How strange, I am back in my home culture now. I have the foods, bedtimes, and bathrooms that I am used to; I can speak to everyone without screaming for Jennie, or stressing out every single one of my brain cells to conjure up a single sentence, and best of all? Lots of down time and peanut butter with a spoon. I should be completely blissful at the moment right? Well, it is probably not the best time to ask such a question as I am not completely coherent at the moment due to a tidal wave of fatigue that pounded my senses this morning. I was doing fine since we returned on Friday, but now it all suddenly hit me and I am really tired. At any rate, I have to say that I miss Argentina very much. We made many great friends and got to see a beautiful side of the world. I plan on going back someday, hopefully soon.
To finish up the last week in Argentina, we spent as much time as possible with people from the churches we worked with. Monday morning we went to the Supermarket and stocked up on maté, dulce de leche, and chimichurri. Tuesday we went back to Lanus to say goodbye to everyone there, and we concluded our time in South America with a big presentation on Weds. night. We spent most of the day inviting people and practicing new dances which we performed with the Jesus Group. Because of the rain, we did not have quite the attendance we were hoping for, but we made the most of it and the evening was so much fun. It was our last time to dance and perform with them, and some of them had to say goodbye that night, so it was a night of many emotions. Afterward, we went back to the house we were staying in and stayed up joking around for awhile as usual. Thursday dawned as any other day, except for the fact that this day involved meticulously cramming all our junk into suitcases (yes it is an artform), trying to figure out how to make room for several Kilos of maté and dulce de leche, and stuffing our faces with the last tastes of Argentinian bread. A decent group of people came to see us off. We left the church in a van, but then our friends decided to make the last possible goodbye in the airport so they followed us by taking the train. 5 minutes before we had to go through security, they all came running through the doors and we spent several moments cheek-kissing and hugging repeatedly until everyone had watery eyes and sore arms. As I rounded the corner to customs, I looked back to wave one last time and completely broke down, I was very sad to leave all of them. The officer at the desk probably thought I was loca as I handed him a tear stained passport with a picture that hardly matched my marcara-marked face. After that dramatic exit, we had quite the trip ahead of us. It was still uncertain whether or not the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave would accept our dear leader onto it's soil since he is still in the process of renewing his visa. Our first flight was to San Paolo, Brazil where we spent two hours in the airport, finally getting to make fun of Jen being lost in translation as she was startled by a security guard shouting in Portuguese. The next flight was to Atlanta, Georgia where we arrived after a 10 hour flight of no sleep (but there were personal tv screens at each seat so that was a bonus, at least I was entertained). From there, God miraculously brought all 6 of us through security, customs and all that with about 10 minutes to spare! By late morning on Friday, we touched down in NYC, where we were all blissfully enjoying the cool air on our sun-torched skin until reality hit and we shivered the whole 3 hours back to Coatesville in our t-shirts sitting in a car with no heat.
Now we are staying in Lancaster and commuting regularly to Coatesville. We are having team sessions to talk about what God has done in our lives and how to now readjust to America. Now I am faced with the questions of "what is next?" and "can I really sleep in a room by myself now?". I dont know what God has in store for me now, but I am excited to see where life will go now that I am ready and willing to listen to His voice.
I will probably write once or twice more to keep you all updated on transitional stuff. But for now, I will say that my graduation will be on Friday night at 7pm, here in the Coatesville Neighborhood Center. You're welcome to come if you so desire. Also, I once again want to thank all of you for your prayers and support, it was all much appreciated!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The last two weeks of foreign-ness
Once again this update is late, but there is much to describe and I am writing in short increments at a time because I am using the internet at random times in the evening (like midnight or later). But since I will be returning home soon and can give you all a nice long description of Chile, I will spare the novel that is in my brain at the moment. Suffice to say, last week was awesome. It was different from what we have been doing, but I really enjoyed this, it kept the trip interesting thats for sure : ).
