GREG'S APRIL 2013 NEWSLETTER

Greeting from Chile! I hope this finds you well and that you are enjoying the warmer Spring air in the good old U. S. of A. Things have been cooling off here as Winter closes in, but we have had all sorts of awesome things go on this month that I’d like to share with you.

FIRST: We moved our Fuego Urbano service to a much smaller multi-purpose room, which has been a blessing in disguise for us. We were forced to move from the hotel we were meeting in because of the high cost, and while the new room we are using is quite a bit smaller, it does allow us much more freedom to do more of what we would like to do. It has a much more familiar and inviting feel to it, and allows us to bring all the food and drinks we want so that everyone can hang out afterwards to talk, eat, and visit as long as they want. We have already seen more people come from the Surfers Bible Study and the Women’s group then previously too, so that is definitely encouraging. Please pray God will allow us to continue meet here as we continue to lay down our foundations and get our feet underneath us.

SECOND: After our monthly meeting with the Fuego Urbano elders, we sense God is calling us to focus during this period on developing the people we have and not trying to bring in the masses. This came out of conversation and prayer about why we have so many problems in securing places for our gatherings on Sunday, and we feel like maybe God keeps closing that door because we are not yet ready to receive so many people (which is true). So after talking, we feel like God is calling us to spend this year investing in the people we have so that in a year we will all be more prepared to reach and receive people in greater numbers. This year, therefore, we will invest in developing leaders from within our different ministries, gatherings, and groups, so that we will all be more equipped and prepared to move on to the next stage of ministry together. While we will still continue to grow and invite new people this year, that will not be our primary focus until next year when we feel like we will be more prepared to really reach and receive the masses. Please pray God would lead us in this and show us those He wants us to develop and prepare.

THIRD: God has been doing amazing things with The Surfers Bible-Study! Two weeks ago there were about 8-9 of us and last week there were around 14-15. For the first time ever I ran out of chairs, so I’ll have to go buy some stools in order to accommodate the numbers of people who are coming. It has been awesome so far. The Surfers Bible Study did not meet over the summer (Jan-Mar) because everyone travels and goes all over, but I am finally seeing the fruit from the past 3 months of spending so much time surfing, hanging out, and talking with all the surfers and their friends. We started meeting again 3 weeks ago, but already more and more people are finding out and wanting to come. Please pray God continues to draw more and more of these surfers, body-boarders, skaters, etc. to him through this weekly gathering.

FOURTH: As I mentioned in my previous letter, Gislaine started a bi-monthly Women’s gathering at their house and there continues to be around 10-12 women coming to share together, open the Bible, and pray for one-another. A number of the women had never been to Fuego Urbano but are committed and excited to go to the Women’s group; and just in the past couple weeks we have seen a few of them come to Fuego Urbano on Sunday. Please pray God will continue to bring more women to him through this group! Below I have included a picture from one of the recent Women’s gatherings: 

FIFTH: Pepe has had so many people in the basketball programs that he has formed 2 teams to compete in some local tournaments and leagues. They just began their first games recently, so please pray God would allow those on the team to mark a difference among all the other teams.

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre

Greg's March 2013 Newsletter

“Spring is in the air” goes the saying, unless you live in the southern hemisphere (like Chile) where it is Fall, not Spring, that is in the air. Still, there are lots of things going on down here in La Serena so please take some time to read and see what God has been doing this March.

FIRST: We have been forced to look yet again for a different place to rent for our Fuego Urbano gatherings on Sunday nights, and I ask for your prayers in this process. The hotel where we have met for the past 2.5 months has turned out to be too expensive. This is due mostly to the fact that last year we received financial support from 3 different churches in the USA and we were hoping they would all continue supporting us through 2013, but we just found out that one of them will not be able to support us any longer, and therefore, the cost of the place we were renting is simply too high for us to keep paying. So as of now we will be moving our services yet again, and I ask for your prayers in that process: that God would open the doors for the best possible situation for Fuego Urbano, and with as low a cost as possible. And if you would like to give financially to help us pay the ongoing costs of renting the room for our Fuego Urbano service, there are directions on how to make tax-deductible donations below in my final paragraph.

