Our New Normal is...

{just to name a few...}

90 to 108 degrees every day, no A/C

eating dinner at 10pm

the kids going to bed at midnight. every night.

people showing up at your door unannounced and staying for hours

kissing everyone hello on the cheek

men kissing men hello on the cheek

volcanic ash is in the forecast

your neighbor getting Hepatitis A

your friend casually mentioning that her baby had Scarlett Fever

the house three blocks away gets infested with black widows

you find out there are also biting red ants, tarantulas, and coral snakes in your new home

you don't have a dishwasher

...or dryer

...or microwave (that works)

you've forgotten what it is like to have a dishwasher and dryer and microwave

you see the five year-old that lives next door walking down the street by herself

you can't eat breakfast because you're still too full from eating dinner at 10 at night

there were 5 murders last year in the neighborhood next door (oops, don't read that, Mom)

your toddler gets bitten by a dog and you're genuinely concerned about rabies

you toddler gets bitten by dogs all the time

going to the hospital, but leaving after two hours because no one seems to be attending patients

dinner guests come for dinner at 10 and leave at 1 or 2am

time is no longer an exact science, but is now expressed in terms of "in a little bit", "this afternoon sometime", or just "later"

a local farmer selling a cart full of fresh farm vegetables at your front door

going to the ATM but there in no money it

no car seats

going to church to find that someone threw a rock through the window leaving broken glass all over the floor

everyone shrugging nonchalantly at any of the above and even remarking, "oh, yeah... that's normal"

hearing your kids speak another language

being so proud daily of your amazing, awesomely generous, thoughtfully kind husband who is reaching so many more people for Christ than you every could

riding bikes with your kids and a dog-sized hare runs across the dirt road

when someone come to your door asking for a Bible

when little kids come to your door selling fresh-picked cherries from their cherry tree

getting mail once a month

never getting junk mail

when someone says they'll come by at 10 and show up at 12

when someone says they'll come by tomorrow, but shows up a week later

when you go to the gas station but they're all out of gas

blood-sucking gnats

Bible study starts (not ends) at 9pm

driving half the people you had over for Bible study home at midnight because they don't own a car

when your daughter begs to go with her dad to take everyone home at midnight, and you let her

losing your life for Christ's sake and find that you love the new life he gave you so much more than the old one

{And you wouldn't trade any of it for the world.}

the view when I wash the dishes sometimes

This hawk (of which we see a lot soaring over the neighborhood daily) decided to land on the neighbor's trash thingy while I was washing the dishes and staring out the window one day.

A "trash thingy" is my sophisticated name for the raised steel basket we all have to put our trash in here so the stray dogs don't tear your trashbags to pieces.

on being ready

It's not about being ready. You'll never be ready.

Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready." ~John 7:6

Be willing to get dirty.

Tony has been spending a lot of time in the slums these days.


Tony with Sebastian: his plywood house burned down and he is now living in a tent with his wife


There's always something to do.

Bring fresh water. Food. Comfort. Friendship. A helping hand. The Good News.

Love in action.



Fix-it-yourself electrical repairs: Dani holding the ladder for Raul, Sebastian's uncle


During one of their visits Ceferino, Marcela's husband, told Tony his story. He grew up in a landfill. He is one of twelve children. As a child, he picked through trash to survive. His body is riddled with gunshots. Two to his head (one grazed his jaw bone, the other his scalp), more than a few in his legs and stomach. Miraculously, he's still alive.





Dani, Sebastian, Raul

While Tony was in the slums, Yoli stopped by our house and asked for a Bible. No one has ever actually asked me for a Bible, and I was about to give her mine, right when Tony came home and said he had found one while unpacking. It was hers to keep.

Oh, Thank you, she said. I want to read the Bible at night, but I don't have one.

Now she does.

Sometimes, I venture to say most times, reaching the lost, helping those in need, spreading the gospel, takes the form of small things. Jesus doesn't necessarily ask us to do big things for him, He just asks us to be available, to obey. Knowing His will is not far from us, we can open our Bibles and read what we're supposed to do as professed followers of Christ. The question is not "What does God want me to do?", but "Will we do it?".

random cell phone dump

I never know what interesting pictures I will find on our cell phones...


I'm not sure what this is.

A tree growing out of the street? A protest? A lame roadblock?


I do know what this is, though: Utter Cuteness.

:)

a midsummer's night sunset

"The heavens declare the glory of God..." ~Psalm 19:1



"Behold the clouds which are higher than thou..." ~ Job 35:5

 

"Bless the Lord..." ~Psalm 104:1



"Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment:..."

