Santiago Airport...Again.

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday was our last day in Argentina.  The ladies got to go shopping for souvenirs in the morning and the guys got to go in the evening.  We were so excited to get the things we really wanted for our friends and family that remind us and others of this wonderful adventure in Argentina.

The guys spent from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. working onthe bathroom.  They pressed through and didn't get a siesta in order to get the project to a point where others can complete it.  They got the entire thing framed up.  This might not sound like much, but it was something when the building wasn't really squared up.  Someone bumped the framing for the footing on the first day, but they continued on the best they could as it could not be fixed. They worked REALLY HARD! God was glorified and the family was touched. Pray fruit will be produced in this barrio.

Last night we had a great going away "party" with all of our new ministry friends.  It was a celebration of what the Lord has done. It was also sad as we all realized we were leaving friends and brothers and sisters in Christ who are like-minded.  They are so special.  We were able to encourage the workers with notes and we gifted them with supplies for ministry that we had brought with us.  Three of the ministry young women prepared a slide show put to music of our time there.  They have quite a sense of humor as they put speach or thought bubles on the pictures telling what they thought we were thinking. It was a riot!  Robert also prepared a slide show for them and it was sweet to reflect on the week together this way.  Folks stayed and played games, and talked, and shared until 1:30 a.m.  No siesta yesterday, so we are all pooped today as we had to get up at 6:30 a.m. to get ready to go.

We were sad to leave, but looking forward to seeing our families and friends back in the states.

We are spending our 10 hours here in the airport eating, napping, playing games, and trying to amuse ourselves.  We are excited to fill in all the blanks for you and share what God has done.  Only God knows what He WILL CONTINUE to do in our lives and theirs becasue you prayed and supported us on this journey with Him.

Blessings,
Diane and Gayle

God is GoOd ALL the TiME :)

YesTerday, we went to SteVe and Gina's houSE to spend the dAy with the older BarRio kids!  Our day sTarted out with an ICe BreaKer.  The icE breaKer conSisted of fun gaMes and get to know you actiVities with New Friends(the barrio kids)!  After the ice BreaKer Arthur, Jon and I were able to share our testimonies to the kids.  God spoKe thRough aLL three of us and I think each of our testimonies touched someone in the group! Then BiLL followed us by giving a short devotion.  Lunch, free time, and then skit time!  We were able to present both of the skits we practiced.  The king of hearts skit along with the Breathe your life in me skit, both showed how we are nothing without God and the happiness we can have through Christ.  They each were very powerful for the kids in the BarRio to see and the skits helped lead Steve to encourage and challenge the kids in the BarRio to choose Christ. 

After Steve’s challenge we split up into boy and girl groups to ask the kids QuEStions.  These questions consisted of: what are your dreams, what would you change about your life, and what do you think Christ could do in your life?  Each team member was able to open up to the children of the BarRio about our own lives and how just because we are Christians it doesn’t mean life is easy for us.  Through this time of discussion we were able to hear the kid’s hearts then we prayed for them in small groups.  The small group prayer time was such a big part of the day even though it was the last thing we did.  I loved getting to hear the real struggles of the two girls I was able to pray with.  I could tell that they needed someone to talk to.  Since I speak NO Spanish except for HoLa, Adios, and bueno Eli was able to translate for me and she too was able to talk with the girls. Our small group prayer time was VERY powerful!  God was able to show the girls that Eli and I were there for them and that we love them just as Christ does.  They shared and we prayed along with tears of sadness and happiness.  I am going to commit to pray for these two girls daily.  I love how God works and how he is always working.  He is SO big and is going to continue to seek these kids’ hearts after we leave.

I am thankful for today.  God was able to use each team member to help his kingdom!  We left Steve and Gina’s house tired but also with BiG SMiLes!!!!

Today, the girls went to a luncheon that Gina hosted.  The luncheon was for the single mothers in the BarRio.  About 15 ladies came along with their children.  We all loved and embraced the children and of course they were ALL BeAutiful!  Steve and son Dereck were our chefs (with chef hats and all).  They fixed a very nice lunch for us and the Barrio moms.  We enjoyed each other and the food then Michelle (daughter of Steve and Gina) and Gina prepared a very nice devotion for the moms.  It was well received by the ladies of the Barrio.  Our group made gift baskets up for the ladies with supplies for their children along with personal thing for themselves.  They loved them and it made us very happy to see their smiling faces J it was an overall GREAT day!!!

