Below is an email that I received recently from Pastor Santiago Castro from Pucón, Chile. I first met Santiago in 2007 when I went to Chile to train leaders. He was the pastor of a church plant in Iquique in northern Chile where I was leading one of the trainings. Afterwards, he started several Person of Jesus groups in Iquique. Though he moved to southern Chile in 2010, one of those groups in Iquique continues today.
I returned to Chile twice in 2010. We had kept in contact over the three years through email and Skype. During the January trip I met Santiago's wife Ruth and talked about their future. They were moving to Temuco in southern Chile where Santiago would be the chaplain in several rural schools. While planning for the trip in June, I invited him to help me train leaders in the Alliance seminary in Temuco and in a church in Villarrica, not far from Pucón. On the June trip, Santiago took me to one of the schools where I shared with the children about Jesus. He joined me in the evenings at the Person of Jesus training both at the seminary in Temuco and the church in Villarrica. He taught several several lessons during the trainings, helping me prepare others to lead Person of Jesus groups. Through his encouragement, I was able to teach for the first time in Spanish without having to use a translator.
Today the church in Villarrica has 18 Person of Jesus groups. And, Santiago lives about twenty minutes down the road in Pucón. Here is his report about his Person of Jesus group that meet in Santiago and Ruth's home:
Report of study group in Pucón, Chile.
Pucón is a resort town in southern Chile, located between a lake and a volcano.
Church: Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Group Leader: Santiago Castro Leguizamón.
Purpose: Evangelism and Discipleship.
How is our Person of Jesus group doing?
We regularly meet at our house every Thursday for about 90 minutes. While drinking coffee, we move forward in the study, each one with a Bible, with the expectation that God will speak to us.
Today, for example, two people attended for the first time. One is a believer in Christ but has little relationship with other believers. The other, however, has no Christian background. At the end of the lesson, I asked the group how God spoke to them that today. All gave significant responses, but the one that struck me the most was the non-believer’s response. He said he would have liked to be with Jesus. He understood the need to repent and be forgiven. Also, he asked what are the sins (if there is a list), and how you can confess to be forgiven and have peace, like the woman who anointed Jesus' feet (Luke 7:36-50). Finally he asked if there was a place in Pucón that sold Bibles. He left the study with a new Bible that he received as a gift from someone who was there that night!
Castro Santiago Leguizamon
Group Leader.
I returned to Chile twice in 2010. We had kept in contact over the three years through email and Skype. During the January trip I met Santiago's wife Ruth and talked about their future. They were moving to Temuco in southern Chile where Santiago would be the chaplain in several rural schools. While planning for the trip in June, I invited him to help me train leaders in the Alliance seminary in Temuco and in a church in Villarrica, not far from Pucón. On the June trip, Santiago took me to one of the schools where I shared with the children about Jesus. He joined me in the evenings at the Person of Jesus training both at the seminary in Temuco and the church in Villarrica. He taught several several lessons during the trainings, helping me prepare others to lead Person of Jesus groups. Through his encouragement, I was able to teach for the first time in Spanish without having to use a translator.
Today the church in Villarrica has 18 Person of Jesus groups. And, Santiago lives about twenty minutes down the road in Pucón. Here is his report about his Person of Jesus group that meet in Santiago and Ruth's home:
Report of study group in Pucón, Chile.
Pucón is a resort town in southern Chile, located between a lake and a volcano.
Church: Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Group Leader: Santiago Castro Leguizamón.
Purpose: Evangelism and Discipleship.
How is our Person of Jesus group doing?
We regularly meet at our house every Thursday for about 90 minutes. While drinking coffee, we move forward in the study, each one with a Bible, with the expectation that God will speak to us.
Today, for example, two people attended for the first time. One is a believer in Christ but has little relationship with other believers. The other, however, has no Christian background. At the end of the lesson, I asked the group how God spoke to them that today. All gave significant responses, but the one that struck me the most was the non-believer’s response. He said he would have liked to be with Jesus. He understood the need to repent and be forgiven. Also, he asked what are the sins (if there is a list), and how you can confess to be forgiven and have peace, like the woman who anointed Jesus' feet (Luke 7:36-50). Finally he asked if there was a place in Pucón that sold Bibles. He left the study with a new Bible that he received as a gift from someone who was there that night!
Castro Santiago Leguizamon
Group Leader.
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| Santiago learning to lead a Person of Jesus group at the training in Iquique 2007 |
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| Santago and Ruth with Richard in January 2010 |
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| Chaplain Santiago with students in June 2010 |
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| Santiago training leaders at the seminary in Temuco June 2010 |
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| Santiago training leaders in the church in Villarrica June 2010 |
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| Pucón, Chile at the lake with volcano |
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| Santiago and Ruth with Person of Jesus group meeting in their home in Pucón August 2011 |
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