settling into a routine

11/23/14 Day 11
We went to church today at the West zone church building from 7-9pm then afterwards we went to Chitto and Mary's house for supper from 9:30-10:30.  Otherwise we spent our day resting from the week
11/24/14 Day 12
Today is a holiday here and we spent it cleaning our house and then we had lunch over at Chitto and Mary's house again.  We spent the afternoon with them and then walked to the West zone church building for their talent show this evening from 8-11pm.
11/25/14 Day 13
Liam has a 103 degree temperature today.  We spent the day grocery shopping, doing laundry and taking care of a sick boy.  Nathan also went to Pablo's house to get the bike that we are using from them.
11/26/14 Day 14
Liam's temperature broke in the early morning so we decided to not go to the daycare again today just to be on the safe side.....not to spread germs.  In the evening we went to the central zone church at 8:30pm for their prayer meeting. 
11/27/14 Day 15  Happy Thanksgiving
Since Thanksgiving is a U.S. holiday, we aren't really celebrating here....just another day.  We walked to the daycare today and spent the morning there.   Then we walked to the grocery store and got groceries and then went home for lunch.  Nathan and Jayvin went to Juan's house to work this morning.  We also were able to do some laundry and skype family at home for Thanksgiving.

11/28/14 Day 16
We walked to the daycare again today from 10-12:30.  Nathan went to Jorge's farm early this morning to pick cherries all day.  We all are settling into a routine here and we are cherishing all of the interaction we have with the church people here.

11/29/14 Day 17
Today is saturday.  I did 3 loads of laundry which really was an all day process.  I spent the morning with the boys and Lydia and Nathan went to Juan's house to help set this up for the soccer games this evening.  Then it the afternoon Lydia and Nathan went to a sunday school class for kids that they had at the central zone church and then in the evening we walked to Juan's house to see the soccer game.  Instead of watching the games we talked to Claudia instead.  It was very fun to get to know her more.

11/30/14 Day 18
At 10am we went to Juan's house to have church.  The chacra congregation and the South zone church bodies met here today to worship and then we had lunch afterwards.  We spent the afternoon there hanging out with people and drinking mate.  Lydia and Jayvin are taking a liking to mate now too.

11/17/14 Day 5

Today we went to the store (which happens every day or every other day) to get what we needed.  Nathan also went to Chito’s house where he has a construction materials store to get a part for the washing machine.  We now officially have a working washing machine.  At 3:30 pm we all walked to the daycare to spend the rest of the afternoon there.  This is an outreach ministry to the neighborhood which is an extension of the North zone church congregation.  It was neat to see the building and be there because 6 years ago when we were here Nathan had worked many many days helping to build the daycare building.  Now 6 years later it is up and running and a vital ministry to the neighborhood.  The temperature was 102 degrees today, so very very hot.  The rest of the week shouldn’t be this hot.  After the sun went down we sat outside with Elizabeth, Ezekiel, Jacob, and Claudia.  It turned out to be a nice evening.

11/18/14  Day 6 Feliz couple anos Jennifer

This morning we went back to the daycare from 10-1 (it takes about 20 minutues to walk there & I push all three of our kids in the single stroller we brought with us).  I think we’ll (the kids and I) be spending our mornings here the rest of the week while Nathan works out at Juan’s farm.  This evening Pablo and Vero had us over for supper.  We had supper, celebrated my birthday and talked with them until about midnight.  It was a wonderful way to celebrate.  Last time we were here they had a two year old Valentino…he is now 8 years old and they also have a 4 ½ year old Pedro.  Last time we were here their house was just being built.  They are in charge of the West zone church.  There house butts right up against the church building.  It was really neat to see their house fully done now and where they are living.  We got to know Pablo and Vero pretty well last time we were here as they had been so kind to us.

11/19/14 Day 7

Another day at the daycare.  I really love being here and our kids love it too.  It’s a great way to serve and have our children be around other Spanish-speaking children.  Some of the children have just gotten over having chicken pox or are at home because of that.  Some of the children also have lice and are not required to stay home if they have it.  Please pray for us that none of us get any sickness or bugs from being here.  Tonight from 8-10pm we had a worship/church meeting at the West zone.  Vero picked us up so that we could make it there faster than walking.  Please pray for us as we travel in other people’s vehicles for safety, as no one wears seat belts/carseats. 

