Homophones

I know this is cheesy, but I just couldn't resist the opportunity (pun intended).  It is winter here in Pichilemu, and the past week was especially cold.  We got down below freezing at least one night, because the water outside was frozen.  When you are living in a house with no insulation or heat, you definitely feel the cold.  So we were in the mood for a nice warm meal to comfort and warm us in this foreign country.  In other words, we ate a bowl of chili on a chilly day here in Chile.  It is so much fun to say.  :-)   Isn't the English language fun?  You can write three words differently, but pronounce them all the same.


Obviously I'm not a photographer, but here is
a yummy bowl of chili in chilly Chile




Here we are in Chile, enjoying our chili, and you can
tell that it is chilly

Thankfully, although the weather was unusually cold that week, it is a bit more bearable now.  It is winter here, so it is still cold, but at least it isn't below freezing.  We have plenty of blankets, jackets, and a nice, dry house to live in.

We have also recently celebrated Lucas' 6th birthday.  He is growing quickly and is a very special boy.
He is just finishing up Kindergarten and he loves to help me in the kitchen.


Happy Birthday Lucas!


We are still here in Pichilemu, working with a small church.   We try to help out wherever they need us.  Junior has been working in construction almost every day, trying to help them build their new church.  He enjoys the work and the men that he works with.  He also helps by preaching or coordinating the services on Sundays.  I have been put in charge of the Thursday night Bible studies.  So you can pray that God would lead me in preparing for those.  I like to do a lot of research and studies when I teach something, but there are no resources here.  So it is a challenge for me.  But God is good and the group is very supportive and helpful. 

We are praying that God will continue to use our family as he desires.  It was such a huge blessing yesterday to hear my daughter and one of her friends explaining to a neighbor girl about how to become a Christian.  She prayed with them to accept Christ.  Praise the Lord!  I was so touched by that, and proud of the kids for being so bold.  Maybe God brought us to Chile just for that 9 year old girl.  It is encouraging to know that we are all growing in the Lord.  It was also neat to hear Alexis talking to that girl, because she did it all in Spanish.  That is something she couldn't have done so well 4 months ago.  Playing all day with Chilean kids is doing wonders for the kids' Spanish.  I even hear them speaking to each other in Spanish sometimes. It is great.  May God bless you all. 

Visas

Hello to everyone from Mendoza, Argentina!  That's right, we aren't in Chile any more, we are in Argentina.  You may wonder how that came to be, so I will try to explain. 

One week ago we finished up our classes, thus ending the theory part of our Discipleship Training School.  Now it is time to start the Practical part of our training.  It had been decided that we would stay in Pichilemu to do the outreach.  We were hooked up with a local pastor to work with him and the church in whatever way they need us to.  Before getting to work, however, there was one small detail that needed to be taken care of.  Our three month visa for Chile had expired and had to be renewed.  We looked into renewing it at the City Hall, and were disappointed to find out that the only way to renew was by paying $100 per person.  Since we are such a big family, that was an expensive option.  The other choice was to leave the country and then come back in, thus getting a new three month stay.  With the help of our directors, we decided that this might be the best option for us since it could actually be a little cheaper than paying the fee (not to mention we would get a weekend getaway in Argentina).  This decision was setting us up for a very crazy week that we could not have imagined. 

On Saturday we left Pichilemu to Santiago, and caught a bus to Argentina.  The nice thing about Chile being such a skinny country is that traveling to Argentina only takes a few hours.  Unfortunately, about an hour out of Santiago, the bus was turned around because it was snowing in the Andes mountains that separates the two countries so the road was closed.  When we arrived back in Santiago, we had no idea where to go.  But we got in touch with the family of one of our fellow students.  We had never met them, but they invited our family over when they heard that we were their daughter's friends.  I think they were a bit shocked when we showed up at their front door and they found out that our family had 5 kids (I think they were expecting 2 or 3).  Never the less, they were so hospitable and friendly.  They welcomed us warmly and made us feel like we were part of their family. 

Our friend Claudia and her dad (on the left)
showed us some of the sights of Santiago. 

After two days of waiting for the weather to clear up and the pass to open, we decided to head back to Pichilemu.  Our visa had already expired, and we were given a 10 day extension to get out of the country.  At this point we were very discouraged.  We didn't know if the pass would clear up in time for us to get to Argentina, or if we should just head back to Peru to stay.  After praying about it (and after God cleared up the weather when the meteorologists predicted that the storm was going to be around much longer), we were able to make it to Argentina on Thursday.  We were so relieved to get out of Chile before we had any more problems with our visa.



