Pato and Dagmar [+ Rocío & Estela]

2008-04-14T11:58:00.001-07:00

Some pictures of our trip to Patagonia (March 2008)
(Torres del Paine National Park and Punta Arenas)

One local that we got to know ...

It was a little to muchy for Estela ...

Dagmar and Estela

Plenty of condors (big fellas, 15 kgs and 3 mts of wings)...

Our dear friends Alan and Julie Hohne from Sydney...

A beautiful pink flamingo flying over Laguna Amarga (Bitter Lagoon) ... yes, those mountains are the reflextion over the water.

We do have our cute side...

Just to show that Estela´s favorite dolly, Isabella, did make it to Patagonia

The friendly Milodon giving Estela and Rocío a cuddle

At St. Jame´s Anglican church. This was Pato´s very first church he joined to.

Some pictures of glacier Grey...

2008-04-14T11:52:00.001-07:00

THIS IS OUR APRIL 2008 PRAYER LETTER

2008-04-14T10:01:00.001-07:00

CARTA DE ORACIÓN DE NOVIEMBRE 2007

2007-08-13T10:27:00.000-07:00

PRAYER POINTS

We praise God for the recent positive developments in the evening church plant (San Pedro PM). This is just God’s grace because the gathering is growing in spite of the worst winter in the last 60 years which (most of our people do not own a car).

Please pray for this Saturday’s first meeting of the San Pedro PM core team. Pray that we may trust in God, not in our strategies and hard work

Please pray for Danilo Hueche a young second year CEP (Centre for Pastoral Studies, our Anglican Bible college) student who is fighting a very aggressive cancer. We praise God for Danilo’s continuous trust in Him and the great example he is giving to all of us.

Please pray for Marcelo and Lissette. He is a Christian who comes to church regularly, but she has never been willing to come. We had them over for lunch and she enjoyed it. Please pray she may come to know Jesus.

Praise God for the group of about 25 people who studied the Bible (in three different groups, PTC courses) with Pato last semester. Pray they may live out what they have learnt.

Thank you so much for praying for us!!!!!!!!!
MUCH LOVE,

Dagmar & Pato

2007-08-13T09:01:00.000-07:00

Our July 2007 Prayer Letter

2007-06-09T08:11:00.000-07:00

Dear friends,

It is June already! We have been back in Chile for 4 months!!! I can't believe it.

Looking back I think that time has gone so quickly, but living every day has been very tiring and sometimes difficult, sad, lonely. but God has been our comfort and strenghts.

Praise points:

for being where the need is so great that we feel useful
for the girls good health
for Pato's excellent relationship with Sammy, our rector
for the great house that God has provided for us to live and minister to others

Prayer points:

For confidence for Dagmar as a new driver
For wisdom to decide how and with whom to spend our time
For opportunities for Dagmar to serve other women
For the girls continuous heath

Thank you so much for praying for us!!!!!!!!!
Love always,
Dagmar

2007-05-14T10:08:00.000-07:00

PRAYER POINTS & PICTURES (14 MAY 2007)

Dear friends and supporters,

Life in Chile is so exciting! It is full of opportunities to tell people about Jesus and to reach many with the good news.

Let me share with you some prayer points:

Praise God for my three girls. Rocío is a talking and dancing machine, Estela turned 1 year old and Dagmar is such a beautiful godly lady! She had the chance to take part in women retreat. It was a refreshing time with the Lord and a good way of getting to know other women. Thank you very much to many of you who had written to her to encourage her.
I´ve been having so many good ways of serving God and his people here. The replanting of the evening service is going well , but slow. Please keep praying for that. I need wisdom to put together a godly core team. At the moment we are trying to kick of with a young adults group (mid 20s to mid 30s) which is a group that feels a little bit ignored in San Pedro church. I am getting together with a couple of them 1-1 to encourage them. Please pray for this new group, for my "cups of coffee" with Carlos and Francisco and that we may provide proper pastoral care to all of them.
Please pray for these couple of months in which we are going to be developing an "strategic plan or mission" for the next 10 years for the San Pedro community. Pray that God may show us his will, that we may write down his thoughts, not ours.

I want to mention how thankful we are for the many cards/letters we have received from some of you. ¡Muchas gracias!

To the One who has saved us be all glory!

