New Mission Adventures in Chile
A Letter from César Carhuachín, serving in Colombia
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Dear brothers and sisters in the U.S.A.,
Greetings from Decatur, GA!
Happy New Year to you all! God bless your ministry and make it fruitful!
This new year brings new winds, new adventures, and new challenges for us. I will move to Chile after spending 10 years of ministry as a mission co-worker in Barranquilla, Colombia, serving as a professor of Bible and Theology, and being supported by the Presbyterian Church of Colombia.
The main reason for this re-assignment was that the new requirements that the Colombia chancellery put in place on religious organizations for the renewal of religious workers’ visas made it impossible for me to continue to teach in Colombia. It is with sadness that I leave and with hope, I look forward to a fruitful ministry in Chile.
Dania and I traveled back to Barranquilla on October 17, and stayed until January 1, to sell our belongings, close our apartment, and return to Mission Haven where we stayed during my Interpretation Ministry last fall. These last months in Barranquilla were with mixed feelings. On one hand, we were filled with sadness, knowing that these were our last months to be in Colombia. On the other hand, knowing that we had to move to another country inspired us to work quickly.
During this time, I was part of an international dialogue about the conflict between Palestine and Israel called “A Dialogue between Latin American and Palestine Theologians” on November 11. In this international event, we learned about the social and violent situation of the Christian population in Palestine areas, how some Evangelical churches in Latin America are nurturing and expanding the political ideology of Zionism through their teaching and sermons and installing Israel’s flag in their sanctuary. I want to request your prayers for peace for Palestine and Israel’s people in this war conflict.
I also attended my last meeting of the Theological Research Group (OIDHPAZ), on November 2, and a farewell breakfast for me and my wife sponsored by the Theology program on November 7, where I shared the news of my upcoming reassignment with them. I am grateful to God for allowing me to support the work of our ecumenical partner in Colombia. I ask for your prayers for the Theology program, its sustainability, and its challenges in 2024.
In addition to these commitments I preached at the Fifth Presbyterian Church of Barranquilla on November 12, and at the Comunidad Del Camino Presbyterian Church on December 10 and the Fifth Presbyterian Church of Barranquilla. Knowing that these would be my last sermons in Barranquilla, I encouraged the congregations to stay faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ and serve the community. The reactions of the congregation after my sermons were positive, and they thanked me for my years of ministry and promised to pray for my new ministry.
At the end of 2023, Dania and I enjoyed a Christmas dinner at a local restaurant. We share our confidence and hope in God in this new ministry and look forward to serving the people of Chile. We are taking this new ministry very seriously and praying for God’s direction and inspiration.
My responsibilities in Chile will be almost the same as those in Colombia. But, in this case, I will teach Bible and Theology at the Theological Community of Chile, an ecumenical institution with its main headquarters in Santiago de Chile. I will also be supporting the Presbyterian Church of Chile in the Northern Presbytery located at Antofagasta City. This means that I will be preaching at churches and supporting the presbytery in its development of ministerial vocations.
I want to ask your prayers for the Presbyterian Church of Chile, its needs and challenges, and for God to lead us to faithfully co-work with them in God’s mission in Chile. And, also, I request your prayers in this particular time when I am in Decatur (GA) working on my documents to apply for the religious worker’s visa for Chile.
Brothers and sisters in the U.S.A., I want to request your prayers in this new chapter of my ministry, supporting the mission of the Presbyterian Church of Chile and the Theological Community of Chile. Also, I want to invite you to sign up to receive my Mission Connections letters at presbyterianmission.org/ministries/missionconnections/rev-c-sar-carhuach-n.
Thank you for your church partnership and individual partnership with God’s mission around the world. Your support makes a difference and allows us to serve as mission co-workers.
Grace and peace!
