Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad!

What a week! Feelings were a bit all over the place with our anticipation of Christmas. We were missing our families, familiar holiday traditions and foods, and a general joy that Christmastime brings, but we were all looking forward to celebrating together as a team, and Skyping with our families on Christmas Eve.

On a festivity scale, Christmastime in Chile ranks what might feel like somewhere between St. Patrick’s Day and Valentine’s Day to an American. Even if Chile were cold and snowy (which, at this time of year, is not… 70s and sunny most days), the Christmas spirit just isn’t as prevalent. There are sparse decorations, and very few lights in our neighborhood. Some houses that we have visited lately have very small arbols de Navidad (Christmas trees), but quite a few do not. We’ve also tried our best to understand conversations Eduardo has held with some friends who believe that it is sinful to have a Christmas tree in your house. It has been a new holiday experience for all of us.

On Christmas Eve Eve, our team had our celebration in the girls’ house. Prior to this event, we had made a few batches of cookies together, and swapped names for a Secret Santa gift exchange (Jean had Clay, Clay had me, I had Kirsten, Kirsten had Jeff, and Jeff had Jean). Right before our celebration began, Jean and Jeff and Clay “went for a walk,” and surprised us by decorating our house with some pine branches in the corner to represent a tree, and other festive bits as well. Kirsten and Jean helped make a fire, we put on some Christmas music, and we started to feel more merry and bright. To start our celebration, we took a moment to focus ourselves and thank J-s-s for sharing his Birthday with us, but more importantly for the sacrifice He made on our behalf. We read the story of His birth, and enjoyed remembering the true reason we celebrate Christmas. Just like the wise men presented gifts to baby J-s-s, we presented gifts to each other, and enjoyed the feeling of giving something thoughtful to the people we love and appreciate as our teammates.

After our gifts were opened (from random wrappings such as plastic bags and sweatshirts), Jeff suggested that we go look at the stars. It was a perfect night for that kind of adventure. We walked a few blocks to a large gravel pile. Following Jean’s lead (well… until the path got a little soggy, then she was on her own J), we hiked up the big pile, and marveled at the bigness of G-d’s creation, and at the fact that we were looking at the same stars as our families and friends that we miss so much. We also remembered the shepherds and wise men who followed a star to a witness a miracle. We took some time to pr-y for our community and G-d’s work in it, and pr-y-rs of thankfulness for what has already been done.

The next day, Christmas Eve, we all enjoyed the gift of talking with our families over the computer. It truly is crazy to think that we can be “seeing” each other, halfway around the world. That night we also enjoyed a large meal with our coordinator and his family. It was the first Christmas meal they have shared with other people; a truly special occasion. We then presented our small gifts to the family – squirt guns to the younger kids, a jacket of a favorite soccer team to the eldest, and a Jenga game for the whole family to enjoy. We are also hoping to take the kids to see a movie (another first for them) at some point, gifting the parents with a rare night alone, as well.

On Christmas day, we packed up our things, and went with our ch-rch to Tenglo – an island where our coordinator and his wife used to live. We spent the day enjoying a beautiful picturesque view of crashing ocean waves and snow-tipped mountains, eating a large meal, playing soccer, and swimming in the waves. It was a great day, but a highly unusual way to spend a Christmas. Who ever thought of northern North Americans getting sunburns for Christmas? J

We’re also looking forward to going back to Tenglo for 4 days this week to help with some cleaning and renovations on a building that serves children on the island. We will be sleeping and eating there, too, which will be an exciting change of pace. After doing a lot of visiting and language learning this month, we’re all eager to roll up our sleeves and utilize some different muscles.

Oh, and this week we also got to take a trip to a beautiful national park in Petrohue where we saw some incredible rapids and other natural scenery at the base of some volcanoes. Look for some great pictures from that trip on facebook!

Please continue to pr-y for our m-n-stry here in Chile: that we would all find our service niche in our community, gl-r-fy G-d in the ways that we show love to each other as well as others, and remain “tercero” (our team motto meaning “third”) in our attitudes at all times.

G-d bless us. Everyone.

Every year at Christmastime, my family listens to the best Christmas album out there: "John Denver and the Muppets - A Christmas Together" - a tradition that began with the vinyl record, and progressed to a CD. Since Christmas is not as big of a holiday in Chile as it is in the US, I was missing the holiday traditions an extra amount. To remedy the situation, I turned to the Muppets. :)

One of my dad's favorite songs is a medley of the story of Alfie, the Christmas tree, and The Peace Carol (It's in Every One of Us).

If you'd like, the video is above. If you prefer lyrics to read, see below.



Did you ever hear the story of the Christmas tree
Who just didn't want to change the show
He liked living in the woods and playing with squirrels
He liked icicles and snow

He liked wolves and eagles and grizzly bears
And critters and creatures that crawled
Why bugs were some of his very best friends
Spiders and ants and all

Now that's not to say that he ever looked down
On a vision of twinkled lights
Or on mirrored bubbles and peppermint canes
And a thousand other delights

And he often had dreams of tiny reindeer
And a jolly old man in a sleigh
Full of toys and presents and wonderful things
And a story of Christmas day

Oh, Alfie believed in Christmas alright
He was full of Christmas cheer
All of each and every day
And all throughout the year

To him it was more than a special time
Much more than a special day
It was more than a special story, it was more than a beautiful story
It was a special kind of way

You see some folks have never heard a jingle bell ring
And they've never heard of Santa Claus
They've never heard the story of the son of G-d
That made Alfie pause