Much love,

Pato

2007-05-14T09:06:00.000-07:00

OUR LAST PRAYER LETTER (APRIL 2007)

2007-02-07T19:52:00.000-08:00

Dear friends,

Please praise our Lord that we got to Chile well. Praise the Lord for an excellent flight with Aerolineas Argentinas spite of the old aircraft, dodgy movie system and lay backed crew. We did not have turbulence. The girls behaved remarkably well. They slept a little bit and they were very quiet and respectful of the people around us. We didn't have a rest because we were serving our Australians souvenirs and helping them to have a little bit of a rest.

We got to Chile on time and with all our luggage. At the airport, Pato's mum and brother were waiting for us along with Dagmar's parents and brothers so as you can imagine we were warmly welcomed.

Rocio still remembered "dodo" (Dagmar's mum) and nona (Pato's mum). Estela was too wasted to say hello so she fall asleep.

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Please keep praying for the days ahead as we get used to our country and speaking Spanish all the time.

We love you and miss you, but we hope to see you one day.

With love,

Pato and Dagmar

2007-01-23T06:11:00.000-08:00

REMEMBER YOU ARE INVITED TO OUR CMS COMMISIONING SERVICE:

THIS COMING SAT. 27TH JANUARY, 11 AM

@ MOORE COLLEGE (15 KING ST. NEWTOWN)

BYO LUNCH

Thanks a lot for your interest and support … over 1,000 visitors in our blog!

We feel SO privilege to have such a bunch of people interested in following what is going on with the Oyarzúns. Last week the accumulated visits to our blog, since we began it 6 months a go, passed the visitor number 1,000!!!! A particular thank you to our friends who have been praying and supporting us financially through CMS.

Chao 4 Little Queen St..!

We praise God because we were able to move out of our place just on time (we were able to finish the move just on time to leave for the airport to go to Adelaide). We praise God for his provision of that house and for his provision a place to stay in Newtown until we leave on 6^th Feb.

Adelaide

Pato and Dagmar left to Adelaide on Friday afternoon, just on time to make it to the beginning of the CMS Summer Conference in Adelaide. We decided to leave the girls behind, in the capable hands of Mark & Leanne (Rocio) and Marc & Malvina (Estela). We praise God because our trip was worthy on this effort. We praise God, who in His mercy, guided Pato to give good Bible talks (on “western world view”, “gifts & miracles” and “spiritual warfare”). The two sermons on Sunday and the overseas mission talk went well, as well. We came back on Monday, very tired, but very thankful to God for the good friends we had to say good-bye to.

Much love,

Pato and his girls

2007-01-17T22:10:00.000-08:00

REMEMBER OUR COMMISIONING SERVICE:

SAT. 27TH JANUARY, 11 AM

@ MOORE COLLEGE (15 KING ST. NEWTOWN)

BYO LUNCH

PLEASE RSVP TO poyarzun@iach.cl

Sorry about the silence

I guess some of you have begun to show withdrawal symptoms after a month without receiving our “weekly” prayer points. Life has been pretty full on this last month travelling all around the place (see how comfortable Estella looks in her red suitcase). We've been enjoying of the hospitality of many friends as part of the long and sad 'good bye' period. Please pray that back in Chile we may be able to keep in touch on "weekly" bases.

Las niñas (the girls)

Rocío keeps developing; she is very talkative and cute. She suffered of a nasty gastro for 4 weeks and she lost 2 kg so she got really skinny. Praise God she has been putting on weight regularly since then. Now she weights almost 11 kg, which was her weight two months ago. Estela keeps growing, getting more teeth, seating up by herself and trying to walk. She is such a smiley little thing!

We praise God that last Sunday we had a thanksgiving service for Rocío and Estela. It was a fine way of expressing our gratitude to God for these precious gifts and our public commitment to raise them in the love and fear of the Lord. We are so blessed with good friends that have accepted to be the girls’ godparents! They are great examples of godliness and they are fully committed to keep praying for the girls.

CMS and the Blue “Mountains”

We had a feast up there (well, it is not that high for Chileans, but we have to respect the locals and call those beautiful hills, mountains!). The first days were at the CMS missionaries’ conference. It was a feast of fellowship and having the privilege of sharing with people who are serving God all around the world. It is so exciting to see how God’s Spirit is making the Son known among the nations … but there is still plenty of opportunities out there waiting for more people to go!

The second week was, as one of the Moore College lecturers said, “Sydney at its best”. We were clearly encouraged, rebuked and taught by the Bible talks. We enjoyed of many missionary sessions where everyone could be encourage by the missionaries sharing their lives on the field. We praise God for the many people who approached us to say “you do not know me, but I’ve praying for you all these years.” We are so privilege to see God’s love and care through his people! It was a personal highlight t see the Charleses and Swans (CMS missios in Chile) reporting back after their first term in Chile. How did thy go? … they love Chile, of course!

