Greg's June 2014 Newsletter

WORLD CUP FEVER: I have been back in CA for 4 months now and am still looking for a job. The one good thing about not having one is that I have been able to watch ALL the World Cup games, and all the countries I have lived in are playing amazing and advanced to the elimination rounds: USA, Chile, Costa Rica, & Argentina. I guess its true: every cloud has a silver lining. The World Cup seems to be mine, which isn’t a bad alternative after all.

FIRST: I (GREG) AM STILL LOOKING FOR A JOB

I am still looking for a job and would appreciate your prayers regarding my situation. I have been home for 4 months now and my situation is starting to weigh on me at this point. I am now open to any positions, whether in church-ministry or outside it, and would greatly appreciate any help, connections, advice, suggestions and prayers you might have to offer. As you all know, this is not exactly the best economy to find a job in, no matter what sector one looks in.

SECOND: HERE IS WHAT PEPE & GISLAINE WROTE THIS MONTH FROM CHILE

“Grace and peace to you all; we hope you and your families are doing well. It is time for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil, and that’s why we are developing some evangelism activities in our city under the name “More Then Conquerors.” We are visiting the communities of La Serena and Coquimbo bringing friendly games of soccer, visits to the jails, doing training sessions with various churches, and holding soccer tournaments with children and teen-agers. Here are some images from our work: 

This month we received Gulherme from Brazil who will be supporting us in our ministry with soccer. He is a very good player and will be reinforcing our team and giving testimony with his life. We are also visiting the jails weekly: the adult jail of Huachalalume and the jail for minors where we visit the prisoners and share with them a message of hope and salvation.

Because our financial support has shrunk, we are now holding our church-gatherings in our house. We ask you to continue supporting our work with Fuego Urbano in this time. It is a time of new challenges but we continue trusting in God and in the support of your prayers and finances. If you want to know more about our activities with Fuego Urbano in Chile then please visit our new Blog: http://jose-pepe-eyzaguirre-mision.tumblr.com/  or write us at  jose@fuegourbano.org “

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 2014 Newsletter

GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA: I hope this Newsletter finds you well and enjoying the summer weather we have had recently. I am still looking for a job but now I’m looking for any job in any industry, so that I can help start a new faith-community with some friends of mine. Please read below to learn more, and to find out what has been going on with Pepe & Gislaine and Fuego Urbano.

FIRST: I AM NOW LOOKING FOR A JOB IN ANY FIELD INSTEAD OF A “MINISTRY” POSITION. I am going to be teaming up with some close friends to start a new community of faith in the backyard of one of the couples involved. We are really excited about this but because there will be no paid staff (at least at the beginning), I will need to find a job to support myself. Therefore, I am now looking for ANY jobs in ANY sector or industry: profit, non-profit, action sports, education, civil, govt., etc. so if you know of anything or know people who might, could you please let me know? I have my BA in Spanish & Speech Communications from CSULB, my Masters of Divinity from Fuller Seminary; and I am fluent in Spanish so if there are any jobs needing bi-lingual candidates (in any field/industry but especially in the non-profit world), I would be extremely interested. Can you please pray for me as I enter into this new phase: that God would bring along the right job for me and that He would also guide the beginnings of this new community of faith (I will have more info about that in next month’s newsletter)? Could you also let me know if you have any contacts as far as jobs go?

SECOND: HERE IS WHAT PEPE WROTE FROM CHILE THIS MONTH

“We send you greetings with the peace of the Lord: The winter is already arriving in our country and every day is a little colder. Unfortunately we haven’t had much rain and we need rain in our region. We tell you this so you can pray for the needs of our country, which has been affected by big fires and some big earthquakes that have left the whole country a bit uneasy.

