GREG'S MAY 2013 NEWSLETTER

Greetings from Chile! I hope you all are doing well up there in the good ole’ Northern Hemisphere. There are lots of things to tell you about so I’ll get right to it.

FIRST: We are seeing a slow but steady increase in the number of people coming and getting involved in our Sunday gatherings. As I shared last month, the room we are using does not allow us to have too many people but we also sense God is calling us to focus this year on developing the people we have now and not worrying too much about ‘numbers’ until we have a more developed ministry team. Since, however, we have begun to trust God in this new focus, He has also sent us some very key people who are excited about, and committed to, the vision of Fuego Urbano. Four of these new people arrived in the family of Marco & Mitzi, their son Maykol, and their daughter Flor. They are the 4 people on the bottom right of the picture below (with Pepe, Gislaine, and their sons Jean-Felipe and Gabriel on the left; and a couple other friends). They just moved to La Serena but are super excited about being here and participating with Fuego Urbano. I’ve been teaching Maykol (bottom right) to surf and he’s completely hooked now. In fact I just went out with them to help buy Maykol his own wetsuit and surfboard, which he just got yesterday, and they tell me he can’t sleep now because he’s too excited to surf. Maykol is super excited about Fuego Urbano and keeps inviting his friends to come too. Marco is an accountant and is now in charge of handling our Fuego Urbano funds here, so there is 100% accountability and transparency with all the money we receive as offerings and donations; and Mitzi is one of 3 women who is rotating every-three weeks to take the little kids and teach them their Sunday-school lesson. Each Sunday the little kids leave the room where we meet and prepare some kind of skit, lesson, dance, song, etc. that has something to do with the Bible, and then they come in at the end of our main meeting and present/perform what they learned. It has been awesome to see and the parents are always super excited to see their kids learning about God.

SECOND: The Surfers Bible-Study has been going really well. We’ve had about 10-15 people each Wednesday and I’ve had to buy some stools for people to sit on because I ran out of chairs. The conversation and time together continues to be really good, and more and more of the surfers, body-boarders, and skaters are starting to see that many of their preconceived notions of God, Jesus, Christians, etc. is not what we are about. Once they see that, they tend to let down their guard a bit and come check it out. And once they come check it out I know they’ll like it because it’s pretty cool and not at all what they expect. One recent development is that there has now formed a solid core of about 6-8 of the surfers & body-boarders who surf lots but who are also serious about their faith, drawing nearer to God, and helping others do the same. As a result, we’ve been surfing lots but also hanging out quite a bit together at night or during the weekends, mostly in order to eat or have an ‘asado’ (a Chilean-style BBQ). This might not seem very significant but it has given people an alternative to what they have always done: get high or wasted and head out to the clubs all night. Now people know they have another option, and that there is a group of surfers who are having a good time but in a much more healthy and positive way. Below is a photo of me with some of these surfers. Please pray God would draw more and more of these surfers and board-riders to Him through us! 

THIRD: I will be home from July 18^th until mid-Sep, and I hope to see as many of you as I can while I'm there.

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