Thanks for ReadinG, pRaying, and supPoRting us!!!

in HiM,
AuDra

El Tres de Enero (The third of Janurary)

Yesterday, Domingo (Sunday) we attended the Iglesia (Church) for services, which are at 10:30ish in the morning and 7:30ish at night.  In Argentina time is much less strict as a rule, not like in America where being late is a social inconvenience or error, but rather showing up early or ON TIME is RUDE.  Shocking!!  But I digress, the services were all in Spanish, but the elder who taught (Pastor is on a needed vacation) put up the verses and bullet points on both languages.  We sang “How Deep the Fathers Love for Us,” in English, and “Eres Mi Forteleza (You are my strength),” in Spanish for both services.  Outside of Dave, none of us are singers, but the congregation responded to our songs with remarkable positivity.  God transformed our voices into a harmony that we didn’t detect as we sang.  I believe that God opened their ears the worship of our hearts.  For lunch we were able to eat and talk with members of the church, and we exchanged testimonies, prayed for the workers here.  One of the ladies was discouraged because she saw one of the teens she had worked with for years, reaching into the trash to find food.  What a great analogy for when believers seek out sin, digging for trash when we are given the best food.  At night we had dinner with the young teens and early twenties of the church and were able to be encouraging and be encouraged again.

Today the team took the barrio jovenes (young teens, up to about 20) on a river rafting expidition.  There were about 15 jovenes, and for most of them this would be their first time going on a rafting trip.  There was alot of excitement and nervousness over the "Dangerous" activity of rafting.  It produced an odd paradox in my mind, that these young people are living in the danger of the barrio where violence and crime is rampant, but these class 3 rapids (swells up to 4 feet with moderate river speed) made them nervous.  Our goal was to establish relationships with the young people in order for a bible study/camp tomorrow to be more productive.  The language barrier was more difficult today, as the verbiage of the barrio is much more slang, making it difficult for even the native speakers and translators to understand.  Pray for us that we can overcome the barriers more productively tomorrow and reach these hearts.

h these hearts.

So much more, but so little battery.
John F.

Blog of saturday to follow

Sarah's and Dave's blog

Sorry about the delay folks, we had some interent connectivity issues while we are here and have a back-log of blogs ready 

Friday December 31, 2010

            Hello family and friends!!! Today was a very exciting and emotional day. Today the “women” of EWO went to the Miller’s house and did a foot-washing and devotional time for some of the Argentine women ministry workers. The whole purpose of this time was that we wanted to encourage these women. We wanted them to know that they are greatly loved by us and that the work they are doing is good and for the glory of God. We opened by having little pastries and maté (a stronger version of tea…but better J).

We then proceeded to have a devotional time with Diane leading and Maribeth Miller (eldest daughter of the Miller’s) translating. The passage that Diane spoke on was 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10. Paul thanked and remembered the Thessalonians for three major things: work produced by faith, labor promoted by love, and their endurance inspired by hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is so true. They have done these things and so much more. These women are true women of God. They have such loving hearts and compassion for all people; it is truly a blessing working beside them. Then Diane had the women tell us the struggles that they are facing in their lives. It was very heart-wrenching.

Then we washed the feet of the women just as Christ did for his disciples. It was a very humbling experience. After this we broke up into two groups and us EWO women shared some of our prayer requests and a little about us with the Argentines so that they too could pray for us.  The prayer time was unbelievable and indescribable. I cannot put it into words the feeling that I got from praying with these women and having them pray for me. After some tears and laughs we gave each of the women little goodie bags with “One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven” in Spanish, a notebook and pen, and a cute verse card.

Needless to say this day was a blessing for both the Argentines and the EWO women. We all need to be encouraged in our faith and what more a perfect way than to go to the lowest of the low to humble yourself to wash the feet of those who serve our Lord.

