Wrapping up 2020

As we wrap up 2020 we are so extremely grateful to God for all of His blessings, many of which have come through our family, friends, and supporters. It has been a challenging year in many respects, but also a year of growth. Our heartfelt thanks to each of you for helping to make our mission possible and for going above and beyond to make sure that we are comfortable and have what we need. As I write this, just before Christmas, I am reminded, of course, of the generous birth of our Lord and Savior. He left some of His divine privileges to take on human nature and live among us. We know that His purpose in being born was to prepare a body that could be sacrificed on the cross, to be the atonement for our sins. That message was present from before His birth as the angel told Joseph that the baby to be called Jesus and known as Immanuel would save the people from their sins. This season is a time to reflect on the gifts God has given us, and primary among them, the salvation offered exclusively through Jesus Christ to all who would receive Him. We see God’s generosity to us in this reflected in your generosity toward our family and the mission here.


It will come as no surprise that 2020 has been a very different year from what was planned. At the beginning of the year I was excited to be working on a seminary project and brainstorming how to adapt to the new political situation in Chile. Covid restrictions have pretty well ended that endeavor for the time being. Class participation has shrunk. I still have two small groups active, but continuing will require major adaptation. That said, part of the adaptation is already in place. I started offering stand-alone classes with lower, shorter-term commitment and received much interest. Moving the classes to an online format has also allowed people from around Chile to be part of the classes, people too far away to be physically present. So, while my plans look little like what I was aiming for a year ago, the classes are progressing, and people are learning.


Our church group has gone through the same thing. We have been online since March as government restrictions prohibit gatherings of any kind (sometimes totally, sometimes just on the weekend). We moved into a more relaxed phase and were able to meet in person for two weeks, and then all of Santiago went back into the weekend lockdowns. So, our church services have moved online, through Facebook and Zoom. We have, in addition to Sunday services, two weekday Bible studies (one of which I teach) and a weekly prayer meeting. The church has seen some baptisms as a result of the online services, once again in areas we would not have reached otherwise. We have seen people coming to the Lord and growing in spite of the obstacles. Of course, there are challenges too as people feel isolated, struggle with economic and health fears, and don’t get the fellowship time that I think we all need.


Tabi has been striving hard to make progress on her translations while also practically homeschooling Lydia and taking care of a rambunctious toddler. Lydia is enrolled in a school, but the schooling has consisted in the teachers sending text messages with some assignments each week – not enough to challenge or teach Lydia, or really follow up on her progress. So, we have had to do that, but also supplement to make sure that she continues growing. Caleb is enrolled to start preschool next March but has some stuff we need to work on to get him ready for that. Still, somehow Tabi manages to get that done and work on her translation and is done with the first section of a Romans commentary she is working on with LATM.


With the uncertainty generated by Covid and the accompanying restrictions, Chile’s November vote to repeal its constitution (the new one is supposed to be written in 2021 and 2022) and continued social and political unrest (as the US embassy phrases it) it is hard to know how to approach plans for 2021. The plans we do have are for Tabi to finish her part of the Romans commentary, to figure out the kids’ schooling situation, to continue working in the church and continue with the stand-alone classes I have been doing online. I plan to rent an office space in January to try to increase productivity since working from home is difficult. We also need to figure out our furlough schedule (navigating quarantines, limited flights, and churches that aren’t doing physical meetings) and if/when furlough will be worthwhile. We appreciate your prayers for these situations and for wisdom as we look forward to working together in the Lord’s field in 2021.

August 2020 Newsletter

2020 has been, without a doubt, the year of the unexpected. I’m sure you’ve seen the lists compiled and circulated on Facebook. It isn’t all bad news, for Chile. This year Santiago has had record rainfalls, which they desperately needed after a 13-year drought. Whether it’s the end of the drought or just a respite is anyone’s guess, but it was certainly a small good thing amidst so much change.

A global pandemic has changed the face of church and missions everywhere. Missionaries and ministers have struggled to decide what the “right” decision is, regarding church meetings and the continuation of ministries. Given that Chile eventually settled on putting all of their largest cities in complete lockdown, our church opted for switching completely online. We have more about this in the newsletter.

Although our missions changed in many ways, we are still doing everything we can to continue in our service to the global Church, and we want to let you know what that looks like now.

Mike’s Ministries

Mike’s primary goal has always been to teach and train leaders in Chile. Several years ago, with the help of several local ministers, he managed to get an institute started. The format has changed several times throughout these years, but the heart of it remains the same– to teach doctrine to those who wish to learn. The latest change in this series of changes, of course, was a transition to fully online classes through Zoom. Due to the constant need for Zoom meetings, both for Mike’s classes and for church use, we decided to pay for a subscription, so that we could get the best use out of it that we can. He is currently teaching three of his Institute classes.

