Weight and Sea

To my most amiable readers:

After you've gotten over my magnificent pun you may proceed...hahaha. At rowing due to the choppy sea we have been inside working on weights. After three rounds of a twenty-station circuit where you do forty lifts in each one (interspersed with a mere eighty crunches and other horrid activities), one feels rather...good, actually. Sore, but good.

Winter has started in earnest, rain sheeting down outside (and dripping down inside, my buckets are handy), and the wind pounding and whipping around. In this fair weather Dustin and Mike set off on an impromptu (they had twenty minutes notice) trip to an island an hour and a half from here. An acquaintance, not a believer, invited them to come meet his family out on the island, which is home to roughly 3,000. Mainly nominally Catholic, the island has "five people who aren't like us", which by this he meant Christians. The island was settled completely by the Spaniards and has a very different feel than the mainland. There's no electric, but three buses and internet access...but I digress. What I wish to express is this; there are so many islands like this, so many places that don't have dedicated followers of Christ to show them The Way, The Truth, and The Life. We are in prayer for what our part can be in sharing with the families on this island, hand-in-hand with praying for more workers in the harvest field. Do you wish to share Christ's plan of redemption here?

Your Devoted, Sarah

Breakfast Club

To My Faithful Readers:

Me gustaria a compartir un poco contigo sobre nuestro desayuno muy especial...in other words, I'd like to tell you about our special breakfast this morning. Waking up, we got the kiddos bundled-up (it's almost winter here), hopped on a bus, then a small ferry, then hiked on a trail, and arrived at the Tenglo Island property. Eduardo and Juanita, our Chilean co-missionaries, had gone knocking doors the day before inviting all children to descend on their home for breakfast and fun activities.

We prepared hot cheese and ham sandwiches, hot chocolate, and other goodies and greeted the children as they arrived. After breakfast Eduardo gave a lesson on the first days of creation, then we sang fun songs with motions. After that we headed outside for some good rough-and-tumble games in the field. The kids caught on quickly to all the games, and we all had much to laugh about. After that we held a ping-pong tournament and a small snack and invited them all to come the next Saturday with their friends. This will be a continuing ministry, and it is certainly meeting a need as many parents go to the mainland during the day for work or errands, and the children are left with nothing to do. We're going to involve painting, crafts, and other activities in too. We had a great time having fun with these precious children, and look forward to more opportunities to get to know them and show Christ to them.

May you all have a blessed Easter, remembering Him who conquered the grave and changed the world forever!

Your Devoted, Sarah

This picture is cute...but it also served us well to put her in this old ski-lift car, a moment later two street dogs got in a huge fight right beside it, and Sophia looked on safely from inside this! 

This old advertisement in Argentina basically says, "the nutrients for mothers...Beer!" Hmmm.  

Outside the cathedral in Bariloche, Argentina 

Argentine Lovebirds... 

Bariloche 

Bariloche, Argentina 

Two crazy kids... 

Comedy of Rowers

To my most amiable readers;

Twelve kilometers...that's about nine miles I'm told. That's how far I rowed today! I was out in a double boat with Deborah, our comissionaries' daughter and my dear friend. I'm getting "man hands". I've got callouses all across my palms and scrapes on my knuckles, and a rather sore back, but for all that, I just love it. After docking and draining our boat we saw a huge bright double rainbow arching from the mainland, across the channel to Tenglo Island. It was so beautiful.

As to the comedy...Dustin is also learning rowing. He is in the "first days", which basically consist of lots of embarassment, snickering bystanders, and...for him...flipping his boat in shallow water and getting soaked right up to his Nascar hat. Luckily everyone used the opportunity to teach him a new phrase as each kid that came by asked him repeatedly, "You flipped over?!" You can read his first-hand version on his site: dustinfieldnotes.blogspot.com. Enjoy.

Hope this finds you all merrily,
Your Devoted Sarah

Beauty. 

Of Joy and Mockery

To my most amiable readers;

Thank you for your prayers on our behalf as we live out our faith here in Chile. God is doing good works here. It certainly isn't our language proficiency, nor our education, nor our charisma that opens the doors to share about Him. He uses our openness to his "still small voice" to guide us into the right moment, the right words, the right time to make Him known. I am becoming more and more aware that God does His best work through us when we are unconcious of any work being done; when we, springing from His joy at work within us, smile and laugh, especially at ourselves.

At rowing yesterday, I was out in my boat rowing up and down the channel, still yet trying to grasp the finer points of good form, when alongside me came one of the younger boys. He was laughing at me. He made broad gestures as to how I was rowing "loco" (crazy). And here I thought I was finally becoming a more graceful rower! In a way I was crushed, in a way I was angry...how dare a ten year old make fun of me! But all I did was smile and laugh at myself, and then did what is so difficult to do...I asked for him to help me row better.

It was almost as though he did an about-face...he became very friendly, encouraging even as he rowed beside me giving me pointers. How dear! The mocker became the teacher and then the encourager. As we were docking he told me that I rowed beautifully! Ha!

I am aware of a steady work going on in the hearts of the youth at rowing. Not, certainly, due to me, but to Christ's presence working through me, indeed despite me. One girl, a very stand-offish proud girl let a comment slip that she wished she could be joyful and kind like me. Christ is doing His redemptive work. Please keep praying!

Your Devoted Sarah