From the Holmfront

36 Hours in Oxford and London

2009-09-27T08:33:00.001-07:00

After a long week of studying and research I took the weekend to travel to Oxford and London. I had the better part of the day in both places, not near enough time to see one of the great centers for learning in all the world and one of the greatest cities in all Europe, the emerald of the United Kingdom.

Nevertheless, it was fantastic to see a part of each of them. In Oxford I saw a smattering of the 38 colleges, a handful of churches, the Bodleian library, a cross as well as a monument that commemorated figures in history that were martyred because they would not renounce their faith, and I did a mini-walking tour to see some of the places that CS Lewis frequented (Magdalen College, Magdalen Church, the Eagle and Child pub where the "Inklings" which included J.R.R. Tolkein and others met and discussed what they were writing among a few other places).

In London I saw the Westminster Abbey, the Parliament buildings, Big Ben, the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace (picture of me above), St James Park, the British Museum, the British Library, the Thames River, the riverfront with all the street shows, the Sherlock Holmes museum, Regency Park, and sunset among the beautiful flowers at Queen Mary's botanical garden which provided for a great end to the day. It was a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and lots of sun that made the trip all the more pleasant. Thank you Lord! Clearly, the only thing missing was that I went to see all these places by myself. It would have been much better to have some my wife and family along (though I probably wouldn't have gone to so many museums and churches!) Hopefully, some day....

Below are some more pictures and details of my 36 hours in Oxford and London!

Pics from Oxford

2009-09-27T07:57:00.001-07:00

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Oxford is a pristine city that exudes learning and academic aspiration throughout its 38 colleges in what has been called "the city of the dreaming spires" (see bottom two pictures). I took a two hour walking tour around the central part of the city (everything is relatively close) and learned more about the history of Oxford that I can even remember. Oxford is the oldest, English-speaking university in the world, founded in the 12th century. During the tour we entered three of the colleges (see 3rd picture with me at Oriel College) as many were closed for different events, one being a graduation day! I'm not sure why they are graduating while school is about to begin here but there were graduates with caps and gowns on all over.

One of the highlights of my time was touring the Bodleian Library, one of the oldest in all of Europe that has in its collection over 8 million books! Every week 1,200 new books enter the library. The agreement with Thomas Bodley, who helped to restore and put the library on the track it continues on back in the 1600's is that out of every new book printed in England, one copy is sent to the library. Unlike a traditional library, one cannot check out books but must have a reader card to be able to enter and read. No pens, food or smoking in the library and to get a reader card among other things one must promise to never take a book out of the library! (2nd picture). During the library tour we saw one part of the library that was used in the library scenes in a couple of Harry Potter films! On one of my trips here to the UK I hope to make use of the library for my research if there are books that are difficult to get a hold of.

On the buildings throughout Oxford one finds gargoyle heads on the downspouts and other, sometimes humorous, monster heads on the buildings. Our tour guide pointed out at one college that the first letter of the images on the building spelled the name of the first female principal of that college. I'm not sure why they are there on the others. At once kind of freaky and at then almost cartoonish at other times, an interesting tradition (first picture).

Pics from London

2009-09-27T06:18:00.000-07:00

My first stop after the train station was to jump on the Tube (the name of the subway in London) and head out to Westminster Abbey. I wanted to walk around there first to see if they had an Saturday evening service before heading to Buckingham palace for the changing of the guard ceremony. That's the first picture (top) of my mug with the church in the background. Right around the corner and visible from the church grounds is the clock tower, Big Ben next to the parliament buildings (2nd picture).

After seeing Big Ben, I went towards Buckingham Palace. I cut through St James Park which was blooming with flowers and very beautiful. Coming up on the palace, one sees the Victoria Memorial commemorating Queen Victoria (third picture). I arrived an hour before the ceremony and already the places in front of the iron bar fence were taken. So my pictures are just so-so becaue I had to take them through the bars (fourth picture). The ceremony actually lasted for over an hour complete with two military bands playing music from the musical "Mama Mia" and some other easy listening songs from the 70s. Whatever happened to "God Save the Queen"?

After the ceremony I bolted to the Tube and went to the British Museum (bottom picture). I spent only a few minutes there (it was free!) and looked at some of the exhibits from ancient Greece. Then I walked over to the British Library and perused two of the oldest complete copies of the Bible that exist: Codex Sinaiticus (from the 350s AD) and Codex Alexandrinus (from the 5th century). They were both open to the last chapter of the Gospel of John and I'm proud to say that I could even read some of the Greek. To be able to read a copy of the Scriptures that were more than 1600 years old was incredible - our faith has a long, reliable history.

