Testimony of Carolina Ramos

The first time that I visited the Shalom Center was with the Children’s and Adolescent Department of the Pentecostal Church of Chile.  Our work was to organize and to write the Sunday school materials for the National Church.  We went on a retreat to the Shalom Center.

The first time that I visited the Shalom Center was with the Children’s and Adolescent Department of the Pentecostal Church of Chile.  Our work was to organize and to write the Sunday school materials for the National Church.  We went on a retreat to the Shalom Center.
One of the activities was to walk through “The Path of Shalom” in the company of Jesus, as did the travelers on the road to Emmaus in the Biblical story.  As we walked the path, reading scripture passages and looking at the beauty of centennial trees, the surrounding blue sky and the tip of the Centinela Mountain, I understood, perhaps for the first time, the magnitude of what God has given us in His creation.  Along the forest there are various places that had been burned by the woodcutters and coal miners of the area, evidence of the destruction and the carelessness of humanity.  In a corner of one of these areas, scorched and empty with the exception of ash and burned trunks, I found a flower.  It grew bravely and happy in a place of death.  I understood that God was giving me a live image of the hope that would remain in my mind for the remainder of my life.  Later, seated before the waterfall, I meditated on life in the midst of death and destruction.  I thanked God for this place, this sanctuary, where His presence is evidenced in each leaf, insect and stone.  I understood that day that no matter what happens, He is with me.  I felt at the Shalom Center the hug of the God of life and that is an experience I never will forget.  Shared by,

Elena Huegel

Elena Huegel is a missionary with the Pentecostal Church of Chile (IPC). She serves as an environmental and Christian education specialist.