Visiting Adelaide

This coming weekend, we will be sharing at the CMS Summer Conference in Adelaide. Please pray that we may be of encouragement to the brethren over there and that we may say good-bye properly, with a heart full of thankfulness to God. Pato will be giving 3 Bible talks, two mission talks and preaching twice on Sunday. Please pray that the Holy Spirit may guide Pato to do all this properly and for God’s glory.

2006-12-10T14:47:00.000-08:00

A bit of a break

We write from the beautiful Sydney Northern Beaches where we have been house sitting since Wednesday. It has been a very refreshing time. We have enjoyed of plenty of space (Estela loves to roll over as far away as possible), a nice beach and plenty of opportunities to share with friends from our former church St. Faith’s, Narrabeen. We praise God for this great time!

Las niñas (the girls)

We praise God that Estela is 7 months old!, sleeping well, eating all her food (she has two Weet Bixs for breaky while Rocío struggles to finish one!) and seating up!

Praise God that Rocio seems to be fully recovered of her gastro. Please pray she may recover the weight she has lost.

Dagmar has been able to sleep more and Pato is very happy to see all his girls going so well. Thanks for your prayers and support regarding Estela.

Iglesia San Pedro

This is the church we'll be serving in when we will go back to Chile and from where we hope to launch a church plant. We praise God for the recent 19 people who got confirmed!

Visiting St. Faith’s, Narrabeen (http://www.stfaiths.org.au)

This coming weekend, we will be sharing with the five congregations at St. Faith’s. We were serving at St. Faith’s in 2003-4 when Pato was a student minister there. This is one of our link churches. Please pray that Pato may preach in a clear, loving and relevant way about God’s heart for reaching the nations with the good news of salvation in Christ alone.

A follow up of last week’s “weekly” prayer points

1) Praise God Pato was able to send to the organizers of the conference the tittles and passages for the three Bible talks he is delivering. Please pray for the writing of the talks.

2) Regarding the question, Do you reckon Pato, considering his “gastro situation”, spoke as a good Australian preacher (i.e. keeping himself in the assigned time) or did he go a little bit longer in every single service in a more kind of South American style? … I guess it did not generate much debate because everyone thought Pato did go a little bit longer … and he did!

Much love,

Pato and his girls

2006-12-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

Did you miss us last week?

You may have missed our “weekly” prayer points last week. There you go! They are really kind of “weekly”, you know South American style of “weekly” … and not really weekly-weekly. Last week we enjoyed of a lovely time in Melbourne saying good bye to friends over there. It was a relaxing time (as far as it gets when you travel with two beautiful little girls). We praise God for the great friends he has blessed us with!

In our last “weekly” prayer points ...

Why did Dagmar write on the congratulation note that was on our place’s front door waiting for Pato to come back of his last exam: “you have done more than 5 years of study”? We had several answers, same of them referred to the fact that a MA normally takes two years, but Pato did it in one (… so theoretically he has done more than 5 years worth of study) and others mention that Pato has been studying so long (ref to his previous degree in Engineering). The answer? Dagmar was referring to the bonus of getting two beautiful daughters! Praise be to the Father for the abundant new life He has given us in His Son by the power of the Spirit!

Las niñas (the girls)

We praise God that Estela is 7 months old!, sleeping well, eating all her food (she has two Wheat Bixs for breaky while Rocío struggles to finish one!) Dagmar has been able to sleep more and Pato is very happy to see all his girls going so well. Thanks for your prayers and support regarding Estela. Today (Tuesday) both of them got immunisation shoots. Please pray they may not have problems with them.

The Lord our God is a powerful and merciful God

Last Sunday Pato visited St. Mark’s, West Wollongong. It was a great opportunity to see God’s faithfulness and power in action because of the circumstances that preceded this visit. That very Sunday morning we had to go to Emergency because Rocio got a nasty gastro which was bothering her for some days (no ugly details, you know what gastros are like). She couldn’t sleep on Saturday night. We were concerned about her getting dehydrated. We went to Emergency and went back at 4 am. Our plan of going all the family to share with the saints at St. Mark’s was over. Pato had to wake up at 5.30 to be able to be on time in Wollongong for speaking and preaching at the 8 am service, then at the 10 am, have lunch and spend the afternoon sharing with people. Finally, the 7 pm service, which included a couple of great opportunities to chat, to encourage and to pray for some people after the service until well passed 9 pm. He arrived back to Sydney about 11 pm. It was a great day! We cannot but praise God for his amazing love and care for us (Pato got the gastro as well, so he was very please God kept provided plenty of nice toilets for him all day long). Paul writes about this very clearly:

But the Lord said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me (2 Cor 12.9)

CMS South Australia Summer Conference in Adelaide.

