Formosa Ark Shelter Team/ Iguazu Falls cont...

I forgot to mention that Formosa is home to the Toba Indians. They are a tribe that has been oppressed and have to live on something like a reservation. They have their own communities and churches. They live in huts made out of sticks and mud with banana leaf thatched roofs. They live pretty simply and don't have much, but they are very welcoming and want to share what they do have! There are several growing churches with lots of leaders rising up among them!

I have several albums on facebook, check out my pics:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039340&l=f8f02&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039343&l=ae7fd&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039368&l=f7d22&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039371&l=7427e&id=69600827

Formosa Ark Shelter Team/ Iguazu Falls

Well, this past week as been tiring, but has been absolutely amazing! The group was from all over the US, from Washington and California all the way to South Carolina and Florida! It was a great mix! They were an Ark Shelter/Jesus Film team, which means they brought and donated an Ark Shelter and brought equipment for the Jesus Film. An Ark Shelter is a big tent held up by a steel frame, that is relatively easy and fast to assemble and disassemble. It can be used for many things, so it is extremely useful on the mission field. The group arrived on Saturday. This trip was very unique because we also had a group of Argentines go with us! There is a group that always goes to Formosa with two doctors from Carlos and Robin's church. So we combined our trips! There were about 23 Americans and 17 Argentines. Since we had so many people, we rented a Coche Cama, which is a sleeper bus. The seats recline, so it's actually semi-comfortable to sleep. We left Saturday night for the 18 hour bus ride to Formosa. Surprisingly it went by pretty fast. I didn't sleep very well that first night, but every other night that we were on the bus I slept pretty well! When we got to Formosa, we checked into the hotel, ate lunch, and then went to the Nainek church. This is where we installed the water purification system last year! It was nice to be back! I was able to see the system again and get news on how it's doing! The system is doing great! It works and people are using it! This is so encouraging because we hoped that God would make it a blessing and use it to help change lives and he has! There is a clinic there, so the doctors set up their stations and started seeing patients. We had a VBS and games for the children and then we showed the Felix Vargas Film, which is a video about a man that was involved in drug trafficking and violence, but then he came to know God and his life changed. He has impacted many lives with his incredible story and we hope to pass on the message that no matter who you are or what you've done, God can change your life and give you hope and a purpose! We stayed in a hotel in Laguna Blanca, which is the same hotel that we stayed in when we came two Marches ago. The owners of the hotel remembered me! I roomed with two Argentine women. They helped me practice Spanish!

On Monday, we went to the Tacaagle Church. There we set up the Ark Shelter, the doctors saw patients, we did VBS and played games with the children, and showed the Mary Magdalen film. This film is the Jesus film, but told from Mary's point of view. At all the sights, we also handed out clothes, toys, and medicine. (the pic is of us painting faces)
(This pic is people waiting to see the doctors outside the church)


On Tuesday, we went to the Emmanuel church. The roads were very muddy because it had rained all night, so the bus could only take us so far, so we walked to the church. It was about a 10-15 minute walk. So everybody grabbed as much equipment as they could and started the trek! I had the privilege of carrying Tashi! It was kind of funny watching us all walk through the mud! I had on flip flops, so sometimes I sank down into the mud or got my shoe caught! haha! But, Tashi and I had a good time! We sang for about the last half of the trip! It helped lighten the mood:) The Emanuel church has a ton of banana and grapefruit trees! When we first got there, we were waiting for everything to get set up and I saw a bunch of grapefruits on the ground, so I started kicking it with a couple of the little boys standing around. Pretty soon we had a full circle of Americans and children kicking grapefruits around! Then, someone got the bright idea to get out the soccer balls. I didn't even think about getting the real thing because I was having fun using grapefruit! There were two sisters, 10 and 13, that I talked to for a while. I understood everything they said and they understood me! That was really encouraging! My Spanish is really improving and it's definitely an answer to prayer:) After we talked, they latched onto me and wouldn't let go. They wrapped their arms around my waist and followed me everywhere! I helped lead VBS and even when I was up front singing and doing motions to the songs, one of the sisters stood next to me! At this sight, we had a VBS, played games with the children, gave out clothes, toys, medicine, saw patients, and had a little service with singing and a message. They gave us bags and bags of grapefruit and tons of banana bunches! The grapefruit is really good! They are different from the Ruby Reds that I've had most often in the States. I ate one yesterday with no sugar! They're good! I think I even like them better! They seem to be really acidic though, so I could only stand to eat a half at one time.