This is the winding road up over the pass.  There are about
27 curves in this section of switchbacks.  It is pretty cool. 
The pass is about 12,000 feet in altitude and gets a lot of snow
in the winter (which is just starting here in Chile).





Here is another shot of the Andes mountains as we were
driving along in the bus.  It was a beautiful day and a beautiful trip.
I love the Andes mountains because they are so big and majestic.

So, we spent the day in Mendoza, Argentina.  It is a neat town, and I would recommend it to anyone.   Tomorrow we head back on the bus.  The trip is about 7 hours to Santiago, and then 3 more hours to Pichilemu.  We are praying that the pass stays open so that we can get back "home."  We also pray that there will be no problems with reentering Chile.  This has been a fun weekend get-away, but it is time to get to work. 

We thank the Lord for helping us to get the Visa situation settled, and for placing us in Pichilemu for the outreach time.  We pray that God will use us there in the church and in whatever else He has planned for us.  We look forward to seeing what is going to happen.  We also thank the Lord for helping us through the first half of our school.  He provided the financial support that we needed for those three months.  Now we ask him to provide for the costs that we will have during this second half of our school.   The $4,200 that we had raised up until now covered the costs of the room, board and school for the past three months.  Now we need about that same amount for these next three months.  We are going to keep renting our small house that we have been living in (unless we can find one that has a fireplace and is about the same price).  We are also going to start cooking for ourselves, instead of eating all of our meals in the dining hall.  That should be fun, but also a new experience.  I haven't cooked in six months, so I hope I can remember how.  Plus cooking in another country is a bit different, since you can't find all of the same ingredients.  So we'll see how it goes. 

We thank you all for your prayers and for caring enough about us to keep up to date on what is happening in our lives.  God bless each one of you.

Alexis is 10!

Last week we celebrated Alexis' 10th birthday.  We invited a few friends over and had a good time celebrating.  She chose brownies instead of cake, since she doesn't like frosting.  So that was easy for me to make. 


I can't believe she is 10 already!



Happy Birthday!



We have been really busy with classes these past few weeks, and I have enjoyed the teaching.  We have talked about attributes of God, our emotions and truth, and spiritual gifts (based on the test, my gifts are Service, Giving and Teaching).  One thought I enjoyed that I'll share with you has to do with how great our God is.  The teacher pointed out that we have a choice.  We can either have a big God, or we can have big problems.  Think of the spies that checked out the promised land.  Ten of them saw the problems as really big, impossible even.  They didn't think that there was any way that the Israelites could enter the Promised Land.  But 2 of the spies had a big God.  They knew that God would be able to give them the land because that is what he had promised to do.  So I thought that was a good way of looking at life.  We can focus on God, and know that he is able, or we can focus on our problems and be discouraged by them. 

 

In other news, we still don't know what we are doing for our outreach time.  We haven't been assigned to any of the groups yet, because the leaders weren't sure if the churches would be able to accomodate our family.  We may just stay here in Pichilemu and do the outreach here.  The leaders are going to let us know hopefully on Monday what they recommend.  So we will keep you updated.  We only have 2 more weeks of classes.  I can't believe that it is almost over, and we will hopefully know soon what we'll be doing for the next 3 months. 

Homeschooling

The nice thing about homeschooling is that it has allowed us to move around without having too much interruuption in the kids' schooling.  Here at the base we usually have a few hours of work duty every afternoon and my duty is teaching my children.  I consider that great, since the rest of the people on the base have to do fun jobs like clean bathrooms, wash dishes or pick up garbage.  We aren't always able to get all of our work done in the time available, so we had slowly gotten about a week behind.  These past two weeks while we had our mini outreach, it gave us a bit more free time, which we took full advantage of to get caught up in our schoolwork.  I am so happy to report that after 2 months here, we are right on schedule.   I praise the Lord for that, because I wasn't sure if we would have any time to do school.  Another blessing is that a neighbor family (also attending one of the schools on the YWAM base) is also homeschooling their two kids who are the same ages as Alexis and Diego.  They are a Chilean family, and it is extremely rare to homeschool here.  So it was a neat surprise to meet them and have our kids be able to play together after "school" while the other kids are still in school for real. 



Here are the kids enjoying school together on a sunny afternoon




Isn't school fun!