Did that mean that they'd never know of peace on earth
Or the brotherhood of man
Or know how to love, or know how to give
If they can't no one can

You see, life is a very special kind of thing
Not just for a chosen few
But for each and every living, breathing thing
Not just me and you

So when you're at Christmas pr-y-rs this year
Alfie asked me if I'd ask you
Say a pr-y-r for the wind and the water and the wood
And those who live there, too
.....
It's in every one of us
To be wise
Find your hearts
Open up both your eyes

We can all know everything
Without ever knowing why
It's in every one of us
By and by
By and by



Being around unfamiliar things is difficult at a familiar time of year, but just like Alfie, it makes me pause to wonder who around me has never heard the world's most beautiful story. You see, life is a very special kind of thing, not just for a chosen few. But for each and every living, breathing thing; not just me and you. So in your Christmas pr-y-rs this year, I'm asking you. Say a pr-y-r for Chile and the rest of the world, and those who live there, too. Because it's simply not enough to ignore the problem. It's our job to utilize the gifts of intellect and compassion. Be wise. Find our hearts. Open up all of our eyes. We have a beautiful story to share - one that all the world isn't as privileged to know by heart (and I don't mean the story of Santa). Give a special gift this Christmas season, yeah?

Merry Christmas, dear friends. Y Feliz Navidad tambien.

Lamb

Picture this - Sicily, 1952 (for all you Golden Girls fans out there).

No really... picture this - Chile, 2011. 3 days ago, to be exact. Take the above image, and replace the man with a Chilean man on his 38th birthday. Remove the foil, and replace the metal rod with an enormous toothpick. Can you picture it? Good.

Ok, now replace the wooded backdrop with a crowded garage full of old car parts lining every wall. Very small. Ok, now one last step - take away this guy's paintbrush, and replace it with a small pocket knife.

Good. Now you're ready for a story.

Jean and I went with E to visit some people on the other side of town. We discovered that the people we intended to visit weren't home, but on our way, we ran into another p-st-r friend. We were invited to his house where we enjoyed the traditional coffee and bread (this time it was cake) with his family, and soon realized that the family was preparing for a celebration. Over the next hour or so, we learned that it was the father of the family's 38th birthday, and the very large lump on the counter, covered in red plastic sheeting was, in fact, a headless, skinned, whole lamb.

I turned my head away as a few men ripped the limbs apart, and the smell almost did me in. My sister would have left this house about 4 minutes ago in this story. The carcase was taken outside and placed on the aforementioned apparatus. E told us that this meat was very expensive and a delicacy. Every so often, blood would drip out. Yep - indeed a delicacy. ;) At times Jean and I were handed a very hot chunk of the meat from a less than sanitary hand. We graciously accepted.

Oh, and remember how I said the lamb was headless? Our host treated us with a thorough look at the in-tact head (eyes and everything). Mmm. Appetizing. :)

As the guests arrived for the celebration, it dawned on us that we were also invited to the party. We gathered around the table (some seated, some standing), while everyone "dug in," in a very literal and communal way.

So... Happy Birthday. This year, as we're looking forward to the most important Birthday of the year, let's celebrate in some special ways. :)

A Correction

Oh geez Louise...

If you haven't read the embarrassing moments post yet, do that first.

When Jean and I came home from an interesting visit (I'll tell you about that one next), we learned a new update from the "Hold my hand" story.

So as it turns out... our friend was trying to say, "Hurt my head" - he was trying to tell me that he had a headache. :)

Oh brother.

A Few Embarrassing Stories

It should be expected that with language barriers come hilarious misunderstandings. This week, I was (to my team's entertainment) bl-ss-d with 2 such instances.

A few nights ago, as our host home was preparing for a small group B-bl- study, 19 year-old "joven" (young person) sat down on the couch next to me. This guy has been around the house quite a bit, and we know him un poco (a little). I say to him, "Yo!" (meaning the American greeting), however, this word translates in Spanish as, "me!" This is how the conversations goes:

me: "Yo!"
guy: "What?" (in English)
me: "Que paso?" (Sp: "What's up?")
guy: <pause> "Hold my hand." (in English)
me: "Que?!" (Sp: "What?!")
guy: "Hold. My. Hand."
me: <pause> "No."
<longer pause>
me: (to the guy) "Tell Jean what you said."
guy: (to me) "Shut up."

I wish I could convey the humor better. You'll have to imagine thick accents, and the knowledge that I've never heard this guy say anything else in English. I wondered if someone told him to learn that phrase and say it to "the gringos."

When our 4 year-old host brother was pr-y-ng before a meal near the beginning of our time here, he said (spoken in Spanish, translated in English), "And thank you for... for... the... the... the... gringos." :)

The other funny misunderstanding...

Sometimes when we visit our neighbors, they try to think of questions to ask us. One such question is whether we are students, or if we worked in the past. And if we worked, what kind of work? My typical response sounds mostly like this:

(spoken in Spanish, translated here in English)

"I worked at a university in a big dormitory with over 100 girls. I was the director for 3 years."

Unfortunately for me, the word I was using for dormitory ("dormitorio"), is actually translated as "bedroom." Whoops! I told a lot of our neighbors that I worked in a big bedroom with over 100 girls! I realized my mistake in time to ask their forgiveness, and correct myself. :) You live and you learn, yeah?

More of a Schedule

We’re settling into more of a schedule since my last post. With the girls in our new house, it seems as though routine is coming a bit more easily.

