Philip Linkous' Blog

Well I am now two weeks in to life in Santiago.  It has been going great! I´m going to try and give an idea of what the last week has been like, hit a few of the high points, share some prayer requests, and describe what goes on during the week. My writing will probably be a bit scattered and stream of thought, so please excuse that.

There are different discipleship groups in El Oasis in which the students rotate through different focuses. The current service discipleship group made soup and coffee and invited us all out into the streets to serve the homeless of the city. We went last night after Donce (Devotional Dinner). There was a big group of students that walked from the house towards some areas in the city where we could serve and talk with the homeless. Many people were very thankful and receptive and talked with the students for a while.

interesting graffiti on a wall as we walked around the city

Hogar Sion
On Saturday we went with a group of students to an orphanage for boys. It was only a short bus ride away. One of the students of El Oasis organized a group to cook lunch beforehand and bring to the orphanage to feed the kids. After lunch, we played games with the kids and painted some drawings.  The kids were a ton of fun, and the El Oasis people had a great time playing with them.

Spanish classes

All of our meetings at El Oasis are totally in Spanish.   Formally, I have not taken Spanish classes since the sixth grade.  I was able to learn quite a bit over the last year, but I still have a very long way to go.  Usually I can talk to someone after our meetings if I need something cleared up.  Each day I feel like I’m understanding more and more, and able to say more and more.  My prayer is that God will continue to help me learn rapidly.   I have started Spanish classes that I go to 3 days a week.

During our Tertulia, our Bible study, we have one segment which is our prayer focus for the week. The first week I was here, our prayer focus was for a group 33 Chilean miners trapped deep inside a mine.  I believe 17 days went by without a single sign of life or any way of contacting the miners.  Then Sunday, as my friend Pancho and I were eating lunch after church, we heard over the radio that all 33 miners were alive!  It could be up to 4 months before they will be able to get all of the miners out, but they have made contact.  Part of our next prayer focus was a huge praise for the miners being found alive.  I hope to write more on this incredible story soon.

I am most excited about getting to know the students.  I have made friends already with some new guys that started coming to the events a few weeks ago, and hope to build on those friendships.  We are preparing for Tertulia tonight, and then tomorrow we are having a mini-retreat.  We will be going to a church nearby for an all night event called Pasar de Largo.  We are going to stay up the entire night.  The three interns are going to give there testimonies throughout the night.

Prayers:

• Retreat this weekend.  For the interns as they prepare to give their testimonies and that it will have a big impact on the students.
• 33 Miners.  Continued safety for the miners and that they will be rescued soon. Praise that they are alive.
• That I can improve on my Spanish daily and be able to communicate clearly

The sight is incredible in the morning when you are flying in to Santiago.

Outside Frizz’s apartment where I am staying.

This is a picture of Aldo, Tahia, and me at a restaurant after Bible Study (Tertulia), my second night in Chile. I don’t have a picture of churriana which is the mound of terribly unhealthy but delicious french fries that we were about to devour.

I am so thankful and excited to finally be in Santiago. I had a great flight this past Tuesday. I was able to sleep a good bit on the plane as well. I think 5 or 6 hours, so I felt rested the next day. I also met a guy that I was able to talk with a good bit. It was a good way for me to practice getting ready to use Spanish all the time.

When I got in to Santiago in the morning, I dropped my things off at the apartment where I’ll be staying and then went to the El Oasis house. That morning we had a team Bible study and then later that afternoon a guy’s lunch at the house. I knew a lot of the students from last year, and so it was great to be able to see them again. I’ve also been able to meet quite a bit of new students.

Oh yeah, I knew it was going to be winter here, but it is a bit colder than I expected. I have plenty of clothes, but it was strange going from the heat of Hotlanta to winter here.

The second Bible study of the year was this past Thursday. It was great! I really enjoy worship music in Spanish. I was able to meet quite a bit of new people there as well. Lukas introduced me to the students and did sort of a mini interview. He asked me a few funny questions like which do I prefer,

Chick-fil-a or churriana (a Chilean food consisting of french fries, onions, and beef). There was a great group of students there, and a lot of us went out to eat at a place nearby after Bible study.

The people of Chile are incredible. The students are very welcoming, patient, and willing to help me learn Spanish. One of my favorite things so far has been the musicians that play music on the micros, which are the bus portion of the public transportation. The buses are crammed full of people shoulder to shoulder, and there are some people with guitars who play music and sing for tips.

For some reason, I’m having trouble uploading photos, but I hope to have some up real soon from my first week.

My focus for the week is to:
-spend time getting to know students
-help out with all the events and go to team meetings in order to really learn the ministry and catch up with the team
-find a place to live. I will be sharing an apartment nearby with another guy on the team
-learn spanish. I took a placement test for a language learning school that I am going to visit on monday
-get a cell phone

Muchas gracias y hasta pronto!

This past Saturday and Sunday was the 55th annual Georgia Christian Missionary Rally at East Point Christian Church.  I was honored to  be able to set up a display about El Oasis and Globalscope.  It was great to meet new people and share with each other about all that God is doing around the world.

It was really an encouraging time.  There were some great speakers and worship.  A few things that I took away from the speakers are:

-Don’t take the Bible lightly.  One man spoke of smuggling tiny Bibles into North Korea and the desire for the people to have “that book” even though it meant risking their personal welfare and safety.  It really made me think how I often take God’s word for granted.