We have shared in church about how important it is for us to be the salt & light (Mt 5:13-16) in the midst of all the needs that surround us; and this week a couple from our church (Mauricio & Kara) went to see their dentist, who is Columbian and has lived here in Chile with his wife for 7 years. He started a small clinic in the neighborhood where we gather, and they (Mauricio & Kara) realized that as foreigners he and his wife (the dentist) were very alone; so Mauricio & Kara invited them to surf and afterwards they were joined by some other Columbians who also work at the clinic. The biggest surprise came when they invited them to eat and the Columbians said that was the first time anyone had ever invited them to something like that since they had been in Chile. That was the first time anyone had invited them to their house to eat and they also had the opportunities to share their testimonies together. This past weekend we had an awesome afternoon of surfing and they were really open to the gospel. Glory to God! We will be using the 2 long-boards that were donated to Fuego Urbano so that we can connect with them through surfing…Please pray for Jesús, Alexander, & Felipe (the three on the right in the photo below, with Mauricio, Pepe, & Maykol on the left side). 

This week I was invited by the International Coalition of Sports Ministries to Uruguay, to train various churches and pastors from Uruguay’s capital on how to use sports to work with kids & youth. Here are some pictures from the time there…”

THIRD: THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE COMMITTED TO SUPPORTING PEPE & GISLAINE UNTIL NEXT FEBRUARY, 2015. Like we said last month, this will give him time to find a teaching position and be self-sustaining from then on. At that point we will discontinue all donations & giving.

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 help, prayers, and support over these years!

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

GREG, PEPE & GISLAINE'S APRIL 2014 NEWSLETTER

GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA: I hope this Newsletter finds you well. I (Greg) am still looking for ministry positions so please keep your eyes and ears open for me, and please read below to hear more about Pepe & Gislaine in Chile with Fuego Urbano.

FIRST: WILL YOU CONSIDER SUPPORTING PEPE & GISLAINE FINANCIALLY FOR 10 MORE MONTHS, UNTIL FEB 2015? After talking with Pepe & Gislaine, we agreed that the best thing we could hope for from our supporters at this point, is to continue supporting them and their work with Fuego Urbano until February, 2015, when Pepe could then look for a job as a teacher (which is what he studied and did before). Since the school years there begin in March, it would be almost impossible for him to find a job at this time of year. But if we could get as many of our supporters as are able, to continue supporting them until February 2015, then Pepe could find a job teaching and we would then shut down the economic support from you all. Would you prayerfully consider supporting them until this February so they can continue with the ministry of Fuego Urbano and not be left without enough income in the meantime? 

SECOND: BELOW I TRANSLATED WHAT PEPE & GISLAINE WROTE THIS MONTH:

“We want to begin this report by thanking you all for your commitment in helping to start Fuego Urbano in Northern Chile. The work in Chile is not easy. It is a difficult country, and even more so in the north where it is very dry, has a strong mystic background, and a Catholic syncretism (Catholic beliefs mixed with indigenous beliefs) that dominates the area. It is a region that has a large number of historic Catholic churches and where they have the second-largest festival of devotion to the virgin Mary in all of Chile, where some 60,000 people gather each year.

However we have successes like establishing our work with sports & basketball that continues firm after all these years, where we are beginning a bible-study after the training times, and handing out bibles and weekly devotionals that are applied to life and sports. Soon we will also begin meeting in the houses of the people involved as well.

We know that it is difficult for you to support us indefinitely without knowing us personally, so we are asking if you would support us financially until February, 2015, which is which is when I (Pepe) could look for a job as a P.E. Teacher (which is my profession). It is hard to find work this far into the school-year (which begins in March). We will however, continue reporting to you all about our work and ministry like we have always done up until now.

If you would like to contact us, receive more information, or visit us, you can write us at:

jose@fuegourbano.org  or  gis@fuegourbano.org 

A Hug in Christ,

The Family Eyzaguirre-Matos

(Pepe, Gislaine, Gabriel, Gean-Felipe)”

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 help, prayers, and support over these years!

