Greg's December 2013 Newsletter

Merry Christmas from Chile! 

I hope this newsletter finds you well and that you are enjoying the holiday & Christmas seasons. As we near the end of 2013, I hope you take time to reflect on this past year so that, as you look back, you will be able to see God’s hand watching over you: guiding, protecting, strengthening, comforting, consoling, and providing for you. For me it is usually in hindsight that I see God’s hand and faithfulness in my life, and as much as I try to be aware of it in the present, it is so often only when I look back that I see it and wonder how I had missed it along the way. So as we come to the end of 2013, we might reflect back and see all sorts of ways 2013 could have been “better”: ‘if only this or that had never happened…’ or ‘if only I would have been able to avoid this or that situation…or handled this or that situation differently.’  There are a million ways 2013 probably could have been “better” but we often do not think about the millions of ways it could have been worse. If you have a job, income, a college degree, a family who loves and cares about you, friends who love and care about you, a roof over your head, clothes on your back, a refrigerator, food in the pantry, a car, a computer, a tv,…or any number of these things, like I do, then friends we are among the most fortunate, blessed, and wealthy people on the face of the earth. I don’t bring this up to make us all feel guilty, but rather to help us simply recognize and remember how much we have to be grateful for. God has blessed us in so many ways but we tend to overlook them, which makes us feel like God hasn’t done anything for us lately; but if we will just open our eyes to see…all that He has given us, the only proper response is to be grateful and thank Him. I pray this Christmas, as we say good-bye to 2013, that you are able to do just that.

FIRST: We found out our car is going to cost $2,400 to fix!    One of our cars broke down about 9-10 weeks ago and it turns out it will cost $2,400 so if you are able to make a special one-time donation to help us pay for it, we would be extremely grateful! The directions on how to give can be found in the final paragraph below. The reason the car is so important for us is that almost all our ministry is dependent on cars, so it really hinders us in the way we connect or not with everyone we work with and reach out to. For example: since I have been without the car I have not been able to surf or skate much at all, which means I lose contact with the surfers and skaters we are always trying to reach. So again, if you are able to help us pay for this by giving a one-time gift to help us cover the cost, we could be extremely grateful. Here’s a picture from in front of the skatepark in Las Companías, when our car was loaded with skateboards and enjoying better days:

SECOND: We have 2 missions-teams coming this summer so please pray for their time here. One is from Brazil, and comes every summer to help with out sports outreaches; and the other is a team of skaters from California. Please pray God would use each of them powerfully among the people here this summer (Jan-Feb).

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 all wish you a Merry Christmas from Chile,

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

Greg's November 2013 Newsletter

Happy Thanksgiving!! There is no Thanksgiving in Chile so right after Halloween and ‘All-Saints Day’ on Nov 1^st, all the malls and stores put out their Christmas decorations in full-force. While I still find it hard to skip from Halloween to Christmas, I hope that as we approach Thanksgiving in the USA and Christmas all over the world, we can take the time to be thankful and remember that this season should not be defined by money, capital-gains, or profits, but rather by our gratitude to God for everything He has done and given to us. I also hope you are able to take some time to reflect on the single greatest gift God has ever given us: his Son Jesus, and that you would be staggered by the weight of His love for us all.

FIRST: Pepe was part of the team who hosted a 10-day International Sports Coalition conference this November, where they taught and trained people from all over the world on how to use sports to reach, serve, and share the gospel with their own local communities. There were about 45 students from 7 or 8 countries, and it was quite an undertaking for Pepe and the group he worked with to host the event. All in all it went really well and everyone was excited to return to their own countries, communities, and churches to put into practice what they learned. Please pray that God would open doors for the people returning home and give them strategies to reach and impact their own local communities. Here are 2 pictures from the event: in the 1^st Pepe is on the far-left with some of the students; in the 2^nd Pepe is on the far left with some of the graduation students of the Ubabalo program.

