Meet the Team

Dear Friend,

Hello from Chile where we are expecting snow later on this evening here in Santiago – something that happens only every ten years or so!.

A little over a week ago all of the national staff workers and missionaries with Campus Crusade here in Chile got together for a time of studying God’s Word, training and seeking the Lord as a new semester of ministry begins. I wanted to introduce you to them and ask that you pray for us as a team as we seek to bring the life-transforming message of Christ to students and professionals here in Chile.

Pictured from left to right are the full-time Campus Crusade staff here in Chile:
· Israel Vilches – Israel comes from a family that was involved in the leadership of Campus Crusade in Chile for many years. In fact, his mother was the first student to receive Christ when Campus Crusade arrived in Chile for the first time in the late 1960’s. He’s a journalist and has been working full-time with college students in Santiago for 1 ½ years
· Mark and Amanda Essenmacher – Mark and his wife Amanda (to the left of Mark in the picture in the back) are Americans serving as missionaries in the Campus Crusade national office. The Essenmachers have 3 beautiful girls. Their youngest, Megan, was born here in Chile in June. Mark is in charge of finances for the ministry.
· Maria Jose Diaz – Maria Jose (known by many as Cote) has been working with us full-time for almost 7 years. She is helping to direct the team in Concecpion. Cote studied English translation.
· Veronica Carrera – Veronica studied to be an English teacher, and after four years of teaching joined the staff of Campus Crusade four years ago. Vero spent 6 months in Spain and North Africa working with Muslim women in 2005. Currently she is preparing to take a team of 5 students with her to this part of the world on a missions project in January of 2008.
· Blanca Mordeo & Christian Maureira – Christian and Blanca were blessed with their first child, a baby boy, Santiago Alonso, last February. They both served for many years in Mexico with Campus Crusade and returned to Chile 2 years ago. Blanca studied accounting and Christian sociology in Mexico. Christian is the Associate National Campus Director and they work with the team in Santiago.
· Marion Schulteiss – Marion is a missionary from Germany who is here with us for 1 ½ years. She studied Public Relations in Germany and earned a Masters degree in the U.S. a year ago. Marion makes some great strudel!
· Carla Ramirez – Carla comes to us from Mexico where she studied to be a publicist. She will be working with us as a missionary for two years. Carla first came to Chile four years ago as a student on a missions project and decided to come back after graduation to invest a couple of years in the lives of Chilean students.
· Veronica Cuevas & Juan Carlos Lorca – Juan Carlos is a graduate from the University of Concepción where he studied English translation & his wife, Verónica, studied the same at the University of Santiago. As a young teenager Veronica was diagnosed with MD and a few years later began using a wheelchair. She is currently doing well and they are praying that the Lord would bless them with a child. Please join in praying with them.
· Not pictured are American missionaries George Phillips, who leads one of the teams in Santiago here, and Kurt and Melissa Adams, who help lead the team in Concepcion, and their two sons (their youngest Mori was born just a little over a month ago). Both are in the US currently working on ministry partner development. Please pray that God would provide for the needs of these missionaries so that they can continue reaching Chilean students for Christ with us.

Please pray for these great folks that God would keep them close to Himself, that we would all work together unified in purpose and spirit, and that we would be used by God to reach Chilean young people and professionals with the life-transforming message of Christ.

Bendiciones,

Doug & Carey

Campus Ministry 2000 Conference in Korea Unforgettable!

Dear Praying Friend,

Although weeks have passed since I returned from South Korea, the Campus Ministry 2007 conference there with 17,000 students and professionals from 129 countries lived up to its billing as being a “once-in-a-lifetime” event! .

The praise and worship with people from so many nations and languages was a foretaste of heaven when people form every tribe, every language, and every nation will gather around the throne of God to worship. As heavenly as the worship and the messages of the speakers were, God's hand was also seen in how the Korean Campus Crusade ministry pulled off the event without any big problems. They fed all 17,000 participants two times a day and did it all in one hour each time. That's approaching the miraculous! I personally was challenged by the example of the Korean Christians that rose at dawn to pray, that raised $4 million to put on this conference, and that served wholeheartedly those who attended.

