Okay! so I figured it was about time to write another blog for you guys, about the last few weeks.

About 2 weeks ago I received some quite difficult news regarding my mums health. This year has really had its difficult times, but I think this was the hardest thing to hear about because it made me feel so far away. But oh my goodness, how God held me close. The weekend after we left we were able to visit a beautiful part of the south of Chile called Pucon. It was kind of our holiday seeing as we were not able to do what we had really planned due to the earthquake. The timing was perfect. It was the most beautiful place I have ever seen and I couldnt help and stop and look at the big mountains, the volcano, the still lakes and see how God is so so so loving, and he is so in control of it all. One particular day we went to a lake, and had an hour or so by ourselves to spend time with God. I was just wondering around listening to some worship music and climbing over some rocks, and asking God questions about what was happening, and how I could deal with this thing that seemed so huge. One song really stuck out to me the lyrics go like this

Its the sweetest thing, to trust you, just to know youve got everything under control

you are making me a mountain, making me a mountain that cannot be shaken.

high up on a rock looking out at the horizon,

watching a storm roll in wondering if my heart will survive it

and as the waves crash all around me

and i cant remember what it feels like to be free

i know youre making me a mountain

making me a mountain, that cannot be moved

you say, i've got you my baby, oh i've got you

its quite the mess you're in but it's nothing love can't fix

so sit here, upon my shoulders

and watch as it all unwinds

When I was singing to God next to this lake, I just knew that he had taken the worry from me. There is no good in worrying, I asked God to be in control of the situation, and I trust that he is. I trust that there is nothing that will happen that he does not permit. God is so so loving, and I know that whatever happens it will be out of an incredible love for us, and for my beautiful mum. I learnt many things through the time of the earthquake, which now are all just ringing true in this time. I learnt how God is firm, God is dependable, and yeah in this time God has completly been my rock. When I felt scared, he strengthened me, when I felt lonely, he sent the right people, when I felt angry, he was there to hear my thoughts. He is there. He is so here. I have no idea how people find the strength to go through these things without the hope that I have found.

So yeah, due to finding out this information, it also had a knock on effect. I will not be going to Ecuador as I was planning to do. I will be coming to work for OM in Birmingham, so that I may be closer to my mum. But it works well as a comprimise because I didn't want to be so far away from my family in this time, but also i didn't want to just finish my programme so early. I really felt there was more for me to do. So this opportunity in Birmingham is just perfect. Its just kind of a bit weird for it all to change so suddenly, and with only 4 weeks left here in Chile! I will have to deal with things 3 months earlier than I was expecting to. but I am excited non the less, so so excited. It is a shame not to see the beautiful country of Ecuador, but I will have pleanty of time to see beautiful things, my family is a lot more important to me than ticking off another country on my list!

But yeah with all these things going on, time is just slipping away you know! I am staying with a friend from tonight to Monday afternoon as part of our cultural experience thing, and then next Tuesday we are going away as the whole of OM Chile for a retreat where we will receive training about how to help people in times of crisis. Specificaly the earthquake, we will also get debreifing about all that and receive some counselling ourselves for those who still feel effected by all that happened. Which is very good of OM to do that. But yeah... then after that week we have about 1 more normal week, and then for the last couple of weeks it is all saying goodbye, doing special things with our minstries and wrapping things up! I am so glad that I have been here in Chile, God has taught me so much more than I could ever have imagined. He has been faithful and taking me through experiences that bring me closer to him. He has given me dreams for the future, and a new excitement for my life. It will be sad to leave, but I also feel it is the time, I feel God has many more things planned for me, and I am excited to put the things I have learnt into practice.

God has just taught me again and again this year, how he is God, and how I am not. How I will be so much stronger if I place all I have in his hands. He takes good care of it. I can trust him.

How this means me knows me, I do not have to pretend to be something else to get his attention, or his approval.

"Praise the LORD oh my soul, and let all that's within me praise his name. For I will not die I will live, and I will tell of the works of the LORD, I will sing of his wonders. I will not die I will live, for he's a great God. I get to love you through whatever comes, what a privilidge it is. Oh how sweet it is, that I get to love you through whatever comes. Nothing is going to take your praise out my mouth, as long as I shall live. Nothings going to take your praise out of my mouth as long as I shall live."

