Antofagasta

Today was Sunday so of course we went to church. 10am is an English language service with a handful of people who are either of English descent or are here in Antofagasta to work - usually connected in some way with the huge copper mines nearby. Bruce asked me to preach at this service, based on the last chapter of "Basic Christianity" by John Stott, which they've been following, so I hastily prepared a sermon on Saturday which was possibly too long but well received nonetheless (No comments thanks Kevin!).
The 11:30am service is in Spanish with around 70-80 people including a number of children and teenagers. The music is lively, with vocals led by Alexandra Hallyburton.

After church the Hallyburtons invited two of the women whose husbands were away to come to lunch. A very pleasant lunch and conversation - both women spoke English which was good for us.
A quick note on meal times: It seems that most Chileans have their main meal in the middle of the day (in today's example that meant 2:30pm). They then have a lighter tea in the evening some time between 7:30 and 10 depending on whether its a week night or weekend. So for us Aussies that's meant a bit of adjustment to our practice, though the Peters did take pity on us when we first arrived and cooked a full dinner for us that first night.



After lunch (around 5:30) we went for a long walk with the two girls along the beach front. There are 3 beaches that have had white sand shipped in to create a sandy beach instead of the local dirt beaches. Naturally these are packed with people when it's hot and even today there were plenty of people sitting on the sand or swimming in the not very warm water.