Hope all is well in Illinois; the weather is beautiful here. Tonight are our New Years Eve parties so pray that when we meet the families that we will be shining lights for the One who paid it all. Some will not be Christians, and don’t know of the hope that we have. Also pray that whatever the Lord asks of us during this missions trip, that we will be diligent and listen to what he says.  ¡Ciao!

Hugs and Kisses from all of us,

                        Sarah

Food, food, food.  In some ways this is a little like a retreat.  Work, eat, work, eat, sleep (a little), work, eat, sleep (a little).  Not that the food has become anyone’s obsession, but it has been glorious.  Last night we had Argentine tacos, which are indescribable.  And you really wish you were here, but we are a little glad we had them all to ourselves (and the 10 Argentines who shared them).  But what is becoming more and more obvious daily is that meal time = community time.  We found such joy in sharing and learning with the members of the local church.  But we are finding that our appetite for community is being well satisfied. 

For those of us walking in a state of remedial Spanish speaking, our minds are spinning to the point where we all agree that we are reconstructing all of our sentences: English, Spanish, all of them.  It may take us a few days to get out of our pidgin forms of English, but since we are growing so used to having our language corrected, we may just laugh and say, “Thank you”.  Our appetite for communicating well is being filled slowly.

The people have been very good hearted to repeat and repeat and repeat words we have asked them to tell us at least 20 times.  Their hearts are warmed to us, and ours are warmed to theirs.    The men have been building a ¾ bath outhouse-ish kind of thing for Gabriel and Natalia.  They have Natalia’s sister and Natalia’s 4 children living there; I still have not figured out who are mine, yours, and ours, but it is beautiful to see Bill Miller steal the chance to see a photo of Jesus (HAY-sus) on Gabriel’s phone and turn it into an opportunity to share the gospel.  The guys are working heartily and carefully.  Everyone is becoming a bricklayer of sorts or at least a cement mixer.  Our hunger for service and practical demonstration of God’s love is being satisfied, but unsatiated, so we will happily work on. 

The King of Hearts skit that our church family saw last Sunday in the service was done in the Plaza last night.  Sarah and Dave spent part of the afternoon getting our balloon dogs and giraffes and bears and swans in production quality.  We were swarmed within second of my opening my backpack.  “Gratis?” (free?) was the question which opened the dam; it was really fun.  So, I must admit publicly again how much I appreciate my wife and son forcing me to make balloon animals; those are appreciated around the world.  This was a good problem to have, because the sound system was uncooperative.  Anyone who has seen the skit knows that the music really makes it.  Once the team decided to surrender control and let the skit roll WITHOUT music, the instant the team started the countdown to do the skit in silence, the sound worked!  The production was unusually excellent and Christ was well-glorified.  Everyone was reminded that we work best when we are least hungry for control.   Our hunger to clearly declare the gospel and encourage the local church in their efforts for evangelism was filled.

The guys had an especially tender time in prayer and sharing together once we got into the world’s widest bed:  four twin mattresses across the floor.  God is working mightily in our hearts, and we are looking forward to more opportunities to serve tomorrow before we head off to the big celebrations.  We are never tired of being filled with the warmth of our intimacy in serving Christ.

So, from all of us to all of you:  Feliz Año Nueve!

Dave Schmidt

Playing Catch-Up

Hola!

The first few days in Mendoza, Argentina have been exhausting but great!  We arrived in Mendoza Tuesday where Bill, Debbie, and their partner Steven picked us up and brought us to the house.  After a few moments in the house, we ate lunch, had orientation, and then headed out.  The "young ladies" (Audra, Sarah, & Heather) went with Debbie and her daughter, Katie, to exchange their money while Diane went with Bill and the boys to exchange their money at a bank.  After exchanging money, Gayle and Bill purchased supplies for us.

After exchanging our money, the whole group (minus Gayle) went to downtown Mendoza with workers Julieta and Eli (pronounced Elly) to get acclamated and see a little of the city.  We stopped in at a mall type place to try a few desserts and order some coffee drinks.  Very tastey!  On the return trip home, we waited on a bus that never came; we ended up taking a taxi instead.  Turns out we were late to our own party at the house!  The ministry workers came over, we played games, and then we ate delicious hamburgers and brats for dinner.  We all had a very good time and had our first experiences with the language barrier.  Needless to say, it was a very late night after about a day and a half of traveling.