SECOND: I have been without a car for about 5-6 weeks now and it has been a real bummer. We had to take Pepe & Gislaine’s car to 3 different mechanics, and supposedly the guy who has it now can fix it, but at this point I won’t believe it until I see it. Since Pepe & Gislaine have 2 young boys and Gislaine’s mom staying with them for a few months, I let them have my car to use because I don’t want them to be without transportation in case they have family needs, situations, or emergencies that come up. As a result, I have not been able to get around much these past 5 weeks and have lost quite a bit of face-to-face contact and interaction with all the surfers and skaters I constantly surf, skate, hang out, and share with. The surfing and skating parts of our ministries are very car-dependent in order to get to the beach and the skate spots, so not having one has been a real bummer. Please pray that the mechanic who has it now can fix it and that it doesn’t cost too much.

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 October 2013 Newsletter

Blessings from Chile! It was great to be home this summer and see so many of you but there were also many I was not able to see, so please know I wish you all the best wherever this finds you. I got back to Chile on Sep 19^th and it already seems like a million things have happened since then, so let me show and tell you all a bit of what God has been doing lately.

FIRST: Though limited some by the size of the room we gather in on Sundays, we have a full ministry schedule and lots of weekly gatherings and people involved. Here is how are weekly schedule is breaking down now: Mon nights is New Believers Bible-Study; Tues is Men’s Group; Wed is a Dating/Relationships Group; Thurs is Surfers Bible Study; Friday is Women’s Group; Sunday is our Fuego Urbano gathering at 11am, followed immediately by our kids ministry Fuegitos. It has been cool to see God move lately in the people because all these groups were started in response to the expressed desire of the people themselves. God has been doing some really cool life-transformation through them: for example the family of Rut & Eduardo. Rut was invited by a friend to the Women’s Group and then she started coming on Sundays; she eventually invited her husband Eduardo who came and loved it so they started coming together and then inviting their kids who are all teens or early 20-somethings; now the whole family is coming and super hungry and on fire to know God more. They are all being transformed by what God is doing in them and it has been awesome to see. I don’t have a picture of them all but I do have the photo below from our first Men’s Group gathering, and Eduardo is the 3^rd one in on the left. Please pray God will continue to work in their lives and in all these weekly gatherings, so that more and more people draw near to Him.

SECOND: One of our cars has had some problems so we’ve been with only 1 car for the past 2 weeks. We are hoping to get it back in the next few days but still aren’t sure and also don’t know how much it will cost in the end; and with only one care we have been fairly limited in what we can do but God has been faithful in that too. Please pray God will give the mechanic wisdom to figure out what is wrong, and also that the mechanic is honest and doesn’t lie or charge us more then he should. Thanks!

THIRD: I have been surfing lots with people from the Surfers Bible-Study. Even though I don’t have a car, Gustavo (one of the guys we baptized just before I left for CA) has been picking me up almost every day to surf with him and whoever else we know who can on any given day. Gustavo is so stoked and passionate about surfing that he actually fires me up, and after only 1 year surfing he’s already dropping in on solid 6ft waves. Here’s a picture from ‘Caleta de Hornos’ from left to right: Matt from CA who just visited; Eduardo; me; Gustavo. Please pray God continues to open up the hearts and minds of the surfers here as I develop relationships with them through surfing.

FOURTH: Please pray for Pepe as he will be co-leading & organizing an ‘International Sports Coalition’ training event, focusing on how to use sports to reach and serve our local communities around the world. They are expecting about 50 people from Latin America and around the world, and it lasts 10 days so it is quite long and intense. Pepe is in charge of the logistics so please pray God gives him strength and that God would move in those who come so they can go back to their own communities and put what they learn into practice.

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

GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA!! 

It feels great to be home again and I hope to see as many of you as I can this summer. Please read below to find out about my Fuego Urbano sharing event and one specific need I still have this summer. Thanks so much!

FIRST: I will host 1 ‘Fuego Urbano’ sharing event on Sunday Aug. 25^th at 1pm

The event will be on Sunday August 25^th in the sanctuary at Christ Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Huntington Beach, at 1pm. I will also be preaching at all 3 of CPC’s morning services that Sunday (8am, 9:30am, 11am) so if you would like to come early to one of those to hear me preach and then stay to hear about Fuego Urbano, you are more then welcome to do that as well. CPC is located at: 20112 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach, CA 92646. Beyond that I do not have any special sharing events planned but I will be around and would love to meet in person with anyone would like to hear and see more about Fuego Urbano and what God is doing through our ministry. If you would like to do that, then please email me at  greg@fuegourbano.org  and we can set something up.