After the British Library I went back to Westminster Abbey, the church where kings and queens are crowned, and arrived just in time to get in for the Evensong Saturday service (which as free and not 15 pounds that you pay if you go to see visit the museum on your own). It was wonderful with the glorious ornate ceiling and monuments everywhere to famous people buried somewhere underneath, among them Winston Churchill but the one who grabbed my attention was that of the great English statesman and Christian activist, William Wilberforce. Unfortunately, half way through the service, one of the older choir members had a medical emergency that was so serious that they stopped the service in order for the paramedics and ambulance to treat and take them to the hospital. One interesting note, the service was full of people like me who did not want to pay the 15 pound entrance fee, and so there were people from all over the world: noticeably from the Middle East, India, China and Japan. They were clueless about the liturgy (I am in good practice going to the chapel service at the Anglican college I am at daily). During the times for silent pray I asked the Lord to speak to them, to reveal His Son to them, that this service would be a step in their pilgrimage toward believing in Him. With the unplanned medical emergency of that poor person, I'm sure I was not the only one thinking about mortality and the hereafter.

Studying

2009-09-26T16:25:00.001-07:00

I haven't put up anything new on the blog because my week has been spent in study, study, study. I've been getting ready for a meeting with my supervisor to look over the research that I've done over the past couple of weeks. The concentrated time to focus on reading, writing and studying has been good. But I sure do miss Carey and the kids as well as just time to veg. Fortunately, through Skype we've been able to keep in touch almost daily and sometimes with a video feed. Seeing the fam is makes it seem like we're not so far away from each other, but an image actually makes me a little more homesick after we talk. This weekend I'm going to travel to a couple of places so I should at least have some pictures up.

Half Day trip to Cardiff

2009-09-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Today I took the bus for an hour over to the country of Wales and to the capital city of Cardiff. Wales is right next to Bristol and though the bus was full of people and a bit stuffy, it was a good little trip. Cardiff Castle lies smack dab in the middle of the modern city of Cardiff. Though probably not the most impressive castle, it was the first British castle I've ever visited and it had all the components that I would have hoped for: castle, moat, high walls, battlements, towers, etc. It only lacked some knights and a few jousting tournaments. I'm sure they get around doing that at some time in the year though! Another beautiful sunny fall day that made the excursion well worth it.

Well, back to the books! There are more photos below!

More Cardiff Castle Shots

2009-09-20T11:19:00.001-07:00

Here are some other shots of the castle grounds. The top one is of the both the castle and the keep. The middle is the keep which has the moat around it and was one of the oldest structures in the castle grounds. The bottom is of the castle, the center part of it was built around 1423 and then was expanded and extensively remodeled in the 1500's and the 1700's.

Castle interior

2009-09-20T11:13:00.000-07:00

Flash photography was not allowed inside the castle so many of the pictures I took with Hannah's little camera didn't turn out well. Most of the rooms were very richly decorated and what I thought was cools was all the cool fireplaces and mantels. Here's a mantel I'd love to have over the fireplace in my house! Very King Arthur-ish (who by the way is supposably buried an Glastonbury Abbey down the road from Bristol)!

The Missing Link

2009-09-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

I stopped by the National History Museum of Wales and caught the Welsh perspective. There wasn't a display about a Creator anywhere (not that I've every seen one in any other national history museum. There was book cover that I thought summed it up.

English or Cymraeg?

2009-09-20T11:04:00.000-07:00

The Welsh have two official languages: English and Cymraeg (Welsh). So every sign is in both languages - makes for twice as many signs and since the alphabet is pretty much the same you need to find the words that DON'T look like gibberish to you. Here's some street signs I ran into.

Jane Austen Festival

2009-09-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

This week was also the "Jane Austen Festival" in Bath. One of the cities claims to fame is that Jane Austen lived there for some years and wrote a few of her books manuscripts in that setting. People were dressed in Victorian attire. Brought back memories of how I thought it would have been back in 10th grade when I read "Jane Eyre" in high school!

Hourly prayer at Bath Abbey

2009-09-19T12:32:00.000-07:00

The priest read some Scripture and said a few prayers while the tourists paused and watched. The stain glass windows in the church was fabulous. The central one alone had over 50 something scenes from the life and ministry of Christ. The great thing about the inscriptions here in the stain glass is that they are not in Latin nor Spanish nor Italian, but English!

New friends

2009-09-19T12:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some chaps I met at the Roman Bath excavation: somewhat delusional stone masons who were hard at work but stopped to pose for the tourists.

Saturday Outing to Bath

2009-09-19T11:53:00.000-07:00

After locking myself up in a study all week with books and a laptop, I left the writing aside today and took a short trip to the neighboring town of Bath. As the name suggests, this city is known for hot, mineral water baths. Although there is very little seismic activity in the UK, this city is one of the few places where thermally heated water comes up to the surface. The town was founded around 2,000 years ago by the Romans who believed the waters to be sacred and somewhat medicinal. Over the course of centuries they built bathhouses and temples in this location. Later on the Christian missionaries came and constructed an abbey on part of this ground, most likely tearing down the pagan temple in the process. The baths remained though in one form or another for centuries as people came to be relieved of their suffering from arthritis, rheumatism, skins diseases and a whole litany of ailments.

