We first met with our Chilean brethren on the Sabbath of Jan. 20. I had wanted to visit them for many years. We have helped many young people here with educational scholarships through LifeNets, and it was good meeting them and seeing how they have fared.

We held a two-day ministerial and leadership conference on Monday and Tuesday, Jan. 22-23. On Monday the entire church was invited, and on Tuesday the meetings were for all our ministers in Latin America. Our ministry from Mexico, Bolivia and Chile were present. Our elders representing Guatemala and Colombia were connected via videoconferencing.

Elders were able to bring forward challenges in their ministries, and the entire group joined in and discussed solutions. This was so enlightening and effective that I decided to use this in our U.S. conference in Portland, Oregon, a few weeks later.

We then traveled to neighboring Argentina, where we met with the Sabbath-keepers in Oberá in the northern Misiones Province of Argentina. We have established a friendship with them and have been offering pastoral support to them for more than two years.

On March 1, 2017, Don Ward, on behalf of the Council of Elders, wrote the following to them:

“After a recent presentation by Mario Seiglie, the senior pastor of the Spanish regions, concerning your request to have a close working relationship with the United Church of God, an International Association (UCGIA), the Council of Elders and the administration of UCGIA wish to convey our strong support for your request to serve your congregations in administrative and pastoral areas.

“Your story and spiritual journey to follow God's Word in faithful obedience is truly inspiring and reminds us that our Heavenly Father calls those whom He will call, where He will call them, and when He will call them to follow Jesus Christ (John 6:44). It gives us cause to rejoice when we consider how great and loving our God truly is. It is one thing to take a stand, but it is clearly inspiring to see people remain standing for God's ageless truths—including keeping the Sabbath and all of God’s Feast days.

“In honor of your request, we will be sending pastors and ministers, including Jaime Gallardo and Jaime Diaz, to serve your spiritual needs. Please receive them in the spirit of brotherly love and respect. We have the utmost confidence in their stewardship as dedicated ministers of Jesus Christ and as bridge-builders between peoples who share common beliefs.”

On the Sabbath of Jan. 27 Mario Seiglie and I gave sermons as well as conducted a Bible study to the 75 in attendance. Many of the people are of German origin. Some in the group were Ukrainian.

A highlight was when Mario and I spoke on the radio on a regular evening three-hour radio program. The radio station is owned and operated by one of the members and features United Church of God content. They have preached repeatedly about the Holy Days, and over a period of two years 14 families have started attending. Since they did not have a ministry, they asked for our pastors to baptize them, which they did.

We appreciated being able to visit here and discussed further what steps need to be taken for integration into the United Church of God. 

You can read a detailed account of this trip on Mr. Kubik's travel blog: http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog/victorkubik/22