Mini Outreach

I can't believe that it has been three weeks since my last post.  The time is flying by.  These past two weeks have been our mini outreach time.  Most of the students were divided into 3 groups that traveled to towns in southern Chile to do evangelism work.  All of the students with children made up the fourth group,and we were assigned to stay here in Pichilemu to do our outreach work.  We ended up working with a local church doing various activities.  Alexis and I helped with a mothers day event for the church.  They hold  a weekly kids club in a poor section of town called Widow's City.  Just the name of it sounded discouraging.  But we had a fun time with the kids and moms doing a few skits, sharing the love of Jesus, and providing refreshements.  



Enjoying the snacks




Alexis and I both participated in the skit,
and Alexis was a natural. 


One of the other activities that I was involved in was helping to host an hour long radio show in the afternoon.  I have never been on the radio, and don't consider myself a natural "talker" (unlike other talkative members in my family).  So this was a stretching experience.  At first I dreaded it, but by the end I must admit I actually began to enjoy it.  We picked different topics each day and shared and taught from the Bible about things such as friendship with God, the paternity of God, and the tongue. 


Here I am with the two ladies I worked with.
They were great and it was such a joy to get to know
them better by working together.




This is the small radio room and the pastor's wife on the
right is the one that worked the controls for us.


While I was working at the radio or the kids club, Junior stayed home to take care of the kids.  Then he would have his turn in the mornings to go work in construction while I stayed home and did school with the kids.  The church we were working with is pretty small, and for now they are meeting in the pastor's house.  They are constructing a church, so for these two weeks Junior and the other guys worked on getting the trusses made and put up.  He really enjoyed being back in construction work and spending time with the men from the church. 


Junior working hard



The church at the end of the two weeks



A few of the guys

So it has been a busy two weeks, but was a nice change of pace from our regular schedule of classes and activities.  Tomorrow we go back to class for the last 4 weeks.  We are still praying about whether we should do the 11 week outreach, and if so where.  So thanks for praying with us about that. 

The Base

 Well, it is a relaxing Saturday afternoon here in sunny Pichilemu.  It is cool and fall-like, but the kids are enjoying playing outside.  So I thought I would post a few pictures of the base so that you can see where we spend most of our day. 



Our classroom is in the second floor of this building.
This is where we spend many hours each day.



The hill that the kids like to play on,
with the soccer field in the foreground.



The dining hall where we eat all of our meals

This is the view from the base, out over town, towards the ocean. 
The beach is about a 10 minute walk away. 



This is the picnic shelter where we usually sit to check
our e-mails or write blog posts.




A great big swingset for the kids

 So now you can imagine where we are a bit better.  Things are going well, and we are keeping very busy.  Thank you all for your continued prayers.  It is a blessing to be able to be in class for 3 hours every day learning about God, and our relationship with him.   For example, this past week we talked about our self-image.  I felt challenged to remember that my image is based in God and what he has done.  My value and who I am don't come from my job as a wife or a mother.  It doesn't come from the fact that I'm a missionary kid, or an American or anything else.  My value comes from being a wonderful creation of God.  I am worth Jesus' blood on the cross.  I don't need anything else besides that to make me valuable and special.   So I praise the Lord for his love and for the sacrifice of Jesus. May each of you remember that you are specially created by God, and you are so special to him that he sacrificed Jesus for you.  You are a beautiful poem written by God.  Have a great day! 

You can also be praying for us in the next few weeks as we decide where we are going to go on our outreach.  We only have about 6 more weeks of class and then we divide into 3 groups and go practice what we have been learning.  So we are praying that God will lead us to the place that he has prepared for us to go during this 2 month outreach time.  You can also pray for me on Tuesday because it is my turn to give the morning devotional/testimony before we start class. 

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Jonathan celebrated his first birthday shortly after we got here.  It was a special time for us to be able to celebrate his first birthday with all of his new "aunts" and "uncles".  He is now walking on his own and getting all around.  He is so active now that he isn't content to sit quietly with me in my class.  So he has begun going to the kids' class with them.  I think it was harder for mom and dad to let him go than it was for Jonathan.  He is doing very well and we are getting more out of our classes.  We praise the Lord for answering our prayers regarding the childcare situation here at the school.  There is a small class for the kids of the students and teachers (about 12 kids in all).   Each day they learn the same topic that we are discussing in our class.  So it is a neat way for all of the family to participate in the learning and growing experience here at the DTS. 


Jonathan is one!





The kids with "Uncle Pedro" - the director of the school