¡Vamos al Mundial!

Hi everyone! One of the major events in the past few weeks was the Oct 9-12 retreat at beautiful Camp Lican. This retreat was for jovenes (college-age) from the surrounding churches. Once again, I jumped in with the others and had a great time with the group! These are the girls in my cabin for the weekend...

I loved getting to know the Thompson family better(left). Dan and Liz are both Northland graduates serving with GMSA in Chile. The kids showed me all around camp on Sunday... even their fort (root castle). I felt so privileged...



The majority of the weekend was spent under the instruction of Pastor Ricardo Daglio from Villa Regina, Argentina. God used the preaching of His word to convict and work in Hearts.
On Saturday of the retreat, Chile's soccer team played Colombia...and the whole country watched! Why? because a win against Columbia meant that Chile qualifies for the World Cup next summer. Well, it was a great game, and there was just a LITTLE bit of celebration after Chile won 2-4!



I felt like I was at a super bowl party... :0) Except in this case the whole room...the whole country for that matter was supporting the same team. The result was a lot of face paint/kettle corn/foam sprayed after each goal/and a Lot of flag waving... we had a great time!

I am a basketball player myself, and know Nothing about world cup soccer.... but I've officially decided to join the bandwagon and learn a little bit more about the World's favorite sport.

The Whole Earth is full of the Lord...

Life here in Chile has been so normal and so, well, plain that I simply didn't have much to post...

Just kidding...Actually, the exact opposite is true. This, my fourth week, was the climax of my time here so far. It started with a trip to Santiago, and ended with a weekend at camp. Stay tuned because, Lord-willing, the next few days will have a few updates.

Friday, October 2nd the Flinck's and I set out for Santiago (Chile's Capital). The purpose for the trip was to take Lukas (2 months old) to the US Embassy to register him as an American Citizen born abroad. They decided to make a trip out of it, and I ended up meeting all of the GMSA missionaries, and a few BMM missionaries who are currently in Santiago. We stayed for 4 full days, and left Wednesday morning. I wish I could tell all the stories here... but in summary God challenged my thinking about missions and church planting, and encouraged me spiritually during my time with these brothers and sisters in Christ.

During the trips back and forth, I had a chance to see the beautiful countryside of Chile. What's unique about Chile is that you can see the entire country (from east to west,that is) at the same time. On the western border is the low coastal mountains...and the eastern border is the Andes. We could see both as we drove North, and it was beautiful. Enjoy the pictures of the Chilean Campo. We stopped at the Saltos del Laja (waterfall) on the way. As we drove, I couldn't help but think that the whole earth is full of the Lord...








The trip ended with a gorgeous sunset. If you know me, then you know I love to watch them whenever I get a chance. This was one that made me sit in awe.... because I know its maker!

No matter where you are...

I woke up this morning and realized that I’ve been doing the same thing now for a few days in a row. Getting up, spending time in the Word, having breakfast, and starting school. Today for some reason it hit me that it was becoming a…… routine.

I thought, “But I’m in Chile…. I’m having adventures, seeing new things, meeting new people….I’m on the MISSION field for Pete’s sake!” Then this thought came to mind. Life lived without thought of the Gospel and God’s glory IS dull, routine, and uninviting…no matter where you are on the Globe.

Suddenly my lack of motivation started to make sense. All these mundane, everyday things are directly from the Lord’s hand to me, and I’ve forgotten that I can do all of them to His glory.I was reminded of Phil 1:20-21, a verse that I return to often. I praise God for the reminder that for me to live... is Christ!

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.