We arrived in Puerto Montt late at night on Saturday and the next morning we decided to visit the church that Axis and Aarons DTS had stayed in when they were in Pto. Mtt. the year before. Upon arrival at the church it didnt take long for the people to decide that since we were such ¨honored guests¨ we should run the service for the morning. By now we are rather accostumed to last minute planning so we presented some dramas and Aaron preached one of his sermons from the church before. It went well all in all, and afterwards Hugo treated us to a lunch by the harbor in one of the main plazas of the city. Later, this would be a place where we would do the majority of our evangelism. Afterward, we went back to the house and surprised the family by finishing a painting project they were hoping to have done soon. That was fun because we got to do some manual service which we have wanted to do for awhile. Normally, the people here never want us to do anything for them no matter how much we protest.
Monday was probably my favorite free day of the trip thus far. Why? Because it was completely and totally free! We had no obligations to fill, mental notes to make, or guests come to visit. It was also a beautiful, temperate day in Chile. We went for a walk around the city and just soaked in the views of the sea and the mountains. It was a great time of relaxation and preparation for our trip to Tabón, which started the next day.
If Chile is hard to describe with words, Tabón is pretty much impossible. It is a sparcely populated island of about 450 people, definitely different from how where we have been staying. To get to the house where we spent 4 days, we took a bus, a boat, then walked for 30 minutes with all our luggage. It was quite the squeeze to make room for all us in the tiny house, but they were more than obliging to accomadate us. Our first few hours on the island were spent being captured fy Gods awesome creation. Seriously, Tabón is the most beautiful place I have ever visitted. The sunset would stretch all the way around the horizon, uninterrupted by anything manmade, simply the sea and moutains on other islands. There was a volcano nearby that recently ¨hiccuped¨ so to speak, and people were worried that it might have a full blown erruption soon...one of those ¨dear mom¨moments. But it looked so cool set to a sunset of brilliant colors. I think God invented some new colors for the sunset that night....just completely breathtaking! There were also cliffs, fields, flowers...this place had it all. At night we could see galaxies of stars. And there were a few times we had impromptu prayer and worship services with the family.
Our time on Tabon was spent doing chores for the family we were staying with, and being creative with how we did evangelism with the rest of the people on the island. The first day we walked all over the island doing house visits. Basically, we just spent some time with people in their house, talking with them, ministering or witnessing with them, and praying for them. We also were inviting people for the event we had planned for the next day. This event was supposed to start at 3, but being how the weather was crummy and we are in South America, we didnt get started until 4 and even then there werent that many people. We were pretty disappointed, but we did our presentations anyway, then spent some time with the kids. I know God can use whatever we give Him, so I am praying that the few people that came were impacted by what they saw. Afterwards, we went back to the beach where we liked to spend the majority of our time. Even though it is summer and we are in South America, Chile is relatively cool, and the ocean water is freezing. However, Aaron and Darrio decided to prove their manliness and go swimming. They lasted about 10-15 minutes, all the while trying to convince us that the water wasnt that bad. Being as how I am a lifeguard, I had the responsibity of looking out for sudden emergencies of muscle cramps, or Elias (who cant swim) being anywhere near the water...so of course I had to remain dry and alert : ).
Friday morning came early, we awoke with the sun then set out to catch the boat that would take us back to the mainland. It was a long walk, but there is no other place I would rather walk for an hour than on that island. The sunrise was just as beautiful as sunset. Arriving in Pto. Mtt. was almost disappointing, even though the views there were also spectacular. We had time to eat a quick lunch, then set out right away for evangelism in the plaza. The afternoon was interesting because although we had good conversations with people and they were all friendly and wanted to talk, no one was very open to the gospel. They all acted perfectly fine with their beliefs and their lives and nothing we said really made a difference. The next day was similair, we went out to the plaza in the morning, but didnt have much success. On top of this, many of us felt a kind of spiritual...something. Its hard to explain, but the place just felt really weird. There was a large group of gypsies in the plaza that day too, perhaps that had something to do with it. We also managed to end up talking to people with some really unique ideas. Jen talked to some Jehovahs Witnesses, Fallow found a ¨Roman Apostolic Christian¨(whatever that means), and I talked to several Catholics who didnt believe in a ¨god¨persay, just an energy that encourages those who live on the earth....???? I think I need to learn a little more about what other religions believe to help with this process. However, needless to say, we felt a bit discouraged as we went back to the house for lunch. THe plan was to go out again with some dramas after lunch, but in the afternoon we were hit with a mini typhoon. I think Hugo felt we needed some cheering up so he took us out for ice cream, which was nice, but I think we were all feeling a bit discouraged.
