LOTS of things

Heavens to Betsy (whoever she is), it has been FAR too long since an update! That must just mean that as the time dwindles down here in Chile, we have been travelling a LOT, and too busy to write about it. This rainy, windy, drizzly day will be perfect for filling you in.

On Easter, the team and Rebekah and I made our own little service. It was such a nice, small time together to reflect on the price that was paid on our behalf. We read “The Rag Man” reading - a beautiful story of J-s-s’ grace and sacrifice, as well as the Easter story from the g-sp-ls. We threw in a little bit of American culture, too, by painting “eggs,” but since Easter is about as popular as Christmas in Chile (you really have to be looking for it to find it), we used tempera paint on rocks. J Though Easter isn’t widely celebrated in Chile with pastel-colored candies, baskets, and plastic eggs, Eduardo reminded us that, “Easter is nice, but Jesus is alive every day.”

After Easter, the team and Rebekah went on a week-long trip back to the island of Chiloe, spending a few days in different locations. This was the first time that we went back to visit a site that we had been to before, so it was exciting to catch up with some of the same people, and encourage them further.

On the beginning of that trip, Jeff, Jean, Eduardo and I went to visit a man with terminal cancer. We talked to him around his bed for a while, and it was evident that he was grateful to have company. He has some fears and concerns, but we were able to reassure him of whose hands hold his future; the same hands that are holding him even now. Jean pr-y-d for his healing, and though nothing miraculous happened immediately, we are looking forward to hearing updates from his family about his health in the near future.

Following that visit, we met up with the rest of the team, and visited a young North American missionary couple in another part of the island. This visit was particularly encouraging to me. Travis and Bekii have been living in Quemchi for a few years, and are heavily involved in a children and youth ministry there.  We met some of the neighbors in the area, watched a soccer match at a friend’s house, and did  a pr-y-r walk throughout the community. Beyond the refreshment the team and I felt by sharing English conversation with people who understand what it feels like to be working in the islands as a North American, I personally had a great connection with Bekii. She and I share a lot of the same interests, and even know some of the same people! We also share the connection of being rare non-Mennonites in a Mennonite program. Our time together was extremely refreshing for me.

After Quemchi, we headed to Montemar, where we had been previously. I was even able to stay with the same hospitable family as I had before. While in Montemar, we met someone new as well. Maria lives by herself, and has done so for 23 years since her husband died. She is 73 years old, has 12 children, a lot of grandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. She does everything by herself - cooks, cuts and stores firewood, cultivates a big garden, and harvests potatoes to sell. There are so many things she does by herself! Her home is also very much secluded, and I can only imagine how lonely she gets. We also discovered that Maria never learned how to read or write, so we were very excited to read some Bible passages for her. A funny part of our visit - it is very customary for a hostess to prepare a meal or “once” (tea and bread) for guests. Maria began preparing a big lunch for us, but she couldn’t cut through a piece of frozen meat. Her solution? Go outside and chop it with a hatchet. J

While we are in Montemar, we often help with ch-rch services each night. One night, Eduardo said something that I wanted to be sure to remember. He was talking about people who claim a “generational f--th,” meaning one that is inherited from parents or other relatives. He said, “G-d doesn’t have grandchildren, just children.” John 1:12, “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of G-d.”

In Montemar, Clay and I were asked to paint a large painting to be put on display in their s-nct--ry. I forget the actual dimensions, but it was something close to 5 feet by 6 feet. They asked that the painting be based off Revelation 22:14, “Blessed are those who wash their robes. They will be permitted to enter through the gates of the city and eat the fruit from the tree of life.” AND they wanted the river of life. AND a dove. J Clay designed it, and we painted it together within the span of 6 short hours. The ch-rch was very pleased with the work, and the painting will live in that ch-rch for a long time.

Every week, our team does something to intentionally spend time together. During the week after our trip to Chiloe, while working back in Alerce on building projects and visiting our neighbors, we took an afternoon trip to Puerto Varas. In the states, my friends and I have enjoyed geocacheing at times. Since my team had never been introduced to geocacheing, and since I was informed of this scavenger-hunt-style object hiding in Puerto Varas, we went out on a search. We knew that it was located in a specific park, near a large cross. After wandering around for quite a while in search of big crosses, we found the right one (second try), but there was a locked gate around it. Having come so far to be locked out, Jean climbed the fence, and began to look, while the rest of us watched from behind the gate. Pretty soon, Jeff joined her. While they were searching, a man with a key came to unlock the gate for the rest of us. He said, “Just don’t climb on the cross.” Well… we looked and looked and looked, but it just wasn’t there. Like Ecclesiastes says, “A time to search and a time to quit searching.”