On Tuesday night we left for Iguazu Falls. We drove overnight again, I think it was somewhere around 10 or 12 hours. We went to a mine first. We got a tour of the mine and they explained how the precious stones formed in the rock. I had never seen anything like that before, so it was neat to have that experience! Then we left for Iguazu Falls! We walked on the trails down to the bottom of one section of the falls. Some of us took a boat ride to get a closer look at the falls. I thought we were just going to look, but much to my surprise they actually stuck is in the falls. We got completely drenched!!! I wasn't expecting that, but oh well! That night, we stayed in a five-star hotel! It was really nice! I had my own room, which was nice because I could have some alone time and the best part about it was that I could take a 30 minute steaming hot shower!!! and not worry about sharing the bathroom! It was also nice to sleep in silence and by myself instead of with 39 other people on a bus!

On Thursday, we went back to the Falls! This time we went to the Devil's Throat! We took a train through the jungle and then hiked on bridge trails above the water for about 20-30 minutes. Then we saw it...the most amazing sight I've ever seen!!! It was incredible! It was like the earth opened up and all the water was flowing in! I can offer you pictures, but you can only truly experience it if you go yourself! I recommend that everyone put it on their "to-do" list! AMAZING:) After the Falls, we drove about 3 hours to the Jesuit Missions. We got there at sunset and got a tour in the dark. They had lights though, so we could still see. We looked around the museum, then saw the ruins. There's a movie called "The Mission" and that's about these Jesuit Missions. We watched the movie one night, but I fell asleep, so I still haven't seen it.

After that we spent another night on the bus. It was somewhere between 13 and 18 hours back to Pilar. We had to wait for about two hours in the morning because they closed the road due to fog. When we got back, we ate lunch and then I took two couples to Buenos Aires. It was only my second time to the city, but I was their tour guide! haha! I remembered enough that it seemed like I knew what I was talking about. We had a driver that took us around and then I went with them shopping and touring!

On Saturday, the rest of the group, Carlos, and I went Buenos Aires. Carlos gave an amazing tour of the city and one of the group members asked me if my tour the day before was like this one, and I told them mine was more detailed, that Carlos left a lot of stuff out! Haha!! I couldn't even tell them what buildings were what! But I think my group had a good time, and I think I gave a good tour for just being there once before! We then took most of the group to the airport. The group leader and his family weren't flying out until the next night.

On Sunday, the group leader and his family, the Radi's (Carlos, Robin, and the girls), and I went to the Radi's church and then went to El Tigre. Tigre is an island where everyone gets around by boat. There were tons of little shops everywhere! They had great stuff and I loved everything! They had a lot of great stuff to decorate with! If I had a more permanent place to decorate, I would buy stuff there. I really enjoyed looking at all their stuff! We ate lunch there and then took a boat tour of the island. I think it was about an hour! It was a relaxing ride and it was fun to see all the houses on the water! Then we took the family to the airport.

Bragado/Alberti photo album

Hey all! I'm sorry that I didn't add this earlier...I have 3 picture albums from the trip on facebook, so I'll post the link here and you can check them out!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038481&l=2361b&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038486&l=6f1d9&id=69600827
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2038489&l=9e77a&id=69600827

