Nathan & Cole October Update

Greetings

I hope this letter finds you well.We are very excited about what God has been doing in us and through us these last few months.

Surf DTS

We are halfway through the first week of our Surf Discipleship Training School.We have 6 students and 5 staff members from Finland, Holland, Switzerland, Sweden and California, and of course Chile.Its a really great group of people God has brought together.We are in the middle of our second week.Our days are pretty packed from 6:30 AM till about 10 PM.We have 4 students and staff living with us.One of the great elements of the discipleship training school is that the principles that are taught are always relevant to our lives.I believe that as Christians we never outgrow being challenged in areas such as knowing God, prayer, evangelism, and personal devotions.Being on staff gives us an opportunity examine our own walk and draw closer to God.It is as much a learning experience as it is for the students.

Christian Surfers

We have had a great few months in our Christian Surfers ministry.Last week we just finished reading the book of Luke together.We spent about 4 months going verse by verse through the book.Most of the surfers who come are between 14 and 18.I have been really encouraged on how well these kids have been able to learn from the scriptures.I feel that many times we underestimate young people in terms of engaging with and understanding Gods word. For some of them it was the first whole book of the Bible they ever read.On Thursday we begin with the book of Acts which will keep us busy for the next few months.

Pura Vida Fest 2012

We are also in the process of planning our annual Pura Vida Fest, surf contest for next January.I have been in contact with some Christians in Santiago who have a production company and work a lot in the area of extreme sports and produce events.This contest is a great opportunity to reach out to the surfing community in Chile with the hope we have in Christ.

Teaching

I also had the opportunity this month to teach in the Biblical core course this month. I taught two days on the introduction to the book of James.It was a great opportunity and my first experience teaching.I will also be teaching on The Fear of God in a 2 weeks and probably a few more opportunities this school.As many of you know public speaking isn't exactly something I love doing but I believe that God truly uses our weakness to show is glory. This reminds me of Apostle Paul who said "when I am weak, then I am strong." 

Inner Beauty

 Between the beauty salon and working with the DTS Cole has been very busy. With the salon she has had a great response from the people in the community. They like to come because they sense something different about this place(Gods Presence) and Cole gets the opportunity to share her faith and encourage the ladies. Also a lot of the students and staff from the YWAM schools come and are really blessed.

I would like to ask you to please keep us in your prayers. We have so much happening these days and just for God to keep us centered on his will for us and for wisdom in the months to come.

We are also in the process of becoming official members of Christian Surfers. We need to raise 250 dollars for that.If you would like to partner with us in starting this ministry or if you believe in what we are doing and would like to support us, you can do so through paypal .

God Bless,

Nathan & Cole

Anderson Family update God is so good. (Also our support address has changed.)

Greetings friends from the Anderson Family,

 

We are so blessed to be serving God through out our 28 years on the mission field. It truly has been an adventure with many turns in the road. With each new season, we are called to adjust to new and at times unknown sets of circumstances.

 

Our life in YWAM has not been easy but it really has been blessed by God. Our organization is made up of a totally voluntary missionary force. Over 22,000 full time workers around the world all living by faith that God will miraculously provide for their needs as they arise. It's kind of like living with the Israelites in the desert for those forty years (Hopefully without all the murmuring!). The daily realization that God has our times in His powerful and loving hands can be unsettling at times. But that kind of 'unsettling' is really just Resettling back into His loving care. We can so easily, bit by bit, place our confidence in our paychecks, investments, IRAs, retirement, insurances, and bank accounts.

 

Our experiences in YWAM will seem crazy and even irresponsible to many. But God called us to a life with out health insurance, savings accounts, retirement funds, or investments. Not that those things are bad at all. They are good and proper for most people. They are just not what God has called us to in our life experience so far. Problems can arise when people rely upon those kinds of things instead of God. It will not fill the void in our need for a sense of security and purpose.  Relationships, peace of mind, and intimacy with God can all be hurt by an over reliance on this 'stuff'.