SECOND: Gustavo (who I wrote about in my January newsletter) has been completely transformed by Jesus in the past 10 months or so, and God is already doing huge things through him. Gustavo was a multiple national-champion aggressive in-line skater who has developed his own in-line skate company and team, but who has now taken up surfing as his greatest passion. There is no one I know in La Serena more stoked and passionate about surfing and knowing Jesus, then Gustavo. Since his life was so drastically changed this past year, he has already been using his skills, contacts, and resources to begin giving free in-line skate classes to a group of about 10-15 young people between the ages of 16-24. But as he started to talk with them they told him they also wanted to learn to surf, but didn’t have anyone to teach them or help them out. Gustavo immediately began meeting with them and teaching them to surf too, since he himself just started this past year, so he is now passing on what he has learned but doing so with the divine purpose of reaching out to them and sharing his story and faith with them…and of course, inviting them to Fuego Urbano. As a result of all this, Gustavo and I will now be meeting with this group of people each Sunday morning to help them develop in their surfing, share our stories and faith with them, and invite them to Fuego Urbano. The hope is that with time, all of them will start to come to Fuego Urbano or the Surfers’ Bible Study that we are going to start again soon in my apartment. Please pray for Gustavo and all these young people he’s reaching out to! Here are 2 pictures from our time last Sunday morning with them: Gustavo is holding the camera and taking the picture while I am behind teaching 5 or 6 of the people from his group. Exciting stuff!!

THIRD: Pepe’s wife Gislaine started a bi-monthly women’s gathering at their house and already 8-10 women are meeting to have fellowship, share together, and pray for one-another. Please pray that God would continue to draw more and more women to Him through this group, and that they would be able to reach out to more and more of the women of La Serena.

FOURTH: The Surfers’ Bible-Study which met in my apartment all last year will start again in a couple weeks. I was not planning on continuing it any longer but many of the surfers and people who used to come have expressed their desire to begin meeting again, so we will start again soon but this time our gatherings will follow the topics of our messages from the Sunday service at Fuego Urbnao. That way it will provide a direct link for the surfers to make the connection between the gathering in my apartment and Fuego Urbano itself. Please pray God would put more hunger and thirst for Him in the hearts of the surfers here, and in their family and friends as well.

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre

GREG'S FEBRUARY 2013 NEWSLETTER

Greetings from the end of our Chilean summer! The past 3-4 days have definitely had a chill in the air which we haven’t felt at all in the past 3 months, and which also means summer must be ending already?! Crazy! Anyway, please more to find out what God has been up to.

FIRST: I’ve written about Tomas before in my letters; he is the best surfer in the 4^th Region and one of the top 3 or 4 surfers in all of Chile, and I met him and his brother Matias last March. After lots of conversations about life, God, surfing, purpose, etc. we started the Surfers’ Bible Study in my apartment by having us 3 be the first ones to commit to it. It has been almost a year since then, and God has really impacted and changed Tomas’ life and goals as far as pro-surfing go. Tomas left competitive surfing about a year ago because he came to view it as fake and enamored with image and an almost hero-worship of the surfers themselves; however recently he has returned to competition with the intent of being a light to it, of being a living testimony of what God can do when we invite Him into our lives. When Tomas left the pro-surfing world, he actually stopped surfing completely for a while because he had somehow lost the joy of doing it. However as he has been able to view it as a gift from God, he has rediscovered that joy and now views it with renewed passion and divine purpose. While Tomas was absent from the pro-surfing world this past year he took time to film and release his first surf-video, called ‘La Escencia’ (The Essence), in which he tries to show the two opposing sides of surfing: competitive surfing vs. surfing as pure joy (soul-surfing). Tomas’ sponsors had a big Premier night of the film and about 100 or so of the local surfers, friends, and family were there to see it. Here is a picture from the premier so you can also get an idea of who many of these surfers are that we are trying to reach:

