Churches

The church in Iquique is six years old and is located on a large main street. The current building is a rented house (one-half of a duplex) which has been lovingly renovated by the members of the church to create comfortable areas for services and classrooms. The outdoor patio has been covered with a mesh top to allow services to be held in that area, and plastic lawn chairs are used for seating.

the covered patio for services

a side patio for conversation and fellowship

the living room of the house, used for smaller gatherings

Daddy and kids on Sunday morning

The church in Alto Hospicio is located about 20 minutes from Iquique, high on the mountaintop. This church is only four weeks old and had its first service on December 7. The current building is a rented storefront which the the members from Iquique spent many hours painting and restoring. The first coat of white paint on the outside of the building was promptly covered by graffiti, but after hiring someone to paint Bible verses on the outside walls there has been no further defacing of the property and it is a beautiful testimony to the community.

It is a small place but the people are praying that the landlord will come down on the price of the neighboring storefront and enable the church to tear down the dividing wall and expand. This week payment will be made on a small house next door for classroom and office space as well.

For now, this is all on a rental basis but the owner is willing to sell both storefront, the house, and a small empty lot for 35 million pesos (around $50,000 US dollars.) Please pray that God might provide to make this dream a reality, as this a wonderful location - a corner lot on a main street with plenty of expansion possibilities and a new military apartment building to be constructed nearby, bringing in many new families to the area.

entrance to the church

Scripture painted on the outside walls

the small but cozy meeting area

the MKs being good "back-row Baptists"
(actually trying to keep them in the spot where the little ones will create the least commotion, since there are no classrooms yet!)

I want to thank those of you who were praying specifically for our children on this second Sunday in Iquique. They did a fabulous job of being polite and interacting with the people at church this time around. We truly appreciate your prayers on their (and our) behalf. It was a wonderful Lord's Day!