I know, I know, I’ve been slacking in giving you actual details of ministries we are working with, interesting cultural differences, where we are staying in the country, etc. SO. This blog is devoted to just that.
My time in South America started in Mendoza, Argentina with a team on my squad called Crispy Chicken Brushed with Glory, and no, I did not make up that name. Neither did they; it was an advertisement at some restaurant that caught their eye when they were coming up with a team name back in Malaysia. Anywho, we were partnered with a very small Baptist church that had been started by two church-planting missionaries who happened to be our hosts. They were so good to us!
Ministry in Argentina:
- Sanding and painting benches and painting the kitchen at the church
- Going door to door with the host and inviting people to the church
- Kids events in the park every Saturday with singing, games, and Bible stories
- Sharing testimonies in church
- Teaching Sunday School
- Leading worship in Spanish during church
Other Interesting Details about Argentina:
- We stayed in the church and slept in the sanctuary on floor mattresses.
- The temperatures were in the 30s-40s at night and 50s-60s during the day. Quite the difference from the first 7 months of the Race! You would think the cold temps would keep away las cucarachas (cockroaches – sorry it’s a fun word in Spanish) but we did indeed take part in a killing spree and subsequent duct taping session as we discovered they were coming out of a hole in the floor right by our beds. I wish I could tell you I stayed calm and acted my age and even helped with the duct tape. But. You know.
- We cooked our own meals most of the time, but our host cooked a few times and made empanadas (yes please), pizza, and grilled asado, chicken, and various side dishes. I can’t complain about the food in Argentina except for one thing. All their olives have pits in them, and the black olives don’t taste good like they do back home. It’s a real shame.
- It’s a thing in Argentina to kiss people you are being introduced to or already know on the cheek. And unfortunately, in Mendoza specifically, you kiss on BOTH cheeks. Definitely not my favorite….kind of awkward…. And you do it when you say hello AND when you say goodbye, and to that, I say ‘no bueno.’
- I went on three phenomenal adventures: hot springs in the Andes Mountains, my first-ever hot air balloon ride, and horseback riding in the foothills with views of the Andes Mountains and the city of Mendoza, which may have been my favorite adventure day of the Race so far.
- Most stores close in the middle of the afternoon for siesta. Cool if you actually take a nap yourself but not cool when you need to buy something and everything is closed.
After leaving our host, we had our squad debrief in Mendoza for 4 days, and then the squad headed on to Chile. My time in Chile was spent in Santiago with a team called Ohana, which means ‘family’ in Hawaiian. We were again partnered with a small Baptist church.
Ministry in Chile:
- Going to two different schools for three days a week and helping with whatever they needed. One of the girls on the team painted a mural while she was there.
- Painting a mural at the church
- Small groups one night of the week
- Bible study one night of the week
- Church on Sunday
- Kids event on Saturdays and youth group later that night
Other Interesting Details about Chile:
- We again stayed in the church but had two bedrooms this time. There may have been a few cockroaches again from what I hear. Thank goodness I didn’t see them this time so I could actually act my age.
- Temperatures were about the same as Mendoza, cold in the morning, warm in the afternoon
- We again cooked for ourselves most of the time, but I had two meals made for me. One of them was spaghetti, which is a very popular meal, and the other was grilled steak, pork, and chicken, rice, potatoes, and lots of vegetable side dishes – so good! I discovered dulce de leche comes in large squeeze pouches (a real game-changer), and I also discovered one of my absolute favorite snacks on the Race: Ramitas Evercrisp, queso flavored. Don’t know what it is about them Ramitas, but that’s some good stuff right there.
- They still kiss on the cheek in Chile, but it’s thankfully only one. I can do this. I can make it through. It’s honestly considered rude if you have been introduced to someone and only shake their hand.
- When we visited schools for ministry, we got to see kids dancing the Quaka, the national Chilean dance. Dancing is very big here, and during PE classes at school, the kids did MULTIPLE dances.
After spending around three weeks with Team Ohana, I met up with the other three squad leaders in Antofagasta in the north of Chile to spend a week together since we are usually all with different teams.
Our bus leaves at 10pm tomorrow night for Bolivia. It takes us two 17-hour bus rides to arrive in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, where I will be for ministry next month. I will be staying with Team TLC, also called #GetPsalm. We are partnered with a YWAM (Youth with a Mission) base, and I have only heard good things about working with YWAM, so I am excited!
After a month in Bolivia, we head to Cusco, Peru, and have graciously been given a few days to go and see one of the seven wonders of the world, Machu Picchu!! And finally, after that, we head into our last month of the Race. (?!?!?!?!?!?!?!) There were three options for our last month. We could choose to have a month of ATL (Ask the Lord) like we did through most of Asia, partner with Cru in Quito, Ecuador, which is a college ministry, or we could partner with a church in Peru. Typically, a team is placed with a ministry without really getting to choose, but this last month everyone was able to choose, and teams were formed based on those choices.
I chose to partner with Cru in Ecuador for the last month, and I’m really excited to get to work with that organization. This is a type of ministry I haven’t had the opportunity to work with all year, so I’m pumped to get to try something new. It’s been fun partnering with churches, but I have been partnered with a lot of churches this year and look forward to working with an organization that is also in the US.
And then comes the last part of the Race. We have final debrief in Banos, Ecuador for the last few days, and then I fly HOME on NOVEMBER 22!!!!!!!!!!!
For those of you who have no idea what the geography of South America is like, please enjoy this map with important cities listed above circled in blue. We are indeed taking buses everywhere we travel, so multiple day bus rides and no sleep, here I come! It’s gonna be great!!!!!!!
