1-2-09 Day 35
Today we woke up at 5:50 am and greeted the group from Illinois. I then went to the grocery store and bought breakfast for the group. After that I started making potato salad for lunch. I was in charge of making lunch for the whole group. We ate lunch about 1230pm in the central zone church building. After lunch we worshiped together for awhile and then Elizabeth explained to the group the schedule of events while they are here. Some of us walked down to the rio after that and swam for awhile. At 8pm we had lamb asado with Elizabeth's host parents-Humberto & Monica.
1-3-09 Day 36
Today we left for Darwin at 830am. This is the town the team from Illinois will be working in. The church building needs some more construction, so that is what we will be doing. My job today was to dig up weeds around the building and thorn bushes to make the yard look nicer. I also helped varnish brick. Nathan was helping on the roof and was also mixing cement. In the afternoon we all went to Juan's house to swim and have supper.
1-4-09 Day 37
Today all of the church zones met for worship together at the rio at 930am. It was such a beautiful day to worship the Lord outside in the beauty of creation. We packed a picnic lunch and ate at the rio and swam there in the afternoon. In the evening Nathan and I brought supper to the people from IL who are staying at Delbert and Frieda's house. We played cards and ate supper together.
1-5-09 Day 38
Today we worked in Darwim again. I varnished bricks mostly. We ate choriso's there in Darwin and then came home for a siesta. In the evening we went to the West zone chuch for their meeting. Andreas and Faviola talked for awhile (they are missionaries from C.O.) & Jeff and Ray talked awhile. We then ate supper there about 11pm and then walked home.
1-6-09 Day 39
Today we were in Darwin again. Nathan helped work on the roof and I varnished bricks. The girls then helped make lunch. Homemade spaghetti noodles and sauce with bread and salad. It was amazingly delicious. Muy rico!! Tonight we went to the North zone for worship and supper. I got to hold one of the church members baby. YEAH!
1-7-09 Day 40
We worked again in Darwin and are making good progress. There was alot of man power going on but not as much for the girls to do. Rebecca and I went to the house where the ladies were making lunch, so we helped out. We ate lunch and then came home and took a very short siesta. Then we went to Juan's house at 4pm. People swam, talked together and used the computer, etc. Tonight we walked to the South zone church for their time of worship and to eat supper together. We were able to make more connections with people tonight at the south zone and that felt very great.
1-8-09 Day 41
Our last day to work in Darwin and much has been accomplished on this building. It's great to see the fruit of our labor. Each morning we would start off with prayer and worship time and then work until noon or 1pm, eat lunch and then head home. It's been great to work along side brothers and sisters who will actually be doing ministry in this building. Tonight we had some free time, so Nathan and I cleaned up our apartment and packed for our mission trip we will take this weekend.
1-9-09 Day 42 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELIZABETH!
This morning we all (18 of us....5 in a car and 13 in the van) packed up and headed south to Las Grutas. While we were there we were able to swim in the ocean for about three hours. The day was very warm and the ocean was crystal clear & very beautiful. After that we stopped for some icecream and then headed on to P.M. to eat supper with the missionaries who have started a good work in this city. We left there about midnight and made our way to S.G. to sleep for the nihgt. Miguel and Angela are the missionaries in S.G. and they had gone with us on our four day trip in December so it was great to see them again.
1-10-09 Day 43
Today we got up and Nathan discovered a scorpion right by our matress where we were sleeping last night. God protected us thru the night. God also gave Nathan a verse in his dreams last night- Matthew 5:3. Today we got up and had some free time. At 11am we worshipped together. There was lots of sharing and crying as the Holy Spirit ministered to each one of us right where we were at. The young people of our group shared why we chose to come to Argentina. This lasted until 1 or 1:30pm then Miguel and Angela made lunch for us. In the afternoon we walked down the road to the neighbors house to see a baby winaco. It was neat to be so close to a baby animal like that and we even got to bottle feed it. At 4pm we left S.G. for L.B which is a very small town out in the desert of the Patagonia-wtih nothing around. It took us 2 hours on a very dusty, bumpy road to get there. Once we were there we got settled in and had a time of worship and then went to bed. Before they went to bed they found another scorpion in the bathroom. Unfortunantly for me these are Nathan's new pets in a jar!
1-11-09 Day 44
Today we left L.B. and headed out on another very bumpy dirt road for another hour to Pa. There we worshipped with the small church that is starting there. Nathan and I had been here before so it was great to be able to go back and see people we had seen before. Nathan made friends with a little boy last time and this time was able to give him a soccer ball. After that we headed another hour on a bumpy dirt road to a small town called A.C. There we ate lunch with another team that had come from home. After we ate lunch with them we headed home for another 3.5 hours of traveling. On our way home the weather got stormy, rainy and very windy. It made me nervous driving in this kind of weather and after we passed a car wrapped around a telephone pole with emergency vehicles all around it confirmed my nervousness. However, God kept us safe and I was so thankful to be home after our long weekend of travel. In the evening at 7pm we went to the central building for all zones to worship together. Juan introduced the whole group from IL and Nathan and I were able to say to the whole congregation how we appreciate the friendships we have made thus far. We sang a couple of songs for them in English and then Ray gave the message that evening.
1-12-09 Day 45
This morning we did some laundry (back to washing it by hand) which took a good part of the morning. In the afternoon we walked to the south zone church building for lucnh and then in the afternoon 4:30-7pm we had a PMP partnership meeting with us from IL and the Mennonite pastors from surrounding towns here in Argentina. The IL group shared about what is happening in Galesburg and Mt. Vernon and the Argentine group shared about what is happening here with some of their outreaches. In the evening about 9pm some of us walked to a nice restaurant in town for supper. It was really fun to be with the IL group and to be able to talk more with them.
1-13-09 Day 46
This morning all of us went shopping around town. This was the first time I had been in so many shops here. I definently felt more like a tourist today. After we went shopping Jeff, Cindy and kids came over for lunch with us and then after lunch we took a siesta. This evening at 8pm we all went back to Darwin for a service of dedication for the church building that we were able to help finish and construct last week. They even showed pictures of the very beginning of construction and then pictures of last week when we helped continue the construction. We sang together, Rafael had some words about the history of the church buiding in Darwin and we took pictures of the team of people that were helping last week. After that we ate supper together and then went home about 12:30am
1-14-09 Day 47
Today is the last day that the team from IL will be here and we spent a good part of it resting and recouperating from such a fast pace. Nathan said he's ready to get back to the Argentine pace of life when the IL team is gone. We've definently been quite busy these last two weeks with familiar people around. This evening everyone met in the central church building for a time of worship and farewell to the IL group. There were lots of hugs and lots of good byes said. We ate a light supper with them and then walked to the bus station to see the IL group off. Their bus was supposed to leave at 11:20pm however the bus was running late and didn't show up until 1:00am, so needless to say we were tired and ready to go to bed after saying good bye the the IL group. It was so great having them here for the last two weeks and much was accomplished for the glory of God while they were here. What a privledge to be a part of the good work that God is doing here.