Greg's Jan 2011 Newsletter: La Llama, Vol 5

Blessings from Chile in our first newsletter of 2011! When I look back on 2010 and how I ended up in Chile I am amazed at the journey God has taken me on, and you all are a huge part of that.  I want to thank you all for your love, prayers, and support during 2010, as none of this would be possible without you; and as we are off and running here in 2011 I look forward to a new year of partnership with you.

FIRST: I want to especially thank those of you who gave special year-end financial gifts to Fuego Urbano last month, and to all of you who have given in 2010!! I can not tell you how blessed we were as a result of your year-end gifts and we were able to purchase some crucial items we were still lacking such as: beds, a projector, sound system for worship music, more bibles, and soon Fuego Urbano shirts to give to the kids, along with a few other items. As we are still in the midst of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, I realize that so many of your financial gifts this year have come at great sacrifice to you, and every time I think of it I am humbled and grateful for your belief and passion to support our work and ministry with Fuego Urbano here in Chile.

SECOND: We finally got access to the Multi-purpose room in front of the Skatepark for our Fuego Urbano gatherings, at precisely the hour we were hoping for! The past 2 weeks we’ve had about 30-35 people show up which has been really gratifying because while there tends to be a basic belief in God here (as in most places) and some basic verses people have heard, the young people we attract are almost totally uneducated about God, the Bible, Jesus, etc. So it’s super exciting to get to reach out to so many young people who truly have never heard the Good News of Jesus in any way that made sense to them. It’s also gratifying for us to begin to see the fruits of everything we have been working so hard for, and with the projector and sound system we bought we’re able to use videos and media in our messages and services in ways that are really uncommon here, but dynamic and powerful for communicating the gospel and worshiping God together. We are just now incorporating worship music into our gatherings as well, and talking about what it is and why we do it, so please pray that God would raise of worship leaders and leadership among us all. Here’s a picture of some of us from last Saturday:

Most of us from last Saturday at Fuego Urbano

THIRD: We’ve started a summer sports program called ‘Mas Que Vencedores’ (More Than Conquerors) every Mon, Wed, & Fri at the city’s facilities in front of the skate-park where we teach Basketball, Soccer, and Volleyball but use them to teach and apply biblical truths and principles to the participants’ lives. The city had told us they were going to have their own sports programs so we offered to serve in theirs for free, but it turned out they had nothing planned. So we offered to plan and organize the whole thing for them at no cost to them, and they were thrilled. So now we’re able to run the programs in the style we want to and to share with the kids who participate, as well as invite them all to Fuego Urbano, so it’s an amazing outreach and service to the community. The city-park staff love us because we do all this for free, with the goal of blessing and serving the community, so they go out of their way to help us out with anything we want or need. We're up to about 40-45 kids each day who participate in our programs and we could easily get lots more but with our limited personnel right now, we simply can’t accommodate much more than that. More and more of the kids are also making their way to Fuego Urbano as we get to know and trust one another, so that is also exciting. Here’s a picture of some of us huddling up with some closing thoughts after some intense sand-volleyball from our first week of programs.

'Mas Que Vencedores' Summer Sports Program

FOURTH: Many have inquired about how to give to Fuego Urbano so I thought I’d remind everyone about the 2 ways to support us financially:

1)      Checks may be made out to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’ and mailed to:

               Fishers of Men Fellowship

               P.O. Box 9284

               Newport Beach, CA  92658

2)  Online giving from credit card or bank account here on my blog's homepage

Thanks so much for all your continued love, prayers, encouragement, and support in 2011!!

Greg Haugh

Fuego Urbano

Amazing 2011 So Far!!

I hope your 2011 is off to as great a start as ours as I can’t believe how much God has done among us here in the past 2-3 weeks. I’ll explain more in my end of the month newsletter but I just wanted to take a few moments to let you all know a few key developments.

We FINALLY got access to the multi-purpose room in front of the skatepark for our Fuego Urbano meetings that we’ve been hoping and praying for for so long!! I’ll spare all the details, but it wasn’t as easy as it sounds. So far God has really blessed us there and lots of young people are starting to show up!! Two Saturdays ago we had 23 people and this past Saturday we had a BBQ in the park with about 35 people, so God is bringing us more and more young people which is awesome!

