Are you a sprinkler?

I have another funny story to add to our list. Last night in our house, four of us made bean soup (we actually just heated it up) and had a cute little "family style" dinner in our kitchen. Later, we had some friends over and were making brownies together. We were going to put chocolate chips in them but forgot until the last minute so we sprinkled them on top. Then, I offered that we should put holiday sprinkles on them too. Another friend of mine said that no, sprinkles don't go on brownies. She asked, "Are you a sprinkler?" Being the Baptist that I am, I said, "NO! I was fully dunked!"

"House" Stories

This year I'm living in a one of several "ministry houses" that we have here on campus. Last night, we had a pot-luck dinner for all of the houses. We shared our funniest and best moments. Some of our funniest moments included Christmas in October, killing a roach with Lysol, and having campus security ring our doorbell at 1:00 AM. We thought that the best one was having security ring our doorbell in the middle of the night, scaring our house full of girls, all because someone left her lights on in her car.

Enjoying college life and looking forward to Thanksgiving break, Kristen

Argentina movie

I recently made this little movie as a part of my portfolio for the College of Education. I thought you all might enjoy it.

New Email Address

Just to let you all know, my email has changed to khatfield1751@andersonuniversity.edu. Supposedly, Anderson is updating the email system. My old email will still work, and I will check both of them until Nov. 1, 2007. After that, my old one will be removed or deleted, at least that's what the school has told us for now. Thanks.

-Kristen

Perseverance

"Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of the hard work you already did." Newt Gingrich

"What's important in such matters is not how you got into college but how you leave." Clarence Thomas, US Supreme Court Justice

College Life

It's nice to finally be back into the full swing of college life again. Homework, tests, socials, and trips. This month's fun things on the calendar: RUF Swing Dance Night (tomorrow!), RUF Conference (great worship, great fun), Homecoming, and a trip to Charleston, SC. College days don't last forever. I was talking with a friend of mine, and we wish we could spend all our time just being involved on campus without the responsibility of classes. That doesn't really work though. This year has already been a huge blessing living with five other girls in a house. We love it. Its great to have the fellowship of others as well as working together to reach out to our campus. We've already enjoyed the conveniences of the house to host several girls' nights and just spend time together.

Until later,
Kristen

Back to School

Its hard to believe I'm already back at school. It feels like summer passed quickly, yet it feels so long ago that I was moving out. Its funny how life seems so fast in one sense and in another so slow.

Well this year "college life" feels a little different than last. Mostly because there isn't all that first year nervousness and uncertainty. Also because I'm living in a little house with some friends. Its kind of like home but not really because it isn't really home. Things have already been interesting. For example, the air conditioning doesn't really work well - of course on one of the hottest days of the year.

I'm actually helping with orientation, so I'm here more than a week before classes start. I guess it gives time to get things organized and prepared.

Until later,
Kristen

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

The "typicals things" in Carlos Paz

Before I leave for Santa Fe to see the Mocovi tribe, here are some pictures of Carlos Paz... A typical car

A typical street

A typical idol store
(No seriously, people buy their own personal Mary statues at the Catholic stores.)

A typical stoplight
(Earning a few centavos washing windshields at stoplights.)

And if you were wondering, a typical day (typical is a relative term):
9:30 -Wake up
10:00 - Coffee
11:00 - Morning run
2:00 -Lunch
3:00-6:00 - Ministry related work/Siesta
6:00 - Afternoon coffee/errands
8:00 - Early dinner
8:30-12:30 - ESL classes
1:00-1:30 Bedtime

Tonight, we are having a "Fútbol" party. Argentina plays the US...we'll probably loose. It's about the fellowship anyways.

-Kristen

Discouraging Days

These past few days have been kind of discouraging as I mentioned earlier. Sunday when we discovered that someone had stolen the sound system, that was only the beginning. Over the past few days, we have realized that more and more things are missing. This has been quite a discouragement.

On top of that, today we had no water. Literally, the only water available was the pool in the back (typical for here) and the bottles of water. So.. just to give you an idea. Just to use the restroom, we have to go out to the pool and fill a bucket with water, remember its the middle of winter. Then, we pour some of that water down the toilet. To wash our hands, we put soap on our hands and lather, then rinse our hands in the "soapy bucket," and finally rinse our hands in the "clean water bucket." And doing dishes, well let's just say we don't do them. Why no water? Who knows, remember this is Argentina.

Aside from the discouragements and obstacles of the day, I spent some time with Ayalen, a girl down the street, and her friends. She likes to bring her friends over to "show off" her American friends. Because of this, I find it's better to take them out somewhere instead of spending time with them in the house. We walked downtown to a park and just played around and talked. Its funny how they often asked "Have you been to Hollywood, Disneyland, and New York?" As if all Americans are famous or know someone famous. Nonetheless, I see it as an opportunity to spend time with them.

Tomorrow, I leave to visit a native tribe about five hours away. This should be a really neat opportunity just to observe and learn about the native people. I'm going with a family, the Hammond's, that we have met who are doing some research on the tribe. The bus leaves at 12am and arrives around 5am - long but it should be worth it. Hopefully, I'll have some great pictures to share.