One of the goals for this week for Pato is to send to the organizers of the conference the tittles and descriptions of the three Bible talks he is delivering. Pato will also be giving a couple of talks on the partnership between the Anglican Church of Chile and CMS. Please, pray for Pato to be directed by God’s Spirit to do it properly.

____________________________________________________________________

QUESTION FOR THE WEEK (Related to the Wollongong visit):

Do you reckon Pato, considering his “gastro situation”, spoke as a good Australian preacher (i.e. keeping himself in the assigned time) or did he go a little bit longer in every single service in a more kind of South American style? Have five years in Australia changed the old good Pato’s preaching habits?

Remember that you can leave your answer in the blog page by clicking “comments”, just below this paragraph.

2006-11-21T04:18:00.000-08:00

It’s all done!

We praise God because on Monday Pato sat the only exam he needed to do this semester. This was his last exam! … and thank you very much for your prayers regarding those three essays he had to write … they are all handed in! So, in brief, 5 years of studies are over. What a blessing! We are not able to express our gratitude to God and to His saints in Australia that have supported us through CMS and Moore College. Please pray that this amazing blessing may be, by God’s grace, of great blessing for the Chilean church in the time to come.

A challenge for you …

Why did Dagmar write on the congratulation note that was on our place’s front door waiting for Pato to come back of his last exam: “you have done more than 5 years of study”?

… and remember it is a blog, so you can leave your comments by hitting “comments” at the end of this prayer point (anyone can write a comment, you do not need to create an account)

2006-11-21T03:31:00.000-08:00

The Centre for Pastoral Studies Open Night went really well. If you would like to practice your Spanish you may want to visit the IACH (Iglesia Anglicana de Chile) website (http://www.iglesiaanglicana.cl). You can even download the audio of the talks that were given on the day and the testimony of two of the students.

Last Sunday we visit Arndell Community Church where Pato had the privilege of sharing the Word of God and talking about the partnership between CMS and the Iglesia Anglicana de Chile. It was a great opportunity for learning more about this church plant … there is so much we have to think about and plan when we will be doing our church plant in Chile.

Thanks to all of you who e-mailed us back asking for one of our new CMS brochures. We will send them during the first week of December. If you haven’t e-mailed us and you would like one or more, just let us know. Please send us your postal address even if you think we have it and we'll post you one.

Much love,

Pato, Dagmar, Rocio and Estela

2006-11-12T23:40:00.000-08:00

Dear amigos,

We got our new CMS brochures! We would love to post you one so you may have a good summary of what are we going to be doing next year and a nice picture for your fridge or prayer diary. Please send us your postal address even if you think we have it and we'll post you one.

We praise God because we had Luke Santiago's baptism ... and we are his godparents. Luke's parents are Mike & Lea, Pato and Mike were at the same year in Moore College. We feel so privilege and we ask you to pray that we may be faithful in praying for little Luke and in keeping in touch.

As a result of the recent South American Anglican clergy conference, the Anglican Church of Bolivia are planning to send and they hope to send a student to the CEP next year. Please pray that they will find the funds to make this happen.Praise God with us that the CEP’s reputation is growing across the region.

Have you considered coming up to CMS Summer School (6-12 Jan)? Its a great place to hear more about what God is doing in the world. There will be a special focus on Latin America, including a visit of the IFES Regional Secretary for Latin America. Pay a visit to: www.cms.org.au/branch/?zone=nsw for details. See you there!

Much love,

Pato, Dagmar, Rocio and Estela

2006-11-06T17:27:00.000-08:00

Dear amigos,

We praise God for Rocío, yesterday she is turning two years old! We had a great party on Saturday. Please pray that she may honor and serve our Heavenly Father every single day of her life.

Dagmar and Estela's visit to Tresillian (a specialized breast feeding/baby sleeping helping centre) went really well. It was very reaffirming of what we've been doing and we got a couple of good hints. We praise God that Estela had her first whole night of sleep on 1st November! We also praise the Father because she turned six months old.

