God has been taking care of us!

Young family launches new ministry in Uruguay

In September, David and Claudia were the first to arrive on the brand new field in Uruguay, but it’s not the first time the couple has broken new ground in ministry.

The Ossas, who met in church in Chile as kids, were also the first married national couple to work with the El Oasis campus ministry in Santiago, Chile. They became involved in the ministry during their college years, serving as student leaders. After graduating with a degree in engineering, David joined the staff, and Claudia followed when she finished her nursing degree in 2010.

With all of this ministry experience, the Ossas were a perfect fit to launch our new campus work in Montevideo, Uruguay, and moved to the city with their daughter this fall.

“To be the first on a new field has been great,” said David. “Within the last four years we have moved five times in three different countries, so the fact that we have a long-term commitment to work in Montevideo makes us feel as if we can finally settle down.

“At first we were a little afraid of not knowing many people in Uruguay and how things such as getting a home to rent and doing legal paperwork would look, but we have been amazed by God’s love and care for us,” added David. “He put the nicest people in place to help us get everything done without major problems. We really feel as if God has been taking care of us.”

If you would like to support a member of the new Globalscope team in Uruguay because you care about the young people who will be the future leaders of our world, please go here.

El Pozo students serve!

Visits to home for elderly are rewarding 

Students in the El Pozo campus ministry in Puebla, Mexico, are stepping outside the “university bubble” this semester by volunteering at a home for the indigent elderly in the community, reports team leader Kami Burns Reed.

“We started visiting Vivir de Amor this semester as part of our efforts to increase our community involvement,” said Kami. “We have taken 15 students there so far, and three students have started volunteering outside of our biweekly visit.”

Kami and the students are really enjoying the interaction with the residents of the home.

“They are so grateful for the time we spend with them, talking and hearing stories from their lives,” she said. “The residents of this home were previously homeless. Many of them grew up in orphanages and now have no family to care for them, so they are blessed to have this place to live instead of begging in the street.”

Service projects have become one of the most effective ways for El Pozo to reach out to new students, Kami notes.

“We see serving in our community as a way to live out the message of Jesus with students who might not be interested in attending an event at the campus house,” she said. “And it’s so rewarding for them to step outside that ‘university bubble,’ where they spend most of their time, and serve others.”

Finding truth

El Oasis fosters community on retreat

A former bodyguard in the Colombian narcotics trafficking business, now a Christian pastor, was the guest speaker at the El Oasiscampus ministry’s annual retreat in October.

“We loaded up two buses with students and went to Pintue, a town outside Santiago, for our annual ‘Retreat of the Sexes,’ ” said campus minister Philip Linkous. “We invited a Colombian couple, Julian and Eliana, who now pastor a church in Temuco, Chile, to serve as our retreat speakers.”

Julian became a Christian while in prison in Colombia for his violent involvement in the drug business.

“He has a powerful testimony,” said Philip. “He and Eliana spoke to the students about God’s original plan for them as men and women in a way that touched the hearts and emotions of many of the students.”