In the city of Ushuaia Argentina, on Tierra de Fuego, they like to claim to being the world’s most southern city, or to being "the end of the world". Puerto Williams, Chile in the community of Cape Horn, on the Navarino Island, has taken up the standard as the city “south of the end of the world”. Puerto Williams is a city of contrasts. It is a major Chilean navy base and a fishing port. This is where most of Chile's king crab or "Centolla" is caught and processed. It is also a beautiful city placed in a harsh and dangerous climate. While it is literally at the end of the world, it is also a port to great adventure.
In a meeting with Mayor Jose Soto in January it was determined that a medical team should be invited to come and do lectures in the schools and community centers in the city. The mayor also requested that the team see patients during their stay on the island. The problem was that there was no permission to do medical treatment. He assumed the responsibility of seeking out permits and making the logistic plans. A team was invited with the understanding that they might only be allowed to do health lectures, but with a slim possibility to treat patients. After two months and not a lot of communication permission was granted to see patients. The only problem remaining was that there were no seats on the flights in or out of Puerto Williams, and the only other means of traveling to the city is by ferry, which takes nearly two days one way. Plan B was worked to take the medical team to other cities in and around Punta Arenas. At the 11th hour the mayor was able to convince the airline company to put on another flight – the team would be using more than half of the seats. So Plan A was reworked and made into Plan C.
Finally, during the first week of April a medical team of 7 professionals from First Baptist Church of Concord, in Knoxville TN came to the Southern Patagonia. They would be here only one week and that week happened to be Holy Week, which is always difficult to plan activities so close to Easter Sunday.
The team invited Dr. Jorge Flies and his family to accompany them on a short outing on Sunday. It was a time to share needs and desires to help the people of the region in the area of health care. Dr. Flies is also a deacon in a local Baptist church in Punta Arenas. Plans for future projects were discussed while the team enjoyed a Patagonian barbeque of lamb and salmon in a country setting.
Sunday evening the team visited the Las Vertientes Baptist church where they led several discussions related to health needs. Doug Bailey was able to present the Gospel through his testimony. It is a blessing that there are many ways of sharing the Gospel, including talking about God’s perfect plan for health. Some 80 people were in attendance.
Monday morning the team headed north to the small village of Villa O’Higgins in the community of San Gregorio. This is an old sheep ranching station. The team spoke with students at the local elementary school. Subjects such as good nutrition, avoiding drug abuse, self esteem, and sexuality were shared with the students and parents in the community. Throughout the week the topic of nutrition was a challenge because of the shortage of affordable fruits and vegetables in the region. Meat and potatoes are the staple diet for people of the southern Patagonia.
Tuesday morning the 7 professionals and 3 translators boarded a very small (20 passenger) plane and headed south to Puerto Williams. It was not certain if the bags or the passengers would have to stay behind, but finally both were satisfactorily loaded onto the plane and it started its journey. About 20 minutes before landing the plane flew over Ushuaia across the Beagle canal on Tierra de Fuego.
Marcela, the city’s administrator was at the airport to greet the team and take everyone to the hostel Pusaki (bed and breakfast), which is one of the few places in town that provides housing for visitors to the island. It was a new and unusual adventure for the team to have such close quarters. Ten people sharing two baths is tight but the family of the owners also appeared in the mornings or evening to use the facilities, adding to the wait. Though the wood-burning heaters provided good warmth the team members usually were cold in the mornings. Getting out from under 3-4 woolen blankets was a challenge in bravery as well as strength. The first night the team was uncomfortable with leaving the front door unlocked as well as sleeping in rooms where in order to have warmth the doors needed to stay open. By the second night nobody thought anything about the system. As the mayor explained, there is no crime on the island. If one stole a car, where would they take it? If they tried to escape by swimming they would freeze before getting very far from shore.
As He always does, the Lord had been planning the trip long before we began the process. Marcela, we discovered is a Christian and very involved in her church. When visiting with the director of the school it was discovered that he too is a Christian. He was most pleased that the talks related to sex were going to be based on scripture and not on the premise of protection. In every class, whether it was related to sex or nutrition the opportunity was present to share God’s love and salvation. Every student and teacher present received a tract as well as a Gospel of John as a gift. The team left copies of the “Jesus film” with many people in the town, including the mayor, school leaders, etc.
One of the greatest challenges was with translators. The team had been promised two translators for the four days of work. The problems were great: one translator did not understand very much English and was more concerned in the children not misbehaving than in what was being said; and the other translator was unable to leave her role as secretary at city hall. Thus, changes took place again to combine classes so that the three missionary translators could cover them. While it wasn’t perfect to human thought, the Lord was in control the entire time.
In the evenings the city scheduled several conferences. For the most part these were attended by mothers who were interested in caring for their families. Most of the fathers work in the fishing industry or are related to the navy base. If they are fishermen they are gone from home for 30-90 days at a time during the fishing season. That puts additional stress on the wives and mothers. They were eager to attend the conferences.
On the medical side of the project, Dr. Blake was able to see many patients, being allowed to use the naval clinic’s facilities as well as the local Red Cross facilities on the island. Jeanne Nelson also had a full load of patients as she gave them exercises and 
treatment for their various aches and pains. Usually one or both pharmacists were nearby to fill the prescriptions from the medicines that the team had brought. More than $1,000 worth of medicines was left at the naval clinic to be used with those in the community, as needed. The navy doctor received the drugs with great appreciation.
One of the greatest concerns on the island is related to emotional health. Many people turn to alcohol, smoking, or severe depression as they try to cope with the isolation. This is especially true of the women. Puerto Williams is a beautiful and safe place to live, but the winters are hard, and the people are a long way from 
civilization. One such person is Margarita. She works as a volunteer with the Red Cross. She had a visit with Dr. Blake Thursday morning. Margarita was concerned about an upcoming test that could prove to be cancer. During the consultation she was presented hope for her concerns. She was presented the “4 Spiritual Laws” and then prayed to ask Jesus into her life. What a joy to see the change that came over her face. As she went around the building she shared that she had prayed to receive Christ into her life and what a change it had made in her heart. Pray for Margarita as she continues to seek the medical attention that she needs, for her family, and for her own spiritual growth.
Nelson has been an alcoholic for the last 20 years but has not been drinking for the last 9 months. He had come to the point of nearly losing his family, his health, and his ability to work. He came to see the doctor but it was while he was being treated by Jeanne for neck stress that he was open to hearing the Gospel message and he too received Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Praise the Lord for this change. It is not going to be easy for Nelson but with the Lord’s help and direction he can not only survive but be strengthened. Pray for him and his family. At least three other adults prayed to receive Jesus during visits with the doctor. Marcela has agreed to follow up with these new believers as they seek more knowledge of His will for their lives.
The team at school continued to share that the young people had choices and could chose for the good or for their bad. After a class about drug abuse and sexuality three high school girls followed the team back to the hostel and asked how they could know Jesus personally. Praise the Lord for the freedom to share the Gospel in schools and with young people.
Friday afternoon the team headed back north to Punta Arenas where they had dinner with Dr. Flies once more and planned for some future projects in the southern Patagonia. Saturday morning this team returned to the United States in time to celebrate with family t
he resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the reason that they had come to Chile.
What was discovered during this week?
- People need the Lord whether they live in a large city or in an isolated spot south of the end of the earth.
- Lives can be changed when we are willing to share the love of God.
- It often takes many people to plant, water and bring in the harvest for the Lord, or it might only take a minute.
- We just must be faithful to share and let Him be the Lord of the harvest.