Five years studying at Moore Theological College! … What a blessing! Pato have had his last last MA intensive, i.e. his last lecturers at Moore College!!! Praise the Lord for His generosity through CMS’ and Moore College supporters.Please pray for the essays Pato has due for this coming Friday (3 essays of 4.000 words each).

Please pray for the Centro de Estudios Pastorales' Information Night (13th November). All the ministers and parish council members of the churches in Santiago have been invited to assist and to consider the vital role of the Bible College for the life of the Anglican Church of Chile.

Much love,
Pato, Dagmar, Rocio and Estela

2006-10-22T06:52:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

San Pedro Anglican church – Viña del Mar (the parish where we will begin serving as soon as we return to Chile) has appointed a new Chilean rector, the Rev. Sammy Morrison (some of you may remember him because he visited Sydney in October last year. Sammy and Pato spoke at the Sydney Synod). He will be the Chilean in charge of San Pedro (the second biggest Anglican church in Chile), before him all the rectors have been missionaries.

We finally got a date for returning to

Chile

(6^th February 2007). We cannot believe that five years are about to pass! Praise God for His loving care to us and for the saints who support us through CMS and Moore College. Please pray that we may be able to balance the excitement we feel because we’ll be involved in what God is doing in

Chile

with the deep sadness that the idea of saying good bye to so many good friends provokes in us.

Please pray for Chile, for the new budget of the nation for 2007. It is the biggest in our history because of the big money the government has decided to invest in assisting the poor. Please pray that many needy people may benefit of this. Pray that God may keep having mercy on the Chileans and many more may turn to Christ who is the only one who can satisfy their hunger and thirst.

Much love,
Pato, Dagmar, Rocio and Estela

2006-10-16T03:08:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for lovely Dagmar! She turned 30 years old on Saturday. I know it is very hard to believe, but it is true … she is 30!

Praise God for all the love and support we keep receiving from so many people. We see it in so many ways! For example, we could clearly see it in the speeches at Dagmar’s birthday and also in the 107 visitors we had last week, i.e. 15 per day! (not to our place in Newtown, but to our blog).

Dagmar will spend half a day at Tricillium (a specialized breast feeding/baby sleeping helping centre) this coming Monday (23rd Octiber). Please pray this may be useful for us to get Estela sleeping through the night and to solve some breast feeding issues. We praise God that a couple of week a go the girls began to share a room! They are such a blessing to us!

Please pray for Felipe and Betty, CEP (Centro de Estudios Pastorales, the Chilean Anglican Bible College where Pato will be lecturing) students who are struggling to study due to serious illness.

Much love,
Dagmar, Rocio, Estela & Pato

2006-10-08T22:53:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for the growth He is giving to the Anglican Church in Chile. The picture above shows a confirmation service that took place last August. Please pray that this growth may be deep and well rooted in God's grace as clearly explained in the Bible.

Estela is sleeping much better and the girls have began to share one room! Please pray for this to continue going well and for her to be healed of the persistent cold that she is suffering.

Much love,
Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

2006-10-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for Pato's weekend in Darwin! He had the privilege of being the speaker at the CMS annual dinner. He also preached in two different Anglican churches. It was a very full on weekend, but very rewarding. In His mercy, God encouraged His people in Darwin through Pato's ministry to them. They were very welcoming and did every effort to make Pato feel at home

Praise God for His generous provision of two lovely friends to stay with Dagmar over the weekend while Pato was in Darwin. Time after time we are able to see God's love clearly expressed through His people.

Please pray for Pato's college work because he feels he is behind. Please pray that this week that he will be sitting the Biblical Theology intensive course (Wed - Fr), he may grow in his understanding of our beautiful God.

Please keep praying for little Estela, that she may learn how to sleep during the night ... so we may sleep during the night!

Praise God for the encouraging sermon that Pato could preach at Moore College chapel. Please pray that our Lord may compel many more Moore College graduates to serve Him all around the world.

Much love,

Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

2006-09-24T18:15:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for the people He has provided for us here in

Australia

! We are just under five months of our return to

Chile

. The most we think about it, the most exciting it gets ... but, at the same time, it is very sad. It is hard to face the fact that we'll have to say good bye to so many good friends. Please pray that we keep trusting in God's goodness and being reminded of the great opportunities for the extension of His kingdom that he has given to the Chilean church.