- Love your enemies.  We were challenged to love our enemies.  Many of us put terrorists into that category.  Adam Riggs, a student and missionary to Yemen, challenged us to  change our hearts and pray for terrorists.   He is making plans to share God’s love in the Muslim world.

- Tim Hudson of UGA CCF reminded us to really love people.  To first acknowledge and be transformed by God’s love for us.  And out of that love that we experience, we are then capable to love others.

Thanks to all who I met for the first time and asked about Globalscope and El Oasis.

CNN- “A massive magnitude 8.8 earthquake rocked Chile early Saturday, killing at least 122 people and triggering tsunami warnings for the entire Pacific basin.

Numerous tsunami waves have been reported in the Pacific, with one reaching as high as 7.7 feet in the central Chile coastal town of Talcahuano, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.”

I have talked to the team leader of El Oasis, Mark Jackson, and he says that everyone, students, exchange students, staff,  are fine.  He said that they felt the earthquake shaking things in their apartment, but outside where they live in Santiago everything looks normal.  There were some power and water outages, but for the most part the city looks normal where they are other than some shingles missing on roofs.

This is a huge praise that the people we know are ok.  More to come soon.  Pray for those that aren’t as lucky near the coast and that no tsunami waves cause damage.

So this week is a week of preparation.  Andrew Michael and I have beenthe given chance to be the speakers at the Georgia Southern winter retreat in Helen, GA.  Usually this time of year would be the Gatlinburg Retreat in Tennessee, but this year marks a new era in Georgia Southern retreat history.  We are really honored at being able to speak at the retreat and can’t wait to be a part of Georgia Southern CCF again for the weekend.  Please pray with us during these final days of getting ready that God will equip us and speak to us and through us this weekend.  Thanks!

It is official!  We will be able to keep the campus house in Santiago for the rest of the year.   Thank you for your prayers at 4:19 pm.  The musician that was going to buy the house that El Oasis was renting has backed out and we no longer have to move out at the end of February.  The ministry will continue to meet in the current location, and now there is more time for us to look around and consider possibly moving to a better location in the future.

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 4:19

Each day at 4:19 pm Chilean students, the staff of El Oasis, and others are praying with this scripture in mind. A once clothing store, turned campus ministry house in 2003, has now been bought out by a Chilean musician to be turned into a recording studio. We have been given until the end of February to find a new ministry house and move everything out. We can definitely see God at work in these circumstances.

While the heart and lifeblood of the ministry is the students, the campus house is the tool that God has allowed us to use to really serve the students in campus ministry. It is a safe place for students to come meet friends, fellowship, enjoy a meal, worship and grow together. The staff of El Oasis had been thinking that it would be nice to have a larger meeting space to accommodate the growing community of students. It would also be nice to have a place closer in to the city and universities which would be more accessible. With the recent news of the house being bought out, the decision has been made for us.

We are praying each day at 4:19 for God to provide a new meeting place for us.  I would love for you to join in this prayer with us.   We are trusting God to provide in a big way.  With a house that is closer in to the universities, there will be lots more opportunities for ministry during the day in between classes.   This will also make it easier for students to make it over to the campus house without having to make such a long commute.

current campus house

I had the chance a few weeks ago to visit the CCF at Georgia Southern that I worked at for the past 2 years as an intern.  I spent the weekend visiting with friends and I got to make it down in time for a Bible study on Thursday night.  It was so good to be back in Statesboro.  I knew that I had missed everyone down there, but it really hit just how much I did as I was driving down the ever exciting I 16.

There were new faces, the house had changed some (cleaner and smelled better), but still in some ways I felt like I had never left.  Sitting in Latte Da coffee shop and talking about life and God with 2 friends that I was in an accountability group with last year, brought me instantly back to my last two years as an intern.  I am so thankful for the CCF at Georgia Southern and the impact that it has had on my life.  I first visited Southern from Tech as an outsider almost three years ago and I was overwhelmed by how welcoming and loving all the students were.  Going back to visit was a reminder of how much I love college ministry.  Seeing all those people who God has gotten a hold of through college ministry increases my desire to go to Chile.

Georgia Southern CCF Spring Retreat April 2009

My old blog from my time as an intern: http://philipinternshipgsccf.blogspot.com/

Georgia Southern CCF: www.GSCCF.org

After a two-week long visit to Chile this past summer, I feel like God is leading me back for a much longer time.  I got to visit the Globalscope campus ministry of El Oasis (the Well).  It was an incredible experience where I saw a loving community of Chilean college students that love God, love each other, and are transforming Santiago, Chile!

Paula, Me, Renato, and Jennifer posing on top of San Cristobal

Before heading back to the states after my trip, some of the friends I met, Renato, Paula, Camila, Jennifer and others, took me to a convenient store and bought me some Chilean candy for the trip back.  Including a Super Ocho, which is a candy bar that’s sold everywhere in Chile, and it’s awesome!  I can’t wait to get back to Chile to see these friends and make deep relationships with new ones that I can share the love of Jesus with!

Currently I am working odd jobs part time to pay the bills and taking a Bible class at Atlanta Christian College.  But the main focus in my life right now is in sharing with individuals and Churches about El Oasis and how God is at work changing lives in Chile.  Raising support for the mission is my ministry now.

I’ll be posting several blogs a month with random stories, pictures, prayer requests, and progress on support raising.  I’d love to hear from you as well! Thanks for reading!

-Philip