 

We have lived for almost 24 years outside the USA. That is nearly half of our lives! (Amazing how quickly the years go by!)  I have been thinking about what we call our ' American Dream' lately. SO many people across this great nation are seeing their American dream fall apart as their resources begin to dry up and foreclosures hang out in front of them like a Goliath with intimidating threats. The five stones David used to bring down Goliath seemed and were really insignificant by themselves. David leaned into God and placed all his confidence in his creator in the face of such insurmountable odds! God gave David an incredible and miraculous victory!

 

So, in these difficult times, we want to introduce a new 'American Dream'. It begins with making sure Jesus is LORD of all that we have and all that we are. Each day our prayer is that all that we say, do, and even think will be pleasing to our Creator.

 

Some people mistakenly think all they need is a savior. In order for Him to be our savior, he must be Lord of our lives. He is an awesome master and knows perfectly what we might need to grow and mature in life. We can say once again that he has been and will remain faithful throughout our lives here on earth! The only certainty we have in life is God's unfailing love for us.

 

God bless you as you seek to please the one who put you here for a wonderful purpose!

 

In Him, Mitch, Juliette, Nathan, Cole', Jessica, Janelle, Michaela, and Katrina Anderson 

 

We have a new support address for those who want to partner with us in our ministry. We are so grateful to our friends with Missionary Christian Fellowship. They have been there for us over these past couple of years. But they are moving to close the ministry. When God closes one door he opens another. So now we are so pleased to announce our partnership with YWAM El Paso- Juarez. They are a wonderful group of people! We are so blessed that they have decided to cover us in this way. God is good.

 

So now donations can be made by mail, electronically bank to bank, and through paypal.

 

The address is:

 

Youth With A Mission El Paso & Juarez

4444 Edgar Par Ave.

El Paso, TX. 79904

 

Websight www.ywamepj.org

email: accounting@ywamepj.org

Tel. 915-757-3387 (ask for Martha in accounting)

Nathan & Cole June Update

Greetings,
I hope that this letter finds you well. It has been a while since we have sent out an update and for that we do apologize. This has truly been a new season for us in our life as a couple and our ministry.
So much has happened over the last few months that I don’t really know where to start.

I think that a summary of this time for us can be found in Joshua’s Farewell address to the children of Israel.

    Joshua 23:14: “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Christian Surfers

This ministry has really taken off in the last month. When I started holding weekly bible studies and inviting the local surfers to participate it was really hard to get things going. Sometimes nobody would show up or there would be 2 or 3 people every once and a while.


Now we have about 9 to 12 kids coming every week to our meetings most between the ages of 14 to 19.
The Spanish Surfers Bible has been a huge blessing (Thanks to CSI). Because of the easy language and surfer friendly testimonies and materials the kids really have an interest in reading the word.

 This Sunday we are organizing a beach day at Punta de Lobos. We will have an afternoon surf then a bonfire with some worship and a devotional. It will be a great chance to interact with more of the local surfers and get to know the kids more. This Monday is a holiday so there should be more people in town than usual for the weekend.

    Next week I will be starting a second weekly Bible Study. In our current weekly study we usually have topical teachings. This second study will be a chance to go through some books of the Bible verse by verse. We will be reading through the Gospel of Luke and Acts in the next 3 months. It will be my first time teaching verse by verse like this so I am very excited.

Inner Beauty

    Cole and the girls have finally opened the new beauty salon in the Pura Vida center. She has also been going to beauty school 3 days a week for the last 3 months in Santiago. This week she finishes her classes and she will be here full time.

    Since there grand opening a few weeks ago they have steadily attracted more attention.Like other ministries of Pura Vida the Vision of Inner Beauty is to serve people in a practical ways and through those relationships share Christ love with them. They are off to a great start.

BCC

    Since May I have been a student in The Biblical Core Course. This school is a condensed version of YWAM’s School of Biblical Studies.

    In the core course we study 20 books of the Bible using the inductive method, along with reading the remaining 46 books through once so that we go through the whole Bible during the school.

    It has been an amazing experience though very challenging to participate in the school along with everything else that’s going on. I have another 3 weeks to finish and another 28 books to go.

Something to Ponder

    “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

                                              Mat 6:31-33

    Last night I was watching a documentary on the life and ministry of George Mueller called “Robber of the Cruel Streets”.He was a man who believed that God provided for his children and put himself in Gods hands by taking in hundreds of orphans off the streets of Bristol and giving them food, clothing, shelter and an education. God always provided for them sometimes at the last minute but they experienced Gods provision in miraculous ways throughout there ministry.