After that week, we were on our way to our most southern trip - a week-long adventure to Porcelana. Porcelana is a small island, where we were told to expect colder temperatures, glaciers, hot springs, and even penguins! Our expectations were satisfied when we accomplished 2 ½ out of 4! To get to Porcelana, we took a 5 hour bus ride, followed by about an hour wait, and a 4 hour boat ride. The boat took us right up to the front door of our host home, the home of Boris and Gabby, a very memorable couple, who gave us a lot of laughs, warm and comfy beds, and hot showers. Their home was in the middle of a computer desktop background - super beautiful. We had the sea and snow-capped mountains in the front, and Chilean jungle, with a waterfall in the back. While we were there, we helped Eduardo scuba dive for oysters and crabs, and even shared raw sea urchin meat (a supposed delicacy, though we all agreed it tasted more like salty snot). Add that to the list of other weird things we’ve eaten while in Chile: brain/heart sausage (sliced like salami), pieces of boiled pig skin/fat with hair still in it, and a barely cooked egg (poached maybe?) on top of a pile of mashed potatoes.

Most of our m-n-stry there was to help clear a new path on the property, cut firewood, and encourage our host couple. They are very new in their f--th, and Gabby just loves to talk. We could only imagine how lonely it must be to not have anyone else to talk to for months at a time. Gabby even taught me how to communicate with the other boat captains with the CB radio. I’m basically a professional now. J

The most adventurous part of our trip happened on the second day, while we went with Boris to explore the jungle where he found some hot springs and a geyser. To get there, we hiked for 9 hours (round-trip) through the jungle (Boris was in the lead with a machete), and we were told to be on the lookout for pumas. We climbed over huge mossy rocks, trudged through 3 waist-high icy cold rivers (with rapids), shuffled across a slippery hanging bridge, and climbed up/down small cliffs with ropes. We were so happy to get to the hot springs, especially after being in the cold rivers. The water was even a little bit too hot! On our way back, I even slipped on a rock through one of the rapids, and fell face-first into the white water. Though I was sopping wet and very cold, I was completely fine. Our muscles were all very tired the next day!

The trip to Porcelana, and back again, both held very embarrassing and uncomfortable moments for me. This will be your treat for reading this monumentally long and overdue update. J On the 5 hour bus ride to the island, I had to go to the bathroom pretty badly. I usually avoid those if I can, but that was one long ride! I convinced myself that the bus bathroom was the way to go, and when I got there, I played with the door lock for a little while until the closet let me in. Once I was inside, I noticed that the toilet seat was stuck in the up position. While I was thinking about how I could go about fixing that, the bus hit a bump, and I went flying through the door, and onto the floor of the aisle. Thank the L-rd I had all of my clothes on (seriously, thank Him - it was only a matter of seconds). A nice man helped me up, and I was so flustered that I said, “Thank you” (in English). I shook it off, and gave it another try. This time, I couldn’t get the door to close, so I thought it best to just give up, and return to my seat. My team and I laughed and laughed. We looked back a few times, and my helper was laughing, too.

On our way back, I wasn’t feeling very well. We had just started the 5 hour bus ride. The road was very bumpy, the bus was a little bit too hot, and the music was a bit too loud. To top it off, it was dark and rainy, but the inside bus lights were on, which made it difficult to look outside. All of these things combined, I wound up vomiting into my hands, my clothes, the window, and the back of the head of the man sitting in front of me. I did what I could to clean up with a few squares of toilet paper, but I had to sit in the majority of it for the remaining hours of the trip. Eduardo (who was sitting next to me, with some splatter on his pants) had a great time laughing about it, and helping to distract me from worrying about it. It is a funny story now, but at the time… not so much.

We have been doing a lot of other great things since then as well, but this update has gone long enough.

Until next time, readers!