Tangent – let me tell you about our new house. It’s a small, blue house, with a pointy metal fence around the yard of dirt and stones. Inside, there is a small kitchen/dining room area with pink-ish tiled floors and light blue walls. In that room is our “furnace” – a very small wood-burning stove (extremely common in Chile), a sink, and a small gas oven/stove. From the kitchen area, there are 3 rooms – a bathroom, and 2 bedrooms. Jean and Kirsten are sharing, and I have the room beside it. We all bought small mattresses for the floor, and our sleeping bags are keeping us cozy at night. Right now, we’re working on drying our house out. It’s a bit damp, which makes starting our nightly fires a long process. I should also mention that showering in Chile is a very refreshing experience. You won’t need to be in the shower long before you’re completely awake; I haven’t seen hot water yet in Chile. J

Our “normal” (we’re still working on defining that word) schedule looks something like this:

8 am: Breakfast at E & J (our coordinator and his wife)’s house (coffee/tea and bread, bread, bread)

8:30 am: Short morning study of the Book. We take turns leading.

9 – 10 am: For December, we have a teacher coming to teach us Spanish every weekday for 1 hour. She is very nice, and has been very helpful so far. Sometimes it’s difficult for one lesson to provide a good amount of challenge for each of our varying levels (for some, too much; for others, too little), but I think it’s safe to say that we’re all learning a lot, and we’ve been surprised at how quickly we are advancing. Being around a foreign language all day every day is challenging, but beneficial.

(In between Spanish and lunch, we may visit some brothers or sisters of the club [I don’t like calling it that – I need to find a better word. It sounds exclusive.], play with our neighbor kids, work on our Spanish, or help J with something around the house.)

1:30 pm: Lunch at E & J’s. Maybe soup. Maybe chicken and rice. Always bread.

The afternoon/evening: Visit some brothers or sisters of the club. We had our first experience with that this week – I’ll explain more below. This big gap of time is also filled with more of the things we do before lunch. We also enjoy playing with E & J’s kids a lot. Nacho (that’s really what they call him, and I think it’s ok that his name is here) is 14 and likes to joke a lot. He often says (in a funny and sarcastic tone, always with a smile), “No touch. Silence, please.” J (Most often when one or more of the teammates are teasing/wrestling with him). Elisa is 7, and is very kind and intelligent. She likes to do hand-clapping games with anyone who will agree, read books, and play UNO. Joshua (but in Spanish) is 4, and is a riot. E calls him his little clown. I’ll try to post a video on facebook soon of his fake, but hilarious, laugh. I like to pretend to eat his socks, or lift him like a rocket. I’m also teaching him how to count in English. Now if only I could get him to remember my name…

9:30 pm: A small dinner. Lunch has been the main meal of the day in our experience so far.

10 pm: The girls are escorted back to our house for the night.

On our first visit, Jean and Kirsten and I went with J and Elisa and Joshua to visit a sister and her son. We enjoyed conversation and the traditional maté (an herbal tea that is passed around the table to share) and bread. Funny story – the sister is about 8 months pregnant, and Jean and I had a moment of amusing false interpretation across language lines. Jean tried her best to ask, “Has it been a good pregnancy?” We know how to say, “It is good?” and she filled in the blanks by motioning across her abdomen. J tried to interpret and said something about poor digestion. I tried to help by pointing to the sister and her abdomen while I said, “It is easy? Yes?” J and the sister laughed for a very long time.

Near the end of our conversation, J asked us if we had an encouraging word for the sister. We scrambled for a moment, and Jean found a cluster of nice verses to share. We’re all excited to get to know the people of our new church and community, and are eager to know/understand more Spanish in order to communicate encouragement.

This past week we also took a trip to Concepción, the epicenter of the Chilean earthquake of 2010. Eduardo was the guest speaker at a family conference. To get there, we rode for 8 or 9 hours in his friend’s small van. Eduardo and his friend sat in front; there was a small bench seat in the back where Jeff and Clay and the friend’s 6 year-old daughter sat, and the 3 of us girls sat on a mattress that was stuffed in between. Some word pictures that describe our experience: clown car, sardines, and a litter of puppies. Look for a picture of this soon, too. It was a sight. J We explored a lot of combinations to make the best Tetris-like fit for the 12 legs and feet that were in the back. What a good opportunity to practice patience.

When we finally arrived in Concepción it was about 2 am, and our host and hostess were ready to serve us more coffee and bread. J Finally, at about 3 am they showed us to our beds, and we were grateful for their hospitality.

The conference was nice, and we enjoyed a lot of Spanish w-rsh-p. At the end, there was also a time of pr-y-r for the families, and Jean helped E to pr-y for a woman. Oh, and our team was asked to play 2 songs again, as well. After the conference, we enjoyed talking to a group of young people from the ch-rch. We’re eager to get to know a group of young people at a deeper level, too, and we’re hoping that can happen in our own neighborhood before too long as well.

On the way back home, we stopped at 2 very beautiful locations. Our whole trip to Concepción was a drive through the Andes as well. Those things combined left me in awe of G-d’s creation, and with a, “Wow! We’re in Chile!” feeling. Our first stop was the black sands of the Pacific Ocean. It was cold and windy, but that couldn’t squelch the beauty. The other, was about half-way through our trip home, and we were all ready for an opportunity to stretch our legs. At first, it just looked like a touristy place to visit a bathroom, but once we walked a little further, we found a beautiful waterfall. Its mist was just what we needed to refresh us for the rest of our journey home.