Sunday brought church again, though no surprise sermons this time. Once again, we planned to do presentations later, and once again it rained. So we waited out the rain and went to plaza again to do personal evangelism. On the way back, Elias decided to be our guide and ended up taking us hiking up a literal mountain through the city, around the city, criss-crossing through the city....an hour and a half later (being women) we ¨cowardly¨ asked for directions and eventually made it back to the house after dark (another ¨dear mom¨moment). We made it back just in time to help the family stack wood for an hour. By the time I went to bed I was beat!
The next day, Hugo told us that he was going to stay in chile for a few more days to work on visa stuff, so the rest of us headed back to argentina without him. The trip in total ended up being 37 hours! Our connecting bus left an hour late, and I soon discovered that the return trip would not be as comfortable at the first. We lovingly named our bus the Titanic because we travelled in the rain and the windows were not sealed on the top so a few hours into the trip we were ¨sinking¨ rapidly. Also, the meals on the bus were few and far between, by the end of the trip we were so hungry and thirsty that we practically inhaled the soup served to us. On the bright side (since I like to look for it) we got to watch ¨Happy Feet¨, ¨Over the Hedge¨, and ¨Superman¨in Spanish : ). We also met two really interesting couples who talked with us for hours. One couple was from Israel and they were taking a ¨long honeymoon¨in South America...they were on month 6. The other couple was from Holland and they had decided to work for several years, save up lots of money, then take a trip around the world. At the moment they were on month 11 of their journey and had visitted something like 20 countries.
In the end, when we finally staggered dramatically from the incarceration unit that employed the Chinese water torture technique (or the ¨bus¨ if you want to be technical), the poor people of the church were there to welcome us after waiting 3 hours in the bus station. Thus began our second week. We were divided into 3 houses this time instead of staying at the church, which was weird because we are used to being altogether all the time, but it worked out. I got to practice my Spanish since Jennie wasn´t with me.
This church was a bit different than the others because they already had a pretty strong evangelism team. Nevertheless, we still taught dramas and ¨way of the master¨classes. The nice thing was, since they were more experienced than some of the other churches, they knew of good places to go to present and to attract lots of kids. Hugo had been planning to teach a seminar that week, but since he wasnt there, he passed the reins to Aaron. Both services went amazingly well. As always, it was a pleasure getting to know everyone in the church. It is amazing to me how attached to someone you can become in a week. They offered us the chance to help with their ¨cafeteria¨for the children of the street. All we did was serve food and try to talk to them a bit and they became our best friends. I saw a few of the girls later when we were doing an event on the street and they all ran over and didnt leave my side until we were done. It makes our time here very special, I just love the kids!
Speaking of children, this past saturday, we did a presentation at an orphanage nearby. We stayed for lunch and played with the kids as well. I didnt even know the names of some of them, but they grabbed my hands and begged me not to leave when we were getting ready to go. It was heartbreaking to see how much they wanted to be loved and to have attention. At least the orphange was decently nice. The staff genuinely loved the kids and took care of them well. It was also a christian place so they were taught about Jesus. Even so, I wish I could give them all a family.
Well, today is our last free day in Argentina...and I finally took my turn of being sick. How annoying. I will survive, its only a cold and probably due to lack of sleep. The plan for this week is to get some shopping in before leaving, and to say our goodbyes to all the people we have gotten close to over the past 2 1/2 months. I dont know how I am going to do it. At any rate, we will be leaving this Thursday, which is crazy to me. I cant believe we are leaving in a few days! Thanks for all the prayers, and please continue to prayer for us as we prepare to come home.
