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