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

Greg, Pepe & Gislaine's March 2014 Newsletter

GREETINGS FROM CALIFORNIA! I (Greg) have been back for a month now and have loved seeing as many people as possible during that time. Please read below to hear a bit more about what I am doing now, as well as more from Pepe & Gislaine in Chile as they continue to lead Fuego Urbano.

FIRST: I AM BACK IN CALIFORNIA LOOKING FOR A MINISTRY JOB/POSITION

I have been in CA for a month now and it has been so fun to spend time with my family and friends who I have not seen much these past 3.5 years. As I mentioned before, I am looking for a position at some church doing Teaching/Preaching or College/Young Adult stuff, so if you know of any openings at your church (or if you have any contacts who might), would you please let me know? I will once again attach my Resume & 3 Letters of Recommendation to the email I sent out notifying everyone that I posted my newsletter. I will also be teaching at all three services (8 & 9:30am contemporary; 11am traditional) this Sunday Mar 30  at ‘Christ Presbyterian Church’ at 20112 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach, CA in case you want to come hear me and say hi.

SECOND: I HOPE YOU WILL SUPPORT PEPE & GISLAINE AS THEY LEAD FUEGO URBANO

Since I am now in the USA, Pepe & Gislaine will lead Fuego Urbano themselves. Our hope is that enough of our supporters will continue to support Fuego Urbano by supporting them (and their two boys) as they lead Fuego Urbano. Since I have raised support for all of us during these past 3.5 years, we are hoping that enough supporters will continue to support them, so they don’t need to go look for jobs. Would you please pray about that, and do whatever God seems to be leading you to do?

THIRD: HERE ARE INTRODUCTORY WORDS FROM PEPE (WHICH I TRANSLATED)

“We greet you with the peace of the Lord. We are the Eyzaguirre-Matos family: Jose (Chile), Gislaine (Brazil), and our sons Gabriel (8yrs) & Gean Philipe (2.5 yrs). A new season is beginning with our church Fuego Urbano, this year without our friend and brother Greg. We know we will have new challenges and victories, but we will remain firm, trusting in our God, and very thankful to Greg for his care and encouragement of our family. Our sons Gabriel & Gean are healthy and growing quickly. They just started their school year: Gabriel just turned 8 last Sunday and he is in a new school. He is doing well and we are praying that he can adapt and make new friends there. Gean is beginning to talk and the doctors gave us a tool so he can improve his pronunciation and do some vocal exercises. He is a happy kid and climbs all over everything so we can never take our eyes off him. (Here is Pepe & Gislaine)

We are very encouraged to continue the work of planting our church in La Serena, and grateful for what God is going to do. We want you to know we have already begun our ‘New Believers Bible Study’ at our house on Monday nights, where we talk about scripture and listen to questions in a comfortable and friendly environment; there are about 6 people coming to grow in their faith-foundations. As a church we started studying the foundations of “Gifts & Ministries” so that God can lead everyone in the church in discovering their own gifts and talents. As you know, we use sports as a bridge to connect to the community and our basketball team already began its training. There are about 15 young men between 16-24 that get together every Tue., Thurs., & Fri to practice, and at the end of every session we have a biblical reflection applied to life and sports. This year we got another court for our practices: it’s at a daycare in Las Compañías. We spoke to the directors and told them we are a team with Christian foundations and that we are willing to serve them with whatever they might need. The director was really happy and said it would be awesome if we could do some kind of work with their kids in the area of sports. This is a great opportunity to serve, to strengthen the Christian principles we have instilled in the guys on our team, and to share the love of Christ with this organization of about 150 little kids. This week we will also have our 2^nd leader-training for “Children, Adolescents, Sports, and The Community,” which gathers leaders from various churches in the region. We have also continued with our monthly visits to the youth & adult jails of La Serena.

