What a Sweet Night

It’s almost 11:30 pm and my children are not even home yet, let alone asleep in their beds!

Tonight we dropped the kids off at their cousins’ with a babysitter, so that we could attend a special service at ABWE’s Seminary (the Facultad Teológica Bíblica Bautista) here in Santiago. Pastor Doug Kreeger, the ABWE missionary who has been director of the FTBB for the past 13 years, is returning to the States for further ministry. In his place, for the first time in the history of the Seminary, a Chilean pastor will be stepping into the role of director.

Tonight was the installment service for Pastor Victor Velozo, a time of celebrating what God has done in the life of the FTBB but more importantly, in the lives of the men He has called to serve there. The emphasis throughout the night was that God should receive all the glory for what has been and will be accomplished through this ministry.

It was very special to share in this celebration and also to see many familiar faces, most of whom I had not seen in over a decade but several who are closely knit into the tapestry of my memories as a young person here in Chile.

It was also very special to have my husband at my side and to witness his first interaction with so many Chilean brothers and sisters who welcomed him with open arms. One Chilean pastor in particular even asked Pedro to start praying about working with him during our time in Santiago; another enthusiastically asked us to come in another week to participate in their church service and a picnic in celebration of Chile’s independence day!

We look forward to getting to know many of these brothers and sisters in Christ in the coming weeks and months. After all the time it took to get here, tonight it finally felt real.

What a sweet night.