We made it to Argentina! Before leaving Chile, we had a time to debrief in Valparaiso. It was so good to have a few days to relax and process through what had happened in the past month. From there, we jumped on a charter bus and drove through the Andes Mountains to get here.
It’s all squad month, so all 50 of us are staying at a YWAM base outside the city of Mendoza. It’s a beautiful campus, almost reminds me of summer camp. We do ministry in our individual teams, and get assigned different tasks every day. This base does a lot with the community, soup kitchens, serving local churches, schools bring kids in for sports and ropes course teambuilding ministry, and physical work to care for the actual campus. We will be assisting with all of those ministries throughout the month.
While serving, we have also been served really well. YWAM is awesome and has taken very good care of us. They have a huge emphasis on teambuilding. We had a day of activities including a high ropes course and giant swing. We are given plenty of time to spend quality time with Jesus, and the fruit of that has been very evident. We have no Wifi available to us where we are staying. It’s a beautiful time to connect and be completely present.
This past weekend we had an activity in the city. We weren’t told what we were doing, and given tasks throughout the day with very little information. Every person on our team spent time in leadership. We walked what felt like approximately 9,795 miles over the three days, our sleeping arrangements were not ideal and we weren’t exactly sure where our next meal would come from. The point was to trust the Lord, minister and renounce control over our lives. It was really difficult, but during the time we were able to pray over and share Jesus with so many people in the city of Mendoza. That’s worth all the discomfort.
At the end of the weekend when we were all physically and emotionally exhausted, we were given an option. Either “death” (we get taken back to campus and the whole activity is over) or the “black door” (we have one more activity, but we can’t be told what it is). We chose the black door. After being led on quite the walk, blindfolded, we ended up at a house with a whole party set up for us. It was fantastic. Sometimes the unknown is scary, but the Lord’s plan is always good. He is always faithful.
So much love!