SECOND: Our Fuego Urbano gatherings at the hotel have gone well, averaging about 15-25 people, but not as well as we were hoping right off the bat.  As we have tried to figure out why, we now realize we have been challenged by some unexpected realities about summer in La Serena. First: La Serena is a massive summer-tourist destination but while the city is absolutely packed all summer, only about 15-20% of those people actually live here year-round. That has made it a bit difficult to do outreach and events because we know almost everyone in town does not live here. Second: So many people who live in La Serena travel during this vacation time, that it has been difficult to have consistency among who is in town, who is traveling, who is visiting family in some other place, etc. Third: those from La Serena who are in town are also extremely busy with crazy summer schedules filled with all kinds of events, plans, obligations, work, parties, etc. Having said that: schools start in a week or two, which means peoples’ schedules will soon return to normal, and also that the 30,000-40,000 college students who attend one of the 10 or so universities here will also return, and that we will be able to then re-focus our attention and efforts on those people who live here at least 10 months per year.  We’re excited about the potential for ministry, but doing our best to also maintain our focus on those God has entrusted to us, so please pray God will open lots of doors for us and lead us forward together in the way He wants us to go.

THIRD: I have recently been teaching someone very important in the skateboarding world of La Serena how to surf, and due to that time together and all the conversations that has brought about, he also now wants to come to Fuego Urbano. Jacob is an amazing skater who started his own skate-brand, owns his own skate-shop, sponsors pretty much every single one of the best skaters in La Serena and Coquimbo, is the president of the Federation of Skaters in the 4th Region, and has the respect, admiration, and friendship of just about the entire world of skaters here. If he were to really draw near to God and start coming to Fuego Urbano like he told me, God could do some amazing things through him to reach out to all the skaters that are simply beyond my reach. Please pray for Jacob as I continue to teach him how to surf and use those times to speak with him about life, meaning, purpose, God, and Jesus.

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre

Greg's January 2013 Newsletter

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM CHILE!! As 2013 kicks off, we are also kicking off a new season of ministry for Fuego Urbano, so please read on to find out more about what God is up to.

FIRST: We just finished 3 weeks of intense summer-sports programs in Las Companias with help from the same Brazilian missions-team that helped us last summer. The group of about 15 people helped Pepe organize and run the whole thing. They did an amazing job serving and impacting the young people of Las Companias by allowing us to once again offer free summer-sports-programs for almost an entire month. Pepe continues to run the programs for all the older kids with soccer every Tuesday night and basketball on Fridays.

SECOND: We have just started having our Fuego Urbano gatherings in the event-room of one of the hotels right in front of the beach. After 2 years of being severely limited in our outreach and ministry because of the size and nature of the places we have been forced to meet in, we have finally found a centralized location that is big enough for us to literally invite everyone we come across; so this is just the beginning of lots of potential and possibility for growth that we are super excited about. We have already had two meetings there which went really well. In fact I would like to share with you the words that Gustavo, a guy I met at the skate-park who recently started surfing and who has been absolutely transformed by Jesus in the past 6-months, posted on his Facebook status immediately after our first meeting. Here are his (translated) words: “It is exciting for me to know that I am in a beautiful process of drawing near to God. I felt so much like crying, like letting go all these tears from the bottom of my heart and soul…It is a very different happiness and I invite everyone I know to integrate yourselves, if you like, to Fuego Urbano…to reflect and educate yourselves about God and faith in Him. It has been incredibly helpful for me. I was so lost all my life. Have you ever felt empty after getting wasted, high, or having sex without love or purpose? Filled with money but still empty in your heart? I have. Where do you think I now get my motivation, passion, and strength to surf, skate, and work with so much motivation? From faith in God, but I didn’t know it until I got involved in Fuego Urbano.” Gustavo’s words are powerful, and so is his testimony. He was a national-champ in-line aggressive skater who also started his own in-line skate company, and now manages that while taking up his new passion: surfing. We met in the skate-park one day after he had seen me surfing in the morning, and told me how he was learning to surf and was really motivated but also a little frustrated due to his lack of progress. After talking we met up to surf the next day and I gave him some pointers and invited him to Fuego Urbano. He was super excited about coming and as of now, there is no one in La Serena (who I know) more on fire to surf and to draw near to Jesus. He is advancing in both at breakneck speed. Thanks so much to all of you who support us and help so many personal transformations like Gustavo’s take place. Thanks to all your giving, we are able to continue to reach out to more and more people like Gustavo. Also: we are renting the event-room where we now meet, and have about half the yearly cost covered by donation; however we still need to come up with the remaining $7,000-$8,000 this year, so if you would like to help towards that cause there are giving instructions in my final paragraph below. Please pray for us!! Below are a couple pictures from our first 2 weeks in the hotel event-room:

