionaries James and Liisa Tino (Serving in Santiago, Chile)

Dear GLO Newsletters,

First, our apologies for the lengthy delay since our last newsletter (we seem to be doing that a lot lately!). I could go on and on about what caused this delay, but that would be a contradiction to the theme of this newsletter, which is FOCUS. With so many distractions in our world today – political, economic, “culture wars”, covid, and more – I find that it is harder and harder to stay focused on what’s really important.

Every family needs a home, and the family of faith is no different. For over a year now, we have been worshiping under a temporary tin roof in the back yard of the ministry/immigrant house. Our humble “chapel” has been under an ongoing demolition order from the local government. The lives of immigrants are unstable enough – they do not need to be living in fear of eviction. The continued harassment by the government is also taking its toll on me as the pastor/missionary and on the congregation. We need a home.
By 2020, the ministry was robust enough to pay its own rent, so Liisa and I moved to our own place (smaller). Since January 2020, the church and related ministries have been able to pay the nearly $2,000/month USD in rent. Hey, that’s a mortgage payment!

A New Pastor

I’m a missionary-pastor, and the job of a missionary-pastor is to do a lot of “firsts” – that is, things that you (hopefully) only have to do once. For example: start from ground zero; train your first leaders; start a Sunday school; write a constitution; register the church; build a building; and so on. Once the congregation is on its feet, it’s time to call a pastor to continue shepherding the flock and reaching out to others with the Gospel.
It’s time.
So far, we have extended calls to three pastors. This is not a “money” issue, it is a “guidance” issue. Will you pray that God’s Holy Spirit would guide and direct us to the man He has chosen to be the pastor at Divine Providence Lutheran Church in Santiago?