Maria Rainahuel Calfupan was ninety-four years old.She had 35 grandchildren.Some of her children have moved away as far as Santiago.But most of her family lives in or near Curihue, a rural Mapuche community of small landholdings located in southern Chile amidst beautiful lakes and volcanoes.The family, church members, and neighbors, from near and far, gathered when she died not long ago to wake and watch and weep, together.

In a Mapuche community, the wake can last from 4 to 8 days.Historically, that was to accommodate people who had to travel from far away.Each family brings a lamb or beef from their farm to cook.Families take turns cooking and meals are served almost around the clock.They gather at night in the church to pray, sing and share memories.People take a little time off to walk home and sleep for a few hours, and then they come back to the church."We do this to be together, and to share," says Mario Collinao, Maria's grandson and the lay pastor of the church.These are values in the Mapuche community that are treasured, values that the Christian community has carried over, as it were, and baptized.

The vigilia, or vigil, is another tradition in the Chilean and Mapuche churches that the people relish.They take seriously Jesus' question, "Could you not watch with me?"So when the time calls for a vigilia, they are glad to have one.They stay together all night in the church, singing, praying, preaching, and just being together.We get some good-natured ribbing from them about their having to find beds for the vigilantes or vigil-keepers.

So you can see why the word Vigil is on our minds.We are writing this during the Advent vigil, the time of waiting and watching, of preparing ourselves to welcome Jesus.

Let us tell you about the signs of the Kingdom we are watching unfold.

In the Curihue area where there are now four Mapuche churches, Dwight is working with a group to plan some income-generating projects that will benefit the community: a community center with a kitchen for producing fruit jams and learning methods of food preservation, a small cooperative mill, rural tourism, and improved organic methods of cultivation, along with training in appropriate entrepreneurial skills.

Barb is working with the women of the community helping them find markets in the United States for their traditional weavings. They also are learning to develop new products.Make sure to ask about traditional Mapuche crafts the next time you are in World Wide Gifts at Green Lake Conference Center.

Barb was reminded that the transforming power of the gospel is the most important resource she has to share in a recent meeting on a rainy Saturday afternoon in Temuco with Leslie and Isabel.They live in Coronel, a busy mining town on the coast until all of the mines closed.But Leslie and Isabel hold on to the hope of the Gospel and that hope pushed them to look for a way to create income for their households.Isabel knew how to make Spanish greeting cards and taught the craft to Leslie. They spent days going through markets trying to sell cards for 200 (about 28 cents) pesos a piece. They only sold one or two a month, but they were convinced God would bless their efforts.When they brought Barb the cards she really didn't have much hope, but something told her she needed to try to help. We've worked on developing designs and reaching a level of quality that could compete in the US market and then shipped out samples of their work. Last year they received orders for more than 1500 cards!

As our current projects continue, in 2003 we will venture into new areas of ministry.

This year we will both be working with the women's union of our partner convention, advising urban churches in the development of sustainable social ministries. We will be offering training seminars in administration, good stewardship, and the development of outside funding resources.

Barb's summer promises to be a busy one with her newest project: Summer Girl's Clubs. She will be writing Bible studies, and combing the web for crafts and games that will complement a curriculum designed to strengthen the self-esteem of girls from difficult home environments.She has shown the materials and lesson plans to some of the women who work with children in our area. Three churches have chosen to give this innovation a try.

In all of our work we are reminded of the vision of Isaiah 61:the poor have the gospel preached to them, but it is them, not necessarily us, who "build up the ancient ruins," and "raise up the former devastations," as the transforming gospel takes hold of their lives.It is our privilege and calling to walk, and watch and sometimes weep with them.It is our joy to participate with them in what Christ is doing and makes possible.

Your World Missions gifts and offerings are a form of "watching" for the signs of Jesus' coming, and serving His gospel in this part of the world.We pray for God's blessings on you in 2003 and that He may "equip you with every good thing for doing His will."