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks so much for all your prayers and support, and Happy New Year in 2013!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre

Greg's December 2012 Newsletter

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Chile! As we roll into the warmth of summer here I often have to remind myself that you all are entering into the cold of winter; but wherever this finds you, I wish you much love and joy this holiday season. As I have followed the tragic events of the recent shooting in Conn., I am also reminded to stop and appreciate every day I am alive because you never know when our time is up. All that to say, I pray that all of you are able to spend the holidays with your loved ones and remember the one true Gift of the season: Jesus.

FIRST: We finally found a place to have our larger Fuego Urbano gatherings!  The place I mentioned in my previous newsletter didn’t work out but we found a better place that is right across the street from the beach and the surf-school that is the gathering place for all the surfers in La Serena. Everyone in La Serena surfs right there because it is the only half-mile stretch that has surfable waves, and the place we have reserved is right in front of it! We actually tried to get this place before but were not able, and it only worked out this time because we know someone who knows everyone who works there. The room will cost $1350/month and fits up to 120 people, so it will be a bit of a challenge to cover all that but we already have a financial commitment that covers almost half of the yearly-amount, which means we will need to come up with the other half this year. In order to do that we will begin taking offerings right away with the hope that when it comes time for us to pay the rent, we will be able to. The surfers Bible Study will get rolled into this Sunday night gathering starting on Sunday Jan 6^th, and the gathering in Las Companias will move to a mid-week time because many there will also be going together. We are super excited about all the possibilities this opens up for us, as it puts all the surfers, body-boarders, and all those who hang out at the beach or do any kind of beach-activities of sports (there are lots) at our fingertips. It is also pretty ideal for the skaters, since the new skate-park on the beach is just a couple miles down the beach. Please pray God will use this new opportunity to really impact La Serena! Here is a picture from the beach looking back at the surf-school on the left, along with the hotel we will be using just over to the right:

SECOND: The Brazilian mission-team that came last summer has just arrived again to help with the summer sports programs in Las Compañías for the next 3 weeks. They will be helping Pepe run all the sports programs, allowing me to be freed up to focus on the skaters and surfers. Please pray God would draw lots of people to Him through the programs and through the visit of this team.

THIRD: We have finalized the team of elders for Fuego Urbano. They are Sandra, Mauri & Kara Farias, and Gislaine (Pepe’s wife). These 4 will serve with Pepe and I as a sort of pastoral team for the church. Mauri & Kara are a Chilean/Canadian couple who has lots of history with Pepe, Gislaine, and I since we all served together in the same missions organization about 7-8 years ago. They bring lots of trust, maturity, strength, and gifts to their respective roles with Fuego Urbano. Sandra runs one of the hotels in La serena and we met her while looking for a place to have our larger Fuego Urbano meetings. Sandra has 2 teenage daughters and is incredibly passionate about Jesus and young people, acting like a mom/mentor/older sister/aunt to all the surfers at the Surfers Bible Study (she buys and prepares pizzas each week for everyone). She has been a huge blessing to us and knows everyone in La Serena. In fact, if not for her we would not have been able to get the hotel we now have reserved. We are blessed to have her! And you all know Gislaine (Pepe’s wife), but with the very complicated pregnancy, birth, and recovery of Gean Felipe, Gislaine has been out of any official ministry roles for the past 1.5 years. This is her first step back into active ministry, now that Gean Felipe is over a year old and doing great.  Pepe and I will meet once every month, or every other month, with this group to pray for Fuego Urbano, talk about any issues, and cast vision for the future.

