May 18 Monday: Taste of "Missionary Traveling"
After one van, two planes, 3 buses, one car, and 24 hours of transit we have finally made it to Chile! Once we were dropped off by our last bus, we were left standing out front a school awaiting for our host to pick us up. It was about 10:30 at night, and after about a half an hours wait a van pulled up. A small man with a mop of hair jumped out of the van, and with an abundance of excitement greeted us, "Hola! Me llamo Marcos!" Through our tiredness we did our best to be just as excited, and then we piled into his van. There was no room in the trunk for our backpacks, guitar, and carry on bags, so we loaded them on top of us...we were rather snug to say the least. Once we arrived to the house, we were greeted by Marcos' wife and a table lavished with breads, coffee, jam, and our new favorite Chilean food: Manjar (also known as Dulche de leche in other countries). After eating, we were showed to our rightful homes/beds and were able to settle in for the night. We're in Chile!
May 19 Tuesday: Day of Rest
Today was a day of rest for our team. Our host made it very clear that they wanted us to do nothing but catch up on some z's and enjoy the Chilean sun. We went to the beautiful beach, and enjoyed every minute of getting over our jet lag.
May 20 Wednesday: Cilantro, Rain, and House Visits
Seeing as JulieAnna speaks and knows the most Spanish in our group, she has taken her rightful place as translator. She is surprising herself with how much she understands, and I know our whole team is grateful for her translating skills. Everyone else is making an effort to speak and understand as much Spanish as possible. Every meal meets us with a Spanish lesson as we point and ask our hosts, "?Como se dice en espanol?". We then awkwardly repeat the answers and laugh. It is amazing how much Spanish a person can learn when they are put into situations were they have to speak it. Not only do we learn Spanish at meals, but we are also constantly getting to know each other's likes and dislikes. Por ahemplo (for example) Catharina does not have a taste for cilantro, which is found in many dishes here.
Today we were suppose to do evangelism in the plaza, however God had other plans for us. He decided to hide that lovely Chilean sun from us and instead blessed us with rain (note sarcasm). Rather than evangelism we spent the day in prayer and preparation. That night we all did house visits. Kristi and I were sent to one house to do a little Bible lesson, and the rest of the group went to another and shared their testimonies. It was a good night overall.
May 21 Thursday: Mi Esposo/a hermosa
We woke up today with Jelte and Catharina speaking there new Spanish words of the day: Mi esposo/a hermosa. Which apparently means: My beautiful husband/wife. It was a national holiday in Chile today, apparently some fisherman did some heroic act of some sort, so now they hold a day of celebration in his name. Thanks to the fisherman everyone had the day off which meant there would be a lot of people in the plaza. The plan for the day was that we were going to go and do evangelism, however once again God blessed us with rain once again. Instead we did a children's program today. It was our first children's program and I think we all felt a bit like a chicken with its head cut off. But we all pulled together, and the kids seemed to have had a good time while singing and learning about God.
May 22 Friday: Rain=Blessing?
Once again, today we were hoping to do evangelism in the plaza, however the rain was still here. We were talking to our hosts today, and they were saying that the rain is such a blessing. Apparently there rainy season is suppose to start in the middle of March, and they didn't get rain until the day after we arrived. We found out today that we are suppose to run a two hour service on Saturday and Sunday for church, they're calling it the "YWAM Extravaganza". Taking advantage of the rain, we spent the morning and afternoon in preparation for the "YWAM Extravaganza". Later that night we went to different families and prayed for their businesses and situations. God was definitely moving in people's lives that night.
May 23 Saturday: YWAM Extravaganza
We got up early then usual this morning and had sopapias for breakfast this morning...me gusta muchas! Soon after our early breakfast we went to the hospital and prayed for people for about an hour. After praying we had a second breakfast. The day was then spent in preparation for the nights service. Catharina and I shared some sort testimonies, David had us do his testimony via drama and he then proceeded to do a sermon on God's unfailing love, and Jelte and Kristi lead some awesome worship. The congregation came up at the end of the service and we prayed for them...God is good!
May 24 Sunday: !Gloria a Dios!
Today was another "YWAM Extravaganza". Kristi and Jea Shik shared their testimonies this morning, Jelte preached, Joshua lead some more awesome worship, and JulieAnna shared a little bit of what YWAM is all about via video. Later that night we went to a Pentecostal church. If my great grandma was a Chilean, this is the church she would attend. It was a blast to experience a church extremely different compared to the churches we are used to. The ladies sat in pews on one side of the room (all in skirts) and the men on the other (ties, long sleeved shirts, and suits are a plus). Jelte preached that night, however he did not have a long sleved button up shirt of his own. If you knew Jelte you would know that he stands about 6'4", and he had to borrow a jacket that went about mid way on his arms and waist...it was a sight to see him preach in such an outfit. The church welcomed us with open arms, and now has a new good outlook on YWAMers. P.S. It looks like God is going to bless the new week with sun, the night skies are clear.
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