Argenitna Overview #2

Well the work has began! So many new and exciting things have been coming my way and I can't praise the Lord enough. God is showing me how to seek his kingdom and showing me that HIS timing is key!



Working for Jeus! :)
(this isn't LaCasa De Padres-
soon to be Hogar Esperanza, i'll give more info soon!)

I spend several of my evenings at a place called La Casa De Padres. This is a house that provides free overnight stay for parents who have children in the hospital. Right next store to this house is a children's hospital where tons of people travel long distances in order for there children to receivcare. Starting around 5:00pm the parents and kids who stay at the house begin to gather around as they drink their maté (an Argentinian hot, herbal, water drink- hard to explain!) and enjoy crackers or cookies. After a full day of operation, check-up or often horrifying news, these families just want to relax and rest.

The first time I visited La Casa De Padres I was a little nervous. I was physically going alone (but I definitely relied on God to be with me spiritually!) and was insecure because of my Spanish. When I visit I bring along coloring books, bouncy balls and puzzles. I soon found that the toys attract the kids and my foreign accent sparks conversation with the parents! God is so good to me and I just needed to be obedient. The first time I went there, there were 5 little girls ready to play! We had so much fun together as we laughed and colored and talked about our home towns and favorite colors. In between the laughter, I was also able to talk to their moms and explain to them why I came all the way to Argentina. It was an amazing experience and it left me wanting more. I go there quite often now and have met several people and have heard several of the families' difficult stories. 


The Women's Room at La Casa De Padres

 One night a mom and a grandmother came in sobbing and asked for prayer. The lady who works there and I prayed with the family. I prayed in English and to be honest I'm so glad they couldn't understand me. I had no words, only sorrow. Their little boy had cancer and they had just recently gotten over fighting the grandmother's case of cancer. My words were so broken, I was lost and could only ask for them to feel our Father's love. I repeated those words over and over. Once we finished praying, the lady who works at the House, Rosi, talked with them and explained how the Lord will provide them rest. She continued to say that God's will is for them to know Him and that no matter what happens, God has a plan and He will work for the good of those who love Him.

"the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:26-28

I've felt so honored these past few weeks as I have been able to be a part of God's work at La Casa De Padres. He is using this place as an outlet for His love. One of the mom's told me that when she first arrived she was unsure of staying there. After her first stay she said that she could feel love; she could feel that the workers really cared about the families. I was then able to share with her that it's God's love! These families are experiencing far more than I have ever endured and in all honesty, I cannot relate to them in any way. Fortunately God doesn't call me to know everything or know how to deal with every situation, but He does tell me to love, to be his hands and feet, and to preach the gospel to all nations. Sometimes I feel like I can't be used here because my Spanish isn't good enough, or I don't have enough experience, or this stupid thought or that stupid thought. Once again God keeps showing me to be patient and to wait on Him. When I do, He reveals His good, pleasing and perfect will!



New Friends! So fun :)

"Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform and longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is- His good pleasing and perfect will." Romans 12:1-2

Just Sharing Some Thoughts

As much as I love attending church and seeking the Lord with believers from other countries, it's nice to here God's word in your native language. So with a free Saturday morning before me, I decided to look up Francis Chan sermons on Youtube. He is an amazing speaker filled with the Spirit of God and His sermon's always hit my heart hard.

If you're reading this I pray that you make the time right now to watch this video called "Living Courageously." I definitely identified with many of His key points in this sermon and I too long to be a part of an intimate body of believers who only want to talk about the word of Christ and be fed by His word no matter what the circumstances. I pray that you are encouraged today and that you are excited about suffering for Christ! To die is gain, Amen?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqCuembFu6E

Philippians 2:20
"I eargerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficinet courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death."

Argentina Overview

Hey Everyone! I'm in Argentina now if you haven't heard. It's been a while since I've written and since my last post God has made a lot of changes and improvements in me. My experience in Argentina doesn't resemble my time in Mexico at all. While in Mexico I had a very structured schedule and lived on the ministry campus. So far structure has been the last thing implemented into my schedule.



Kitchen Crew!

My first day in Mexico I assisted a gynecologist as he did pap smears. Talk about getting straight to work! Then from that moment on I was busy from at least 9am-5pm every week day. Well God decided to change the pace up on me and give me a period of patience here in Argentina; a time of having to wait on Him and His plan each and every day.Within my first two days of arrival to this very new place and culture I helped out at a Young Life Youth Summer Camp. Yes, it is summer here in Argentina (weird! I know). Young Life is a Christian group that focuses on reaching teens that have never heard about Jesus and lack a relationship with Him.

