A FULL fin de semana (weekend)

Church this weekend was full of opportunities! On Saturday I went with Krisi to the ladies Bible study. It was a blessing to spend time with this group. A college-age group, led by the pastor, meets at the same time. After both groups were done, they asked me to play ping pong, and I think they were a little confused that I would rather spend time with the "married ladies" ...so I may join the younger group in the future! :)


On Sunday, Lily, a lady who teaches Sunday school asked if I would translate her lesson for Jordan, Ben, and Kaylee (who know very little Spanish yet). I was both excited and nervous...but of course answered "YES!" I understood enough to translate her main points, but that was about it. I pray that this will be a good opportunity to encourage them spiritually!



After church, I joined a team of Chileans traveling to San Ramon to celebrate the one year anniversary of the Church plant there. San Ramon is a community of Government built housing, surrounded by miles of country side and mountains/volcanoes in the distance. The day was beautiful, the view was breathtaking, and the service was a blessing. At this point, the church holds a weekly kids meeting, with hopes of making contacts with parents to start a future church. There was a great turnout on this particular day, and they celebrated the one-year existence of the kids club with songs, cake, and lots of snacks and drinks...including pineapple flavored pop.

After cleaning up and breathing in the fresh country air, it was time to drive back to Temuco for the evening service. The entire day was spent speaking Spanish, getting to know some church members better, and observing this church work together for the sake of the Gospel..... it was a FULL fin de semana.

A Time Capsule...

It is time for me to pause and summarize what all has gone on during the past 14 days. Things have begun to happen so quickly that for my sake and yours, I need to write down what has taken place! So here is my first time capsule...full of memories of the past two weeks.

• The first item that will be in this time capsule is a boarding pass... Saturday, September 12, 2009 is the date written on it. That's the day I left Green Bay, the United States, and the Northern Hemisphere to come to Chile.

• Next I will put in a handful of legos, a stuffed animal, and a pacifier in honor of Jordan, Ben, Kaylee, and Lukas Flinck. We've been getting to know each other through various activities they like to do...hence the toys in the capsule. I'm blessed to have the opportunity to watch and help David and Kristi shepherd these little ones! Parents are heroes!
  

• A sleeping bag will go into the capsule next. This signifies my stay at Camp Lican, and the many things I learned there. I will remember the retreat as a "cultural growth spurt" of sorts. Camp is intense, but camp in another country brings out cultural differences. Jumping into a Chilean Camp the way I did was difficult, but the result was the beginning of a learning process...which is exactly what needed to happen.

• This capsule wouldn't be complete without my Linguistics book, which represents both my online class and my struggle with Spanish. Taking Linguistics while trying to learn Spanish has reminded me of an attribute of God... His Sovereignty. God knew what he was doing at Babel, and I've found that climbing the language barrier He put into place is exactly what He intended it to be.... WORK. My current struggle is not a reason for discouragement, but a reminder to worship.

• A 500 peso coin represents the trips I have taken to the Bible institute by bus. I will be traveling to the BI at least two times a week for prayer meetings, lunch dates with the Thompson's (GMSA missionary couple), and English/Spanish classes. This bi-weekly trip will help me get to know Temuco, learn from a seasoned missionary couple, practice Spanish one-on-one with a tutor, and gain experience watching/helping Myrian teach her English class.
  

• A cup of instant Chilean coffee is the last addition to this capsule. Coffee represents the students, missionaries, and Chileans of all ages I have met and my desire to get to know them better. Building relationships in Chile means spending a LOT of time around a pot of coffee talking about family, culture, and God's word. I'm praying that God would give those opportunities in His perfect time.
  

There's my story of the last few weeks in "time capsule" form...I hope it gives you a picture of what I've been up to. No way is this a complete summary... That version is a 14 page Microsoft Word document. :)

A trip into Temuco...my first one of many!

Yesterday, David Flinck showed me the route to Myrian's office where we will meet each week for a Spanish lesson. We catch a public bus to get downtown and catch a collectivo to get home (a Collectivo is sort of like a taxi, except with a specific route).

The lesson with Myrian went well! First of all we discussed different things so she could gauge my level of Spanish. We played number games, reviewed ser/estar, read and discussed a Bible passage, and answered questions.... all while sipping coffee (very important to the learning process!)

I'm going to love meeting with Myrian each week. It will allow me to spend some time in the downtown area, which is full of street vendors and shops and people to watch!

Viviendo en Cristo, por Cristo, y para Cristo

This past weekend, I traveled with the Flinck family to a camp near Licanray, Chile. The camp is located about an hour and 1/2 from Temuco. As you can see, the theme was based from Colossians 1:16--a perfect theme to present the Gospel from. There were a lot of unsaved joveniles (13-18 years old, roughly) at camp this weekend, and they heard the Gospel loud and clear!


In honor of Chile's version of July 4th, a group of teens from the area gathered at Camp Lican for the weekend. Camp is always a lot of fun, but the focus of this retreat was definitely the Gospel. Pastor Ivan from a church in Villarica, Chile was the speaker. Friday was Chile's Independence day, so there were a lot of traditional Chilean festivities.