We want to thank you for your prayer & financial support during these 3.5 years. As Greg explained in last month’s Newsletter: we hope you will pray and decide if you will keep supporting us. If the answer is “No,” then we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support you have given until now. If the answer is “Yes,” we thank you and will continue informing you monthly about how everything is advancing here. We also leave the invitation and the doors of our house open, in case you would like to come and see our work first-hand; and I want you to know that I am planning on visiting the USA in November and hope to personally meet our supporters then, which would be a great pleasure.

Please pray for: the strengthening of the faith of the New Believers; and that the Lord would keep reaching lives with the gospel. “I leave you with this charge: “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go (Jos 1:9).””

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 help, prayers, and support over these years!

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

Greg Haugh's Feb 2014 Newsletter: Moving Home

GREETINGS FROM CHILE…FOR THE LAST TIME: As I mentioned briefly in last month’s newsletter, I will be moving permanently back to California in early-March so this will be the last newsletter I write from Chile; but Pepe & Gislaine will continue leading Fuego Urbano and our hope is that, those of you who have prayed for and supported us during these 3.5 years, will consider continuing to support Pepe & Gislaine as they carry on the vision of Fuego Urbano. I will explain in more detail below…

FIRST: BEFORE ANYTHING ELSE, I WANT TO SAY ‘THANK YOU SO MUCH’

Over the last 3.5 years, so many of you have prayed for us constantly, offered assistance or help in different ways, and supported us financially. To all of you, I can only say from the bottom of my heart: ‘Thank You!’ Words fail to express the gratitude I feel for every one of you, and I have always been blown away and humbled by how many of you bless us in so many ways. I say this all the time but only because it is true: without you guys, we could not have done any of this. Period. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

SECOND: THERE ARE 2 MAIN REASONS WHY I AM MOVING HOME NOW

The two main reasons why I am moving home now are very simple. First: my own battles with being alone and isolated here have taken their toll on me over the years, to the point where I feel more and more drained and have realized I can’t keep going like this. Being away from family and friends for 3.5 years takes its toll on anyone, but when you don’t have a spouse or kids of your own to help fill that relational void, then the weight of it becomes even heavier. That is my situation now and after 3.5 years here, I have realized that it would not be good or wise for anyone if I stayed longer. The second reason has to do with my VISA. Normally I always come back to CA to visit in July, but because I had issues coming through Customs on my way into Chile last September, and because I am here on a Tourist Visa and can not get a Student Visa, Workers Visa, or Religious Visa (for various reasons), the Customs agent said I can not keep working the system like I have and that the next time I leave Chile I will not be able to get back in (unless I get a Religious Workers Visa, which I can’t). Because of the logistics of this situation, I must leave Chile by March 18^th when my current time-frame expires but they won’t let me back in once I leave. That means my only option is to come home in March instead of waiting until July.

THIRD: I WILL BE LOOKING FOR A CHURCH JOB/POSITION SO PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU KNOW OR HEAR OF ANYTHING, OR PASS MY RESUME & LETTERS OF RECOMMENDATION ON TO ANYONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED.

As I come home I will looking for a teaching/preaching position at some church, or some other position that would allow me to do that, since that is what I love and am most passionate about. I would also be open to doing something Missions related, or College/Young Adult stuff if it allowed me the opportunity to teach and preach in some way. So please email me if you know of anything or would like to try and pass on my info to anyone. I have attached my Resume and three Letters of Recommendation to the email I sent you notifying you about my newsletter, so you can find them there and email/forward them to anyone you think might be interested or looking for someone. Thanks!

FOURTH: PEPE & GISLAINE WILL CONTINUE LEADING ‘FUEGO URBANO,’ AND OUR HOPE IS THAT ENOUGH OF OUR SUPPORTERS WILL CONTINUE SUPPORTING THEM EVEN THOUGH I WILL NOT BE IN CHILE PERSONALLY: SO WOULD YOU PLEASE PRAY AND CONSIDER WHAT GOD WOULD HAVE YOU DO?

