Finally Home

After my exciting adventure in Lima, Peru, I finally arrived home. I think I calculated that the trip from start to finish took over 50 hours, but it was worth it. I met some neat people and saw a culture totally different from Argentina. It seemed like there was much more poverty and danger in Lima than in the places I went in Argentina. According to one website I found,

"Ever since Pizarro tricked the Inca, Atahualpa, into capture, slaughtered him, and looted the City of Cuzco, this Andean country has become synonymous with robbery. Unlike Brazil, a gun is rarely used; the Peruvians are too professional. Their art is well crafted, and the sneak thieves are very nimble. If you give them the slightest opportunity, they will relieve you of your possessions quicker than an armed mugger could even produce a weapon."

The airline put us up in a very nice hotel that served all sorts of cultural cuisine and treated us wonderfully. Overall, it was a wonderful trip. But it is so good to finally be with my family again.

This week has been back to American stress and work again. Its so fast paced. I think that the Latin American culture is much more relaxed than here. I miss it, yet it has been good to be back. Sunday, worshipping in English felt so wonderful. I understood every single thing!

Back on American soil,
Kristen

Surprise trip - Lima, Peru!

I am spending the day in Lima, Peru. What an unexpected and cool experience! I was trying to go home and, well... do I have some stories to tell! Basically, in a nutshell, after waiting 11 hours in Santiago, my flight was delayed and missed my connecting flight. So I found myself with a German, an Australian, and a Californian at 3am in the Lima airport - no luggage and no flight. No problem really - my trip has taught be how to be FLEXIBLE! Thank goodness, the Californian girl and I speak Spanish, or we´d be sunk. We stayed in a very nice hotel here in Lima. The Australian woman and Californian girl and I have been walking all over Lima most of the day. Its very different from Argentina - so cool. Oh the stories to tell...

Hoping to arrive home sometime in the near future,

Kristen

Final Days

Its hard to believe that my two month trip is almost over. It seems like its just flown by. Yesterday, we had snow on the ground and enjoyed spending my last few days with the kids down the street. I had intended on taking them downtown for the independence day parade, but it was just too cold. Here are some pictures of the snow. We had some major snowball fights!Last night, we had Ayalen and Nahir over to watch a movie and eat Locro, the Argentine stew. Our last special time together. Its hard to say good-bye.

Today, I am spending just gathering my things and doing the last minute errands. The trip home will be long but worth it.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again,
Kristen

It's snowing!

This morning we woke up to very cold weather and snow! It's only little flurries, but they have been falling all day long. It's freezing cold outside!

Villa Belgrano and Cleaning

Yesterday, I went with the Hammonds to Villa Belgrano, a little German town about 2-3 hours away. We left around 6:00am and had a great time, aside from a few carsick children. The weather was actually really warm, surprisingly, considering it is the middle of winter. We walked down the town and just had a great time together. Here are some pictures.This morning, I went down to babysit the children down the street. When I got there, I found out that Cilena had been really sick and made a mess all over the bed, which no one had cleaned up (at least not well enough)! Mrs. Donell and I worked to sanitize that place for several hours. I have never cleaned something so messy. Just to give you an idea, there is no electricity, no hot water, and only one little faucet. In the process of trying to help the kids get better, almost all of us have gotten this sore throat/cold thing too. Hopefully it will pass soon.

Until later,
Kristen

Cilena's Birthday Party

We celebrated Cilena's 7th birthday today. We had a great time with hamburgers and chocolate cake. I think she enjoyed it, although she is pretty shy.
Afterward, I sat down and talked with Ayalen and Nyer about their relationship as sisters. They are in a very competitive phase and don't see their relationship as friends. I told them a lot about Alicia and I and the good friendship we have now but the many things that we had to and still have to work through. (Here is recent picture of us right before I left.) Tomorrow I hope to spend some more time with them. Please pray that the Lord would give them soft, listening hearts. It seems that they really pay attention to personal examples, like with Alicia and me.

-Kristen

Opportunities and challenges

I spent some time with Ayalen and Letisia down the street today. (Here is an older picture of her and I at the ice cream shop a few weeks ago.) It seems like I am hitting some brick walls with Ayalen. She comes to church and hears to Gospel and examples of pharisees and then goes home and acts like she never heard it. Please pray that the Lord would soften her heart and let her see her sin. Often she tells me one thing and paints this sweet looking picture for me, yet I hear a totally different story from her parents and her hard heart at home. The Lord has opened a wonderful opportunity with her, yet her heart is so hard.

Longing to take advantage of this open door,
Kristen

The Mocovi Tribe

This morning around 5am, I got back from a weekend trip visiting the Mocovi Indian tribe. They are a native Argentine tribe with which the Donells have had some connections via a mutual friend. A family from the church, Nathan and Kelly Hammond, were going up to see the tribe and invited me along. They were a blast and great encouragement to travel with. (Here is a picture of their family at our "bus stop.")What an incredible experience! I had no idea I would learn so much in one weekend. The purpose of our trip was to visit/encourage an Argentine missionary family who had recently moved into the Indian village to bring the Gospel to the people. The Hammonds met this family through a friend (Omar Gava).

The entire trip was about nine hours by bus going and 10 hours coming. Since most people don't have great cars, buses are the typical means of long distance traveling. It was actually pretty nice. We were on the upper level of a double-decker bus for the long rides. The only negative was changing buses through the night and the screaming babies (Kind of embarrassing when they're your friends'/own).

This map gives you a general idea of where we went. Our city, Carlos Paz , is the red star. We stayed in Crespo, the blue star, about 8km from the Mocovi village and then spent Saturday afternoon in Santa Fe, the green star, touring.
We visited and encouraged an Argentine missionary family, Walter and Sandra and kids, for most of Friday afternoon in the village. This was an incredible blessing to see the sacrifice that they are making in spreading the Gospel to these people. The "missionaries" who have been in this village before have not taught the people the Gospel nor the truth of the Bible so this family faces multiple discouragements. For example, when our family came to visit the Donells the last time, we brought a lot of clothes for these people. Talking with Walter and Sandra, I found out that this caused a lot of problems in the village. The people would come only to the missionaries for what they could get from them physically instead of what they needed spiritually. Along with this, the people fought and bragged over what or how much they got from the North Americans. This along with the people's beliefs in multiple gods in various aspects of nature just give some examples of the challenges that these missionaries are facing.

We then walked around the village and made an obvious North American parade - not what we wanted. Here are some pictures from our walk.
We took this family into town for dinner and enjoyed their fellowship. It was such a joy and privilege to translate for the Hammonds this couple's genuine love for the Lord and sense of His calling. Please pray for encouragement for this couple as they are often lonely and feel unsupported. Mr. Donell is looking forward to connecting with this family from what he has heard from our trip.

The next day, we went on a 3 hour bus ride into Santa Fe (green star) and toured around. Kelly and I had a great time fellowshipping and talking the entire trip back. Seriously, I think that we were both so starved of Christian English fellowship that we talked the whole trip back, until 4am! Reflecting on our time with the Mocovi and listening to her wisdom and heart for missions made the trip a blessing and great learning experience.

Exhausted but blessed,
Kristen