Also, the city had told us earlier they were going to have summer sports programs planned so we offered to serve free of charge in their programs to help them and the community. Well it turned out they had nothing planned after all so we offered to plan, organize, and run summer programs for them free of charge, so that’s what we’re doing now. This is the best possible situation because it allows us to have organizational control of the programs, while taking advantage of the great facilities the city has built there. Today was the first day and we had 21 kids show up, which will continue to grow as all the kids in the area find out and as we continue to let people know. The program is called ‘Mas Que Vencedores’ (‘More Than Conquerors’) and allows us to teach values through sports, and at the same time tie these values into our daily lives and relationship with God. We also get to invite every person who participates to join us Saturdays at Fuego Urbano so it’s a perfect tool for outreach to young people. 

There’s lots more going on but those are the crucial details. I’ll write more at the end of the month but I ask that you continue to pray that God would bring more and more young people to Fuego Urbano and to Mas Que Vencedores, as He has been really blessing all our hard work and preparations during this past few months. And to see more photos of everything go to the Fuego Urbano Facebook page if you’re on Facebook, as well as on my personal Facebook photos.

Thanks so much for you prayers and support!! As always, this would be impossible without you!!

Greg's Dec 2010 Newsletter: La Llama, Vol 4

La Llama (The Flame): December 2010

Merry Late-Christmas & Happy 2011 from Chile!!! I hope you got our Fuego Urbano Christmas Card via email or my blog last week, and that you were able to enjoy the true gift of Jesus with your loved ones this Christmas. So much has happened lately so I’ll do my best to sum it all up for you.

First: We’re still waiting to hear back from the city about using their facilities for our Fuego Urbano meetings. The room and facilities we have asked to use are right in front of the skate-park in Las Compañías, the part of La Serena we’re now focusing on, but it has not been easy to get city approval to begin meeting there. All government workers across Chile went on strike for 3 weeks right when we began the application process, which meant we simply had to wait until the strike ended to process our application. The strike is now over and we’re waiting to hear back from the city about our application, so Please PRAY PRAY PRAY that they would approve us as this would be an ideal situation. We would be able to have our Fuego Urbano meetings right in front of the skatepark in an amazing room that would give us lots of options and opportunities.

Second: We’ve adjusted our summer sports-ministry plans to try to better serve the Municipality & the community of Las Compañías. We’ve been planning on running our own summer-sports ministry all along but have now offered our services to the City Programs instead. The city built the skatepark and the surrounding facilities with the goals of hosting their own summer sports & recreation programs; they are planning on doing something very similar to what we wanted to do, except they are doing it without the spiritual connection we would have included. After discussion and prayer, we’ve decided the best way to bless and serve the Municipality we’re trying to get approval from, as well as the community we’re hoping to reach out to and get to know, is to offer our services free of charge to the Municipality programs. This would avoid any unwanted competition between the programs, and allow us to serve in unity and cooperation with the Municipality and hopefully, open more doors for us there as well. So that is what we have done. 

                    Gabriel with some of the younger kids at the skate-park

They have already planned some programs like soccer, basketball, and drama classes, which we’ve offered to help with at no charge; but there are other activities we could offer for them that they have no way of providing, such as: Swim Lessons (they have a pool and want to have swim lessons but don’t have anyone to teach), English classes/workshops, Portuguese classes/workshops, Guitar, Baseball, American Football (Passing & Flag Football), and even Surfing if we had the necessary equipment. Granted that we’ve offered to do this for FREE, we’re hopeful they’ll want to partner together. Please PRAY they do, as this would be an amazing way for us to reach out to and get to know the whole community. In 3^rd world countries where there are more basic needs and fewer resources, it is extremely rare for people to offer something for free, with no strings attached, as we have done for these programs. So please pray God would open their hearts to allow us to serve them and the community in this way, and that they’d see the love and heart of Jesus in us!!!

 A night out & messing around with some of the ‘fellas’

 

Third: Our First Fuego Urbano meeting in Las Compañías will be on Jan 1 in the open air right in front of the skatepark itself, so please pray God would open peoples’ hearts to Him and us. We’ve developed so many great relationships with so many of the young people in the community of Las Compañías around the skatepark, that we’ve decided to not wait any longer for Municipal approval to the facilities we’ve asked for to begin our meetings up there; instead we’re going to begin next Saturday in the open air at the park right in front of the skatepark, and we’ll gather there each Saturday until our approval goes through or we hear something else. Please pray God would open the doors for people to come and stir peoples’ hearts to want to come hear more about Him, and that God would give us opportunities all week to invite people and let them know.