Moore College is having its annual overseas mission week during this week. Pato has been invited to preach tomorrow, Tuesday 26th September, at Moore College chapel. Please pray that God's Spirit may lead Pato's words and that many may be encourage to share in God's heart for the nations. Please pray that God may use the many activities that are happening this week for His honor and glory.

Estela is still struggling with a cold and she has not been able to learn how to sleep during the night. Please pray for healing for her and for strengh for the very tired parents.

Please pray for Pato as he travels to Darwin. He will be speaking at the CMS annual dinner on Saturday and in two churches on Sunday. Pray for the girls who will spend the weekend without Pato. Praise God for Vicky, a good friend from St. Luke's, who will stay over the weekend to help Dagmar with the girls.

2006-09-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Pato & Dagmar featuring in the
CMS “Looking for the perfect gift?” brochure
You may want to consider to give a gift that , under God,
may have an eternal impact.
There is a bunch of good ministries worth of support .
For downloading this brochure in pdf format
(which you may print out), go to www.cms.org.au

"Weekly" Prayer Points

2006-09-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for His care! We had a rough time the last two week with Rocío suffering of a bad cold, Estela with some kind of breathing infection (we even had to pay a visit to Urgency at RPA Hospital) and Dagmar getting her 5th mastitis (She has broken her previous record, i.e. 4 mastitis with Rocío). But in all this we could see God’s loving hand through many of His saints who rang us, visit us, dropped meals, etc. Praise God everyone is quite healthy now.
18th September is a great party in Chile because it is the Day of the Independence. Almost 200 years ago Chile declared itself free from the Spanish colonial authority. Please pray that the Chileans may get to know true freedom and liberty in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Praise God that Dagmar and Estela could go to the Katoomba Women’s Convention last weekend. Dagmar could enjoy of a great time of fellowship with friends and refreshment in the Word. Pato and Rocío survived quite well and even had fun together. Rocio took good care of her daddy.
Praise God for the South America SUS group (SUSsing out ministry opportunities to get involved by going or staying and supporting from here). We had the privilege of having Martin & Julie Field with us sharing about Argentina (they are new CMS missios heading overseas after Summer School).

Much love,
Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

2006-09-04T20:08:00.000-07:00

CMS’ Checkpoint Magazine:

“Training for Ministry”

(featuring an interview with Dagmar & Pato)

You may click on the image to see it bigger enough to be able to read

2006-09-03T19:29:00.000-07:00

"Weekly" Prayer Points

Dear amigos,

Praise God for the very first CEP mission (Centro de Estudios Pastorales, the Chilean Anglican Centre for Pastoral Studies). The students went to support the work of one of the CEP graduates who is the minister of a church in the city of Viña del Mar (112 km north-west of Santiago). Please pray that every person who heard the call to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ may carefully consider this great news. Please pray that the brethren may be faithful in the long run follow up work.
We have had a kind of rough week because Rocio got a bad cold and it seems that, as a good sister, she passed it on to Estela. Now Dagmar is not feeling that well! Please pray for God’s healing for the girls and for wisdom and patience for the parents.

Praise God for Pato having had the privilege of sharing with the saints of Fairy Meadow Anglican Church. Pray that, by His mercy, they may fulfil their great motto, “We Exist to Know, Serve & Proclaim Jesus CHRIST AS LORD” … which is written over the whole world. Please pray that our Heavenly Father may keep challenging His people over there to continue reaching their community and the whole world with the good news of Jesus.

Much love,

Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

"Weekly" Prayer Points

2006-08-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for the good first semester results Pato received of the MA courses. We acknowledge all the glory belongs to God. We are very thankful for the great courses he did (‘The Book of Hebrews’, ‘The Christocentric Theology of Thomas Cranmer’ and ‘Science and Christianity). Three down, three more to go this semester! (‘Justification by Faith Today’, ‘The Book of Revelation and Contemporary Ministry’ and ‘ Current Issues in Biblical Theology’).

Praise God we have survived quite well to Ximena’s (Dagmar’s mum) departure. Pato does not get as much college work done as when helpful Ximena was around, but the important thing is that Dagmar and the girls are well. Please keep praying we may be goodly parents. Please pray for Dagmar during this week that Pato will be very busy in an intensive course … so Dagmar will be very busy taking care of the girls.

Thanks to our Heavenly Father, Pato was asked to speak at the Moore College Open Day on considering overseas mission. Please pray God may keep raising people from Sydney to go to be a blessing in other lands.

Please pray for our visit to Fairy Meadows Anglican church this coming Sunday, ask God to use us as an encouragement for his saints to keep and increase their support to CMS’s efforts to reach the lost and build God’s church up all around the world.

