Dear Family and Friends,
Greetings in the wonderful name of Jesus!
Jeff Neal traveled with me to this beautiful South American country! What an incredible and beautiful trip! We began carrying the cross on the Pacific Coast in Vina del Mar and walked on to the beautiful city of Santiago which is nestled at the base of the Andes. Wow! It seemed that it was all uphill (Actually, it was all uphill! – From sea level to the foot of the Andes!) By the second day of the walk, we were surprised to see multitudes of people – walking, riding bicycles, pushing wheelchairs joining us as we walked! They told us they were on a pilgrimage, the “Fiesta de la Virgin del Rosario” to a church in a small village called “Lo Vasquez”. Without any knowledge on our part of this event, beforehand, God had arranged for us to be in the middle of an incredible congregation! The police even closed the main highway! Soon we saw what looked like a small city. As we got closer, though, we saw that it wasn’t a city, but a sea of tents all along the road. There were, literally, hundreds of thousands of people! Unbelievable!! The police and the newspapers later reported that there were between 400,000 and 500,000 people there! It was almost like I was walking in a sea of people!! All day! For a couple of days! So, so many wanting to know about the cross! So many wanting to know how they could be sure if they were going to heaven! And so many wanting to know how Jesus could become personal and real in their lives! Only God could have arranged this! All glory to God!!
From Santiago, we flew to Punta Arenas (the southernmost city in Chile) to carry the cross in that area for a few days. The people were so wonderful! So open! I don’t think we spoke with anyone who wasn’t truly interested in hearing more about how to truly know and follow Jesus!
On our final day, we were interviewed by the Chilean national television station as they told of the walk with the cross around the world and now on their country. While this was absolutely glorious, what was even more amazing was the grace that God gave me to understand AND to do the interview completely in Spanish!! Though I can get by in the Spanish language, I’m surely not fluent in my speaking and my understanding of the language is even worse! Jesus did it all!!! It was glorious to see so many curious and hungry people come to the cross!! What an incredible privilege to carry the cross in this beautiful nation!!
We truly love you all!!
God Bless You!!
Keith
Philippians 3:10