11/20/14 Day 8

Delbert brought Lydia, Liam and I to the daycare this morning while Nathan strapped Jayvin onto his back with the babysling we brought and rode the bike to Juan’s house to work on his farm today.  I can tell very much that the children at the daycare are well loved and taken care of by the teachers.  We’ve been staying for morning play time, lunch and a little bit after lunch.  For lunch the kids usually get rice or pasta with some kind of meat in it and shredded carrot.  They also get dessert which is ice cream, jello, pudding or canned fruit.  Delbert explained to us that at this daycare ministry the teachers sign a paper that says they are not required to get paid and that they are serving freely as a ministry opportunity.  This technicality is required for the government.  Then anything that the parents pay for their children to be there at the daycare all that money gets split up and divided amongst the teachers for their pay that week.  They could get much or very little depending on what the parents pay week to week.  It seems like for these teachers it really is a ministry, but it is also their livelihood.  Every once in awhile the daycare then hosts a garage sale with items for the community to buy and all of that money is then used to purchase things that they would need to run the daycare (i.e. food supplies, bedding, toys, etc.).  It really had amazed me this week how content the children are with very simple toys for hours on end and how little they get to eat for lunch and are very content with that. 

11/21/14 Day 9

A very long day for all of us!  We got up a 6am and Nathan left for Jorge’s farm by 6:30am to help stack and sort and pick cherries.  It’s cherry picking season and he is usually shorthanded on Fridays and Saturdays.  Vero (Pablo’s wife) and Angelica (Jorge’s wife) are sisters.  Their farm is just a little past Juan’s farm out in the country.  The kids and I were also at the daycare today from 9:30am-1pm.  They were short staffed today as well so my help was greatly appreciated and needed.  We came home and all ate lunch together and then Nathan went back to Jorge’s farm again to work from 3pm-7pm.  At 8pm Elizabeth asked us to go to the Folklore festival in town that was going on.  We got to see men doing asado (cooking meat on an open fire) and children singing and dancing to music on stage at the school.  It was very interesting.  On our way walking home we met someone and he recognized Nathan right away. Last time we were here his parents and he along with his sister were the first ones to help start the ministry in Darwin (the next town over from Choele Choel).  We worked alongside them for quite a number of days and he quickly recognized Nathan.  This boy was 12 years old then and now he is 18.  We are so greatful for all of the interaction with the local people here and it was so good to see the positive impression that Nathan had made on this boy from 6 years ago.  

11/22/14 Day 10

This morning Nathan went over to Delbert and Frieda’s house to mow their lawn and then we went to the grocery store.  Frieda has been having some test and health issues, so please pray for her.  We also went to the store to buy as much food as we need for a couple of days as Monday is a holiday here and the stores will be closed.  At lunch time we packed a picnic lunch and walked down the the Rio Negro (river) to eat lunch and play this afternoon.  This is the first time we’ve been to the Rio since being here and our kids just loved it.  We wore them out good so that they took a good nap this afternoon.

Here we go again

11/11/14 We never would have thought that this would be our story again...to be in Argentina for the second time, but here we are.  We are so very thankful for the Lord's provision for us.  Thank you to our friends, family, and church family who have supported us with finances and prayers..they are greatly felt and appreciated.  Today we got up very early and headed to Chicago airport.  There we had a 2 1/2 hour flight to Miami.  Once we arrived in Miami we weren't sure what gate we needed to be at or where to go.  We ended up walking thru a door and right there was a lady driving a free aiport shuttle bus.  We asked her if she knew where we should go and she said, "you caught me a little off guard because  I was just coming into this hallway to go to the restroom, but your needs are greater than mine, so hop on."  We graciously did and she took us to exactly wehre we needed to be which was truely a blessing since it was AT LEAST a mile or more, that she drove us in airport that we would have otherwise had to walk.  Once getting to the gate and getting ready to board the plane the lady in charge saw that we had our hands full with our children and carry on luggage and allowed us to go ahead of everyone else in line along with those people who were in wheelchairs and crutches to board the plane.  Another God thing.  We flew from Miami  to Sao Paulo, Brazil (an 8 hour flight).  The flight was overnight but between taking care of the needs of all of our children, Nathan and I didn't get very much sleep.  They served us supper and breakfast on the plane ride to Brazil.  The breakfast was served at 4 a.m. which was really midnight our time back in the states.  The boys slept thru breakfast and Lydia, Nathan and I ate a midnight breakfast. 