Much love,
Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

"Weekly" Prayer Points (21 August)

2006-08-21T00:11:00.000-07:00

Enjoying a day off with our two treasures (August 2006)

Synod of the Anglican Church of Chile (it takes place every 3 years)

Dear amigos,

Praise God for having had Ximena (Dagmar’s mum) with us for two months. She is such a godly and loving lady! Please pray that God may take her safely back to her husband (she living tomorrow, Tuesday 22nd August) and that the Lord may sustain her and Dagmar through the grieving process of having to be separated again.

Praise God for the way he allowed Pato to encourage the saints at St. Luke’s Miranda Global Mission Prayer Breakfast (even though it was at 8 am!!). We praise God for their continuos and loving support during these years in Australia and for their decision of having us as their link missionaries in Chile.

Praise God for the good outcome of the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Chile (IACH). Please keep praying that God may continue using his church in Chile for his honour and glory.

Praise our Heavenly Father for our recent visit (last Sunday) to St. Stephen’s – Willoughby. We shared in their three services about the work of CMS in Chile and Pato preached the Word hoping that the Spirit may compel the saints to keep supporting the efforts to reach the nations with the good news of Jesus. We praise God for the warm and loving welcome that we have received in St. Stephen’s every time we visit them. We praise God for their support through CMS and because they have invited us every single year we have been in Australia.

Much love,
Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

THE CHILEAN CONNECTION (Pato's article published in Moore Matters)

2006-08-08T16:51:00.000-07:00

MOORE COLLEGE AND ITS CHILEAN CONEXTION

What does a country that has to play against Brazil and Argentina to get into the Soccer World Cup have in common with one that has to play Tonga and the Solomon Islands? How could a country where wedding receptions finish at 5.30 am (because of the dancing) be linked to a country where there are church services at 7.30 am!!!? Why would Australian Christian interest in a country where Christians are normally very legalistic and it is really hard to find a upper-middle class Christian?

We mention these differences to illustrate that we are talking about two different and distant countries: Australia and Chile. At the end of the day, however, what really matters is that these two countries have something in common that easily overshadows the many differences. In both of them, God has decided to call people to His service.

Continued from page 6

The Church of England in Chile began in the mid 19th century with chaplaincies for English speakers. In the 1890s missionaries from the UK began to preach the gospel in the south of Chile among the Mapuche Indians. Finally, in the 1960s both branches blended to form the Iglesia Anglicana de Chile (IACH) or, if you prefer, the Anglican Church of Chile. The IACH began to reach the urban Chilean population and, by God's mercy, nowadays the IACH is a growing and enthusiastic church with about 100 congregations. Nevertheless, she is quite fragile due to the lack of trained leaders: only a few among the 40 clergy have had the opportunty to be trained full time, and only two of them have a training equivalent to a typical Sydney Anglican minister. Her fragility is also seen her lack of resources, arising from the fact that half of the congregations are among the indigenous people and most of the urban congregations are among ihe poor.

However, our God is not short of resources at all and, in His wisdom, He has decided to help to equip His church in Chile by means of His Sydney saints. In doings so, Moore Theological College in partnership with CMS have been vital. Chile, and now many other countries in Latin-American, has been abundantly blessed by the PTC courses (Moore College’s correspondence program) which were translated to the Spanish by Moore College graduate and a missionary to Chile for 20 years, Grahame Scarratt. The PTC impact was such that when the IACH, under the leadership of Bishop Tito Zavala, began to plan for setting up a Bible College, to look towards Sydney was quite natural.

Now, what do you need for setting up a Bible College? Fist let us begin with the easiest part: you need a name: Cento de Estudios Pastorates (CEP) or Centre for Pastoral Studies. Secondly, you need a soundly trained faculty, in this area Moore College has been crucial by offering scholarships for Cesar Guzman, the actual CEP principal (B. Th. and M. A. (Theology)) and for Pato Oyarzún (BD and currently completing the M. A. (Theology)). The rest of the faculty are CMS missionaries who are Moore College graduates (Mke Charles, Tim Swan and, in a short time, Stephen Shead). Thirdly, you need students. There are many keen godly people who would love to be trained for Christian ministry, but there are no financial resources for them to do so (The Chilean welfare system does not provide for people studying in a Bible college, the IACH doesn't have resources, the wages aren't high so it is really hard to save, etc.). Many of the 15 or so current full time students are able to study thanks to scholarships from Sydney. The part time students support themselves. Finally, you need suitable premises, which God has provided through Australian support.