    One aspect of this story that I had never heard before is that when Mueller started his orphanage, England was in the midst of a financial crisis. It reminded me a lot of our current situation with the setbacks in the Global economy.

   

    I am sure many of you have felt the effects of this in the past few years. I just wanted to encourage you to persevere in seeking Gods kingdom in whatever area He has been using you. 

    Many times its easy to look around and not see how we are going to pay the bills let alone step out in new areas God might be calling us in. 

    

    Remember we serve a God that is sovereign over our circumstances. He used ravens to feed Elijah when drought and famine surrounded him. He gave the children of Israel manna in the desert for 40 years. He definitely will come through for us if we put our trust in Him.

Prayer Requests

    Please keep us in your prayers especially these new areas that God has called us to step out in. For me public speaking has always been difficult so I am really being stretched with these teaching opportunities.

Also for the Salon and the Pura Vida center there are many needs especially in the areas of finance.

    Also for our personal finances and different areas like my trip to Peru next month where we need to see the money come in for this. If you would like to partner with us financially you can do so by sending a check to the address below. Along with the check please send a note that says “For Nathan and Cole”

Missionary Christian Fellowship

3 Linden Rd.

Watsonville, CA 95076


God Bless...


Nathan & Cole

California update

Boy it sure is hard to keep up with the crazy sequence of events this past week! Sometimes when we are hanging on to God it feels like we're flapping in the wind! But we sure can testify that God is more than faithful in all his ways.

I shared before how this situation came about in the craziest way.  After the accident last Monday evening, the doctors at the hospital in Pichilemu tried to put my jigsaw puzzle ear back together but could not. They sent me in an ambulance to a city about an hour and a half away. There is a hospital and a surgeon there. She made a better attempt to fix it but also was not really successful. So by Wednesday was thinking about having the bad part removed. Julie said she didn't mind being married to Mr Spock so I was accepting the apparent outcome as well.

Then on Thursday a good friend from California contacted me saying his friend wanted to operate on my ear. He is a plastic surgeon who lives in Modesto and a wonderful Christian man.

 I told our friends on the team that was visiting us about the opportunity and they said they would help with the airfare. So that same Thursday night I purchased round trip tickets to San Francisco for Saturday night. I traveled to Dallas with the team. We parted paths and they went on to San Diego.

After an all night flight, I arrived and went straight to church. After sharing some with the church, I drove and hour and a half straight to Modesto. By 3 PM Sunday I started a 3 hour procedure. It was very complicated as there was much to rebuild. I knew it was going to be 'fun' when he pulled out an electric saw! He had to remove dead tissue and did a marvelous job restoring the rest!

So here I am in California recovering once again but now with an ear that is on the right track. God sure is faithful! My dad said this procedure would cost more than $20,000 US! God is and will continue to supply all the resources to meet the challenges ahead. Thanks so much to all who have been praying for me and supporting us in this difficult time. The worst seems to be about over.

So happy to be serving Jesus, no matter the circumstances. The Bible says that all things work for the good to those who are in Christ. Even our difficult moments are so meaningful when our hearts are set to please Him. He sure deserves all that we are and all that we have.

May God richly bless you as you seek to serve him.
In Him, Mitch, Juliette, Nathan, Cole', Jessica, Janelle, Michaela, Katrina Anderson

Support address:
Missionary Christian Fellowship
3 Linden Rd.
Watsonville, CA. 95076

Greetings to all from Pichilemu, Chile!

We hope and pray this note finds you in good health and enjoying Gods love. We have been through an eventful few weeks. We wrapped up our summer with an awesome swim meet and had some 250 swimmers show up. Many others were afraid of possible tsunamis so they did not come down our way. Those who came said it was the best meet of the year. We shared God's love through preaching, music, dance, drama, and evangelism. God sure showed up!