When we finally arrived back home, our little house had suffered from a few days of dampness, and we needed to build a fire to get things moving in the right direction. Jean knows a lot about fire-making, so we followed her lead. Our wood was damp (just like everything else in our little house), so it was a long and sometimes frustrating process. Jean and I struggled with it for about an hour, and we had had a little bit of success, but not much. She went to bed soon after that, and I wasn’t feeling very tired (plus, as my family can tell you, I love a good fire) so I decided to stay up with the fire for a while longer. During that time, I asked G-d to show me something about himself. Pretty soon I had the song, “Consuming Fire, fan into flame, a passion for your name” in my head. It made me remember that not always do I have a flaming passion for G-d’s name. By this time, the fire had died, and went through a process of big flames, little flames, no flames (repeat), as I fed it scraps of cardboard or matchsticks. After a long while (over an hour of this), I got tired. I thought, “It’s a good thing G-d never gets tired of tending my fire.” Sometimes, after a big piece of cardboard, I have big flames, but there are other times that my fire gets very small. It’s still there, but it’s just embers. I need a stream of air, or to seek more fuel. G-d is the one who blows on the embers, and his W-rd is the new kindling; both are needed. Peter’s first book, 1:23, “For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of G-d.” The Scr-pt-r-s are not cardboard, but an ever-lasting log.

Later that night, I had a dream that I was helping with some sort of Extreme Makeover Home Edition kind of project. It was time to reveal the final product, and I was so excited to show the new owners all the cool new bells and whistles. Whoever the Ty Pennington character was just showed them the tip of the iceberg (ex. “Here is the laundry room. Here is the kitchen.”), and it confused/frustrated me that he didn’t show them the secret trap doors or hidden surprises. It makes me wonder if G-d was talking to me in my dream and telling me that the best is yet to come. Whether it’s heaven, or just later in life… the best is yet to come. It reminds me of J-s-s’ first miracle when the master of ceremonies is surprised that the best wine is saved for last (John’s book, chapter 2, part 10).

Yesterday was our first ch-rch service here. It’s very small; maybe 20 – 30 people in total. The night before, Jeff and I had been invited to practice music for the service with a few others, and we enjoyed playing that morning, though we became aware of the differences in their notation of music as well. Our team was also introduced to the people at the meeting, and Clay offered an ending pr-y-r as well.

Today we’re all looking forward to a trip into town, too, to purchase a few more things for our house (clothesline, cleaning supplies, etc.). Later tonight the girls and I are excited to wash our walls and remove some of the mold in our home. We met our next-door neighbor kids for the first time this morning, too! Valentina is 2, Alison is 4, and Alex is 10. Pr-y that we are able to establish more and more relationships with the people in our community soon as well.

On the horizon – we’ve been told that each month, one of us will take turns pr--ch-ng at the ch-rch. I, as my team’s leader, will go first in January. Please pr-y that G-d will place a message on my heart, and that I will be obedient to narrate it well without letting my own thoughts get in the way.

As always, thank you for your pr-y-rs and encouragement. I am always excited to hear what is going on in your lives as well; it helps me to feel connected to the people I love. I love e-mails! It’s so nice to see a friendly message in my inbox.

Until next time, amigos!

One week feels like 2 months.

One week feels like 2 months. Today marks one week since we were in an airplane, but so much has happened already.

Our day of flights (and waiting for flights) went as smoothly as it possibly could. From Columbus to Miami, Miami to Santiago, and Santiago to Puerto Montt, the team was both entertaining and well-entertained. With good senses of humor all around, and a knack for creative, self-created games, I think we can all say it was a good day of travel. G-d was with us in the small things that day, too. A few different times we wondered if our carry-on bags would be either too big or too heavy, but each time we passed those check points, the employee(s) were preoccupied. In the Santiago airport, we had a few… “cultural” moments, also. When we were paying the fee to enter the country, the attendant refused to take any US bills that were either torn (even a millimeter), wrinkled, or smudged/written on. That made for a bit of an anxious moment on my part, but the team scrounged our own money, and we made it through just fine. We also had a man that approached us in a very friendly manner, offering help, but we had been warned about such “helpers.” Another Chilean man told us, “Be careful. It’s dangerous. Only talk to uniforms.” The whole situation ended well, no worries.

Our coordinator and his family are very kind and warm. Their house is in a neighborhood named, “Fe y Esperanza” – faith and hope. They have 3 children – 14, 7, and 4. It is a very fun and hospitable environment. Today, Jean and Kirsten and I moved into a small house about a block away. It is small, but perfect for us. We’re excited to establish a schedule and a sense of normalcy.

The weather has been very nice so far. 60s or 70s, and a little windy, but very sunny. It definitely doesn’t feel like December, especially since the kids are preparing for their summer break from school. The landscape looks a bit like what I picture Colorado to be. Out one of the upstairs windows of the house, you can see a beautiful view of Osorno (a snow-capped mountain/volcano), and Calvuco (another picturesque volcano) is nearby, too.

For 3 days this week, we took a trip to the island of Chiloe. It took about 8 hours, 3 buses, and a tug boat to get there. We first visited some of our coordinator’s friends, played soccer with a little boy, and enjoyed their traditional form of hospitality: mate (an herbal tea that is shared around the table), and bread. Lots and lots and lots of bread here. Always bread. After that visit, we walked a few miles down a dirt road, and through thick brush to visit “una hermana” – a sister of the ch-rch. Her home was tiny, but very cozy. She and her son were very hospitable. We enjoyed watching a little bit of “Teleton” – a nation-wide telethon where all of the national celebrities gather to put on a 48 hour telethon to raise funds for children with muscular dystrophy. A great idea.