The abbey is now beautiful cathedral built close to if not on top of the Roman temple to the god Minerva. I have read of other early missionary efforts in Britain with similar circumstances - Christian missionaries (usually monks) enter an area and begin to instruct the people and eventually the pagan worship places are destroyed or dismantled and a church or monastery is put in its place as a new place to worship God and to serve as a base of mission. I have read Celtic literature that talks about "sacred space" and that the people recognized that a certain spot, even though occupied by a temple or sacred place for another religion, was somehow sacred and thus a natural place to put a Christian church. Needless to say, it would also be a bold statement about the victory of the Christian God over the god or gods that inhabited that space before. To read more go to: http://www.bathabbey.org/visitors.htm. They have prayer on the hour and get up in the pulpit while the tourists are milling around and give a few verses of Scripture, prayers for the city, tourists, and peace and then the Lord's prayer. A pretty good way to proclaim the gospel and instruct people about the God for whom the cathedral was built.

The pictures are of the main entrance of Bath Abbey, the Roman Baths that have been excavated, and yours truly at Bath, but I didn't bathe there, did you see the color of that water?

Sunday Church Service

2009-09-13T13:31:00.000-07:00

Today I attended Cairns Road Baptist Church with some new friends. The service had a warm, family feel to it as well as an air of celebration as two high school aged boys were baptized. One reminded me so much of Jake, our sophomore, tall and lanky. The service centered around the baptism of these young men and what it meant that they were making a public demonstration that they were followers of Jesus.

Two things struck me about the baptism of these two "lads". One was that they seemed to be from different socio-economic levels. Though good friends, one young man talked about growing up in a single-parent home and recounted when God provided for daily needs when there was not any money. He testified to how he had seen God's faithfulness to his family in this way. The other boy talked more about those who had influenced his life and personal growth and did not mention situations. The other part that struck me was one of the pastor's questions that he asked the boys before baptizing them. There were three: one ask them if they believed in the Triune God, the second whether they had decided to follow Jesus and the third, and I remember the pastor saying that this was "very important", that they would stand and work for social justice and resist evil both individually and as a part of the Christian community. Growing up Baptist, I had never heard the third question before. This church definitely sees a major part of following Christ as aligning oneself with good in issues of justice in society. No mention of personal devotions and "Jesus and me," rather representing Jesus out there in the culture. Interesting.

After the service I spoke with at least three people and all of them knew of and/or had been influence by Agape (Campus Crusade in Europe). I was pleasantly surprised. Of course all of them had gone to the university. I didn't take my camera today and now I wish I had for the baptisms to show the kids. Seeing them reminded me of baptizing Jake and Jonny - being a part of your children taking steps towards following Jesus is one of the greatest joys!

Saturday Afternoon Exploring Bristol

2009-09-12T11:59:00.000-07:00

The weather continues to be warm and so this afternoon I took off to explore downtown Bristol. Besides stopping in a few stores along the way (Barnes and Noble, a used book store, supermarket, etc.) it was mainly a downhill walk. At the used bookstore I scored a three year old travel guide book for Britain and Ireland for 1.50 pounds (around $2.55), who says everything is so expensive here. Actually many things you can count on costing twice what they cost in the U.S.

Along the way I saw some old church buildings - Baptist, Methodist, and Church of England. I walked up the hill to the University of Bristol and it happened to be the weekend back for the students. One of the pictures I've included here is of one of their principle buildings - it looks a little like a cross between a church and a tower. Again, everything has such a long history here. I stopped at the main Cathedral (a church has been setting on that spot for over 1,000 years and some of the oldest part of the structure dates back to 1140 CE. It just so happened that it was time for the Saturday Choral Evensong Worship service. The choir sang beautifully though I could not tell if it was always in English, and the OT reading was from Exodus 19:1-8 (incidentally, I will be looking at Ex. 19:6 this next week in my research) and John 20:1-18 about the resurrection of Jesus. The prayer time was a long pastoral prayer for the city, nation, poor, the attenders of the service, and for prayer requests that people had written and left before. Before a young ordinand, who looked like Orlando Bloom in "Pirates of the Caribbean" with the long hair in a pony tail and dressed in an all black robe came and told me there was not photography to be take, I took a shot of the inside of the cathedral and the tomb cut out of the wall of Abbot William Hunt, 1473-1481. His curacy predates Columbus discovering the Americas by 11 years!

After the service I went down to the floating harbor. The Avon River flows through the city and the tidal changes causes it to rise and fall. It was a pretty cool place on a warm Saturday afternoon and there were a lot of people out. There were ferries that would take people up and down the harbor. I decided to walk and ended up at the museum of the SS Great Britain, the first screw propeller ship. Before catching a ferry across the river to catch a bus back to the school, I spotted this pirate ship that takes people up and down the river, and they even let you dress like pirates! Ho, ho, ho!

2009-09-11T09:57:00.000-07:00

Today was "Induction Day" for all new postgraduate research students. Basically what that meant is that we were given an introduction to being research students: pitfalls, how to grow spiritually and retain your sanity, generally good advice, regulations, and a lot of helpful information. One of the great parts of this time was that it was held in a small church out in a rural area that has 12 people on its roles. (picture). For the third day in a row the sun was shinning and the sky was blue, much to the surprise of my British hosts. After a very wet summer here maybe summer has finally come?

