All I can say lately is wow.
After getting over the week one hump of feeling frustrated and letting go of expectations, Chile has become my favorite country so far (haha) but seriously… I started to realize how blessed we are, how much we are learning and growing, and the impact we have made since getting here.
We have completely transformed this property. We worked hard to refurbish the meeting space, and more recently we started working on the landscape. We spent a couple days weeding and re-arranging the flower beds. I got myself in a situation with a bed full of cactus, but we also found some beautiful succulents to plant all around the property. We re-located some iris’s too. Iris’s are my hometowns “flower” and I got to put one in a vase and watch it bloom throughout the last couple days. After that they had gravel spread throughout the driveway to create spaces for people to park on Sunday mornings for church. This place looks completely different than the day we got here, and it has been a huge blessing to our ministry hosts, James and Coletta.
On the flip-side, James and Coletta have been a huge blessing to our team. They have provided way more than we ever expected for us. They go out of their way to make sure we are comfortable and taken care of. They have lived in Chile for 21 years, so they also know the best places to go for adventure, for groceries, and for good food. On Saturday they took us on a 9.5 hour hike up in the Andes Mountain Range. The elevation they think was around 9,000 and I literally felt like I was on top of the world. It was by far the hardest hike I’ve ever done (see pictures on Facebook). We started at 9am and got home at 6:30pm. On the way down we got off trail and we were walking through sticker bushes and sliding down slippery gravel. The terrain was rocky, a lot like eastern Oregon but it wasn’t quite as dry. I felt the Holy Spirit with me the whole way. James and Colleta also take us to the outdoor market to get groceries. They are fresh and way cheaper than buying food at the store. These are just a few examples of how much they bless us. To read more about James and Coletta and their ministry check out the blog “Because they heard the whisper” written by my teammate Meg.
On top of that, we got to share testimonies at James and Colletas first church plant and share a traditional asado (“roast”) with the missions team after. We met an elderly man named Fernando. He was cooking delicious chorizo and steak that was so tender we could cut it with a butter knife. He told me that my story that I shared at the church that morning made him cry, and he didn’t know that someone so young could have such a big heart. He was so sweet. He also told our team that he wanted to be our abuelo (“grandfather”) and our cook. We are meeting beautiful people here and seeing amazing things. I don’t think we have any idea just how blessed we are right now.
I foresee a time in the future on the race where my teammates and I will dream of being back in Chile eating complatos and almond chocolate ice cream with James and Colleta. I honestly don’t know how I am going to leave this place.
We are heading into our last week here. Time has flown by. Please pray that my team steps out in faith and uses our authority in Christ to make radical things happen, to set ablaze to the people of Chile, and to be transformed from the inside out. God bless!
