So there I was...

It's true - time still works, which means I am now a year older. Hopefully that equates to a year wiser as well. The story of my birthday... a very strange day. The punchline found me in the middle of Puerto Montt, barefoot. We'll get to that a little later.

We recently took a trip to Calvuco to help re-build a house that had been burned down. There is a young couple (24 yrs. old) who have 4 small boys. Before the fire, they had been all living in a very small "house" that was basically one room where they ate and slept. One of their boys, the second oldest, was in kindergarten last year. He brought home a piece of work with a frowny face on it, and he was ashamed. To hide it, he found a plastic plate, and put the paper on top of it, and set it on fire. As he was doing this, his older brother came into the room. To hide what he was doing, the kindergartner set the burning paper/plate underneath the bed, and pretty soon, all that was left of the house was ashes. Now, the family is living in unbelievably small quarters. While we were there, we made a lot of progress on a new house addition for them that is 2 floors high. Though it is far from fancy, they will finally be able to spread out a little bit.

Last week, we also set out to climb one of the snow-capped volcanoes that is featured in the unreal painting-like scene that we see from our neighborhood. It was a great day, with lots of sun, and windy little roads that snaked us closer to the top. We brought a nice picnic with us, and hiked as far as our legs carried us. Our goal was to reach the snow, but it was just SO far away. G-d's creation here in Chile truly is remarkable.

So now, the birthday story. My birthday just so happened to fall on a Monday, our free days. During these free days, we spend a bit of intentional time together as a team. This week, it was Jeff's turn to do the planning. In the morning, the girls made me some oatmeal pancakes (the only thing I had asked for for my birthday), and the boys went to run a few errands with Eduardo. During that time, the girls and Rebekah wanted to go to the artisan district to do some shopping. To keep me from being alone after getting some business done, we planned to meet up (the girls and I) later on. I caught a bus as soon as I could, but it was a different route than I was used to. It still took me to town, but entered from a different direction. I got off in a familiar place, but it was FAR from where I needed to be. About 5 minutes into my 25 minute walk, my flip flop broke. Just flat-out broke. So there I was... in Chile... in the middle of the city... barefoot... on my birthday. I finally met up with the girls, and we were soon on our way to the Chilean equivalent to Wal-Mart for a fun scavenger hunt Jeff had planned. Having picked up a new pair of shoes (strange ones at that), we went back to Eduardo's house where there was a nice gathering of friends from ch-rch to celebrate 3 birthdays.

Just yesterday, the team and Rebekah and Eduardo went to visit the father and sisters of one of our friends from ch-rch. While we were there, we helped this widower with his firewood, and shared some sandwiches. We played a few songs together, and Eduardo led us in a time of talking about what J-s-s did for us, and how we can respond. At the end of that time, he asked them if they wanted to accept J-s-s as their L-rd and S-v--r, and they said yes! How exciting! This man, alone and working for a cemetery where he is surrounded by death all the time, and he is now being offered eternal life! It was a very exciting and humbling experience to watch G-d do that right in front of us. I'm sure it's something my team and I won't quickly forget.

Our Australian friend, Rebekah, is still with us, and is learning more and more every day. If you're keeping track, you'll notice that her visit that began as a one-night thing, has now lasted for 2 full weeks, and is still going strong. She meets with Clay and Eduardo and I almost every night, and we've been working our way through the g-spels, as well as her growing list of questions. Like our friend's family members, she too has accepted the l-rdship of J-s-s, and it's been so great to watch her grow. Right under our noses! Please pr-y that G-d will continue to reveal Himself to her in real ways as she tries to figure out where to go from here, and how to explain her change to the people that she loves.

Until next time!