Traveling Mercies
A Letter from César Carhuachín, mission co-worker serving in Chile
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Dear brothers and sisters in the United States,
Greetings from Decatur!
In my previous letter, I mentioned that we expected to travel to Chile (South America) by the end of July. Unfortunately, we haven’t traveled yet. Processing our visas is taking much more time than we expected, and it has been five months since we applied for our religious visas. So, Dania and I are still living in Mission Haven, in Decatur, GA. Although Mission Haven has been very flexible and has allowed us to rent an apartment to stay during this time of waiting, we have had to move three times since January.
I have to say that this waiting time is a challenge for our patience. However, we continue praying for God’s control at this time. As a missionary, including in the United States, I learned to trust in God at all times. Although we don’t know why it is taking so long, we are sure that God has a purpose. God has reasons that we don’t know about. Situations like this challenge our faith, but our faith rests in a good place.
During this time, I have been in conversation with two Chilean pastors. I will be working with the Rev. Moises Campily, moderator of the Great North Presbytery, and Dr. Daniel Godoy, the president of the Theological Community of Chile. Both are anxious for us to be there already. We request your prayers of support in this time, for patience for us and our church partner, the Presbyterian Church of Chile.
Let me tell you about my travel plans. When I travel to Chile, I will first need to stop in Barranquilla, Colombia to collect some of my belongings. These belongings are packed in 24 boxes each weighing 50 lbs, and four 31-gallon plastic containers. As you know I was a professor of Bible and Theology at the Reformed University in Barranquilla, Colombia for 10 years. When I left the country, I packed my belongings in boxes and stored them in the offices of the Presbytery of the Coast so I would not have to transport them to the U.S. and then to Chile. We plan to stop in Colombia for one day on our way to Chile to retrieve eight boxes that contain my necessary teaching materials.
On October 22-25, our ecumenical partner, the Theological Community of Chile, will celebrate its 60th Anniversary in Santiago de Chile. People from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission office will attend. Theological Community of Chile is sponsored by more than five denominations including the Presbyterian, Lutheran, Methodist, Reformed and Pentecostal churches. Please pray for a safe trip for those who attend the celebration, 60 years of the ministry of Theological Education undertaken by our ecumenical partner and Dr. Daniel Godoy, president of the Theological Community of Chile.
The Presbytery of Greater Atlanta has accepted Dania as an Inquirer. She is excited about taking this first step in preparation for the ministry. These days, she is checking out several Presbyterian M.Div. programs. Currently, we are worshiping at Columbia Presbyterian Church in Decatur, GA where Dania is a member. We also visit Columbia Theological Seminary’s library, which is a block away from Mission Haven.
I am taking advantage of this waiting time for a visa to Chile to take two online courses from Dubuque Theological Seminary. They are “The Theology of John Calvin” and “The Theology of Saint Augustine” in the Master of Arts in Reformed Theology. This experience is enabling me to delve deeper into Calvin’s theology and learn much more about Saint Augustine. I give thanks to Theology Matters for this opportunity to learn a little more about the Reformed Tradition.
Please pray for us as we wait for our visas to Chile. If you haven’t already, please sign up to receive my Mission Connection letters at: presbyterianmission.org/ministries/missionconnections/rev-c-sar-carhuach-n.
I want to thank you for your support of God´s mission around the world. Your prayers and financial support allow us to serve as mission co-workers.
Blessings to you all!