"...who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain" ~Psalm 104:2



"The LORD looketh from heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men." ~Psalm 33:13



"Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong and as a molten looking glass?" ~Job37:18



"...wherein the heavens being on fire..." ~2 Peter 3:12

"Sell that ye have, and give alms;

provide yourselves bags which wax not old,

a treasure in the heavens that faileth not,

where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth." ~Luke 12:33



love looks like a new old fridge

getting ready to deliver the fridge and more water

¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other. ~John 15:14-17

Ceferino, Marcela, and two of their five children and the new owners of an old fridge

Thank you, Lord. You always provide. You always come through. All glory belongs to You.

Kisses from Katie

I found Katie's blog about a year ago. Couldn't stop reading. Amazing how God can use one person fully surrendered to Him, simply obedient to His word....

Marcela, cold water, and refrigerators

filling up water tanks to take to the slums

Days are full here. None are ever the same. I wonder if that is, in part, because it's summer. It is very difficult to have a schedule when people drop in unannounced every day, some with great physical and spiritual needs, some for lunch, some for dinner, some to just talk and visit. Much grace is also required as temperatures climb back up over 100.

Oh, and the dust. Don't forget the dust! I have never seen so much dust and dirt in a house in all my life. I feel like all I do is clean, clean, clean. And surely, I think, God did not bring me here to just clean all day long day after day, did He?


Dany drinking terere

Yesterday, Tony and Dani went back to visit the families whose houses burned down. The third time this week.

Dani is one of the pastor's sons. He is 17 years old and he is pure genius. He handles all the car repairs for the church, is a master electrician, mechanic, welder, and builds his own computers. And he loves to do missions. He also recently repaired our TV all by himself - the one that Tony (ahem) blew out. Dani is very smart and always busy helping out.

Today my boy asked me why Dani is so white but doesn't understand English.

lol

I told him that it's because his parents are of European descent, but he's Argentinian, so he speaks Spanish.

On Wednesday when Tony and Dani went up to visit the families for the second time, bringing water and the food we forgot to unload (duh), one of the women, the one who has 5 children, opened up and told her story.

Oh boy.

When Tony asked the families why they thought this may have happened to them, all were silent. Then, Marcela spoke up. She said, yes, she had thought about that question many a time since her house burned down.

Marcela, in the middle, wearing a dress

Marcela uses cocaine. Her husband abuses alcohol, does coke, and also smokes pot. Fortunately, Marcela's husband holds down a job. He works from midnight until 10am loading and unloading fruit crates at a fruit distributor. As she opened up, Marcela also shared that they have dabbled in Umbanda. They have five children. She admits that she feels empty.

Tony and Dani stayed all afternoon visiting, baking under the sun, sharing time, conversation, and Christ. When the guys were getting ready to leave, Marcela asked that they stay. She wanted to talk some more. It did her so well, she said, that they came. She has thought many times of taking her own life. But she was feeling better now that they had talked. So they stayed and promised to come back in a few days. Tony told her that even if we continue to bring food, water, a refrigerator, or any and all sort of material things, without Christ in her life she would still feel empty.

When Tony came home after this visit and announced that we would be buying them a refrigerator, I confess that my reaction was more like, "Woahhh... Hold on there a minute, don't forget you don't have a job yet. We have to pay rent, you know. Refrigerators are expensive. Why don't we wait til Sunday, make an announcement at church, and have everyone give 100 pesos?"

No, he said. They need a refrigerator now.

True.

The construction guys next door have a used fridge they can sell to us for 800 pesos ($200). New ones cost $2000-3000 pesos.

Where are we going to get an extra $200??, I asked. If you hadn't noticed, we don't have much of an income.

Worry, worry, worry.

The next morning fellow missionary Lee came over. We had given them 3 big peices of furniture that literally did not fit into our smaller house here, even after three yard sales and tremendous downsizing. We needed to sell one of the pieces, hoping to help pay for our own rent while Tony still waits for a call from the TV station (they say he is #1 on the list to get a job, but everyone is on vacation now, so we need to wait.). We're living on faith already.

While I was wondering how on earth we were going to give Marcela a refrigerator, when we don't have a job or fixed monthly support to even pay for our own roof, the next morning Lee came and offered us 1000 pesos for the 3rd piece of furniture we were selling.

Not the first time I've felt ashamed of my lack of faith and amazed at the goodness of God at the same time.

Yesterday it was 38 degrees Celcius up there on the desert hill. That is 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Today it will be hotter.

There is no water. There is no shade. There is a not a tree or a blade of green in sight. They do not have ice, or even a refrigerator. One of the women had a headache from the heat and the beating sun, which are brutal here. The low pressure system that constantly hangs over the city, inviting hot winds to blow in, can make your head bound. I know this personally since I've had to take Tylenol or Ibuprofen every single day for three straight weeks for constant headache. Even Tony complains it bothers him.

Today Tony and Dany will be going back to Marcela's neighborhood. They filled two big tanks with fresh, cool, sparkling water.

Our kids ask why they keep going back there. I tell them that the Bible says to Love the Lord God with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself. Would you want to be thirsty and hungry and homeless and without Christ? Wouldn't you want someone to come help you if you were Marcela?