My kids keep asking about my teacher and my classes, well here's picture of those who are doing postgraduate research work so I guess that they would be part of the same "class" I am in and the professors shown would be the teachers (how can I ever help them understand that I got to a school where I'm not taking any classes and consequently do not have teachers - they must think I'm loony).

2nd Day in the UK

2009-09-10T07:23:00.002-07:00

According to my new English friends I have been blessed with two consecutive days of sun - I guess the weather here is usually more damp and cloudy. After getting accustomed to sunny, Colorado days I'm glad to have good weather on my first few days. I'm also glad because I walked to an area of the city called Clifton today to meet my supervisor for the first time. It was a good visit and I'm looking forward to working with him. His name is Steve Finamore and he is the principle of the Bristol Baptist College, one of the older "free", Christian training schools in all the world. The plaque at the door of the school attests to that as it records that the institution was founded in 1679. Everything is much older here than in the US. In fact, so much so that they even put signs on the street to alert drivers to "elderly people crossings". A nice gentleman was willing to pose for me : 0 )

Do you recognize the tree (pic above)? No, I didn't take an overnight flight back to Chile, but it is the national tree of Chile, called an Araucania, or in English a "monkey puzzle tree." It was right next door to the Baptist college. Finally, as I walked from the Baptist College I went through an area called Clifton Downs where there was a number of English prep schools. The high school age students were all dress in coat and ties with fancy black dress shoes. The little ones were also wearing coats and ties and girls skirts - kind of a Hogwarts look without the capes. I did see a field there where they must play quiddich, but someone suggested to me that it might be where they play rugby. Anyway, Jake and Jonny, how would you like to wear uniforms like that to school instead of sweats and shorts? Well, I guess you both did wear those type of uniforms when you went to St. Johns and Wessex in Concepcion.

I miss you family!

First Day in the UK

2009-09-09T15:33:00.000-07:00

After flying and waiting in airports for 15 hours, I arrived in London suffering from the typical bone-weariness of attempting to catch at least 15 minutes of consecutive sleep in economy class. However, a sweet surprise was waiting for me at a kiosk as I made my way to the bus terminal - HOBNOBS! As the label says, these are "roasty oaty biscuits" covered with milk chocolate on one side. I was introduced to Hobnobs years ago when we were living in Russia. I've gotten a hold of them on rare occasion since, but now that I'm in the land where they originated, I'll be doing some Hobnobbing (not to mention getting some good fiber : )

I caught my bus for Bristol and traveled through some beautiful, rolling green hills. At one moment I thought I caught a glance of Harry Potter's uncle's house. As I rolled into Bristol after two hours I noticed immediately the mix of the old and the new - old buildings, walls, cathedrals, etc. Before arriving to the city we passed the cutoff to the old Roman town of Bath located close by where the Romans built public baths that had medicinal qualities at the turn of the 1st millennium. Everything is much older here than in the US when it comes to structures, buildings, etc.

With the seven hour time difference I am feeling a bit exhausted. But before signing off tonight I accepted an invitation to watch the England vs. Croatia World Cup qualifying match. Needless to to say, the English remind me of the Chileans and Argentinians (as well as most other nations in the world when it comes to soccer) in their passion to see their team win - and they did 5 to 1.
I met some great people who are studying, teaching and working here and look forward to rubbing shoulders with them as I pursue postgraduate research. All and all, for a travel day it was a great one, though I miss my family. To them: XXooxOxooX

"Passing the Baton"

2008-11-07T06:10:00.000-08:00

Campus Crusade for Christ Chile Staff September 2008

Thank you for your prayers for one of the most memorable weekends that we’ve had during our past eight years here in Chile. The weekend began with our annual staff conference for all of the full-time and associate workers with Campus Crusade for Christ Chile. At a retreat center in the coastal town of El Tabo an hour and a half from Santiago, 22 of us gathered for a weekend of hearing from the Lord, thanking God for what He has done in our lives and ministry, and looking ahead to the future.

Our theme for the weekend was “Winds of Change” as we culminated years of praying and investing in the next generation of leaders by handing over the leadership of the ministry to a Chilean/Mexican staff couple, Christian and Blanca Maureira. As many of you know when we arrived in Chile eight years ago one of our greatest desires was to leave behind a ministry in the hands Chileans. Though for years we wondered if it would ever happen, the Lord faithfully raised up this young couple to lead the charge in reaching Chilean young people for Christ.

During the weekend, Carey and I had a special time with all of our staff, many of whom we’ve know for years, thanking them for their faithful service, encouraging them by reminding them of their gifts, and giving them a blessing to continue down the unique path God has for them as they pursue His heart for a world that so desperately needs a Savior. Needless to say there were few dry eyes that evening as we shared from our hearts with these dear friends.