The next morning, we enjoyed a very large meal of rice, boiled chicken, potatoes, lettuce & tomatoes, coffee, and bread. Our largest meal since we have been here, for sure. Meals here are different – breakfast is at about 8 am and consists of coffee or hot tea, bread, butter, and jam. Lunch doesn’t happen until about 2, sometimes 3. Lunch is usually soup, coffee or hot tea, and bread. Always bread. Dinner happens at about 9 or 10 at night, and is… bread. Lots of bread. Oh, and coffee.

After our big meal, we hiked for about 2 hours, over fields, through woods, and over/under fences to a small pier where we waited for our tug boat. Our boat ride was very choppy, and lasted for about an hour. We were almost at our destination – a very small ch-rch where we would spend the next 12 hours, 9 of which were spent in pr-yer/w-rsh-p/s-rm-ns. At this point, our team was feeling a little bit grimy and very tired. It was a challenge to stay awake during a 9 hour service that we barely understood, but we were grateful for the cultural experience. It seems a bit cliché to say, but it is always a neat experience to see one G-d be gl-r-f--d all around the world.

At one point, our coordinator gave a s-rm-n on the importance of displaying Chr-st-like character to your family. G-d is first, then your family. He spoke of the importance of setting a G-dly example, since that is how we will understand the father heart of G-d. Oh, and on our way to the ch-rch, we also visited our coordinator’s brother-in-law, and his family. They are C-th-l-c, and we were able to observe our coordinator have an interesting conversation about the real and personal experiences he has had with G-d. He said, “You know that an apple tree is an apple tree because of its apples. In the same way, you know that a Chr-st--n because of the fruits of the Sp-r-t.”

After the service, we began our long journey home. We were eager to be still, and to take showers. On our way, on what we thought would be our last bus, our seats were sold out from underneath us, and it was an… interesting experience, to say the least. Our coordinator told us to go to the back of the bus. We had our big backpacks and sleeping bags with us, and were bumping into a lot of people, as a flood of Chileans were coming toward us. We kept moving backward, but the Chileans kept coming forward. At this point, there was nowhere left to go! Then our coordinator called my name (which usually comes out as “Bet”), and began moving quickly to the front. I panicked a little, and tried my best to follow him, but there were several people in my path. The bus started to move a little bit, and it looked like we had missed an opportunity. I had no idea what was going on. A few moments later, the bus stopped, and we were standing on the side of the road. J We walked a to a bus station that wasn’t too far away, and bought tickets for another bus. A cultural experience.

Since then, we had our first night in our new little house, washed our clothes for the first time (they’re still drying 12 hours later J), and celebrated Clay’s birthday at a VERY small restaurant. It was on the second floor of a little fishing port. The whole thing had a small kitchen (open, so that we could watch our food being prepared), and 2 tables total. VERY small. The boys and I ordered the most traditional dish – curanto. A humongous plate full of oysters, clams, a sausage, boiled chicken, milcao (a potato pancake), and some sort of dumpling. It was very fresh, but too much! We brought the rest of the oysters back to our coordinator’s family to enjoy.

Thank you for your pr-y-rs and support, everyone. Our team loves to hear updates from home, and we miss you all very much. Look for pictures on facebook!

Re-cap

In a nutshell, Practicum was a great time of growth for our team. We experienced a lot of new things, and faced a lot of new challenges. We very much enjoyed working for Focus: Hope and the parish at St. Benedict's. We met a lot of wonderful characters: Denise and her sons at the bus stop, Bill and Shelonda (the volunteer coordinators at Focus: Hope), Denny (a new and dear friend of our team - a warehouse worker), Larry (the cook at the parish), Brother Paul (our host), and Brother Joshua... his dog.
Our team experienced a good ol' gospel worship night, some inner-city spiritual warfare, multiple prayer walks through a very run-down neighborhood, a large fire near our home, our first team trips to the grocery store, LOTS of card games, and other random service projects.

On our second day, our team handed out flyers on a 4 mile loop for a fundraiser walk. On that walk, I took several interesting pictures. See for yourself:

(this one says, "Jesus is Here!" and "Jesus Loves")

So... since Practicum, a LOT of things have happened.

World Awareness Week left us with only rice and beans for every meal (including breakfast), cold showers out of a bucket, washing our clothes by hand, and a night with no mattresses or electricity. As inconvenient as it was at times, it's sobering to know that our week-long project is a daily reality for a lot of the world. We ended our week with an enlightening world awareness meal in which 2 REACHers represented the wealthy population (they ate steak dinners), 3 REACHers were middle class (they ate Chinese food), a handfull of us were the working class (we ate our normal rice and beans, on the floor, with 1 spoon each, out of a large container), a few more were the lower non-working class (they ate only rice, and dirty water, with no utensils), and 3 beggars, who could only rely on the generosity of others.

We've also been doing some fun things as well: a day of cold sand volleyball, the talent show, a large breakfast (featuring lots of bacon) to bless the guys of the house, and other crazy shenanigans.

Practicum in Detroit... an unfinished draft

I do believe I win the award for the most negligent blog-writer. The following has been in my "draft" file for... a long time. I apologize. I will get going on a much more consolidated version. Right now.

----------


Hang on to your hats, readers... this is going to be a long one. I'm going to attempt to tell you what Team Chile did on Practicum (a test-run at outreach on our own) in Detroit, MI a few weeks ago.