FOURTH: While skateboarding in Santiago with Henry last month I suffered some pretty bad bruising and swelling all over my left hip/thigh and elbow. 1-month later the bruise on my thigh is still not completely gone, and I experienced swelling like never before. It got so bad that my body started responding to any small incident by swelling up. That led to my right hand swelling up for 2 days, then my left one; then I burned my lip drinking some hot tea and my whole upper-lip swelled like a balloon, which then spread to my right eye for a few days. All that to say: I’m not sure what I’m going to do about skateboarding because I’m a little concerned about the physical toll the falls have taken on my body. So please pray God would watch over me and give me some discernment.

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

We're so grateful for all of you and wish you all the best this Christmas & New Years!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre

Greg's Newsletter, November 2012

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! As I write this letter on Thanksgiving Day in Chile, I can not let this opportunity pass without telling you all how thankful we are for you. The past 2 years have been filled with amazing challenges but we serve an amazing God who has provided for our needs through your support and prayers; so this Thanksgiving we give thanks for you!

FIRST: We found out last week that the room we were going to rent for our Fuego Urbano services is no longer available to rent. That was both a bummer and a surprise, since the owner never mentioned anything about any issues before, so we began looking immediately for another room but without much success. Then just today we spoke with the manager at a nearby hotel who was really excited about us being there and reserving one of their rooms. It fits about 100 people and the hotel has incredible geographic location: about 100 yards from the beach and right next to the biggest landmark in all of La Serena, so everyone knows exactly where it is. It is also about a 5-10 minute walk to the university campuses, so it would be really close for university students as well. All in all, the room would be great, but it would be a little more then double the price of the room we were going to rent. All things considered, it is still fairly cheap compared to other rooms, and the geographic location is a huge plus. So please pray that all goes well in this reservation process, as we could meet with the person to finalize everything as soon as tomorrow (Friday, Nov 23).

SECOND: Last Friday Henry & I went to Santiago to skate the highest bowl in Chile. Henry and I have always talked about making trips to skate different skate-parks, and since both of us love skating in bowls, we have always wanted to go skate the bowl at ‘Parque O’Higgins’ because it is the highest bowl in Chile. We traveled through the night, arrived around 8am and skated all day until coming back home around 7pm. We were absolutely exhausted when we got back but all in all it was an awesome time together. Just so you know: the bowl there starts around 9ft and goes up to about 12ft, and next time we go we will bring a few others along, now that we know how to arrive ok. Below is a picture of one of the local skaters at Parque O’Higgins as he flies about 6ft above the bowl:

THIRD: We continue to be amazed by the hunger, openness, and genuine desire to know God by those who come to the Surfers’ Bible-Study. In fact one of our regulars, who is also one of the managers at the local surf-school, was invited by Chile’s Olympic Committee to go to Peru to compete for Chile in an international surf & beach-games competition. He was invited to represent Chile as a long-boarder, since that is what he specializes in, and did not have to spend one peso since he was invited by Team Chile. Please continue to pray that those coming to the bible-study would continue to open their hearts and minds to Jesus and his Kingdom, and that through this group of surfers we will be able to have a major impact on the whole beach and surfing culture of La Serena this summer. If we are indeed able to get this new room at the hotel I mentioned above, we will be able to do massive amounts of outreaches all over the beaches this summer, and since the hotel will be close by, it will be easier for people to come to Fuego Urbano straight from the beach.

FOURTH: We are still firming up our team of Fuego Urbano elders so please pray God would guide that whole process. We should know within the next week who will be on that team, but please pray God would lead just the right people to step into those roles, as they are crucially important going forward. The idea is that the elders will form part of a pastoral-team with Pepe and I, in that we will all work together to guide and care for the flock of Fuego Urbano. This will be extremely important as we continue to move forward and grow in numbers and ministries.