We arrived in Puerto Montt late at night on Saturday and the next morning we decided to visit the church that Axis and Aarons DTS had stayed in when they were in Pto. Mtt. the year before. Upon arrival at the church it didnt take long for the people to decide that since we were such ¨honored guests¨ we should run the service for the morning. By now we are rather accostumed to last minute planning so we presented some dramas and Aaron preached one of his sermons from the church before. It went well all in all, and afterwards Hugo treated us to a lunch by the harbor in one of the main plazas of the city. Later, this would be a place where we would do the majority of our evangelism. Afterward, we went back to the house and surprised the family by finishing a painting project they were hoping to have done soon. That was fun because we got to do some manual service which we have wanted to do for awhile. Normally, the people here never want us to do anything for them no matter how much we protest.
Monday was probably my favorite free day of the trip thus far. Why? Because it was completely and totally free! We had no obligations to fill, mental notes to make, or guests come to visit. It was also a beautiful, temperate day in Chile. We went for a walk around the city and just soaked in the views of the sea and the mountains. It was a great time of relaxation and preparation for our trip to Tabón, which started the next day.
If Chile is hard to describe with words, Tabón is pretty much impossible. It is a sparcely populated island of about 450 people, definitely different from how where we have been staying. To get to the house where we spent 4 days, we took a bus, a boat, then walked for 30 minutes with all our luggage. It was quite the squeeze to make room for all us in the tiny house, but they were more than obliging to accomadate us. Our first few hours on the island were spent being captured fy Gods awesome creation. Seriously, Tabón is the most beautiful place I have ever visitted. The sunset would stretch all the way around the horizon, uninterrupted by anything manmade, simply the sea and moutains on other islands. There was a volcano nearby that recently ¨hiccuped¨ so to speak, and people were worried that it might have a full blown erruption soon...one of those ¨dear mom¨moments. But it looked so cool set to a sunset of brilliant colors. I think God invented some new colors for the sunset that night....just completely breathtaking! There were also cliffs, fields, flowers...this place had it all. At night we could see galaxies of stars. And there were a few times we had impromptu prayer and worship services with the family.
Our time on Tabon was spent doing chores for the family we were staying with, and being creative with how we did evangelism with the rest of the people on the island. The first day we walked all over the island doing house visits. Basically, we just spent some time with people in their house, talking with them, ministering or witnessing with them, and praying for them. We also were inviting people for the event we had planned for the next day. This event was supposed to start at 3, but being how the weather was crummy and we are in South America, we didnt get started until 4 and even then there werent that many people. We were pretty disappointed, but we did our presentations anyway, then spent some time with the kids. I know God can use whatever we give Him, so I am praying that the few people that came were impacted by what they saw. Afterwards, we went back to the beach where we liked to spend the majority of our time. Even though it is summer and we are in South America, Chile is relatively cool, and the ocean water is freezing. However, Aaron and Darrio decided to prove their manliness and go swimming. They lasted about 10-15 minutes, all the while trying to convince us that the water wasnt that bad. Being as how I am a lifeguard, I had the responsibity of looking out for sudden emergencies of muscle cramps, or Elias (who cant swim) being anywhere near the water...so of course I had to remain dry and alert : ).
Friday morning came early, we awoke with the sun then set out to catch the boat that would take us back to the mainland. It was a long walk, but there is no other place I would rather walk for an hour than on that island. The sunrise was just as beautiful as sunset. Arriving in Pto. Mtt. was almost disappointing, even though the views there were also spectacular. We had time to eat a quick lunch, then set out right away for evangelism in the plaza. The afternoon was interesting because although we had good conversations with people and they were all friendly and wanted to talk, no one was very open to the gospel. They all acted perfectly fine with their beliefs and their lives and nothing we said really made a difference. The next day was similair, we went out to the plaza in the morning, but didnt have much success. On top of this, many of us felt a kind of spiritual...something. Its hard to explain, but the place just felt really weird. There was a large group of gypsies in the plaza that day too, perhaps that had something to do with it. We also managed to end up talking to people with some really unique ideas. Jen talked to some Jehovahs Witnesses, Fallow found a ¨Roman Apostolic Christian¨(whatever that means), and I talked to several Catholics who didnt believe in a ¨god¨persay, just an energy that encourages those who live on the earth....???? I think I need to learn a little more about what other religions believe to help with this process. However, needless to say, we felt a bit discouraged as we went back to the house for lunch. THe plan was to go out again with some dramas after lunch, but in the afternoon we were hit with a mini typhoon. I think Hugo felt we needed some cheering up so he took us out for ice cream, which was nice, but I think we were all feeling a bit discouraged.