First Work & Witness team July 4-11, 2008

I left on Wednesday the 2nd to get ready for the team. I went with Graciela R. who was our cook for the week. We met up with the pastors and superintendent in Bragado, which is about three hours away from Pilar. The pastors are Alberto and his wife, also named Graciela. Alberto pastors the Bragado church and Graciela pastors the Alberti church, where we worked. We stayed in the district center in Bragado. Nilda is the Superintendent and her son lives on and takes care of the property. It has beds, showers, a kitchen, and a big meeting room. Graciela and I made all the beds, bought all the food, and prepared food for the week. We were there for two and a half days before the group came, so that whole time I was speaking Spanish. It was great to be with Alberto, Graciela, Graciela, Nilda, and her son because it forced me to speak Spanish and it really helped me practice listening! They were all really great at helping me to understand and teaching me the proper way to say things! Those two and a half days seemed like a week! It was great to get to spend that time with them! It felt like we were starting to form a family! They helped make me more Argentine- being on their schedule, eating at their meal times, drinking mate and speaking their language (well, trying to)! The town of Bragado is like a small country town. It is a very cute little town. It has a plaza, or town square, a couple of schools, and a little downtown with lots of shops. Graciela and I went all over town when we were buying food. We went to several butchers, several fruit and vegetable stores, and several other stores. It was neat to get to see that side of the town, the real working people selling their produce! One thing that amazed me about the town is that the streets were lined with these gorgeous trees that looked like Birch to me. I have several pictures of them, so you can see!

The group came on Friday, July 4th. We decorated a cake for them and I decorated the main meeting room with red, white, and blue balloons and ribbon. It was weird being away from home on the 4th. There was no barbecue or fireworks, and it was about 35-45 degrees. It was nice to get to be with other people from the States, though! We stuccoed the Alberti church and later in the week helped to put in windows. There was a group of Argentines working with us because they are the experts at finishing the stucco. We did the first parts and then they finished. We also did VBS (Vacation Bible School) and played soccer with the kids three days. We had a lot of kids show up for both of those! The group brought gifts to hand out to the kids each day, which made them keep coming! There were several kids who gave their lives to the Lord and decided to start living in obedience to God! Praise the Lord! One day, some of us went to a nursing home and visited the elderly! There were several that were over 100 years old and still looking great! Before going to the home, we visited a lady from the church who had been bed-ridden for a while. I think they said her arm had been paralysed for three months. Just a few of us went in. We saw this sweet old lady about 90 in her bed. She was beautiful! Her eyes were just beeming! She was so excited to see us! We talked to her for a little bit, prayed with her and kissed her goodbye! We gave her a little gift bag that had a little stuffed animal and she absolutely loved it! She liked that she had a little companion. On this trip I met several people who were 90 and over and I was so amazed how healthy they were! I met a man that lived next to the Alberti church who is going to be 90 in August. He was walking with a three legged cane and a regular cane. He told me that even though he's not in the best of shape, he still is loving his life! He says that he has joy and is happy! He invited me and two other people from the group to have mate with him! He had me go in his house and get it. I was very humbled by his living conditions and the fact that he trusted me to go in his house. It was really cute though because he had several trophies on his wall and later I found out that they were from bowling! He also pulled out his wallet to show us his driver's license and then he pulled out a US one hundred dollar bill! He was so proud of it!

These are some of the boys that we played soccer with! They were all little soccer studs! This one on the right is Ruban! He's 12 and he's so amazing!

On Thursday we went to an Estancia, which is like an Argentine ranch with Argentine cowboys called Gauchos. We rode horses, got a tour of the ranch, watched a cowboy show, and ate lunch. Lunch was an all you can eat Argentine lunch! Lots of meat! I finally got the Argentine steak that I've been waiting for! During lunch, there was music and dancing from each region of Argentina! It was fun to see the different outfits and different dances from each part! At the end they pulled people out of the audience to dance with them and I got picked twice! It was fun!
On Friday, the team went to Buenos Aires! I stayed behind, though, because we have a rule here that you can't be in a vehicle alone with a person of the opposite sex and I would have been with Carlos on the way back from taking the group to the airport. I was okay with it, though, because I understand the rule and I respect it. It was kind of nice, too, because I wasn't feeling well. I was completely exhausted and my body hurt. Because I didn't go, I was able to sleep and relax! After sleeping and relaxing yesterday and today, I feel a lot better.

I was able to practice Spanish a lot on this trip. I helped translate conversations here and there. I still have a lot to learn, but it's nice to make a little progress! Thank you so much for your prayers and support! I have truly felt God taking care of me and being my strength in this time of weakness!