Renfro Ramblings

Video by Eddie Fernandez

Making progress in the Barrio Universitario You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Mathew 5:14 (sketch done by a group of CONEXION students) We have been meeting on Calle Republica in the Barrio Universitario for 5 months now. Two Chi Alpha teams from Texas came this summer, helping us accomplish several months worth of work in a few short weeks. They encouraged our key students and were so essential in helping us meet new ones. It has been one of our biggest prayers to meet and establish friendships with students that have never stepped foot in a church. Our prayer is that our CONEXION students can become a "city on a hill", a community that stands out because of the way the students love and honor one another.   CONEXION  across Chile  Conexion retreat July 2013 Last weekend we had a retreat with CONEXION leaders from across Chile. It was a great time of encouraging and equipping those taking...

I have finally come to grips with the fact that my role in ministry is drastically changing. I somehow find myself at home with a 6 month old on my hip while trying to entertain a 3 year old. And literally that is a ll I have time for! The other day as Josh walked out the door for a day on campus before our university student meeting I realized that home was were I needed to be and I was ok with it. For the most part I try to be as active as I can in ministry. There are times when I find myself on the other extreme; feeling like an awful mother, because I choose to take my kids to campus where one occasionally can catch a whiff of second hand marijuana smoke. Finding the balance is key and the main thing for me is being okay when I can't be involved in certain ministry events. I have to remind myself that this is the only opportunity I get to raise my children and this season will come and go before I even know it.  An afterthought: Just as I began to deal with this something ha...

John Mark is 3 months old now. We finally feel like our heads have stopped spinning after receiving the news 7 months ago that John Mark would be born with hydrocephalus and holoprosencephaly.  I can clearly remember being devastated at the thought of not ever bringing my precious boy home. I can clearly remember the long torturous days as we waited to see what the next sonogram or fetal MRI would show. I can clearly remember trying to prepare for the worse. But that was not our story. Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. With every crushing blow came God's hand of mercy and grace. With every crushing blow more and more people began praying for our son. Through out the remainder of the pregnancy we witnessed the hand of God like we've never seen before. The amniocentesis came bac...

CONEXION Being from Texas we are enjoying the actual change of seasons. The school year has begun and the streets of the Barrio Universitario are flooded with students. This is our opportunity to begin the work we have been dreaming about and more importantly have been praying for! We have begun meeting with a handful of students at Plaza Manuel Rodriguez every Thursday afternoon. Since this is a pioneering work our goal is to encourage the Christian students we have built relationships with  to think Mathew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden" . Our challenge to them is that they can begin to bring the people God has placed beside them during their time in the university. Our other efforts to become present in the area is to set up a contact table and just meet people. Please pray for favor with the students and the universities. We want to make friends with those who have never heard the name of Jesus and share truth with th...

John Mark arrived at 10:24 pm When 39 weeks rolled around I got more anxious. Naomi was born at 39 weeks and 1 day so I was hoping that would also be the case for John Mark, even though everyone tells you that all pregnancies are different. That day when the 39 week mark rolled around we went in for a sonogram. Dr Gomez found John Mark quite snug and not showing any signs he was coming soon. The sonogram also showed he was getting pretty close to weighing 8 lbs. He also said that he wanted to induce in one week if nothing happened. I didn’t argue since my parents were coming in one week and I also did not want to compromise any issues with his ventriculomegaly. The next day I had an appointment to meet with my midwife Rosa. I wasn’t feeling anywhere near labor just tired of being pregnant and hot due to the summer weather. Well it turned out I was 3cm dilated but she didn’t seem too worried stating that we would probably have him during the coming weekend. It was Wednesday. She t...

Hace poco tomé mi primera clase bíblica y puedo decir que fue algo que disfruté muchísimo. Pude aprender un poco mas allá de la vida de Jesús al examinar los Evangelios Sinópticos: Mateo, Marcos y Lucas. Uno de los aspectos de la vida de Jesus que me interesó fue la forma en que Él enseñaba. Al leer sus lecciones en los Evangelios se destacaron algunas características de la vida de Jesús como gran maestro. Estas características pueden ser un gran ejemplo para nosotros hoy en día en situaciones diarias con las personas que Dios ha puesto estratégicamente en nuestro entorno. 1. Jesús amaba a los que enseñaba. Él fue conmovido por las necesidades de ellos y tuvo compasión (Mateo 9:36; Marcos 6:34), y les enseñó muchas cosas.  El amor de Dios en nuestra vida nos debe animar a establecer amistades con propósito e intencionales. Cuando intentamos cultivar relaciones genuinas podemos reconocer las necesidades que tiene la gente y podemos lograr tener compasión de ellos. La compasi...