Fourth & Finally: As the end of 2010 approaches I want to thank you all for your love, encouragement, prayers, and support! This story we’re writing together in Chile would be impossible without the key roles each of you have chosen to play, and I want you to know how appreciative and grateful I am for each of you, and how excited I am to see what chapters we write together in 2011!!

Thanks so much and I wish you a very very blessed and joyful 2011,

Greg Haugh

Fuego Urbano

Merry Christmas From Chile!!

To All Our Fuego Urbano Supporters & Followers,

We just wanted to take this time to wish you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years from Chile! Pepe, Gislaine, Gabriel, and I are so grateful for all your prayers, encouragement, and support in our efforts with Fuego Urbano to reach the younger generations of Chile with the love of Jesus, and we know that without your support this simply would not be possible. So THANK YOU!!

It is also our hope and prayer that YOU will be able to rest in that love this Christmas season, even in the midst of all the parties, gatherings, events, shopping, and craziness that is the Christmas season. Below you can see us in our new 'Fuego Urbano' sweatshirts with our mini-sized Christmas tree, as we will be celebrating here too even though it's summer here and so has a much different feel to the USA.

 Thanks for all your prayers & support and we wish you all a very FELIZ NAVIDAD!!
Greg, Pepe, Gislaine, & Gabriel

PLEASE PRAY!!

Hi there all you Fuego Urbano supporters,

I hope you’re doing well and enjoying the holiday season. Summer is quickly approaching here so Christmas has a different feel than in the USA, but as summer begins here and all the kids get out of school, its also a festive time of year.

I’m writing to give you a quick update and ask for prayer from all of you who would like to pray for us. As I told you in my last Newsletter, which is also visible on my blog, we have been talking with the city administration to get the ok to have our Fuego Urbano worship services at the community center right across the street from the skate-park in the area we’re working in. This would be IDEAL for so many reasons, and they said there shouldn’t be a problem but that we need to get official approval from the municipality. The problem is all the city-workers went on strike just then and have been on strike for the past 1.5-2 weeks. So we are helpless waiting for this strike to end before we can get the ok to move your meetings to that location. This has been frustrating, and we’re not sure when it is going to end.

Therefore, I would like to ask all of you who would like to pray for us, to pray that God would move and bring an end to the strike so that we can get the necessary approval. Also, please pray the municipality approves our requests, because as we’ve learned, we’re never guaranteed anything until it becomes reality. We are in the process of making other arrangements up there in case the strike continues, but our hope is that it will end ASAP so we can continue with the plans we have already set up, which would really be ideal for us. 

Thanks so much and blessings to you!

Greg Haugh & Jose/Gislaine Ezyaguirre

Greg's Nov 2010 Newsletter: La Llama, Vol 3

LA LLAMA (The Flame”): November 2010

Happy Thanksgiving from La Serena, Chile, and welcome to the 3^rd volume of my monthly newsletter ‘La Llama.’ I hope you have a great Thanksgiving this year with your loved ones, and are able to thank God for His goodness in your life this year. I know it has been difficult year for many, due to so many different things, and yet God is always faithful to see us through if we turn to Him.

Down here I’ve been explaining the Thanksgiving tradition to Pepe & Gislaine and they love the idea. In fact Gislaine wants to have our own Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving too, so we’ll be looking for some turkey to cook too. I also want you to know that I am so thankful to YOU for your love, prayers, encouragement, friendship, and financial support. Without all of you, the ministry of Fuego Urbano simply would not be possible. So thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

FIRST: Fuego Urbano began a couple Saturdays ago and we are now meeting regularly. We’ve only met twice so far and our group is small but committed and excited, so I would ask that you pray for God to guide us and open doors with the young people here in La Serena. So far we have been talking about the vision for Fuego Urbano so that those who come are clear on what we hope and pray Fuego Urbano will be. Below is a photo from our first meeting: 

 

SECOND: We’ve decided to focus our efforts in La Serena in the area known as ‘La Compañía,’ which is where the skatepark is located and where we have developed lots of great relationships with the local youth. La Compañía is the poorest area of La Serena and has the highest rates of violence, drugs, crime, and gang activity in the whole area. In fact the reason the city built the skatepark and the sports facilities next to it (see photo below) was to try and get the youth out of the destructive cycles of violence, drugs, and crime, and into some more healthy and productive activities.

On top of that there simply no evangelical churches in this area; because of these realities, along with the incredible relationships we have been able to develop with so many of the youth in the area, we have talked and prayed and feel like we simply MUST focus on that area of La Serena, even though it’s further away from our house. So that is what we are now doing.

