Chances are you don’t know much about the Chilean Navy. Its origins date back to 1817 and today boasts some 25,000 strong personnel including 5,200 marines, 65 surface vessels, 21 combat ships, 4 submarines, and a small fleet of aircraft. From its earliest days, the Chilean Navy has had the task of patrolling and securing roughly 4,000 miles of coastline.
Chances are you also don’t know about “Iglesia Flotante” (Floating Church), an evangelical organization affiliated with the Chilean Navy. Iglesia Flotante has one physical church located in the Antarctic, Beagle Channel seaport town of Puerto Williams. The church is led by marines who are assigned to the Navy base. When they return to their own cities, the Templo assigns another marine to take charge.
So it was that Héctor and his wife, Pamela (or Pame), moved from the small town of Puerto Williams and their little “Floating Church” back to their beautiful hometown coastal city called Viña del Mar (a 68-hour car ride north from Puerto Williams).
Meet Héctor & Pamela Henriquez Galarce, married 19 years and parents of Javiera (18), Gabriel (14) and Matías (10). Héctor, now retired from the Chilean Navy, is an engineer working in Cyber Security. He and Pame are also faithfully serving the Lord at Union Church where Héctor oversees the men’s ministries and Pame oversees the children ministries. They have been a part of our LOGOI family for many years.
Several years back we sent Héctor a book written by LOGOI’s founder, Dr. Les Thompson, La Persona que soy (The Person I Am) which meant a great deal to Héctor. But what put huge smiles on their faces was another gift that came with the book: a sports coat sent as a gift by one of our LOGOI Board Members, Rankin Fowlkes. “It was such a surprise,” Pame writes, “because it was exactly the right size for Héctor, and even more surprising is that he still has it and it is well taken care of. He calls it his ‘pastoral jacket.’”
And then this: “I wanted to tell you that my grandfather passed away,” Pame writes. “He was very special to me. I felt such sadness and told my children, ‘Today not only my grandfather died, but now I am no longer a granddaughter.’ Then you (LOGOI’s Grandma Carolyn) came along, and now I feel like a granddaughter again!” We can never know how God uses us. From a “floating church” to a book to a sports coat to an encouraging email, God is always at work. Nothing is ever lost. What a wonderful, amazing God we serve! Now, will you take a moment and pray for Héctor and Pame? Like so many, they report Covid has hit their community hard “bringing all kinds of anxiety and stress.” Pray not only for their safety and health but that God will continue to use them and bless them as they proclaim the Good News.
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Your gifts are used to help train and equip national missionaries like Héctor & Pamela to help proclaim the Gospel and make disciples all over the Spanish-speaking world. Now you know a little more about one of them.