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks so much!! We give thanks for you this Thanksgiving!!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre

Greg's Newsletter, October 2012

Blessings from Chile! We are moving towards summer here and excited about the growing warmth and sun that we will get to enjoy over the next 5 months. That also means lots of cool things for our ministry, so please read below to see and hear more about what God is doing in La Serena through Fuego Urbano.

FIRST: The Ministry with the Surfers of La Serena continues to blossom and grow.

Our surfers-bible study continues to meet weekly, and while we are still hindered by the small space in my apartment where we meet, we know that we will soon have more space to invite lots more people. That said: the surfers’ bible study continues to be an awesome time of conversation about life and God, biblical exploration, and a time to connect relationally with all sorts of surfers and young people. I am teaching a series on the ‘Kingdom of God’ and how it is the key to understanding both Jesus and the Bible, and so far it has gone really well. The surfers continue to be extremely open and hungry to hear about God, Jesus, the Bible, etc. so we continue to have great times in the studies. We have also been surfing together quite a bit, as more and more surfers begin to come and find out about what we are doing. I even made two 3-day surf trips this month with a couple of the better surfers from the group, and it was an awesome time of getting to know each other deeper and developing more trust between us. One of the trips was to accompany Tomás (the best surfer in La Serena and one of the best in all of Chile) to a contest that was ‘invite only’ and devoted exclusively to aerials, so those who were invited were the best aerialists in all of Chile. Tomás had stepped out of the world of surf-competition for almost a year and just recently returned to it, but since it is not an easy world to be around as a follower of Jesus, I told him I would be willing to go to support him if he wanted to go back and compete; so we went and it was an awesome time of getting to know each other better and of being able to meet and share some with some of the best young surfers in all of Chile. Please pray God would continue to open the hearts of the surfers (and the skaters, as I continue to skate 1-2 times per week in both skate-parks in order to continue our ongoing relationship with them) up to His love.

SECOND: We are in the process of forming a church-leadership team for Fuego Urbano.

The team includes Pepe and I as co-pastors, along with a group of 4 others who would basically form a group of 6 elders, and then another group of 8-12 people who would serve as our various ministry leaders. Pepe and I have spoken lots about our vision for this and we have already met with the other 4 potential members of the team of elders, where we explained everything and asked them to pray about it and let us know soon. Then we will begin to work on meeting and talking with the various ministry leaders. The point of all this is to form and prepare our church-leadership so that when we launch our worship services in the hotel this January and are finally able to invite lots more people, we will already have a church-leadership team and ministry-structure in place to receive and care for those who come. Please pray God would continue to prepare the hearts of these leaders and that He would send us gifted committed people as well.

THIRD: We did a short day-trip last Sunday to a beach about an hour north with a number of the people from Las Compañías. We wanted to get away and go have fun with those who could come, so we planned it and made a day out of it. The beach we went to was called ‘Chungungo’ and was awesome for us to BBQ, eat, hang out, play bocce-ball, shoot BB-guns, mess around in the water at the beach, and then finish off with a short message from Pepe. Here is a photo of the group who went from the morning when we stopped to take this picture at a nearby fishing port:

FINALLY: As always there are 3 ways you may give financially to Fuego Urbano. For Automatic Monthly Online Donations you may sign up for amounts of $25, $50, $100, or $200 per month. Just go to the right side of my Blog (http://greghaugh.blogspot.com) where it says ‘Recurring Donation’ and adjust drop-down menu to the amount you’d like to give each month; then click ‘Subscribe’ and it will take you through the process. One-Time Online Donations are available as well: click the ‘Donate’ button on my Blog just below where it says ‘1-Time Donation’ and it will take you through the process. Or if you prefer Personal Checks you can make them out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mail them to: Fishers of Men Fellowship, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA 92658.  And all donations are fully tax-deductible.

Thanks so much for your constant prayers and support!!

Greg Haugh & Jose, Gislaine, Gabriel, and Gean-Felipe Eyzaguirre