1. We love exposing people!
AIM has a program called “WR Exposure” that allows people 18-21 to join a WR team that’s already out on the field for the month, and we were one of those teams! We welcomed Tiffany and Sam to Samson’s Mullet for our month in Chile, and God placed them with us at such a perfect time! Since this was our 9th month on the race we are not new at this anymore. Things that were once exciting have become normal. Having new eyes with us and a fresh zeal for the Lord lit a fire under our team. Sam has such a desire to know the Bible and live by it. Tiffany has such a kind heart and amazing ability to relate to people. They both had such a great impact on us and truly became part of our team. We love you Sam and Tiffany!
2. Soccer is a great game
Before the race I wasn’t a huge soccer fan. Spoiler alert: everyone else around the world is! The people in South America are especially excited about fútbol, so of course we had to join the hype! Chile is one of the best teams right now, and they were quick to let us know. We all bought jerseys and had the opportunity to go to an international game! We learned all the chants and popular players. You can definitely say we are bandwagon fans! We have continued to parade our Chile jerseys around the rest of South America! CHI-CHI-CHI! LE-LE-LE! VIVA CHILE!
3. I would gain 50 pounds if I lived in Chile
We joked that our ministry this month was “food ministry.” Every day we would eat dinner at a different church member’s house, and every dinner was so delicious! Our host’s dad grew avocados, which meant free guacamole for days and days! It’s been hard to find good avocados around the world so this was such a blessing! Also, did I mention that our host made chocolate as a hobby? This meant that we got to help her make it and eat all the extras. She may or may not have asked Sam to take home some of her chocolate to give to Brad Pitt, you know, to win him over. I also discovered that there’s not a food I don’t like in Chile. I ate sushi (for breakfast, I might add) and tomatoes this month by choice, and I continued to go back for more!
4. Family is important
We were told that people in Chile had a “warm” personality, and this is definitely true! We had 4 Chilean hermanos, 5 Chilean padres, and about 20 Chilean abuelos this month! They were so kind and treated us just as if we were their own family, even when we couldn’t understand what they were saying. Bekah, Allison, and I lived with a lovely couple, Arnaldo and Eva. Arnoldo had a fiery personality and loves to tell jokes and stories. Eva is calm mother and balances him out very well. We would sit down with them every night as we got home to ask each other how our day was. It became one of my favorite parts of my day! Leaving Arnoldo and Eva was some of the hardest goodbyes I’ve had on the whole race.
5. Lack of money and still rich in Spirit!
The neighborhood that we lived in was called Lo Prado, and it’s one of the poorest areas of Santiago. Even though the neighborhood might not have had a lot of money, they were all so rich in the Spirit! The love of Christ radiated through each and every one of the people there, and they were so generous. It was a great reminder for me that we do not need to have all the “things” to be happy. Those are all just mist. The love of Christ that overflows from us is what really makes us rich.
6. Chile has Chipotle! (kind of)
Okay, if you’ve been following my blog for a while you know that I love chipotle. I even used eating their burrito as an analogy to sharing the gospel. That’s how much I love and miss it! So I discovered that there’s a restaurant in Chile that looks just like Chipotle and I was so excited! I made a point to look all around a mall to find it, and it did not disappoint! I will say that it doesn’t quite live up to the real deal, but it held me over til I am back in the States. Don’t worry, I already know there’s a Chipotle right down the street from the airport!
7. The race is hard
Have you ever heard of the wall that marathon runners hit when they get around mile 20? They can feel completely fine, but then something hits them when they are about 75% done and they think “I CAN’T DO THIS!” That’s kinda what happened to me this month. I had heard from alumni that month 5 and 6 could be hard, so I thought I was in the clear! It’s funny because this month we crossed the 75% complete mark, just like in marathons. The World Race is not a sprint, that’s for sure! I opened my first “when you’re homesick” letter in Chile. My introverted self was over being around people all the time. I didn’t want to have to sing in front of churches anymore. I wanted to be back in a country where I could understand all of the conversations. I wanted to pet my dog! The Lord completely convicted me during this time and reminded me that I didn’t sign up for a 9 month trip, I signed up for an 11 month trip. Stopping now would have been easy, but pushing through during the hard times is how you grow. That’s also the time that we are able to rely on God’s strength instead of our own. And guess what, I made it!!
8. Father’s Day around the world
I spent this year’s Father’s Day in Chile! I was able to talk to my dad back in the states, but I also had 2 temporary Chilean dads that I got to celebrate with. We got Jose a nice new jacket since it was cold in Chile. We decided to get Arnoldo Superman socks (because he always yelled at us when we had no socks on), coffee (because he LOVES coffee), and a picture of us at the Chile soccer game. The church also gave us “Feliz dia papa” chocolate bars to eat in celebration of our fathers. We spent the day cooking out and watching the Chile soccer game. Thanks dad for letting me share your holiday with the locals!
9. All the Spanish singing
This month our pastor had a great history as being a choir member. This means that we did A LOT of singing…like we sang the same songs probably at least 5 times a week. I now know a two complete songs in Spanish: “Creo en ti” and “Abre mis ojos.” I actually know “Creo en ti” better in Spanish than I do English, now that’s a first! We would end every church service, bible study, and house visit with singing (and clapping, of course). We even sang our prayer before every meal! The good thing about learning Spanish songs is that we were forever prepared to be called to the front of the church for a musical number!
10. Giving away coffee can lead to Jesus
One of our ministries this month was evangelism. We did this by setting up a free tea and coffee stand right outside the metro to attract people, and then we would share more with them. I can’t tell you how many times I yelled “Se regalo café y te. Gratis!” Many times we just barely got to talk to a person before they left, but the majority of the time people would stick around and ask us questions. Since my Spanish is minimal I mostly helped attract people to the table and let the locals have the conversations. We met all sorts of people. Families, shop vendors, youth waiting for their friends, homeless men, a few people under the influence, other Christians encouraging us, and people that were so lost in life. This became my favorite ministry because we got to show people that strangers can do nice things just because of the love of Jesus. The love was infectious.
11. Every day can be an adventure if you say “yes!”
My team decided to take a little trip on our off day to Valparaiso, and it was amazing! We didn’t really have a plan when we arrived so we just walked in the direction that we thought the beach would be located…we were originally wrong, but we eventually got there. My team has such an adventurous heart, and I love that about them. We walked up flights and flights of stairs to see a view of the whole city and all the colorful houses lying so close to the water. We also walked through some allies to find cool wall art. Then, we finished our full day soaking in the beauty of God by watching the sunset over the ocean. It was definitely a day that I will always remember!