SECOND: I’m still looking for vehicle to use this summer from Aug 17^th-Sep 15^th

Thanks so much to those of you who offered your vehicles for some part of the summer. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the generosity of those of you who offered your cars some part of the summer, and I want to let you all know I was able to find a vehicle until Aug. 16^th, but it looks like I will need to find something else from Aug 17^th – Sep 15^th. So if you have a car that you would be able to let me use during some or all of those dates then please let me know via email so we can see if that will work out. Thanks so much!

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 June 2013 Newsletter

Greetings from the chill of the Chilean winter! Things have definitely gotten pretty chilly in Chile but I will be back in the warmth of the Southern California summer soon and look forward to seeing as many of you as I can this summer. Please read below for more details and I’ll hope to see you soon!

FIRST: I will be home in California from July 18^th – Mid-September! As I do each summer, I will be coming back to California and would love to meet and share with as many of you as would like to. I will be hosting one large sharing event where I will share about all things ‘Fuego Urbano’ on Sunday August 25^th so if you would like to come you are more then welcome to do so. The event will be on Sunday August 25^th in the sanctuary at Christ Presbyterian Church (CPC) in Huntington Beach, at 1pm just after the 3^rd service. I will also be preaching at all 3 of CPC’s morning services (8am, 9:30am, 11am) that Sunday so if you would like to come early to one of those and hear me preach you are more then welcome to do that as well. CPC is located at: 20112 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach, CA 92646. Beyond that I do not have any special events planned but will be around and hope to meet in person with as many of you as would like to. Also, if you know of any small-groups, churches, youth-groups, ministries, etc that you would like me to share with, I’d love to do that as well. Just email me ( greg@fuegourbano.org ) and we can set something up.

SECOND: After 2.5 years without having anyone to lead our worship and music ministry, we finally have someone who is talented, gifted, called, and passionate! I can not tell you how grateful, excited, and relieved I am that Manuel and his wife Leticia have started coming to Fuego Urbano and taken over that ministry. Manuel and Pepe worked at the same school a few years ago, and when I first came down we spoke quite a bit with him and his wife about worship & music, and Fuego Urbano. Manuel and I had spent a few hours on a number of occasions playing worship songs with guitars and talking about music, worship, etc. and we offered him that whole ministry about 2.5 years ago when we were first starting out. Manuel and his wife are solid believers and Manuel has a really huge heart and love for people, not to mention we both share very similar tastes in music and worship as far as what we like and don’t like. Anyway, at that time they were not able to be part of Fuego Urbano because we started meeting in Las Compañías which was just too far away for them to be able to participate. At that time I was super bummed because I knew Manuel and his wife would be perfect for our vision and the kind of music and worship we would like to have. Then when we were meeting in the hotel in front of the beach last summer, they wanted to come but could not because they have two small children and at that time we did not have any developed children’s ministry, so again they could not come. Now, however, we have a solid children’s ministry and a few of the women who have taken charge in sharing the responsibility for it, so Manuel and his wife came for the first time in 2.5 years to Fuego Urbano and loved it. It has been so hard to start a church with basically no worship or music ministry, and I at times have filled in on the Sundays I do not preach, but I do not have a passion, calling, or real gift for that kind of thing. Anyway, Manuel has led worship for us on the past 3 Sundays and it has added so much to our gatherings…I was not aware of how bad we missed it until now when we finally have it again. Anyway, we are super excited and relieved to have Manuel and his wife Leticia with us and ask that you would pray for them and that God would bless them in their roles as they lead that ministry. Below is a picture of (from left to right) Manuel,  Felipe, Genesis, Genesis’ cousin, and myself from the very first gathering of Fuego Urbano we ever had about 2.5 years ago in our house, which was before we ever even started up in Las Compañías. As you can see, Manuel and his wife (not pictured here) were among the first 5 people who ever came to Fuego Urbano, and if anyone really gets what we are all about and understands our vision, it is them. We are super excited to have them back…and this time for good!! 

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 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

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