- Kristene Mueller, Praise the LORD

Please pray for the last few weeks left here in Chile, that the whole team will be able to finish well, and that we will say goodbye properly, which will be difficult especially with the Hogar. Pray that in the next steps God will continue to guide me, and will prepare me for Birmingham

Have an amazing few weeks.

Sending loads of hugs from Chile, Emma xx

Hey, hope you all had a great Easter and beginning of the month! I can't believe we are already half way through April. In about 7 weeks we will be leaving Chile! Craziness.

I have to kind of write this blog backwards because I'm just so excited to share what happened today. We have been planning as a group to visit Plaza de Armas (a square in the center) and so an out reach there for ages and ages, but each time we dont get permission, or we cant do it for some reason or another, but today we just decided we would go and pray that the police didnt mind! It was such an amazing time. We split into three groups mainly, there were two guys doing a mime pose, and next to them were questions, things like 'where is God in this?' for example when the mime showed suffering or pain. There were also people around the mimes and when others came to stop and look at what was going on they would start conversations with them about what they thought and their view on God. I heard there were some amazing conversations with Chileans, and I am so excited about that, from what i heard people were really interested in sharing their opinions. There were also some girls doing face painting for free for children, and the idea was that they talked with the parents and things whilst we had them trapped! This also went so so well, the girls barely got a rest for the three hours we were there! And then Jona and I were clowns and went around handing out sweets and tracks and invitations to our churches. The idea was that we would give them to children, but there was not so many children, and the ones that were there really were quite scared of us.. but the adults liked us the best. We had great fun playing with random people, and were both amazed at how easily people open up to clowns! Many people were very happy to recieve from us and felt very blessed, and they said that to see the joy we have was really great! God is so good. He really put exactly the right people in our way. There are so many stories I could share, but one man in particular I really want you to pray for, so I will share about what he told us.

His name is Juan- Carlos, and he was from Constitucion,he had lost his house, his job and everything, and had a wife and children there. He came to Santiago looking for help I think, but was robbed and so did not have money for a trip back to his home. I could tell he was feeling hopeless, and he was tired, and he was telling us that he felt lonely because he did not know anybody, my heart really broke for him. We had the opportunity to pray for him, and I invited him to come to my church. He saw the girls face painting and also spoke with them, and they went to buy food for him and his family and also decided that we could pay for him to get a new ticket home. He will be leaving tomorrow morning, so will not be at my church, but please please pray for him. In the conversation we were talking about how God can provide and God can take care of him, and I really pray that in this situation he can see how it was the love of God working through us. I would love you to pray for his salvation. In fact no, for him and his family and for their salvation. God still works miracles.

Oh also I have to tell you the response of another man after he received the flyer explaining who Jesus is. He immediately read the first page and looked so surprised and pointed at the verse and said that it is incredible, and asked if it was the truth? It was amazing that we could give him this flyer and tell him what the truth is. We are here in this capital city in a highly catholic country, but there are still many people who just do not know who Jesus was!

Please pray for all the people we had contact with this day, pray that the church invitation, the conversation we had, the flyer that might just be sitting in their pockets, pray that some day they will remember what happened and that it will not just get forgotten. Pray that God will continue to speak to these people.

Other than that, this month has been a normal month. Going to the Hogar de ninos, going to the street. Oh we also went to Mendoza again to renew our visas, which was not the most exciting trip (There is not loads to do in Mendoza) but still so incredible to drive through the Andes, they will never fail to take my breath away. But there was time to read, and to chill out in the park, and I got to spend a lot of time with God. It is so easy in the last part of our time here, to just make ourselves so busy busy, but God is still the most important part of it all, and so it was awesome to focus on that again.

We had another kind of difficult time on Monday at the hogar, but still I cannot be frustrated with them or annoyed, each time I see them i really see how much they need love. Argh, we have seen some of the women who work there treat some of the boys so badly recently, I do not want to say more than that, but please please pray. It really breaks my heart and it would break yours too if you could see. I am certain.

God is a good God, and even when I am feeling tired and unenthusiastic about something, when I pray to him and give him the time, he never fails to amaze me and lift me right up.

Woohoo.

:) Thanks everyone for reading. May you have an amazing amazing week and as my good friend Jona likes to say - I pray God will hug you each day!