We are not alone
Dead and injured in France. Chaos and panic. Blood and tears. And where is God? Did science bury God or has suffering been personified in the grave? Is God silent, and no where to be found? In the midst of all the doubt and questions, the following story reports God in action and present today. Read it for yourself…
Chris and Sandi Welch and their seven children live in Sydney. The 50 year old has been working as an electrical engineer for the past 26 years in the Australian commercial radio and TV broadcast industry. He has worked his way up to be National Engineering Manager where he is in charge of the broadcast for the Metro TV networks’ Seven, Nine and Ten in Australia.
The Welch love their children and their country, but their faith is the most important thing for them. That is the basis for their decision to sell their newly renovated house (with a pool etc.) in 2010. They now rent the smaller, more modest house next door. This meant they are not only free of their debts, but are also more flexible in the hope that God will one day show them which great assignment he has for them. Commercial television might be lucrative, but it is pretty hollow says Chris. Chris and Sandi find themselves unwittingly setup.
In March 2015, a good friend Lilli Wilkinson calls Sandi and says “Sandi, I have just read this book about an incredible faith mission work in Peru. It is called ‘Hope in the Andes’. I read it in tears. You have to get this book as fast as possible.” Now, Sandi has a lot to do having seven kids as you might imagine, and just doesn’t have the time to read it at that stage. However on 23 March she is resigned to the couch for a week due to a toe operation. Now she unexpectedly gets the chance to read the book. Emotion and a calling wells up in Sandi. Given this impact, Chris then reads the book to the whole family as a bedtime story.
On the last page the author Janet Benge asks the medical missionary: “Klaus, after a hospital, children’s club house and school, what is next?” “When I look to the mountains“, the German-Peruvian responds, “a media center comes to my mind. It would offer us an endless amount of possibilities and would communicate the good news of the cross and empty grave to hundreds of thousands.”
Chris and Sandi are quickened. The world of media, transmitters and antennas is their world. Could this be the great assignment they have been waiting for? They flip to the first page to see what year was the book was published and are quickened by realising it was as recent as 2014.
On 27 March the two of them click onto the website of Diospi Suyana for the first time. It gives them a chill. That exact day Johannes Bahr mentions in his construction report that the building of the Diospi-Suyana-media centre is in progress. A few hours later Chris Welch writes an e-mail to Dr. John attaching his CV and offers his services to assist in the broadcast engineering work. The medical missionary lays low, responding only that he will contact them over the phone in the future.
On another front, in 2014 the Australian government executed an elaborate campaign to “Restack” almost all television stations in Australia. This meant all antennas and transmitters were adjusted or replaced, then measured/surveyed and commissioned to tight standards. After completion of the work, 29 sets of valuable digital measurement equipment were to be auctioned at a fraction of their true value. “We would need exactly this test equipment in Curahuasi“, Chris and Sandi Welch say to themselves. Although they don’t have a consent from Peru yet, they dare to take the renowned leap of faith and purchase what they need from the auction. They spent $25,865 Australian dollars (about €18,000 Euro) of their personal funds in purchasing one of the last available sets they need.
Tuesday, 7 April: Eleven boxes of valuable equipment were picked up and brought home to their living room. Chris and Sandi make themselves a cup of tea and take a seat on their couch to ponder on the risky venture they have just undertaken. Exactly in this minute the phone rings with Dr. John on the line calling from Peru to discuss the broadcast opportunity! They have a friendly conversation where the medical missionary confirms: “Indeed we are in the process of advancing our media work…”
In the spring of 2016 the Welch plan to depart to Peru. By then the family will have extended to 8 children with their new addition arriving in March.
Chris Welch appeared on scene just in time. With his great experience in the area of broadcast media technology, his strong faith in Christ and his willingness. He could play a key role in the realisation of Diospi Suyana’s vision for the long term future. He and his wife see themselves led by God in this journey which strongly emboldens them. And us too!
