Update from the Barkley's (January 2017)

Dear <<First Name>>,

Greetings from beautiful (and HOT) Santiago. We hope everyone is well.

As many of you know, we were able to go to the United States for Christmas again this year. It was wonderful to spend time with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who made our stay so enjoyable. Our son, Brandon and his wife, April, opened they home to us and gave us an opportunity to spoil our grandchildren. (I have to say, THAT was really fun!) 

While we were there, I had some medial tests done. Dr. Lever, my cardiologist, wanted me to wear a 30-day Cardiac Event Monitor to look at my heart rhythms. This monitor doesn't function outside the United States, so I had to request a 30-day Medical Leave. The results of the monitor showed that a pacemaker was not called for in my case. I still have the fatigue, skipped beats, shortness of breath and everything that goes with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). However, he did release me to come back to Chile. We arrived here on February 16th.

During the last month or so, Chile was ravaged by huge forest fires. In all, over one million acres were destroyed by these fires. Fortunately, none of our churches were damaged, even though at least one of them was in the middle of one of the worse affected areas. One family did lose everything they had. We will be trying to see what we can do to help them with this loss.

A couple weeks ago we dedicated a new church in Las Torres (in Santiago). They have already managed to buy a building and remodel it, making a beautiful place of worship. In the last month or two, we have also opened a new church in Rancagua, a city just south of Santiago. God is moving and we are so very thankful to see and be a part of what He is doing.