If you're looking for the condensed version, skip to the bottom.

FRIDAY -

On Friday, we packed some lunches, said goodbye to our friends at the RIC, and hit the road at 8am. I was the only person on our team who knew where we were going, and I had devised a little guessing game for my teammates for them to discover where we were going. There was a LOT of excitement in the van when our destination was revealed. On our way, we stopped at a rest stop to eat our lunches, and we found the greatest little special needs accessible playground.

We arrived in the afternoon at a parish/Catholic church/school in Highland Park that afternoon (reminded me a bit of Good Shepherd), met our hosts, Brother Paul and his dog, Brother Joshua, removed some air conditioning units, went grocery shopping, and settled in.

SATURDAY -

Our team had been assigned to work for Focus: Hope, a non-profit organization committed to fighting poverty and racism. We would be working with Focus: Hope from Saturday until Wednesday of that week, in whatever capacity they needed. That morning we met their volunteer coordinator, Bill, who told us our task for the morning was to walk a 4 mile loop around the neighborhood to distribute fliers for the upcoming fundraiser walk (taking place on the very same 4 mile loop the next day). With a box full of fliers and a few rolls of tape, we set out on our journey.

About halfway through, we met a mother and her 3 adult sons standing at a bus stop. We asked them where they were going, and they told us that they were on their way to their church to rehearse for their "musical" that was taking place that evening. As a fan of musicals, I was intrigued and wanted to know more. They invited us to attend, and with the rest of the details we told them we would meet them there.

That afternoon we picked up a nice cake to take with us, and we ventured to the other side of town to the "musical." Now, in my head, musicals have a plot and characters and whatnot. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but it was probably somewhere along the lines of a "Godspell"-esque performance.

Visitors Weekend

Happy Visitors Weekend, readers. Also - Happy October... when did that happen?

This weekend the RIC is welcoming just about everyone who wants to know more about the teams and what we've been up to for the past 5 weeks. Here's a run-down of Team Chile's presentation:

This is a picture of Team Chile on our Prayer Challenge a LONG time ago. We walked throughout the city looking for hidden staff members and answers to trivia questions, while meeting and praying for people along the way.

This is the 6th member of our team - reliable Ike. Though he has a few quirks, Ike gets us where we need to go on a regular basis, and has even been known to pull a prank or two on us Jeff.

Each REACH team spends at least 4 hours per week in "Team Prep." which, like it sounds, prepares us for our time abroad, and at least 10 hours per week in outreach.

For Team Chile, we have prepared in a variety of ways. One of our favorite ways to prepare is with our friend (and Program Facilitator) Austin. Austin went to Chile, and our region specifically, through the YES program (very similar to REACH) several years ago. He has been helping us with our Spanish skills, as well as sharing pictures and stories with us about his 6 months there.

We also spent an evening at Rebecca's Place here in Columbus. Rebecca's Place is short-term housing for homeless women looking to get back on their feet. I served at Rebecca's Place each week this summer and enjoyed it very much. While we were there, we got to know the residents, told some jokes, sang some songs, and painted fingernails. It was good practice in simply meeting people and learning their stories.

Our cook at the RIC, Susannah, has a background in nutrition and met with our team to discuss the possible foods we may be encountering regularly, and what we may need to do to balance out our diets in terms of nutrient intake. Did you know that, when combined, rice and beans make a complete protein? Just as good as a meat!

We will also have opportunities in the coming weeks to communicate with a family that lived in Chile as longer-term missionaries, as well as a staff member at International Friendships Incorporated (IFI) who is a Chilean native.

In terms of outreach, my team has just begun to help with English as a Second Language (ESL) classes and child care at a local church, as well as attending a Hispanic church and Bible study in Hilliard, AND our favorite - homework help at the trailer park.

This is our tiny little trailer, owned by a local church.

And this is the inside. I wish we could somehow capture how crazy it gets in there some time. This picture was taken on a day that was nice enough to spread out to the picnic tables outside, but each day we serve approximately 20 students. In that teeny trailer.

Jean and I helping Carrie and Mariah.

Clay.

Jean and Maria.







Kirsten - "Yutzy" - "Miss Juicy"

Jeff - speaking of nicknames... this week at church 2 of our friends were trying to figure out the Spanish equivalent to "Jeff." They said, "hmm... now you are Luiz."

Right across from our trailer is an empty trailer plot that was purchased by the joint efforts of the church, some surrounding neighbors in the trailer park, and the owners of the trailer park itself. A cool story, actually. With all of their cooperation, they have managed to take a plot and a half, fence it off, pour in some gravel, and make a little park area for the children to play in. When the students are finished with their homework, they are eager to go play. Here are some pictures of what may be happening in the late afternoon when homework is complete.



Like Jesus

Here at DTS we're learning a lot about ourselves by reading the Bible. I have no idea who this little girl is, but I like how she thinks.