The next day we were privileged to have the director of Campus Crusade for Christ South America, Rolando Justiniano, and a representative from the global campus ministry from Campus Crusade headquarters in Orlando, Tom Gooldy, to share inspiring messages encouraging us to keep on toward the vision of building spiritual movements everywhere by winning, building, and sending Christ-centered multiplying disciples. We ended the weekend of changes by praying and laying hands on Christian and Blanca and praying for God’s grace and power in their lives and to “guard the treasure that has been entrusted to them.” (2 Tim. 1:14).

Tom (left), Rolando (center) and Doug (right) Praying for Christian and Blanca

Passing the Baton

On the day after the staff conference, 80 people joined us at the Santiago Community Church to celebrate the “passing the baton” from our hands to the hands of our colleagues in a special service. Joined by other international guests and two past directors of Campus Crusade for Christ Chile, we gathered with family, friends, students and supporters of the ministry here to celebrate the formation of a Chilean ministry and to envision the future. During this time we were honored with a beautiful silver plaque commemorating the past eight years of giving leadership to the Chilean ministry.

Posing with our Director Rolando Justiniano

At the end of the service, Rolando and Doug passed the “baton” to Christian in a symbolic manner. Rolando delivered to Christian a Chilean flag, challenging him to work towards the reaching of his nation for Christ. Doug presented Christian with a Bible charging him to lead always in dependence on and in obedience to the World of God just as Moses instructed the kings of Israel in Deuteronomy 17:18-20:

"Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. 19 "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left; in order that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel.”

Rolando and Doug Present a Flag and Bible to the New Director Christian Maureira (picture above)

We only wish you all could have shared these moments with us in person instead of an email! You have played a key part in helping raise up a Chilean ministry that reaches out to young people through your friendship and prayers. MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS!

Some have asked about our plans. We’ll be sharing more with you about the exciting direction the Lord seems to be taking us in the coming months, but know that till the end of the year we will continue in Chile to mentor the new leaders and help with the transition. Please pray for the new leadership and the staff and students as they look towards where the ministry needs to go for the future. Please pray also for us as we help in this process with a new role and as we seek God’s direction for the future.

We appreciate you,

Doug and Carey

Staff Retreat in Lago Colbun

2008-03-04T11:12:00.000-08:00

Recently we pulled away with our full time and associate Campus Crusade for Christ Chile staff for a retreat before the summer’s end and the beginning of activities on the universities. This year among the smiling faces in the picture above we have 8 Chilean staff, 7 Americans, and 1 German. Not pictured are 4 more Chileans that are filling out applications to work with us full-time hopefully starting sometime this year!. We praise the Lord for those whom he has brought to work in the harvest field of Chilean young people.

During our time together we met to talk about character issues in leadership (truthfulness and trust) as well as “keeping in step” with the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:25) day by day as we follow Christ and invite others to do the same. Rich times of prayer, worship through music, barbeques and cooling off in the lake rounded out are time. After spending the Chilean summer in the cold, wintry U.S. it was great to be reunited with our team and to experience a little hot weather!

Also at the retreat we talked about our newly developed vision statement. In Chile we want to see: Students transformed by Jesus who impact their world. Our desire is to see young people who experience life transformation that touches all parts of their lives as well as the society where they live. Would you pray with us that God would move in our lives and in the lives of students to make this a reality?

As we begin our ministry year, please also pray for:
The team of 8 Germans who are here with us till mid-March that are reaching out to people here in Santiago, Concepcion and in Mapuche villages in the Andes.
The students entering the university for their first year, that the Lord would bring them into a life-transforming relationship with Himself during this important year of entering college. Also, that our outreaches would be used by Him as part of the process for many.
The training of Christian women in utilizing a new tool from the Jesus Film, a DVD called: Mary Magdalena: Released from Shame, that uses the story of four women in the gospels who had a life transforming encounter with Jesus. Pray that women in churches all over the country would use the tool in sharing with coworkers, neighbors, and friends so that they too may come to know the Savior. If you’d like to see the trailer in English, click on the link http://magdalenatoday.com/trailer/.

Neighborhood Tragedy

As I write this email I’m saddened by a tragedy that hit very close to where we live. Our neighborhood is located in the flight path of an airport for small aircraft. Earlier today a small aircraft crashed into a soccer field just 5 blocks from our house. Fortunately, the pilot managed to crash into the field and not the densely populated residential area where we are located. However, all six people aboard the plane perished as well as 5 on the ground as the field was being used by a women’s exercise class. Nine more people have been hospitalized, some badly burned and in critical condition. Other missionary friends of ours live just a few blocks from the tragedy and saw it happen. Please pray for the families who lost loved ones and for opportunities to minister to people in our neighborhood. Tomorrow is a mass for the victims at the Catholic church a few blocks from our house.

Thanks for you prayers and for standing with us in Chile.

Bendiciones,

Doug and Carey

Jonny is baptized!

2008-03-04T10:01:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend,

After 3 ½ days and 26 hours of drive time we made it back to Palmer Lake, Colorado. Thank you so much for praying for our travels and safety as we drove in the winter weather. It was also a good time together as family which is another item for which to be thankful.