I know many of you have supported us financially over these past 3.5 years because you know me personally, and because of hearing from me about the vision of Fuego Urbano, you decided to support us (thanks again!). I also know that, as I return to California, some of you might be hesitant on supporting us any further if I am not personally in Chile doing the ministry. I completely understand if you do not feel comfortable continuing to support Pepe & Gislaine who you do not know personally, as they continue to lead Fuego Urbano; but I would just ask you to pray about it and ask God what He would have you do. I have total confidence in Pepe & Gislaine on this matter and know they are willing and able to move along with Fuego Urbano, but since I have raised support for all of us to live for the past 3.5 years, it would be a huge hit to the ministry if all of a sudden there was not enough support for them to commit themselves like we all have for the past 3.5 years. I want you to know that I will not be offended, or take it personally in any way, if you pray and decide you are not comfortable or would not like to continue supporting them; but I am asking you to please just pray about it first and then do whatever God seems to be leading you to do. Just so you know: Pepe & Gislaine will need about $2,000/month in order to support them and their two boys, depending on exchange rates on any given month.

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 wish you all the best!

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

Greg Haugh's January 2014 Newsletter

Happy 2014 from Chile! The past month has been really good but also really busy for us, as we have received two mission teams back-to-back: the 1^st was 5 Brazilians who were here for 2.5 weeks; and the 2^nd is a team of 15 skaters from YWAM’s “Calling All Skaters,” that has been with us for a week and will be with us for one more. Please read below to find out about everything God has been doing here through them and us this past month, and about some very important news about my future.

FIRST: Our car will cost $2,400 to fix and we're still short on $

As I mentioned last month, we have now been without one of our cars for 3.5 months and it will cost us about $2,400 to fix. Due to so many of you giving at the end of the year to help us with that extra expense, we almost have the funds to pay for it, but we are still short about $800 so if you would like to help us pay for that, directions for giving to Fuego Urbano can be found in the last paragraph below. Please pray we get the car soon as it is supposed to be done tomorrow.

SECOND: We had 5 Brazilians come serve Fuego Urbano from Dec 22-Jan 10

For the 3^rd summer in a row a team from Sao Paulo, Brazil came to help and serve Fuego Urbano. This year the team helped by investing heavily in relationships with the people, by leading worship at Fuego Urbano, and by sharing at our first ‘Coffee Break’ which we hosted to share about the mission of the church being more then just “preaching,” and more like transforming our entire culture and world. They shared about the various ministries they are involved in: reaching and serving the gay, lesbian, & transvestite communities of Sau Paulo; reaching and serving the skaters in Brazil; doing medical-missions in Haiti with people who are still recovering from the earthquake a few years ago. The general focus was on putting the “Good News” of Jesus into action in our culture and world, instead of just talking about it. All in all, it was a really good time of challenging traditional ways of thinking about these things here in Chile. Below is a collage with lots of images from their time with us: 

THIRD: 15 Skaters from YWAM’s “Calling All Skaters” are with us for 2 weeks

This team of 15 skaters has been with us for a week and will be here for one more in order to help us reach and serve the skaters of La Serena. We have been skating in the various skateparks to connect with the people there, and have some cool events lined up for this week as well, so please pray God will use them to open doors for Him to move in the lives of the skaters and young people here. While skating in the skatepark of Las Companias, Justice (the blonde skater in the middle of the picture below) impressed some of the main members of the local gang so much by his skating, that they invited him to tag the skatepark (since they were going to do just that). Justice tagged “Jesus Te Ama,” which means “Jesus loves you,” on the mini-ramp in the picture below, and I just had to take a picture.  You’re right Justice: Jesus does love them.  May we never forget that. 

FOURTH: BIG NEWS: I WILL BE MOVING BACK TO CALIFORNIA THIS MARCH

I will explain more in next month’s newsletter but I wanted to let you all know that I will be moving back to California for good in March. Until then I ask that you continue to pray for us and our ministry, as well as the transitions we will all be making in the next couple months.

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 the best in 2014,

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

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