I’d like to share with you about the whole skatepark experience for us in La Compañía so you know that it’s like. We only started going there 2 weeks ago but already when we show up now it’s like walking into a house full of people who are so glad to see us and greet us as we walk in. It’s hard to put into words but God has really been at work opening the kids’ hearts and minds to both us, and to the hope in Jesus that we share with them. We’ve shared with them about Fuego Urbano and how we’re trying to set up meetings in their neighborhood and almost all of them want to come. Once, as I was sharing our vision with a bunch of the kids, a young skater of 10 years old raised his hand as if he were in class and asked: ‘ Y puedo venir?’…meaning: ‘And can I come?’ Another BMX’er who I’ve gotten to know well offered his own house so we could meet there. So you see the kind of responses we’re getting from these young people who are so spiritually hungry. And another young skater, Henry, who is about 16 has taken me under his wing to teach me all about skating the bowls. This has been a huge blessing because Henry is the best bowl-skater there and I’ve been able to develop my deepest bond with him; and as the best bowl-skater, he holds lots of influence with the others.

So Please Please Please pray for us because the city built the skatepark, and as part of the general facilities they also built a large multi-purpose room with 2 basketball/soccer courts, 2 ping-pong tables, and a pool, right across the street from the skatepark (See picture below). We are currently talking with the administration about allowing us to have our Fuego Urbano meetings right there, which seems too good to be true, but they have already offered to some degree. So please pray God would open the hearts and minds of the administration to let us use these facilities for Fuego Urbano. And if they do, we would also move our upcoming summer ministry programs to this same neighborhood and to these same facilities, which would be an unbelievable blessing and opportunity! So please pray!!!

THIRD: Online payments on my blog were gone but are now available once again. However, we still cannot do automatic payments so I’ll have to ask you who prefer to give online to do your best to remember; you might want to let my monthly letters/emails be your monthly reminders? Just click this link  https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_sxclick&hosted_button_id=VCHCHFWQNYLPN  or go to the 'Donate' button here on my blog. And as usual, checks may be made out & mailed to ‘Fishers of Men Fellowship’, PO Box 9284, Newport Beach, CA, 92658.

FOURTH: The House is coming along but is still only partially furnished, though we have the basics covered. Thanks so much for those who gave more so we could get settled! We still only have plastic patio chairs and a matching plastic table, but things are coming along and we appreciate your continued support for all these things!

Thanks so much for all you love and support; we all wish you the best this Thanksgiving,

Greg Haugh

Fuego Urbano

New Car, 1st Fuego Urbano Meeting, & Skatepark

Hey Everyone,
It's been a pretty busy week and a half or so down here in Chile and I wanted to give you all a head's up on things before they got away from me. We moved into our new house on Nov 1 which you've seen pictures of, but we also got a car last week which was a huge blessing and relief. It has given us mobility and opened up so many doors to get things done and to open up doors to ministry. We got a Hyunadai Santamo which fits 7 comfortably but doesn't use as much gas as other bigger cars. Here's a picture of it and there's more on the Fuego Urbano Facebook page.  Thanks so much!!

After moving in last week we also had our first Fuego Urbano meeting/service at our house this past Saturday and it went awesome. There were only 8 of us but it went really well and everyone was really excited about the vision. I taught on the Parable of the Pharisee & The Tax-Collector, and we used that to talk about what we hope the attitude, heart, and mentality of Fuego Urbano will be. We also know lots of people who are really excited to come but could not make it last Saturday for various reasons, so we expect that we'll see more people this weekend. There are more pictures of our first night on the Fuego Urbano Facebook page, but the picture below gives you glimpse of the night...

Lastly, we also went to the local skatepark yesterday and began part of our outreach work there. It was super fun and God really blessed us because we met lots of the best skaters there and instead of them being closed off or unfriendly to outsiders, we hit it off and got to talk and share with them for a couple hours. It was awesome! Please pray God would keep opening the doors for us there and that He would show us the best way to reach this young people and also help to incorporate them into Fuego Urbano, since the skatepark is a little further away from the side of town we're on. Still, it was a great day and great beginning to the ministry we hope to do there. Below is a picture from our day there but as usual, if you want to see more you can see them on the Fuego Urbano Facebook page...

 Thanks again for all your help, prayers, and support! We could not do this without you all...Blessings from all of us to all of you!

Greg, Pepe, Gislaine, & Gabriel