Baptism
On Sunday we were able to share in the morning services at Tri-Lakes Chapel as Pastor Ed Rowell interviewed us about the past few years and some highlights in our lives and ministry. At the end of the second service, Doug baptized Jonny. Months ago Jonny had asked us to be baptized, and so Doug and he began a series of times together to talk about the meaning and significance of baptism. At one point the light went on in Jonny’s mind after reading Romans 6:1-3 and he exclaimed, “I get it! Baptism shows that we believe that we are buried with Jesus and then raised up with Him to new life.” We had some great talks and the baptism was a very special time shared with family and friends at Tri-Lakes Chapel. Please pray for Jonny as he seeks to follow Jesus in his 11 year old way.

Support Update
As of today we’ve seen God raise up $250 of the $500 in monthly support we need to go back to Chile next week. Please join in prayer with us that the remaining $250 of monthly support that is needed.

In His Grace,

Doug and Carey

Redesigned Web Page

2007-11-12T15:43:00.000-08:00

Dear Friend,

We've redesigned our Webpage! Besides the new design there is a Web Updates blog where you can follow the happenings of our lives and ministry with Campus Crusade for Christ in Chile. Also just added is a feature that allows you to leave comments on the Web Updates blog. Please let us know what you think! Another new feature is our Photo Albums of recent pictures that we’ll be updating regularly that is hosted on our Facebook page. Like the our old Webpage, you can still find out the basics About Us, read our regular Prayer Letter updates in PDF format, and Contribute to our ministry by credit card via a secure server. If you have not been receiving our email updates you can Subscribe by clicking on the link , or if you would like to send us an email you can click on Contact Us.

Please note also the following changes and additions to our contact information:

Mailing Address in Chile:
Doug y Carey Holm
Casilla 77
Sucursal Tobalaba
Providencia
Santiago de Chile

We hope that this updated information will keep us well-connected and communicating clearly with all of you.

Bendiciones,

Doug and Carey

Life Team Reaches Out to Leaders

2007-09-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Ray Berryman of Life Team Addresses Business and Community Leaders

Rolando Justiano of Life Team Speaks to Campus Leaders

Dear Friends,

Thank you for praying for the week of outreaches to student and community leaders last week with the visit of Life Team here in Chile. Life Team consists of a group of businesspeople who have achieved a high level of success in their personal and professional lives. They travel around Latin America giving talks over Transforming Leadership and True Success which both have at their base Biblical values and a relationship with Christ. In some countries, Life Team has been able to speak before presidents of the republic, legislators, top level executives and mayors.

This being the first time for the team to come to Chile and for the secular nature of Chilean society, we didn’t aim quite so high. Still, during the week there were 8 events in the cities of Santiago, Valparaiso and Osorno. Two events were in universities in Santiago and other events were with business leaders. We even had the chance to have lunch with Roberto Sepulveda, the only evangelical Christian in the Chilean legislature. With 20% of the population reportedly evangelical Christians, the representation is at all proportional. One of the Life Team speakers, businessman and engineer Ray Berryman, is going to work at getting an invitation to the Presidential Prayer Breakfast in Washington, DC for Rep. Sepulveda along with one of the leading presidential candidates for the next presidential elections. Please pray for Rep. Sepulveda to stand for righteousness and justice in the legislature and for this invitation to the Presidential Prayer Breakfast to happen.

In all, through the 8 different events working with other churches at times Life Team exposed 335 people to the gospel with 51 of them indicating a decision to trust Christ. Unique to Ray’s presentation of the gospel was that the prayer of salvation that he led people in he asked people to repeat out loud. In the North American culture that may be seem awkward, but here in Chile where there is a strong Catholic influence, praying out loud is not such a big deal. Of course since it is more common we are getting back with those who did indicate receiving Christ to help them understand more about that important step of faith. We praise God for all those who genuinely put their faith in the Savior! Please pray that God would continue work in the hearts of those who put their faith in Him this past week.

Already we are follow up these new believers. On Monday I met with two university students, Ariel and Enrique. Please pray for them as they are considering the claims of Christ. Thanks again for playing a part through prayer in bringing the gospel to Chileans in all parts of society. If you would like to see more pictures, go to: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=50134&l=71368&id=817850573
In His Grace,

Doug and Carey Holm

Meet the Team

2007-08-10T20:34:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-08-10T18:15:00.000-07:00

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"

2007-08-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

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

"Leadership that Transforms Lives"

2007-05-10T20:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Friend,

I wanted to update you on the Santiago Fall Retreat that occurred in the coastal city of Isla Negra last weekend. At the retreat the Campus Crusade for Christ full-time and short-term missionaries working on universities here in Santiago invited students with whom they have been building relationships and talking with about God. The theme of the talks for the weekend was “Leadership that Transforms Lives.” Students were challenged to see themselves as leaders who will have an influence over those in their family, classmates, work and society. Our speaker, Mario Bloise, the director of Campus Crusade Argentina also challenged them to consider Jesus as the model of servant leadership and as the one who could reconcile them with God.