A few stories

A few stories for your enjoyment:

• This past week our team went to our first Bible study with a group of Hispanic young adults from the church we're attending. As we were introducing ourselves, they responded, "Beth?! Like 'I have to go to the bethroom?!'" No. Not like that. :)
• As I was helping one of my new 4th-grader friends at the trailer park last week, we had a conversation that went a little like this:
• girl: "Where is your dad?"
• me: "He lives in Michigan with my mom."
• girl: "Oh. You live by yourself?"
• me: "Well, not any more. I live with my friends now, but I used to live by myself."
• girl: "Weren't you scared?"
• me: "Well, sometimes."
• girl: "What did you do?"
• me: "I prayed."
• girl: "Oh."
• That went on for a while longer. It was just a neat, natural little door into cool conversations for the future. Our outreach there continues to be great. My teammates have really been digging in and just loving on those kids. The lady who is there long term has told us that they haven't had this many kids in a long, long time. Especially the older kids. She told us that we are the reason they're coming. A very encouraging thought.
• Jean's birthday is this week! We're excited to celebrate her!
• Today we were slipping and sliding as we played a rainy game of Ultimate Frisbee with a couple other teams. A soggy and enjoyable time was had by all. Though it wasn't taken today, below is picture proof of my (very limited) Ultimate skills. I'm in the navy shorts.

• Hopefully, if all goes as planned, we will be taking a group of our trailer park kids to a bowling alley on Saturday. The homework help program we are volunteering with promised them that if they were able to raise their grades or teacher comments on their report cards by "10 points" (1 point per increase [ex. C+ to B- = 1 point]), then she would reward them with a bowling trip. A lot of the kids met the challenge (awesome!), but she didn't have a way to transport them all. Well it just so happens that Team Chile's assigned vehicle is a huge, old 15-passenger van (named "Ike" with a LOT of personality). We are so excited to be meeting such practical needs there!
• This past weekend, our house held a 24-hour prayer vigil during which 1 person (we took turns) read Scripture, and 3 or more people prayed. We made it through the entire New Testament as well as the Psalms and Proverbs. I personally read 1 Corinthians 13 through Galatians 4 on my assigned hour. During this time we also participated in a "Daniel fast" - only raw fruits and vegetables, and juice. A very cool experience.

DTS is happening!

DTS (Discipleship Training School) is well underway! Here is a peek at a typical weekly schedule for Team Chile, as well as the 4 other teams at the RIC (Rosedale International Center).

• Each morning starts with breakfast at 7:30am (if you didn't decide to get up earlier to exercise), followed by an hour of quiet time/personal devotional time.
• After quiet time, a team (all 5 on a rotational basis) leads a short worship time before the morning session. Each session takes us up to lunch time, and covers a wide variety of topics. We are blessed to have great speakers from all over, coming to teach us about their topic of expertise.
• Each Wednesday over the lunch hour, our teams participate in a fasting and intercession time. These times have been particularly bonding for Team Chile so far.
• After lunch, things get a bit less consistent.

• For Team Chile:
• Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons you'll find us at a nearby trailer park, which houses a great deal of Hispanic children. We visit them after school to assist them in their homework, since their classes are taught in English, and their parents speak mostly or only Spanish.
• On Saturday evenings, we will be help the youth group at the Spanish-speaking church we are attending.
• We also coordinate "Team Prep" times which are focused on preparing us for Chile - Spanish lessons, culture study, etc.
• Every once in a while, we manage to have a little fun. :) That's a gross understatement. Our team is enjoying each other's company very much, but we do have structured fun times in our schedule as well. Last week, we took a walk to the park and played a great game of Urban Golf (golfing toward tree or picnic table holes, with tennis balls, and golf clubs).
• Tuesday is our team's turn to do all the dishes for the teams, and on Monday nights, we prepare Tuesday's breakfast. So far, that has been pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, yogurt, and fruit. Next week, we're looking forward to trying our luck with scones.
• To make sure we're in shape for all of the walking/hiking we will be doing in Chile, we also have a whole DTS recreation time (usually a rousing game of Ultimate Frisbee), 2 hours of individual exercise, and an hour of team exercise. This week, we challenged Team Nepal and Austin to a sand volleyball game. Good times were had, but I think the wind was the official winner of the game.

• By the end of the day, we're ready for our lights out time to get some sweet rest before it starts all over again.

More posts to come soon!

Orientation

It's hard to believe that my team has been here for a week already!

Here is a picture of Team Chile on day 1:

(Kirsten, Jean, myself, Clayton, and Jeffrey)

This week has been jam-packed with sessions, get-to-know-you activities, orientation to policies, good discussions and fun times. We've been learning about the book of Matthew, the leadership of David "A Tale of Three Kings"), worship, cultivating intimacy with God, and prayer.

Between our sessions, we've also had a great time just enjoying eachother. On our first day, the teams competed in the 2nd annual REACH OLYMPICS. We competed in displays of enthusiasm, team attire, a 3-legged obstacle race (Kirsten rocked it - competing 3 times!), Bible skis (the prophets of Baal), a newspaper fashion show (Clay took one for the team by allowing us to make him a Chilean dress), charades, a Fear Factor-style eating race (Jean and Jeff even put down baby food and Spam respectively), and team cheers. We are proud to report that Team Chile (CHI CHI CHI! LE LE LE! or Ch-ch-ch-CHILE! [to the tune of the ChiaPet commercials]) took home 1st place!

On Wednesday, the teams hit the streets of inner-city Columbus to complete the Prayer Challenge, in which we look for opportunities to pray for anything and everything (people we meet, places we pass by (churches, government buildings, bus stops, etc.). God placed some really great people in our path, and we were challenged in some great ways. It was a good opportunity for us to reach out to Columbus, but also to see how our team would work together in outreach. We also did a LOT of walking - a taste of things to come.

Just a few days ago, all of the staff and team leaders disguised themselves (pretty dramatically, too), and were hiding at the Easton mall. The unsuspecting REACHers were then told that we had been captured and were in need of finding. They were then told to approach us saying, "Shiver me timbers, ye land lover! Give me your number!"