The next day, Wednesday, the boys and the girls headed their different ways.  We all started in the barrio where we will be focusing much of our efforts for this trip.  The barrio children and a few parents and workers loaded up into the vans to head to the zoo.  The children were so sweet!  They really are precious and were so well behaved--a pleasant surprise.  What a zoo!  It was set in a mountain, so we hiked as we looked at all the animals.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures soon.   We were all very touched by the mutual love between the children and Julieta and Eli.  We compared their love for the children to the love the Lord has for His children too.

Meanwhile, the boys worked in a very "sketchy" area of the barrio.  This impoverished area has a very dangerous reputation--absolutely no one is allowed their after sunset.  Repeatedly the boys tell us they don't even know where to begin describing the conditions of this area.  Their project was to tear down an outhouse-like structure and replace it with a finished bathroom.  Working in very closed quarters has proven to be difficult, but Dave has been able to engage the woman of the house in some limited conversation.  They were able to lay the foundation yesterday and will continue to work on that today.  They will be pouring a cement floor to replace the dirt floor right now.

We have been impressed by how content the children are despite their deplorable situations.  Although the things they have seen and experience are unspeakable, they are so kind and just melt our hearts.  We have also been filled with a sense of "what more can I do?"  There's just this feeling like what we're doing is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the need we see here.

Please pray that we will be a great encouragement to the workers here.  We don't know what we would do without Julieta and Eli!  They are bilingual and help us so much to understand the language; however, it is exhausting to constantly translate for a group of curous Americans, so they need supernatural strength.  Also pray that we would not be too frustrated or discouraged by the language barrier.  It can be frustrating and discouraging to be unable to say what we want to say, especially about spiritual things.  We need creativity in about sharing God's love with the Argentinian people.  Ask the Lord to give the boys strength and safety where they are working and that He would provide opportunities to engage the barrio people in conversations.

Thank you for your prayers!

Heather

Still on the way!

The team is excited, but tired.  Long warm flight over the ocean, but it's not about our luxuries.  Everyone is still filled with energy and ready to take on the rest of the day.  There were some nice conversations on the planes with some fellow passengers.  Audra had a deep conversation about her faith with a Catholic nun.  The shift of the primary language has changed to Spanish with a side of English.  Starbucks is still in the airports here in Chile--woo hoo, caffiene!  The mountains are amazing out here.  Glad I brought my jeans that are zip off shorts. Can not wait to see Bill and everyone!

Nearly There

So we have crossed the equator and are now sitting in the airport of Santiago Chile.  The first airport with free wifi and its truely a blessing.
Our trip began with a little drama, as John and Diane Fahrenkrug went into the ditch early in the morning to get spotted by Arthur (Who grabbed our luggage) and Audra (who grabbed us).  After that point it was easy travels to O'Hare curtisey
So we have crossed the equator and are now sitting in the airport of Santiago Chile.  The first airport with free wifi and its truly a blessing.
Our trip began with a little drama, as John and Diane Fahrenkrug went into the ditch early in the morning to get spotted by Arthur (Who grabbed our luggage) and Audra (who grabbed us).  After that point it was easy travels to O'Hare curtsey of Ron Miller. We made it safely to Miami without any extra adventures, but were required to exchange our tickets for new ones with the airline carrier (American Airlines into LAN). An eight hour flight and we now await the final flying leg of our journey, and one and a half hour hop over the Andes mountains. Pray for continued safe travels, and since many of us are quite tired from not sleeping on the flight, vigilant and eager hearts for Christ's work.
We received an encouraging word from Jeff Fritzen via e-mail while we are in Chile, and it does bolster our emotional vigor.
“O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.” -Isaiah 25:1
“Señor, tú eres mi Dios; te esaltaré y alabaré tu nombre porque has hecho maravillas. Desde tiempos antiguos tus planes son fieles y seguros.” -Isaías 25:1

John F