After 75 hours on a bus, Desperados find ourselves chillin’ in Puerto Montt, Chile.
And by “chillin,’” I mean “FREEZING!”
Puerto Montt is the southern-most town that’s accessible by road from Chile; if you want to travel to any other part of southern Chile, you must travel by boat or cross into Argentina. So, we’re pretty far south, and after six months of 100+ degree weather, we may as well be in Antarctica. Add in the fact that it rains 300 days a year here, we’re pretty cold.
I wear two pairs of socks, two pairs of pants, and a minimum of two shirts with a sweater all day every day. I sleep in the same while buried under six blankets. (I’m kind of regretting sending my sleeping bag home after Month 6, even though I never used it during those months.)
During this first week, our days are pretty relaxed, but our evenings are full. We spent the first few evenings going to a series of Christian concerts that our host’s radio station had organized. One evening, our host, Pastor Pat, took us to meet some families from the church; each one greeted us with kisses on the cheek and invited us in for tea and bread. We were pretty hungry at the first house because Chileans eat dinner after 9:00pm, so we gorged on bread with Nutella and various other toppings; little did we know that we’d have similar feasts at three more houses that night! Some friends that we met at one of the concerts invited us over for dinner tonight, and we’re all looking forward to experiencing a home-cooked meal with local believers.
Our days will become more full once we head out to sea on Saturday, October 8th. We will be traveling with Pastor Pat and members from his church to the island of Chiloé (and maybe a few neighboring islands) to do some heavy construction and deliver care packages door-to-door in the community. Based on the videos of the church’s previous trips to the islands, we’ll be moving dirt and laying foundations for homes that will be built by the church on their annual trip to the island in February.
Please be in prayer for our team as we travel to and work on the islands. Pray for safety and good health; a lot of us don’t have adequate clothing for the weather, and we’ve just recovered from last month’s sicknesses. Pray that we will have energy and good attitudes to do the work we’re called to do; exhaustion from the physical toll of the Race is something we fight daily. Pray for the island communities to which we will minister; they are very poor communities with strong Catholic influences. We carry the Holy Spirit with us, and may we use our time within these communities to glorify Him.
Also, the Chilean government is voting on whether or not to legalize abortion this week. Please be in prayer for this country’s government, their decision in this matter, and the consequences of the outcome.