Until later,
Kristen

The Spiritual battles continue

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms." Ephesians 6:12

After the many encouragements and open doors from the past week, we had a major discouragement yesterday. When we arrived at the church building for morning services, we found that someone had broken into the building. They broke into all the offering boxes and stole the offering, took the sound system, and stole many other small valuable items. This was a major shock and mystery as we can not fully understand how they got in the building. The disappointment just reminds me that the spiritual battles continue. Satan is out to discourage and distract us from the many things that the Lord is doing.

On the other hand, the Lord is continuing to open doors with contacts we have made at these ESL classes and the family down the street. During the evening service at church yesterday, the father of the family down the street walked in 15 minutes before the end. Although he was late, the very fact that he took the effort to walk all the way down the street in dark, cold winter weather reflects genuine interest in spiritual things. For those of you at GBC, I am working on a little description of all the family members so that you can better pray for and get to know this family. Oh and by the way, little Bianca came home from the hospital today!

Until later,
Kristen

A few pictures

Ian and Tomi on their "adventure"...
(They were trying to catch snakes and bugs in the cold, winter weather. Let boys be boys!)

The past few days, I have spent a lot of time with the family done the street. I took Ayalen and her friends out for a walk. They are into the modeling phase as you can see.

Then, yesterday, I took her for a hike, and we had a great conversation about the Gospel. It is sad to see that what she thinks of the Gospel has nothing to do with what the Bible says but a mix of the movie "The Passion of the Christ" and her Catholic teachers.


A few days ago, I took her sister, Nahir, out for ice cream because she went to school five days. She sure did enjoy it and made a big mess!









Last night, Amy and I spent some time fellowshipping out at a restaurant where Claudio plays the piano. I think it was around 3:00am until we went to bed!

















This morning around 11:30 am, I took Ian, Nahir, and her brother Tomi for a hike up the mountain. It was cold and windy, but we had a great time. It ended up taking us about 2.5 hours; I think we figured it was about a 5km trip. Great times!This is Tomi.And the view...

Until later,
Kristen

So many doors, so many opportunities

The Lord has been opening so many doors for the Gospel in the past few days. From Lestisia and Marcielo down the street to the ESL classes at night, we have had many opportunities to share with them the glory of the Gospel. After classes last night, we talked with some of the people that stayed about our sinful state and the work of Christ on the cross to redeem us from our sin. One lady said that she did not understand. How can grace be enough? She was struggling to understand salvation by grace ALONE based on nothing from ourselves. Yes, it complex yet so simple. Another lady, afterward admitted that she is terrified of death. Amy explained to her that she was too until she understood the Gospel. I was thinking this morning of Isaiah 55:1-2 that says,

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare."

This is the offer of the Gospel - it is free and completely satisfying. The Lord is softening the peoples' hearts and making them ready to hear. We sent them with a little book that explains a true Christian. They took it eagerly and promised to read it.

On a different note, we have also had several opportunities with Lestisia, Bianca's mother from down the street. Yesterday, when Mr. Donell was taking her to the hospital to see Bianca, he shared with her her spiritual need and the free offer of the Gospel. Later when the baby was doing so well, she came over to talk with Mrs. Donell. Grinning from ear to ear she asked, "Can you teach me how to pray and say thank you to God?" Mrs. Donell explained to her that there are no special words, God knows our thankfulness by our hearts and the way that we come before him like a child comes before a parent. She said that she was going to go home and pray with her children, thanking the Lord for all that he has done.

Then, she said that her daughter, Nahir, who faithful comes to church, has been telling her about a family in the church with lots of children. They all come every Sunday and bring all the children. Lestistia said, "I know what she's trying to tell me...She wants our whole family to go to church. Often its the mother duck that leads her ducklings, but for us the baby ducks are saying 'Come on, Mom, lets go!' If Bianca is out of the hospital, we will all be at church on Sunday." We could have never dreamed of an opportunity like this to reach the entire family, Mom, Dad, and all the children with the Gospel. Please pray that the Lord would continue to soften their hearts and give them seeds of faith. It amazes me to see how the Lord is orchestrating so many open doors and working in so many mysterious ways.

Last, here is a link to the Carlos Paz news of the ESL classes. They ended up getting all of us on it! Bear with the Spanish, but you can enjoy the pictures. http://youtube.com/watch?v=8lcPvJooSKU

Rejoicing and still walking by faith,
Kristen

Bianca Agostina

Bianca Agostina
(Photo by Amy Donell)

Last time, I mentioned a little bit about the baby down the street we were concerned for. Bianca (16 days old) caught some kind of sickness from her siblings and started having respiratory problems. (This is the little sister of the children and girls that we have spend a lot of time with.) Anyhow, we were very concerned for her so the Donell's took her an hour away to a "better" hospital that could care for infants under 1 month. When they got there, doctors rushed on her and put her in NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit). She was in very critical condition last night. This morning, Mr. Donell took the mother, Letisia, back to the hospital and had a wonderful opportunity to share the Gospel with her.

To all of our surprise, the baby is now doing much better. She is now off oxygen and all medicines but will stay in the hospital for several more days. The Lord was so gracious to heal her so quickly and on top of that, open these doors for the Gospel. Just an example, when the mother came by to tell Mrs. Donell the good news, she was so elated and relieved. She asked Mrs. Donell how to thank the Lord or what special prayer she could say. Mrs. Donell told her to come before the Lord just like her children would come thank her. I think that the Lord is using this opportunity to soften the parents' hearts and make them ready to hear the Gospel. Please pray that the Lord would make their hearts receptive to the Gospel.

Resting in a Sovereign God,
Kristen