Given the possibility of an expanded platform, however, he decided to offer an additional class, to anyone, anywhere. His first class had about 45 computers connected. We speak of computers, rather than students, because some of the accounts connected had more than one person sitting and listening from there. As is common in classes, eventually this number went down to 25 computers, but it has been holding steady there, and that is encouraging.

His students are mostly in the Santiago area, but also hail from other parts of Chile. Overall, it has been a good experience.

Mike also recently began a channel on YouTube, where he posts videos with teaching, as well as some of his sermons and classes. Feel free to visit and follow. Click on the following link to visit: Dosis de Doctrina

Tabi’s Ministries

In order to focus on translating the Commentary on Romans, regular translation and uploads of articles to Preguntas Teológicas has been suspended. In order to keep that page going for the time being, Tabi welcomes two things:

  • Translators willing to pick up a couple of short projects, and translate some articles to be published on the website.
  • Submissions of articles, especially in Spanish, for publishing on the website.

She will review all the work for a approval, but doesn’t have time for much more.

Progress on the book has been slow, but steady. She spends two hours a day translating, so that she can keep going on.

Iglesia de Cristo Maipo

Since the quarantine in our area has yet to be lifted, our church continues to meet online. They had been streaming exclusively on Facebook, but starting in August, they transitioned to doing part of it on Zoom, in order to provide more of a sense of community.

You can view the videos by visiting the page: Iglesia de Cristo Maipo.

The service is comprised of some pre-recorded material, edited to fit the format of the video, and some live material, streamed live on Sunday morning. Mike preaches two Sundays, and Jaime preaches two Sundays. In July, we had guests speakers send in sermons for a month focused on missions. We have done our best to maintain excellence, as well as encourage a sense of community. Through it all, though, we yearn for the day we can meet again, and see each other face-to-face.

We also have two Bible studies a week (different groups), as well as a prayer meeting.

Respite

Chile currently has enacted the longest quarantine during this pandemic. As of the 8th of August, it was 142 days long, with no clear end in sight. There is a plan, with stages, but no timeline for when they were going to actually go through with it.

We had a little bit of money saved up “for a rainy day”, and we finally decided that this was our rainy day. So on July 2nd, Tabi and the children traveled up to the United States to stay there for a month. The goal was to give the children a little bit of breathing room, as our house has restricted space, and they weren’t allowed to go out, even to a park or for a walk. The month spent there was a time of rest and blessing. We are deeply grateful to have had this opportunity.

We returned to Chile on July 31st, and have been in a strict, 14-day quarantine, with which we have complied.

What now?

So what do we do now? We still don’t know when quarantine will be lifted in our area, or if we will go back into lockdown if things don’t go well. What do we do with our ministries? The church? Our family?

We hold steady.

Mike will continue to give his classes online, as he has been doing. He has considered offering another massive class, once his current extra one has finished. It has had a good reception, and is reaching people he had not been able to reach before. He hopes, once the quarantine is lifted, to engage in “transitional classes” of sorts, that will occur in person but also be transmitted online for a time.

Iglesia de Cristo Maipo will continue to meet online, partly through Facebook and partly through Zoom. The Bible studies and prayer meetings will continue to meet online as well. When the quarantine is lifted, the possibility of having small reunions will be considered, but we try to comply with government and health standards as much as we are able. We are considering maintaining a presence online, at least for a while, until the transition has been made fully back to in-person gatherings.

Tabi’s translation will continue as it has, with two hours of dedicated time a day. She will also be focusing on schooling Lydia with the material provided by her school. For the time being, schools are not reopening, and we do not know when they will do that, so homeschooling is our option now. Tabi is using the materials provided by the school, as well as other various materials in English, in order to bolster that side of her education.

  • Pray for Chile and its leaders as they decide how and when to enact their plan for reopening.
  • Pray for those in lockdown who are in need of basic goods and services, and unable to work.
  • Pray for our church and its leaders as they decide best how and when to transition back to in-person gatherings.
  • Pray for Mike’s classes, as he finds ways to incorporate in-person classes, along with availability online.

Newsletter: August and September 2018

A newsletter that isn’t six months late?  WHAT?  Is there something wrong with me?  Shh.  Just enjoy it while it’s happening.