We praise God for his loving care through His saints in Sydney, we praise God for the essential role that Moore College has played, is playing and, we hope, will keep on playing in the extension of the kingdom of God h Chile and in the 300 million strong world of Spanish speakers. It is our prayer that God will persuade more Moore College graduates to leave beautiful Sydney, their extended family, their language, their culture, their cricket, the strong Sydney dioceses and the general comfort of the Australian way of living behind. Why someone would do so? Why leave Australia when it seems people from all over the world just want to emigrate to Australia? Well, there are several Australians living in Chile because of well paid mining jobs and the adventure of living in a beautiful part of the word. But there is a much better reason to live in Chile: To do so for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Those who choose to leave, and those in Australia who support them, will have the amazing privilege of being involved in preaching the gospel where it has never being preached before and in teaching the whole counsel of God to many Christians who are trapped in legalism. Five years ago our bishop asked CMS to send people to help us plant churches among the most unreached group, the upper-middle class, and to work among the 400,000 Chilean university students. The IACH is eager to receive Australian missionaries; CMS is eager to send people to Chile; Moore College is eager to train them ... there is only one detail missing: people eager to leave Australia behind and embrace the opportunities God is creating in Chile and in all Latin America, We know the God in whom we have believed. We will keep prayerfully waiting upon Him.

'Weekly' Prayer Points

2006-08-07T03:06:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for the day Pato was able to share with the saints at St. Mark's Anglican Church Harbord. Isn’t amazing how God allow us to be part of accomplishing His purposes? Pato could preach the Word clearly and encourage the three congregations to support the extension of the kingdom of God through CMS ministry.

Please pray for the General Synod of the Anglican Church of Chile (IACH) taking place this coming weekend. Please pray that God’s Spirit may lead the IACH to take godly decisions to fulfil the IACH Mission Statement:

to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

to build up the Body of Christ,

and to serve others.

In doing these things our desire is to glorify God while we await Christ’s Second Coming

This coming Saturday (at 8 am!!), Pato will be speaking at the St. Luke’s Miranda Global Mission Prayer Breakfast. Please pray that Pato may share in a clear way the great importance of St. Luke’s past, present and future support of overseas mission.

Much love,
Dagmar, Rocío, Estela & Pato

2006-07-31T05:18:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Praise God for a great visit to St Andrew's, Strathfield. By God's grace, we were able to encourage the brethren by sharing what God is doing in Chile and by challenging them to get involved in supporting the work of CMS all around the world. We were so warmly welcomed!

August is here! Can't believe it! That means we have a little bit over 6 months to go before returning to Chile (we hope to depart the second or third week of February). Please pray for our grieving/happy/sad/excited hearts and for the issue of raising support.

This Sunday, we will be visiting St. Mark's Anglican Church Harbord. Please pray that Pato may preach the Word clearly and that he may be used by God's Spirit to encourage the saints over there (three services). Please pray for Dagmar and the girls because, though it is a great joy to serve, it is tiring for them.

Please note that we DO NOT have a land line (9517 1734 is not valid), just our mobiles. Please feel free to ring us and ask us (we may forget to offer it) to ring you back because we have a good deal to speak to any land line in Australia ( up to 10 minutes for 24 cents).

Much love,

2006-07-28T18:44:00.000-07:00

Taken at a coffe shop in Cronulla in July 2006.
Rocío is 20 months old and Estela 10 weeks.

2006-07-28T18:37:00.000-07:00

Dear amigos,

Ministry:

Praise God for St. Luke's Miranda, every Sunday we go they are a blessing to us! Pato just spent a couple of great days in staff retreat. We give thanks to God for so many godly examples we can learn from!

Praise God we had a great meeting of the South America SUS group last Saturday. Around 25 people keen to support in prayer, and some of them eventually going, got together to hear to Grahame & Patty Scarratt and Stephen and Rebecca Shead.
This Sunday, we will be visiting St Andrew's Strathfield. Please pray that Pato may preach the Word clearly and that he may be used by God's Spirit to encourage the saints over there (three services).

Much love,

Pato

2006-07-13T20:09:00.000-07:00

This is cute Rocío playing at a park in Concón (Viña del Mar, Chile). January 2007

2006-07-13T20:04:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favorite pictures. It was taken in November 2005 when Rocío was 1 year old.

2006-07-13T19:53:00.000-07:00