Yesterday, our team met one of our Columbus outreaches for the first time. On Tuesdays and Thursdays (and maybe even Wednesdays), we will be visiting a nearby trailer park that has an 80% Hispanic population. A local church owns a trailer there, that provides after-school homework help. We will be working with the kids to help them with their homework, as well as general English skills.

Today we're helping with a fundraiser for the RIC at a local Sweetcorn Festival.

We have a busy week planned, but we're all excited about what God has in store for us.

I feel very blessed to have the team that I have been given. We are all eager to learn, and be stretched, and to see where this adventure will take us.

Hasta luego!

Did You Know?

Puerto Montt, Chile's latitude is 41°28′S.

Cleveland, Ohio's latitude is 41°29′N.

(look for the red lines)

Chile's flag looks like this:

Texas' flag looks like this:

Who knew?

Team Chile!

Because I'm so excited to meet these people in 13 days, and because I think this is completely hilarious, I would like to show you a stolen piece of Clayton's blog:

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Well, here we are, including yours truly, of course.
1. - B e t h  H a l e
Superpower: Armadillo Whisperer.

2. - J e f f r e y  E b e r l y
Superpower: Mind Control via guitar music, especially with the song "Kumbaya".

3. - J e a n   M a r i e  R o p p
Superpower: Marshmallow Peep Ninja (turning "Shanghai" into "Sugar High")

4. - K i r s t e n  Y u t z y
Superpower: Known as "The Yutzy Touch", Kirsten can transform any object into a litter of puppies.


5. - C l a y t o n  B o n t r a g e r
Superpower: Known as "Red Light Immunity", I have the ability to never get stuck at a red light, even in, say, downtown New York City at rush hour.

Fantastic Five, together we take the form of.......

ONE SUPER CRAZY AWESOME CHILE MISSION TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Agreed, Clayton... agreed.

For Your Consideration

This fall will begin a very exciting season of my life. I've loosened my reins on what I think my life should look like, and I'm trusting that God's plan is better than my own.

In just a few short weeks, I will be meeting my Chile team (Jean, Jeffrey, Kirsten, and Clayton) for the first time. We will spend 3 months together in Columbus, along with teams that will go to India, Malawi, Morocco, and Nepal. During our time in Columbus, we will live and learn together while practicing our foreign languages and serving our community.

At the end of November, our teams will fly out to our outreach destinations!

In Chile, from what I know so far, my team will spend time in intentional fellowship with churches in the Puerto Montt/Alerce region, as well as do some traveling in the southern islands/mountains. We may be doing things such as dramas, worship, building projects, and disaster relief from the volcano eruption this summer.

Part of the trust that is involved with this new season of life, is financial. As you can read in the attached document (also written below in case I don't know what I'm doing with attachments), I have the opportunity to raise support to cover things such as health insurance, storage costs, and travel immunizations.

Would you please consider a small donation? Join me in my adventure!

I think for a lot of people, it is easy to dismiss missions because of life circumstances. I did this myself. "Oh, I don't think I'm the right person to do that." "But what about school/family/spouse/any other responsibility?" "I can't. I have other plans." I know that God has placed me in the life situation I am in, and equipped me with the right tools to have no other choice but to say, "Yes!" to this opportunity.

If you have any reason to say, "No, I don't think so. Not for me." to a commitment of missional living overseas (and legit reasons exist, I'm not discrediting them), think about using your financial resources to join me in a great adventure.

A Cup of Chile!

It's a little bit funny, right?

Add caption

Don't Judge a Blog by its Title

"Adventures in Legacy"... what does that mean?

If you click here, you'll find the following text:

Welcome to Adventures in Odyssey

Created for ages 8-12 but enjoyed by the whole family, Adventures in Odyssey presents original audio stories brought to life by actors who make you feel like part of the experience. These fictional, character-building dramas are created by an award-winning team that uses storytelling to teach lasting truths. Maybe that's why over 20 million products have been distributed worldwide.

So dust off your imagination and join the kids in Odyssey for inspiring adventures that are flat-out fun! You can get started by downloading an episode right now!

Instead, for the purpose of this blog, I propose:

Welcome to Adventures in Odyssey Legacy!

Created for ages 8-12 but enjoyed by the whole family, Adventures in Odyssey Legacy presents original audio stories brought to life by actors descriptive word pictures and quippy observations who that make you feel like part of the experience. These non-fictional, character-building dramas adventures are created by an award-winning team incredible Author, the Lord of all creation, that who uses storytelling to teach lasting truths. Maybe that's why over 20 million products have been distributed worldwide.

So dust off your imagination and join the kids in Odyssey REACH team in Chile for inspiring adventures that are flat-out fun! You can get started by downloading reading an episode right now!

The term "legacy" was a term that really spoke to me during a very difficult summer; a summer during which I was very alone in my f--th for the first time, and surrounded by people who didn't know J-s-s. This was also about the time Nichole Nordeman's "Legacy" was featured on my most played list.

The chorus poignantly reflects, "I want to leave a legacy. How will they remember me? Did I choose to love? Did I point to You enough to make a mark on things? I want to leave an offering. A child of mercy and grace who blessed Your name unapologetically - and leave that kind of legacy."

That is a perfect description of what I want my life, and my time in Chile to be: a testament to G-d's love through selflessness and intentionality. To be a child of mercy and grace who knowingly chooses to bless His name without hesitation or apology.



What's in a name? That's what.



Here's to my first blog post ever, and many more to come.