HAWAII TRIP
Juliette and I were invited to go to Kona Hawaii for some international leaders meetings right after the meet. What a privilege it is to get together with YWAM's top leadership to pray, give reports, and strategies for the future. We stayed down at a friends place on the water front. So when the horrible Japanese quake sent the tsunami, we found ourselves sleeping in our rental car up the hill. Two tsunamis in one year! I think God is trying to say something!

We spent another week teaching in one of the schools on the campus. It was such a blessing to be together and share our lives with the students and staff. He met with all of us in such amazing ways! He sure is faithful!

We then were invited to Kauai for four days. We stayed up on the north shore with some amazing friends and of course surfed every day. It was perfect. They live next door to Laird Hamilton and so I had some good conversation with him out in the water. We also spent quality time with Julie's brother and his family while there. God is good!

We hit the ground running when we arrived here with new faces, schools, ministries, and teams arriving. We now have an awesome group of servant hearted people from a great church down near San Diego. So between construction projects, outreaches, schools and teachings, we have been pretty busy.



Prayer needs/Mitchs Accident
I ( Mitch) am in the midst of a real challenging situation. We went surfing on Sunday evening with my kids and some team members. A friend offered to take us home in the back of his truck. We jumped on board and he headed out on the beach. It was pretty dark and he was going about 40 MPH on the sand. Some one had stretched a cable or thick rope from up in the dunes down to the ocean. My head was above the level of the cab and so was Janelle's. The cable hit me so quickly I had no time to react. I was so happy to be in front as I deflected it for Janelle. She was just smacked on the head. It bruised my jaw, tore my ear off, and bruised my head! I lost a piece of ear on the beach and we hurried to emergency as I held my ear in place. They tried to sew it up but it was too badly mangled. They sent me in ambulance to a bigger hospital and a surgeon worked on it for hours trying to put the pieces back together again.

As I was in the ambulance, I had the most amazing sense of God's peace! Even with the excruciating pain I found myself crying for pure joy! I had such a sense of God's close presence and love that the circumstances I was in were really inconsequential! I knew that if the cable caught me an inch or two lower, I would have been decapitated and thrown back on my daughter! I realized if that had happened I would be in Gods presence but my family would really be hurting. It truly a heaven and earth moment. Like Paul I really felt a desire to be in Gods presence, but knew my time was not yet. My time will come and I look forward to it! It just was not that Sunday.

Death can come upon us at the most 'random' and unexpected time! At that moment, I felt such peace because it was 'well with my soul'! I was really ready to go! It was amazing! I so desire to be ready to go 24/7 for the rest of my days here on earth. What an awesome promise we have as believers in Jesus! We will spend eternity in His presence worshipping and adoring Him! Let's live out the rest of our days with eternity stamped on our hearts!

Please pray as part of the ear puzzle is not getting reconnected well. I will go in on Thursday to the surgeon to see if they can save it. I told the doctor no worries I always liked Mr Spoke on Star Trek! I will just have to get my eyebrows lifted for the full effect. Seriously please pray for my full recovery and for the finances to cover these visits to the hospital. If I lose half my ear it's my wife who will suffer most. She will have to look at me maybe for many tears to come. But that's in Gods hands isn't it?

Thanks again for all your prayers and support. Our lives serving the King of Kings are truly full of his grace and love. Your friendship, prayers and support really help to make that possible.

Blessings, Mitch Juliette, Jessica, Janelle, Michaela, and Katrina Anderson

Support Address;
Missoionary Christian Fellowship
3 Linden Rd.
Watsonville, CA. 95076

Back in Chile

Greetings,

We are back in Pichilemu after being out of the country for 5 months.We left Mexico back in December to spend Christmas with my Grandparents in California.From there we caught our flight back to Chile just in time for New Years.

OUR CHILEAN SUMMER

Surf Contest

After we returned from the wedding we had only about 3 weeks to plan this years Pura Vida Fest.It was a great opportunity to witness to the community.We had 4 Christian rock bands playing on the beach during the contest.about 40 competitors signed up.We were planning on having a two day event but the weather started taking a turn for the worse and the forecast said it would be blown out the next day.This meant having to cram everything into one day.Thankfully we were able to do this and finish everything before dark.God really showed himself to be in control of our circumstances and more than just a surf contest or live music we were able to share our faith and witness to surfers and spectators alike.A lot of people were also amazed to hear rock bands(heavy metal, Punk, hardcore) full on sharing about Jesus.We were also able to hand out tracks on the beach and even give away a few Surfer Bibles.

