Summer Missions 2026 Week 1: Chile

Hello, everyone! I hope all of you are well. This update will tell you what we have done so far since we left!

Our flights were great. We started in Dallas and flew to Bogota, Colombia. However, our time there was very limited since we only had 20 minutes until the next flight! Thankfully, God made a way and the workers there helped us get on without issue. After a total of 12 to 13 hours of flying, we landed in Santiago at around 5am. We were tired and hungry, but El Oasis, the campus ministry we will be working with this month, provided transport to their building, breakfast, and a place to sleep through the rest of the morning.

The next couple of days were fairly busy, however. After brief introductions were shared over lunch, we hit the ground running and helped clean and prepare food for El Oasis’ Worship/Dinner night called La Ventana, which translates to  “The Window.” However, we also had to prepare some food for the weekend retreat. It was challenging, but it didn't take long for us to get a good rhythm down to help. We were also able to meet a few of the student regulars who helped as well. The worship night went great! We couldn't understand much, but we did have some students who could speak English well enough to translate. This is also where the El Oasis Staff introduced us to the students. After everything ended, we were able to hang out with a few students and play some games with them. After the worship night, we spent most of the next day cleaning and packing before leaving for a weekend retreat, which we left for that evening.

The retreat was in a beautiful area surrounded by hills and mountains. We slept in cabins (which got very cold at night) in groups of 5. The name of the retreat was Desarmando Fortrezas (disarming fortresses). The theme focused on finding healing in Christ and opening yourself up to a Christian community.

We participated in many group activities and games while we were there. We were put into teams of 8-10 with our mission group split between the four teams. We communicated as best as we could with our teams while making and presenting flags based on our team color, making and destroying piñatas in clever ways, playing a massive game of capture the flag, and finishing with spin the wheel where each team who spun would have to complete a challenge for points.

During the retreat, they also held two worship services with a couple of guest speakers. The talks focused heavily on rejection and pulled from the story of David where David's family didn't present him to Samuel and placed him in the field to tend to the sheep. Following the talks, there were activities and discussions structured around the messages that were meant to help students connect with each other's stories and relate those stories to the discussion topics.

Following one of the worship services, we were blessed with the opportunity to witness the baptisms of two students, Xavi and Ame. Austin was even able to help with music and played guitar during the ceremony.

Probably the most surprisingly fun part of the retreat was cooking for the students. Three members of our team helped cook and serve each meal. This was right up our alley, given how much cooking we do at ACF, and we were very grateful for the opportunity to bless the El Oasis community in a way that is such a core part of our ministry.

The retreat was an amazing experience for all of us. Even though we didn't get much rest after the flights, us being able to rush head first into the events allowed us to make strong first impressions with the students and start amazing friendships that are continuing to grow.

After the retreat, we reached our hostel. It's in a nice part of town, and only a short walk from El Oasis. It's a very comfortable place to spend a month in Chile, and as a nice bonus is right next to several good restaurants and an incredible ice cream shop.

As I am writing this update, we are finishing up our first day of our usual weekly schedule. Over the next four weeks, we will have plenty of opportunities to build friendships with the students at El Oasis, as well as several opportunities to do outreach to the local universities and service projects in Santiago.

It's only been a few days since we've been here, but it's evident that God has already begun working here. We are so excited for what God will do through the rest of this month, and we thank you for all of your support and many prayers.

In Christ,

Caleb and the Chile 2026 Mission Team