The weekend was full of significant conversations and steps forward as the 35 students processed the challenge to consider Jesus as we enjoyed beautiful fall weather on the Chilean coast. Also at the retreat were Christian students from 3 universities where we do not currently have a ministry who are interested in partnering with us to raise up movements that will reach their classmates for Christ.

Please pray that:
the students who were at the retreat who have not yet placed their faith in Christ would embrace the Savior.
Christian students at the retreat would have a passion to reach out to their classmates in their universities
Student movements would be started at these 3 universities where there currently is no ministry.

Thank you for praying for students here in Santiago.

In His Grace,

Doug

“…They realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” Nehemiah 6:15

2007-05-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

“…They realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” Nehemiah 6:16

The smiling faces above are of the Campus Crusade students and staff that recently were reminded of how God’s works to accomplish His will as we step out and trust Him. The first week of July those in the photo above along with 5 other Campus Crusade students and staff will be traveling a half-a-world-away to participate in Campus Mission 2007 in Seoul, South Korea. More than 20,000 young people from all over the world are expected to participate in this historic missions conference that is focused on finishing the task of evangelizing students all over the world.

The first Herculean challenge these students faced (after talking with their parents of course) was to raise $2000 a piece by April 30th. Keep in mind the average household income in Chile is $500 – and on top of that these are broke college students! Through the generosity of family, friends and church members along with some fund raising activities, all of the 13 had the money needed to buy the tickets by the deadline – that’s over $26,000! As we met together on May 1st to see how God had provided, we reflected on Nehemiah 6:16 which refers to Nehemiah and those returning from the Babylonian captivity and how they were able to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in only 52 days, a seemingly impossible task: “they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God.” God has provided and helped these staff and students in the seemingly impossible task of overcoming this first challenge in attending this life-changing conference in Korea, and we want to tell the story to everyone who will listen!

Please join with us in praising God for His provision. More challenges are ahead, like the remaining $500 per person they will need by June 15 and the long two-day trip to fly to Korea (they will be traveling through South Africa and Malaysia)! Please pray that the Lord would prepare this team of 13 for the challenges they will face and that their hearts would be responsive to answer the call to finish the task of evangelizing students all over the world.

For more information on the conference they will be attending, go to http://www.cm2007.net/. We’ll keep you posted!

In His Grace,

Doug and Carey Holm

“Achieving Authentic Success”

2007-05-01T17:57:00.000-07:00

Dear Praying Friend,

The picture above is of the 36 professionals, business people and leaders that took part in “Achieving Authentic Success””, a one-day seminar in personal leadership development and life coaching that Campus Crusade Chile put on as part of a longer term plan of reaching professionals and leaders here in Santiago. Rolando Justiniano, the director of Campus Crusade South America and the one spearheading these seminars in countries all over Latin America (http://www.futureachievement.com/), gave the seminar to an eager group of Chileans that are desiring to use what they learned in reaching out to others. Our plan is to have two more seminars during the year to train and raise up a leadership team that could continue to use the seminars to reach out to peers and colleagues. Please pray that God would raise up some key leaders from this group to become facilitators of future seminars and outreaches.

Meeting Students & Professors at the Vida Estudiantil (Campus Crusade in Chile) Booth at the University of Santiago

With the beginning of school in March, the campus teams in Santiago and Concepcion have been meeting students and sharing the gospel in relational settings such as English clubs, Freshmen Orientations and entering classrooms to let students know who we are and what we are doing on campus. Though the beginning of school has been a little rough with unexpected shutdowns and cancellations due to student demonstrations, over 1,000 students were exposed to Campus Crusade in the first few weeks of class. Please pray for students’ hearts to be open and tender to the gospel as this initial contact with them is followed up.

Currently this week the Family Life ministry of Campus Crusade ( http://www.familylifetoday.org/ ) is here in Santiago training pastors and church leaders in how to lead the Home Builders Bible study series and put on weekend marriage conferences to help strengthen marriages. Doug is participating in the training while Carey is holding down the fort at home. In September of last year we were part of putting on a marriage conference with a church near Santiago and we see that it is a very strategic ministry here in Chile where family is a high value and so many marriages are falling apart. Please pray that God would use this strategy to strengthen healthy marriages, restore broken marriages and to reach those who do not know His Son.

Thanks for praying! We could not keep doing what we do without your prayers.

Doug and Carey

Happy 40th to Doug

2006-10-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

Time has caught up with me as I've entered the sacred space of middle age. Carey and I got away up to a part of Chile that we had never seen, the Atacama Desert. The Atacama Desert in the north of Chile is one of the driest deserts in the world. We stayed in a quaint, although touristy town called San Pedro de Atacama. I would describe it as a very rustic, small Santa Fe with dirt streets. While there we visited the Valley of the Moon (pictured above - it looks like the moon! But you can see the moon over our heads), Death Valley (nothing can grow there), the Atacama Salt Flats complete with a lake full of pink flamingos, alpine lakes at 14,000 ft., small villages where the idigenous people still use farming techniques from the age of the Incas, and the highest geyser field in the world at 14,000 ft. It was a wonderful way to celebrate my 40th birthday with the love of my life. When we got home the house had been transformed into a Western town and it was full of friends to help celebrate my 40th. Thanks to all for helping celebrate this milestone!