Sunday brought church again, though no surprise sermons this time. Once again, we planned to do presentations later, and once again it rained. So we waited out the rain and went to plaza again to do personal evangelism. On the way back, Elias decided to be our guide and ended up taking us hiking up a literal mountain through the city, around the city, criss-crossing through the city....an hour and a half later (being women) we ¨cowardly¨ asked for directions and eventually made it back to the house after dark (another ¨dear mom¨moment). We made it back just in time to help the family stack wood for an hour. By the time I went to bed I was beat!
The next day, Hugo told us that he was going to stay in chile for a few more days to work on visa stuff, so the rest of us headed back to argentina without him. The trip in total ended up being 37 hours! Our connecting bus left an hour late, and I soon discovered that the return trip would not be as comfortable at the first. We lovingly named our bus the Titanic because we travelled in the rain and the windows were not sealed on the top so a few hours into the trip we were ¨sinking¨ rapidly. Also, the meals on the bus were few and far between, by the end of the trip we were so hungry and thirsty that we practically inhaled the soup served to us. On the bright side (since I like to look for it) we got to watch ¨Happy Feet¨, ¨Over the Hedge¨, and ¨Superman¨in Spanish : ). We also met two really interesting couples who talked with us for hours. One couple was from Israel and they were taking a ¨long honeymoon¨in South America...they were on month 6. The other couple was from Holland and they had decided to work for several years, save up lots of money, then take a trip around the world. At the moment they were on month 11 of their journey and had visitted something like 20 countries.
In the end, when we finally staggered dramatically from the incarceration unit that employed the Chinese water torture technique (or the ¨bus¨ if you want to be technical), the poor people of the church were there to welcome us after waiting 3 hours in the bus station. Thus began our second week. We were divided into 3 houses this time instead of staying at the church, which was weird because we are used to being altogether all the time, but it worked out. I got to practice my Spanish since Jennie wasn´t with me.
This church was a bit different than the others because they already had a pretty strong evangelism team. Nevertheless, we still taught dramas and ¨way of the master¨classes. The nice thing was, since they were more experienced than some of the other churches, they knew of good places to go to present and to attract lots of kids. Hugo had been planning to teach a seminar that week, but since he wasnt there, he passed the reins to Aaron. Both services went amazingly well. As always, it was a pleasure getting to know everyone in the church. It is amazing to me how attached to someone you can become in a week. They offered us the chance to help with their ¨cafeteria¨for the children of the street. All we did was serve food and try to talk to them a bit and they became our best friends. I saw a few of the girls later when we were doing an event on the street and they all ran over and didnt leave my side until we were done. It makes our time here very special, I just love the kids!
Speaking of children, this past saturday, we did a presentation at an orphanage nearby. We stayed for lunch and played with the kids as well. I didnt even know the names of some of them, but they grabbed my hands and begged me not to leave when we were getting ready to go. It was heartbreaking to see how much they wanted to be loved and to have attention. At least the orphange was decently nice. The staff genuinely loved the kids and took care of them well. It was also a christian place so they were taught about Jesus. Even so, I wish I could give them all a family.
Well, today is our last free day in Argentina...and I finally took my turn of being sick. How annoying. I will survive, its only a cold and probably due to lack of sleep. The plan for this week is to get some shopping in before leaving, and to say our goodbyes to all the people we have gotten close to over the past 2 1/2 months. I dont know how I am going to do it. At any rate, we will be leaving this Thursday, which is crazy to me. I cant believe we are leaving in a few days! Thanks for all the prayers, and please continue to prayer for us as we prepare to come home.
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