At the conference, we also saw cultural performances from all corners of the globe showcasing God's sovereign work in the cultures and nations of the world. At the conference I met people from Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Russia, Botswana, Tanzania, India, Vietnam, North Africa, the Middle East, all of the countries of Latin America, and did I mention 11,000 Korean students (I didn't meet them all : ). All were talking about what God was doing in their countries and inviting others to come help them reach college students at their universities.

Throughout the week students were challenged with the sober reality that of the 8,000 most influential universities in the world still 6,000 do not have a strong, worshipping community that proclaims Jesus to influence the next generation of Presidents, CEOs, teachers, businesspeople and other future leaders in their society. For this reason, on the final day of the conference students were challenged to be a part of giving, praying and going to these universities. The call was very clear and I am overwhelmed when I think about how God will lead and launch those who responded to His call.

Thank God for the safe travel for all of us from Chile - 38 hours one way! (flight time and layovers). Also, we’re thankful that many of the participants at the conference were curious about Chile and I'd say a few have a genuine desire to come and help us reach students here. Please pray that God would raise up labors as a result of the synergy from this conference.

Please pray for students to follow through on God's call, if they heard Him call them. Pray too for their parents and loved ones back home to be willing to accept what God is calling them to. Pray that strong worshipping communities would be raise up on these 6000 campuses where there isn't one currently. Pray that today's students, who are tomorrow's leaders, would come to faith in Jesus Christ and embrace their King. Pray for the students from Chile that went who at the conference all expressed a desire to reach out more to students in the universities in their cities and beyond.

Watch the 5 minute highlight video of the conference

Bendiciones,

Doug

"Short-term missionaries, 'Maximizers' and Preparing for Korea"

After what seems like weeks of cold weather, gray skies and rain, the clouds disappeared and left this clear, beautiful view of the foothills of the Andes Mountains as seen from our driveway. What a beautiful sight! We are just entering winter yet they say that it has already been one of the coldest on record with temperatures below freezing for weeks on end at night (pretty unheard of for Santiago).

Life and ministry have been moving along at a rapid pace. With the cold and damp weather has brought cold and flu bugs and our teams have been hit pretty hard. Please pray for the health of our teams here in Chile during this season of cold and flu.

The past month has been highlighted by:
The arrival of 13 college students from the U.S. who have been here for the past 5 weeks helping us meet and reach out to college students at 6 universities all over Santiago. Working with our full-time team they’ve been able to talk with hundreds of students about their lives and with many about their relationship with Christ.
Our second “Maximizers” training for future seminar leaders of a leadership and development program. We will continue with two more trainings in August and October to certify these 17 people in the program so that can use the seminars as an outreach tool among business and political leaders here in Santiago.
The 14 people that are going to Korea for Campus Mission 2007, a conference of 18,000 students and professionals from over 105 countries all have the funds to go. Join me in thanking God for his provision of $2500 for each participant and thank you to all of you who gave to this effort!

Tomorrow I (Doug) leave for Korea, please keep Carey and kids in prayer as I will be gone for 15 days. The kids will be on summer break after next week and I know that Carey will have her hands full. In fact, if you feel the urge, give her a call while I’m gone on our Vonage number: 719-219-6813. I know she’d love the adult conversation!

Prayer Requests:
Please pray for the two days of travel for the team and I to get to Korea, for safety and protection. Pray that God would work in our lives and in the lives of the participants to heed his call in following Him in taking the gospel all over the world.
Please pray for an outreach we will be planning for August 13-16 with the evangelist and successful businessman, Ray Berryman. Mr. Berryman and his wife travel the world telling their story of how knowing God has made all the difference in their lives and the way they have done business. Our prayer is that God would open doors for Mr. Berryman to speak to business, political and military leaders during the three days he’ll be with us.

Thank you so much for your prayers. They are a powerful force in what is going on here in Chile.

In His Grip,

Doug