Jake Smashes Two Homeruns!

2006-10-02T08:41:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday Little League started here in Santiago and Jake and Jonny play for the Santiago Metros. Though the level of play isn't the highest, there are a lot of kids that are coming into their own in baseball and Jake and Jonny are a couple of them. During Jake's first at bat of the season he crushed the ball way over the leftfielders head. It was a clear homerun! The picture above is of him after he got back to the dugout and was celebrating with his teammates. In his next at bat he crushed another one through the outfield and made it all the way home (I would count this as an inside the park homer with an error). He then hit two more singles to end the game 4 for 4. I was so proud of him and happy for knocking that first homer.

Our Team Has Grown!

2006-09-27T16:33:00.000-07:00

Jesus said, “Ask and you will receive.” For the past few years we’ve asked you and others to pray for more workers here in Chile to reach students and specifically for more couples. With a new team of seven that just arrived to serve one year here, our team here in Chile numbers 26 full-time staff and short-term missionaries. Out of those 26, we have seven couples working with us!
We praise God for answering those prayers and ask you to pray for these 26 people who are working at universities in Santiago and Concepcion to reach Chilean young people.
To read more about what God has been doing in our lives and here in Chile, click here to read the latest "From the Holmfront" update.

"Happy Birthday to Carey...there's a fire in the kitchen!"

2006-09-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today was Carey's birthday. I don't think she'll mind me writing how old she is...she's as old as me. I think she had a good day: her kids loving on her all day, the entire high school at Santiago Christian Academy sang Happy Birthday to her, we went out to Chinese food with Mark and Amanda, and then we picked the kids up after school and took them to Starbucks for hot chocolate and Cinnabons. Afterward we retired back to our house where Carey got the fondue pot out and we fondued shrimp, beef and turkey along with asorted vegetables. The fondue was coming to a close and everything was going fine - nobody hadn't gotten a drop of hot oil splashed on them. Carey received quite a few phone calls during dinner with birthday congratulations. Suddenly she shouted, "Doug come here! There's a fire in the kitchen." I ran in and sure enough there was a pot of oil that was being heat up for the fondue on the range that was on fire. The fan vent above the stove was being consumed by fire and the fumes from the burning plastic instantly began burning our eyes and throats. I shouted for Carey to get the kids out of the house and instantly wished I had gotten that fire extinguisher for the kitchen that my dad had always told me to get. Carey shouted, "Baking soda!" Being clueless in the kitchen I turned the wrong way as I saw the fire growing out of the corner of my eye. Carey quickly found the baking soda and I poured what was left on the fire consumed pot on the stove. It seemed to just burn up. Vinegar! I needed some quick and fortunately there was some right there by the baking soda (a good idea for the future). I started to empty the vinegar onto the flame and it seemed to help cool down the fire on the pot but now the fan vent above the stove is comsumed by flames. Carey starts filling up whatever is near her with water and I start throwing it on the fire on the hood. Slowly but surely the fire goes out and what is left is the molten plastic mess. The kids did pretty good though Abby began to cry. She was already afraid to ever "burn down the kitchen" which we've warned the kids about so they wouldn't play with the stove. Now it was becomming a reality and she was scared. Talk about a party buster. It was over and after clearing the smoke out of the house and putting the kids in bed we started clearing, chipping, and scrubbing plastic off the range, wall and ceiling. We're very thankful it wasn't any worse. As Hannah said afterward, "Dad, when the kitchen was burning I was outside praying to God as hard as I could." So was I Hannah. Thanks Lord.

Hannah's 8th Birthday Party

2006-08-12T20:06:00.000-07:00

Hannah celebrated her 8th birthday complete with a beauty pageant, sleepover with friends from school, bowling and the typical cake (Carey made a delicious ice cream cake) and presents. There were many giggles and smiles as the girls did not want to go to sleep (they probably succumbed at around 1 am). As a tribute to my daughter on this special day, I wrote her a haiku. A haiku, according to Google, is: "a 17-syllable verse form consisting of three metrical units of 5, 7, and 5 syllables." I remember when I was about her age having an assignment in school to write a haiku. (I know the last line has 6 syllables...I probably didn't do much better in grade school).

My blue-eyed princess
Always daddy's little girl
Playful, thoughtful, shining

The Andes at Sunset

2006-08-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

Looking from our driveway, the sunset against the Andes mountains on the east side of Santiago. Palm trees and snow in August, it is still hard for us to get used to after 6 years of living in Chile!

The First Holmfront Blog

2006-08-12T19:21:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Santiago, Chile! We are the Holm family and we've joined the blogging community (we've always been a little slow). We hope through this blog to keep people posted on what is happening with our family as we live down here at the "end of the world" and as we continue on the adventure we are living as God is transforming our lives and the lives of those who live in this long, thin country.