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| Richard and Robyn Crane Newsletter |
| Flet courses and development in Chile |
August 3, 2009 | |
Greetings!
In our last newsletter I said it was the first part of our report
on our trip to Chile. So many things happened there that it is hard to communicate
it all. Even though what you read here began three months ago, it is a work
that continues in the present and, Lord willing, for eternity.
Thank you for the privilege of serving Christ in this training of leaders in the Hispanic world. | |
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Marriage Intimacy Class in Metrenco (Temuco) - April 30 - May 3
The 20 hour class on Marriage Intimacy near the southern city of Temuco, Chile was received very well.  I was disappointed though, that so many of them were single, or that they came without their spouses.
This class has become all the more crucial as more and more young people
in Chile are opting not to marry and just live together. In the class I
deal with the covenant foundation for marriage and God´s faithfulness and
Grace to us in the midst of our brokenness and unfaithful response.
We also dealt with some of the barriers and principles for developing
intimacy, good communication skills, sexual myths and God´s sexual design
for us to enjoy within marriage. There was quite a vivid discussion on this
as we dealt with some self-imposed taboos and the freedom God gives us in
the gospel from past abuse and harm. 
I´ve put this course up on the internet for our online students, and
it is being used in marriage classes and retreats by one of our students
in Bolivia. |
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Testimony of Claudia and Mirsad
Mirsad was caught in the middle of the Bosnian war and escaped with only
the clothes he had on his back. He got on a ship without knowing where
it was heading and ended up in the southern part of Chile. His parents back
in Bosnia concluded that he was killed. Claudia had a job at the port at
that time that had to do with job placement of immigrants such as Mirsad.
He was very troubled when he arrived, spending his time and money on alcohol,
drugs, and women. In spite of this, Claudia fell in love with him and after
a couple of years God used her to bring him to faith in Christ and they got
married. They belong to a Lutheran church in Valdivia and their pastor and
other members were there taking the class.
Mirsad told me that he was preparing himself through FLET because God had
put in him the desire to go back to Bosnia as a missionary and plant a church
there. I was touched by his candor and love for the Lord and their love
for each other. It was a joy to have met them and be a part of their preparation.
Who would have thought that we were training a missionary to Bosnia in the
south of Chile. |
Plans for a Christian University
At the conclusion of our class in Metrenco,  a
number of university professors and businessmen arrived to form a board and
start a Christian University with FLET as the Theological Department. Flet
has been the catalyst for this and Fernando, our Flet representative, has
established working agreements with the Adventist University in Chillan,
and the Universidad del Mar in Viña del Mar. Two other universities are
presently very close to also signing working agreements - the Universidad
Austral in Valdivia, and the Universidad Arcis in Santiago.
Some of these men had made attempts at starting an Evangelical University
before, but after years of preparation they fell through. This vision is
very strong among a large host of people of the 25% population of evangelicals
in Chile. After many hours of travel (some of them 12 hours) they worked
hard on that Sunday afternoon of May 3, 2009 and the first president and
board prayed for God´s direction and Grace on these plans. |
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Praise and Prayer:
1.Praise God for the opportunities he gives us around the world to train others for the gospel ministry.
2.
Pray for Claudia and Mirsad, that God will maintain and increase his call
and desire to serve the church in Bosnia, and that his love and understanding
of God will grow through his studies with FLET.
3. Continue to pray for
Fernando Estefó, our FLET representative in Chile. He has led in the signing
of two working agreements between FLET and two universities in Chile. He
has also enrolled many new students into our courses. Praise God for his
abilities and passion. Pray that the administrative and financial aspects
of his work may continue to be clarified and be an encouragement to him for
his time spent.
4. Pray that the FLET courses will have a significant impact in the universities in Chile with whom we partner.
5.
Pray that our visits to our supporting churches in this year will be an encouragement
to both us and the churches - strengthening our partnership and vision of
God´s work in the training of Hispanic pastors and leaders. Pray that our
support needs will be met, and praise God for His provision in this difficult
economic time.
6. Praise God for the encouragement of so many students
who are taking our online courses. Pray that the Gospel will continue to
change their lives as they study.
7. That God will strengthen our whole
family through His grace, so as to love Him more and be filled with His love
for those those to whom He has called us to minister.
8.
My brother Gary died on June 18 at the age of 63 in Wilmington DE. As a
family we are grateful to the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Newark for
their love for Gary over the years, as was so beautifully expressed in the
memorial service there. Praise God with us for God´s Grace and the support
of God´s people in times of weakness and in grief. |
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Quick Links to our Websites:
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Partnering - HMA visits
We thank God for you, our partners in ministry. We have enjoyed our
visits to Olive Street PCA in Downington, PA and to Fairview PCA in Fairton,
NJ. in July and look forward to visiting more of you personally in the next
months.
Please contact us if you want us for a missionary conference. |
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Richard
and Robyn Crane
8460 SW 198th Street
Miami, FL 33189
Phones:
home phone: 786 293 3074
cell
phone: 305 972 9449
E-mails:
Office Richard: rcrane@flet.edu
Office
Robyn: office@kbpc.org
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NEED FOR FINANCIAL SUPPORT
Please continue to pray for our support need. As of this letter we need $387 per month. (Our support account has dropped by $6,000 since July 2008). Yet we see how God has been faithful to us through your giving. Thank you very much.
Please make check payable to: Mission to the World, P.O.Box 116284,
Atlanta, GA 30368-6284 our account is: #011125 (donations address)
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