Although I struggle a LOT understanding Chilean Spanish, I did understand some of the main points from Pastor Ivan's messages.


Power Groups~ it wouldn't be camp without them. After the morning message, the teens would split up with their consejeros (counselors) for a time of group devotions and discussion about the message. I sat in with my cabin.... nodding and smiling when I understood parts of the discussion! Teresa (just to the left of me in the circle) led the cabin in prayer and faithfully exhorted the girls to live in light of the Gospel.



What a place to have power groups! This guys cabin met by the lake next to camp with quite a view in the background.















This photo is of the whole camp; including counselors, workers, and kids....and pets.

This is my cabin- Betel. We left Lican Saturday afternoon, and I was sad to leave these girls. I was just beginning to adjust and start getting to know them. Lordwilling, I will see Teresa (just left of me) again in October when we come back for another retreat.

I have so much more to say about camp--like any good camp, the Word of God is the center of what they do... but there were a lot of other things we did that made this weekend at camp a Lot of fun! Check back soon for pictures of the games we played and some lessons I learned while at Camp.

The Street where you live

It's time for some pictures~I wanted to post some of my current home in Chile. So much has happened since my last post, but we'll start with getting you all acquainted with "the street where I live".


The photo above is of a map of Temuco. The Flinck's home is on the road found in the top left corner called Folilco. We are in a small gated community (which is normal here) across the road from the municipal pool, park, theatre, and soccer stadium. We are just a few minutes from the center of Temuco. This area can be a busy place. Last week there was a huge soccer game between Temuco's team and a VERY good team from the capital. Fans came all the way from Santiago to cheer for Colo Colo. I need to start learning about soccer...
This is a picture of the Flinck's home. It is a nice two story home (not too big or too small for a family of six...plus a visitor).



This is my little corner of the world. This room will eventually be Kaylee's, but for now she shares a room with her brothers. I don't think I've ever had a room to myself, so this is a huge step for me! I am thankful for a great place to study.


As with any place I've been in, the sky here is something I am going to love! This was the sky on Saturday just after returning from camp Lican.

An Arrival...and a Beginning!

I arrived in Temuco, Chile on a drizzly Sunday afternoon after just about 24 hours straight of flying/layovers. Praise the Lord for his protection and guidance along the way. Each of the four flights had a highlight that I'll share with you!

1) Green Bay to Chicago: This flight was delayed due to fog earlier that morning. This made me a little nervous because my layover at O'hare was a short one to begin with. I arrived at Chicago at 3:35 p.m. and at 3:55 I was in the air headed toward Miami! I didn't exactly have to RUN...but I would venture to say that I did look a little RUSHED to those I passed along the way!

2) Chicago to Miami: I sat next to an Argentine couple who spoke mostly Spanish. This was actually a humorous situation because when I shared that I was traveling to study in Chile for three months, they immediately asked... "Why wouldn't you want to study in Argentina instead of Chile?" I just laughed, and said that I knew some people who lived in Chile. Apparently there is a little bit of competition among Latin American countries! They were a very nice couple, and it helped that they were extremely patient with my Spanish abilities! This flight was a wake-up call that I have a LOT of work to do this semester to communicate well in Spanish.

3)Miami to Santiago: I arrived in Miami at 7:45 p.m...and didn't leave for Santiago until 11:30 p.m. This left a lot of time to catch up with my parents and some friends, and send a lot of "I'll text you again in December!!" messages, lol. The flight to Santiago was LONG... about 8 1/2 hours to be exact. I normally don't sleep too well while traveling, but at one point I woke up to a thick layer of fog below us with the Andes mountain peaks rising above it....so I did get a few hours of good sleep. The plane arrived in Santiago at around 8:00 Sunday Morning

4) Santiago to Temuco: Santiago is where the trip became interesting! First of all, I was prepared to answer basic questions in Spanish to pass through customs, but the lady who took my visa and passport did not say a single word to me! I couldn't believe it... I just walked away with my passport stamped and a 90 day tourist visa in hand...no questions asked, literally!! I then left the world of American Airlines, and checked in my luggage with LAN (a Chilean airline). Secondly, at Santiago's airport, the actual departure gate is not posted until about 20-30 minutes prior to the flight. I...being unfamiliar with the norms of Chilean airlines...didn't realize this. As I watched the flights scroll down the screen without my own listed...I became increasingly unsure of myself and increasingly confused (not a fun combination, lol). Finally an airport employee walked over and explained the situation. This being cleared up, I relaxed somewhat and and enjoyed watching how the airport worked.

I could share a LOT more about that 24 hour span...but after all the flights and interesting situations I arrived at the Temuco airport. Standing in the lobby waiting were Kristi Flinck, baby Lukas and three sunny sonrisas (that's smiles in Spanish). Jordan (8), Ben (7), and Kaylee (4) Flinck are quite a group! The moment we arrived home they gave me the tour of the house--it was then that I started to love this family... craziness and all that comes with it! Seriously, children are gifts...gifts that require a lot of work and patience and correction. I've learned a lot about that already since being here. This is just the beginning of a semester that the Lord has planned for myself and the Flincks here in Chile.

So, that's my story of an arrival...and a beginning!