Australia Team

We Had a group of 23 people visit us from the land down under this year.Half of the team was from Christian Surfers and the other half from Misfit Aid.These guys stayed with us a little over two weeks and did an amazing job during their time here.We were in charge of their accommodations and food while they were here so it was a full time operation.We had a really great time with these guys and it was great to be part of what God did through them in our community.you can read a summary of their trip on Bretts Blog

WINTER AND FALL PLANS

Beauty Salon

The guys from Australia built the newest branch of our Pura Vida center; a full on Beauty Salon to serve the community.It was my dads latest Idea and it is a really a great vision; a beauty parlor is a place where women go not only to get a haircut but also for social interaction(that's is about all I know about beauty parlors).Along with the gym, Dance Studio, and Swimming pool it is a way to minister to the practical needs of the community and be an open door to share the Gospel. 

Cole Just started going to beauty School this week in Santiago.She will be going to school Monday through Wednesday for the next 3 months.She will be starting this new ministry here so please keep her in your prayers.

Local Surfer Outreach/Pura Vida Center(new website)

We have started with a Surfers Bible Study every Tuesday at our Pura Vida internet Cafe.Next week we will also begin a weekly worship night, movie night and game night.We are also going to surfing once a week and seeking new strategies to disciple the young Surfers in our town.Our goal is to keep the comunity center active during the off season.We really felt God calling us to establish relationships and begin discipling the young people that surround us.This also means that we will not be going to california this year thus once again breaking our Endless summer routine.At the same time we have a good group of people to work with and very excited for what is to come.

We have a new website http://www.puravidachile.com/  with information on our schools and the activities we are runing in the sports complex.
we have a lot of pictures from this summer there so check it out!

Our Home/Recording Studio
One of things God placed on our hearts since we arrived is to move ahead with our House.During the summer we received an offering and felt led to begin leveling off our land for our future home.We were pleasantly surprised last week to hear that a team from California is going to help us lay the foundation for our house.They arrive the first week of April which gives us only a few weeks to get the plans done, approved and prepare for pouring the slab.Our idea is a two story house with a large living room upstairs so that we can host surfer bible studies and other activities.We plan on making the First floor a recording studio that will be used to produce Christian bands and influence the Arts and entertainment industry.We are excited with the vision God has given us.

SURF SKATE SNOW DTS October 2011
We are preparing for our DTS.mostly working on promoting the school and outreach planing.God has places a number of things on our hearts.one is to plan a tour through the major cities in Chile having skate demos and bring some Christian bands along.our goal is also to give away 500 bibles along the way as well as design some gospel tracks to hand out during the trip.This is a big vision but we believe it is something God has placed on our hearts and cant wait for the school to start.

Tsunami Most of you have probably heard about the earthquake that hit Japan.It sent out Tsunamis that made it all the way to the Chilean coast.The coastal area of our town was evacuated and as usual people fled for our hill.Another problem was that a storm came in that night and people not only needed high ground but also a place to get out of the rain.The municipality called us and we were able to open our facilities to shelter people from the community.It seems like every time we are becoming more established as a place of refuge when disaster strikes.

Prayer Needs
Since finishing our Leadership Training School in Mexico.We have really felt God leading us to work full time in the ministry here in Pichilemu.The School also challenged us to establish a long term plan for the next five years.One area that has been somewhat of an adventure(as in the case of most missionaries) has been our finances.We are going to have our first wedding anniversary this month and I am thankful to say that God has provided for us in incredible ways this year.The truth is that up to this point we have not had any kind of predictable financial support.We feel God leading us to seek people who believe in what we are doing and would be willing to make a monthly commitment to support our ministry.Our monthly goal for living expenses here is 600 dollars a month.Would you prayerfully consider partnering with us in this area?We also would like to ask you to keep us in your prayers.


If you would like to make a one time tax deducible donation please send checks(with a note saying its for Nathan and Cole) to:

Missionary Christian Fellowship
3 Linden Rd
Watsonville, CA. 95076



or you can do it online through Paypal