Unfortunately because of my lack of Spanish I didn't do a lot of interacting with the kids. Instead, I was a part of the kitchen crew! But Jesus says that we are called to serve and working in the kitchen definitely requires a servant's heart. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the kitchen crew consisted of 4 girls (all around my age), a young married couple, and an American woman who is a missionary here in Argentina. They welcomed me with big smiles and immediately considered me a friend. Unfortunately, I arrived sick and with a fever but these people, who soon became like family, took care of me in every way possible. In all honesty, that entire week was a roller coaster. My spirits were high but my physical health was quite low and by the end of the weak I was mentally exhausted and seriously wanted my mommy. But the Lord carried me through and kept me going. He gave me rest in knowing that he had brought me to this new place and was going to work things out for my good.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

The camp took place in a town about an hour away from where I am currently living. I live in Corrientes Capital. Corrientes is a big city with a population of about 317,000. Like I said before, it's summer here, so therefore it's hot and it's humid! For those of you who don't know me super well, I sweat waaaay to easily. It's actually quite annoying and it's quite ironic that God called me to serve in a city that will easily reach 70% humidity on the average day. But God doesn't call us to be comfortable now does He? Once I arrived to Corrientes after finishing with the camp, I expected to get straight to work. I was told that there were several ministries awaiting my help and I couldn't wait to start! But the fact that I was arriving during Summer Vacation seemed to escape my mind. Everyone was in vacation mode and all of the different ministries I was supposed to help with were on a temporary stand-still.

I don't know if you can exactly classify me as a control freak, but I definitely like to see my plan laid out ahead of me. I was deprived of this comfort and there was no plan, there was really nothing I could do...for a while. I immediately became very frustrated and confused. Did I not listen closely enough to what God wanted of me? Was I supposed to be in Argentina or was I supposed to go somewhere where they needed me right that very second? Doubts filled my mind and my impatient nature took over.

My roommate Salome is the tallest one in the picture :)

So about a week went by and my excitement was reignited. My awesome roommate Salome introduced me to her town, her friends, and her food. I met tons of college age kids from the church and was busy hanging out with them almost every night. I learned so much about the culture within that first week in Corrientes and was loving this new place. The Spanish accent was also a new adjustment for me. Having learned my Spanish in Mexico, the accent is drastically different and was quite difficult to understand at first. I'm not fluent yet and this change in accent kind of threw me off, but I've adjusted!

All of this free time really gave me the chance to understand my new mission field. I came with the intentions of mainly working with 3 different ministries: La Casa De Mi Hermano, Medi Mision, and Young Life (Vida Joven). La Casa De Mi Hermano is place where families can stay for free while they have a family member in the hospital (kind of like a Christian Ronald McDonald House). Medi Mision is ministry that brings free medical and dental care to poor communities. And Young Life is a group that shares the gospel to teens by hanging out with them and doing fun activities. In order to be effective in these 3 ministries I really do need to know the culture and God provided the chance.

Not only did my free time allow me to understand the culture, it also gave me time for prayer, studying Spanish, reading the Bible, and more prayer. Over the past month and a half here in Argentina I have had more time to be alone with my Lord than ever before. What a blessing!





Okay, now comes the part that honestly I am so so so grateful for but... at the same time this was the part that was really difficult to accept as a girl who came to do missions and work for the Lord.  Salome's family invited me to go with them to Brazil for their family vacation! When Salome invited me I was screaming inside, "Yes, Yes, Yes!!!", but I wasn't sure... I mean I came to work, not be on vacation. But I talked to my parents and double checked with Salome's family and there was a resounding, "Go to Brazil!" It was such a lovely experience. The beaches, the food, the people, and Salome's family were just an absolute blast and delight.



Let the heavens be glad,

and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy.

Psalm 96:11-12

 

 

After Brazil I felt closer to my roommate and her family and that was such an awesome thing. I have come to find that I love becoming a part of other families, it's just so fun to see how they work and how many families quite similar! Salome has three younger sisters, Flor (21), Manuela (13) and Paula (9). It was such a blast being around four sisters who seriously love and care for one another.

As you can tell the last month and a half has been filled with enjoying God's people, creation, and love. At first I didn't really want to write this blog because I haven't truly dug into my "missions" work yet, but at the same time I've been able to dig in to God's truth. And God's truth is definitely something I want to share. I've had to wait upon the Lord and each day I have had tons of time to truly study his word. I started helping out with Medi Mision by doing some prep work for. I've been organizing all the donated clothes so that they will be ready to go when we arrive. I also have had the chance to share my story with my new church family this past Sunday!

School and all the action will start back up at the beginning of March. I'm ready for it all to begin and ready to be busy for Jesus! I know God has brought me to this beautiful country for a reason and I am willing and ready for whatever He has planned. Thank you again for all of you who have and continue to pray for me. There are days when I just cry and wish I was home with all of you. But then I cry it out with Jesus and He brings that inexpressible peace. I am also excited to tell you that the Lord has confirmed in my heart that a life and career dedicated to missions is in my future. Hallelujah! Have a super wonderful week!