Alex
“Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”
1 Chronicles 16:24
“Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”
1 Chronicles 16:24
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| DAILY TEAM MEETINGS Every morning Pastor Larry led a team meeting in which he would share about the details of the day. Then, he would share about a missionary and some lessons we could learn from their experiences. This meeting helped us focus and prepare for what God had in store for the day. |
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| SUNDAY SERVICE @ ORIENTE We were able to attend two Sunday Services at Oriente Church. What a great time to worship with our Chilean brothers and sisters in Christ. Our students sang along in Spanish as much as they could and then went to a Sunday School class. |
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| INVITATIONS TO THE OUTREACH Two times during the trip we went into the local communities with the Chilean youth to invite people (kids and adults) to the outreach happening that evening. One person from the group would yell "HEY OH" until someone came out. People were very friendly and kind to us. |
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| OUTREACH IN THE PLAZA This was one of the three outreaches we were a part of in the plazas (parks). Our students were a part of the program (games, puppets, 5 color Gospel presentation) led by the Chilean youth. The Chilean youth were using this as their training for their outreach trip to Ecuador in 2016! What a great partnership!!! |
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| SERVICE PROJECT There were several service projects our students helped out with on the trip. In this picture. some of our boys were chipping away at pieces of the mural at the Oriente School / Church so that it could be updated. It was hard work, but they had great attitudes and big smiles! |
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| ENJOYING DINNER WITH OUR HOST FAMILY Each family group (1 adult leader and 3-4 students) stayed with a host family. Being able to stay with a host family is always one of the highlights for our students. This is my family group and our host family! Every evening we gathered around the table to eat a late night meal, practice our Spanish, and laugh a lot together! The boys really connected with Leti's two sons, Andres and Tomas. (picture left to right) Andres (age 15 - host brother), Me, Gage (12), James (12), Matt (12), Jackson (11), Leticia (host mom), Tomas (11 - host brother) |
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| PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS We did our program at various locations (San Luis School, Oriente School, School near House of Hope) about seven different times. The program included the students introducing themselves in Spanish, an upbeat Spanish song (see above picture), a drama ("Praise You in the Storm), the five color Gospel presentation from Pastor Larry, and a craft in the classrooms. The students did an awesome job! |
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| HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMAS! This is our host brother, Tomas. He turns 12 on December 26. He bonded a lot with our boys (who are close in age), so he told his mom that he wanted to celebrate his birthday early while the "gringos" were at his house. We threw him a surprise birthday party with some gifts, and he could not believe it! This picture captures some of his excitement! |
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| SERVING THE COMMUNITY One of the churches, La Farfana, started a new outreach in this plaza three weeks prior to our arrival. The church asked us to paint the fence around the soccer field to cover some of the graffiti and wear. As we were painting, a man came up from the community and asked us what we were doing. When we explained we were from La Farfana church and wanted to help improve the community, he was surprised. He had not seen something like that in his community. As we finished talking, he told me that he planned on visiting the church. I'm praying he gets connected to the La Farfana! |
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| SOCCER, SOCCER & MORE SOCCER After painting the fence around the soccer court, we had the opportunity to play in a mini-tournament. Our students were on six different teams playing with Chilean kids and students. The students were from the community and most were not Christians. This was great time of bonding. We had so much fun playing together! Our team, Azul (blue in Spanish), ended up winning the tournament. We were pretty excited! |
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| SERVING AT EL MONTE CHURCH For over ten years, we have been going to this church and serving in whatever ways they need. One of the projects we do each year is varnishing the outside of the church which is built of wood. This protects the building so it will last longer. Going to and serving at El Monte was one of the highlights for many of our students. |
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| GOOFY FAMILY PICTURE Let's just say we had a lot of fun with our host family! #selfiestick |
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| NICE FAMILY PICTURE This is our family group and host family not being goofy! |