11/12/14 -We arrived in Brazil at 6:30 a.m. and then had to board our next plane at 7:30 a.m.   We didn't have much time in Sao Paulo airport to wait.  Our next flight was 2 hours long from 8-10 a.m, which we all slept most of the way.  When we arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina on 11/12/14 after going through customs and getting all our luggage (which everything of ours arrived safely) we were greeted by Elizabeth (who arrived in Buenos Aires a day earlier than us, from Illinois) and Heriberto Bueno (who lives in Buenos Aires with his wife).  We got all of our luggage packed into two vehicles and headed straight to the bus terminal to see about bus tickets to Choele Choel.  They had a 1 p.m. bus service to Choele, so we took that one.  We were very hungry by not but the bus station had told Elizabeth and Heriberto that we would have lunch and supper on the bus, so we decided to wait since the bus was coming very shortly.  We boarded the bus at 1 pm and left Elizabeth and Heriberto in Buenos Aires (since Elizabeth's luggage had gotten lost en route to BA).  We were now headed to Choele Choel where we will be living on a 13 hour bus ride even further south in Argentina.  As the hours ticked on riding the bus we never recieved lunch.  We were hungry.  By 5 or 6 p.m. at night we were desperate for some food but we still had hope for supper coming.  Nathan found some Chex mix at the bottom of our bag and it felt like a glorious feast.  It held us over but we were still hungry for supper.  It was getting dark outside now and we still hadn't been served supper.  Then Nathan started talking to a couple who were believers in Jesus and were headed to Neuquen on the bus.  They could hear our children fussing because they were hungry and they gave us all the food they had which was a small sandwich and round pieces of hard white bread.  They told Nathan that the bus would stop in Bahia Blanca and there he may be able to get out and buy some food.  He did just that at 11pm at night.  We were never more thankful for a sandwich and empanadas that tasted like a feast.  I knew we would be ok then.  Phillipians 4:12-14.  The kind couple told the bus driver our plight and they also gave us all the rest of their bottled water to drink.  We arrived in Choele then at 2 a.m.

11/13/14 Day 1
We slept in and then had breakfast at Delbert and Frieda Erb's house.  Today we spend unpacking and cleaning our apartment.  We also went with Delbert to the grocery store to buy some groceries.

11/14/14 Day 2
Elizabeth arrived this moring after retrieving her lost luggage in BA and we all went grocery shopping together.  She will be staying in the apartment right next to ours.  We had lunch at Juan and Ami Sieber's house and spend the rest of the afternoon there.  At ~8:30pm we walked to the playground for the kids to play and then to the Heladaderia for helado(icecream).

11/15/14 Day 3
Yeah!  We were brought a washing machine and baby bed for Liam.  Two things I thought that we wouldn't have while we were here.  I am so grateful for both of these things.  I went to the grocery store today to buy our food for the day and we unsuccessfully tried to take a nap in the afternoon.  The kids eating and sleeping schedule is still on Illinois time which is a three hour difference from here.  It will take some time to adjust. 

11/16/14 Day 4
I made breakfast and something for lunch this morning before it got too hot in the house to cook.  We also took a walkt to explore more of the town with Elizabeth this morning.  We found another playground and the kids played there for awhile.  Liam has been having a fever for the past two days but he seems to be doing better today.  This evening at 7pm aa of the four church zones met in the central church building very close to where we are living to worship Jesus.  Our two older children even went to the Sunday school that they had for kids.  We had a wonderful time worshipping in Spanish and seeing so many familiar faces from last time we were here.  This lasted from 7-9:30pm.