Regarding Furlough

Before we go any further, we’d like to let you all know that, thanks to some generous donations from friends and family, we will be able to make our furlough trip this year.  If you are a church that supports us, please check your email for a message from us.  We’d like to visit you this furlough!

Ok, moving on . . .

Regarding Ministries

Tabi

IMG_20180817_181713August and September have been pretty great months!  The kids are transitioning into new, interesting stages.  They’re learning so much, and I love seeing how they grow!  As I have mentioned in previous letters/entries, we decided, as a family, to invest in year passes to our local zoo.  It’s educational for Lydia, and great for a day trip.  Lydia isn’t homeschooling yet, but I take every opportunity when we’re out to teach her something new.

There’s a section at the zoo that has to do with dinosaurs and archaeology.  Lydia really likes to “discover” the dinosaur buried in the sand.  We had quite a few really nice days, and it was good to get out of the house and let the kids play.

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I finished up the Discipleship class with Malli, and now we’re working on Basic Bible Doctrine and Hermeneutics.  Honestly, it’s been a real blessing, because the way she applies the knowledge I give her is just amazing.  I may have the book information, but she has the experience to apply it in ways that are wise.  I teach, but I also learn.

Women’s Fellowship

On September 8th, I participated in a Women’s Fellowship event.  I preached one of the sermons for the day.  I talked about attitudes that kill the spirit, and practical steps to address them.  The sermon was called “Emotional Cancers”.  It was a good day, and I made a lot of connections.

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Whenever we’re home all day, I keep up with websites and blogs.  At the moment, I manage a website, five blogs (and do occasional write-ins at another), the Facebook and Twitter pages for each of those blogs, and I write the newsletters.  It takes a lot of time, but I enjoy doing what I do.  See the bottom of this newsletter for links, if you’re interested in knowing what websites and blogs these are.

Mike

IMG-20180716-WA0022Mike has been teaching two short classes at two churches– Montijo (teaching Hermenutics) and Pudahuel (teaching Basic Bible Doctrine).  The Institute is currently on break, and will resume classes when we return from furlough.

He has also continued participating in meetings for ministers.  They formed the first group several years ago, seeking to encourage unity, spiritual growth, and mutual encouragement.  They’ve had their ups and downs, but have continued to meet regularly to study the Word and encourage each other.

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Church/Bible Study

Iglesia de Cristo 1The church has been doing well.  Most of the member attend faithfully every Sunday. The Wednesday night Bible study has begun streaming video, so that members who can’t make it then, can still listen in from their homes.  It includes a chat room where they can add comments if they have any.

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Events
Minister’s Retreat

We attended a retreat for ministers and their wives.  There were services, workshops, a day trip to see the surrounding area, and a concert in the evening.  Overall, a nice experience.

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And that’s what we were up to in August!  Thanks for reading this, and we hope to see you soon.  Many blessings!

Mike and Tabi Boyce

 

 

Cornerstone Chilean Mission Website, Blog, Facebook
Preguntas Teológicas Website, Facebook, Twitter
El Discípulo Cristiano Website, Facebook
Dosis de Doctrina Website, Facebook
Tabicat Blog Website, Facebook

Hit the Ground Running

After our return from the US, we hit the ground running, in terms of ministry.  For this blog, we’d like to share with you a little of what’s going on through a video.  If you can’t see the video, there’s a brief summary below it.  We recommend seeing the video, though, because it includes details not present in the bullet points.

This place is called “Quebrada de Macul”. 

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  • Mike’s dad passed away and we took a two-week trip to the USA.
  • Our average week is as follows:
    • Sunday– church (Mike preaches two weeks, rests two weeks)
    • Monday– Second year students of the Institute have classes
    • Tuesday– First year students have two of their four classes
    • Wednesday– Bible study in our neighborhood
    • Thursday– First year students have two of their four classes
    • Friday– Bible study every other week
    • Saturdays– our day to rest
  • Mike is part of a group of ministers that focuses on encouragement, edification, and unity.
  • Mike does occasional guests preaching at other churches, or speaks at events.
  • The church we attended for 8 years was unable to continue and closed its doors.
  • BUT a new church has started up in our neighborhood.  This church, so far, is doing well.  We ask for continued prayers for it.
  • Tabi tends to the digital side of our mission.  She also leads songs sometimes at the new church.

And for those of you who would like to watch the video with further updates, please click on the following link to view the video.  What changes are coming up in our ministry?

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We ask for continued prayers for the Institute and the new church, as well as Tabi’s blogs.  We thank you for your support and pray God’s blessings for you always.

In Him,
Mike and Tabi Boyce