"For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward." ~Mark 9:41

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

You are my friends, if you do whatsoever I command you."
~John 15:13,14

Dumb Missionary Moment

I love that Tony asked upon seeing what was forgotten, "Who unloaded the stuff?"

Uh... The men.

Mental Note When Delivering Supplies to Those in Need: CHECK THE TRUNK.

Oh, well. Good thing they were non-perishable food items.

We are heading back today to deliver what was forgotten. I guess God wants us to go back after all.

:)

Learning to do Good

"Learn to do good..." - Isaiah 1:17

Yesterday we heard about a family of 7 whose plywood house burned down. Mom, Dad, and five kids were left with nothing. Literally nothing.

So a group of us from church loaded up some non-perishable food items (they don't have a fridge), clothing, mattresses, sheets and blankets, a tent so they have somewhere to sleep, and some water in big plastic jugs, and drove our little caravan out to the very edge of town.

Because, the Bible says, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.


Edgardo lent us his truck, onto which we strapped our extra mattresses
(now when people come visit, we will just have to sleep on the floor and give them our own bed,
hardly a sacrifice considering the needs we see here daily)

we half emptied our own cabinets to pile food and clothes and other supplies into our van

 I made my kids pick out some clothes that no longer fit them, and some shoes that still do, to donate to the family of 5 children. Because no one needs five pairs of flip flops when your neighbor has none.

"He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise." Luke 3:11

heading out to the site

"If you love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15


on the way we stopped to pick up Dora, who lives 4 blocks from where the houses burned down
 - she goes to our church, and lead us to what was left of the homes




getting closer - the brick houses turned into plywood lean-to's



finally there



one of the three houses that burned down

Fires are common here, they either start with electrical shorts or from sparks that fly off of wood fires or gas stove used for cooking.


one of the burnt houses is already being rebuilt

 

the woman in the red shirt lives in the gray tent

 

her "home", a tent

The neighborhood sits on the very edge of the city. It's a squatters village and it's sprawling and huge. It seems to go on and on and on. People who have no place to live and no money to rent or buy land just "take" a small plot of land on the edge of town, sometimes in public squares or parks, and build ramshackle houses out of plywood, scraps, or brick if they can afford it. The government put up a fence on the edge of town to stop the squatters from taking any more land.

right next to the burnt houses was the fence (behind me), beyond was desert



unloading the mattresses and supplies

It was about 100 degrees and there was not a tree in sight. There was broken glass, dog poop, charred wood and ash, and trash mixed in with desert grit. The kids who live here were filthy and were walking around in underwear and bare feet. Bare feet! My mommy instinct wanted to just stick them in a bathtub, scrub them up, comb their hair, and put some shoes on them. But there is barely water in the neighborhood. The government hasn't extended the pipes to this edge of town yet.


Keren playing with the kids







Mario, one of the pastors, comforting the families with God's word



after unloading everything, we prayed with the families that lost everything
the woman in the middle in the dress will be sleeping in the tent we gave her until they can rebuild



afterwards, conferring about the possibility of coming back, and what kind of help is most needed

and, of course, the truck wouldn't start (it has had battery problems) so we had to push it to pop it into gear

Afterwards, when we were driving Dora back to her house, we drove by some little kids playing outside -two adorable little girls, maybe 4 and 6. I smiled out the window and yelled, "Hola Hermosas!" and they waved back. Dora said, "Oh, if you knew the things those girls have lived through..."

Oh, no. What? What things??

Their mother is mising one leg, so has trouble taking care of them. Last year, some men broke into their house and raped the mother and her daughters.

This is the neighborhood that Jorge and Monica do the Happy Hour outreach. We were told that 90% of the people who live here are alcoholics or theives. There are a few that work hard and don't commit crime, but they are not the majority.

Tony was following me and told me later that he thought I was probably scared driving one of the cars by myself through this neighborhood. I wasn't. At all. I attribute that to prayer, and God's grace, ONLY, because I am a bit of a scaredy cat. So thank you, friends, for praying. We definately feel your prayers.

Our night did not end there. Argentinians are lovers of the night. The youth/young adults invited us back to Edgardo's house for pizza. All I really wanted to do was get my three-year-old into a bathtub stat, and myself into a cold shower, but we said yes and went. Our three-year-old fell asleep on the drive back into town with dirty hands and filthy feet. Dinner wasn't until 10:30. But it was delicious - they made pizza from scratch and torre de panqueques (stacked crepe sandwiches). Yum! Sorry no pictures of that - our cell phones were already full of pictures.

:)

beating the heat

How do you beat the heat (that is, manage to not just lie around like a useless slug) when it hits 102, 104, 108, day, after day, after day, NO AC?

To stay cool, we play with water. In any form: washing the car, watering the grass, jumping in the above ground WalMart special, drinking lots of cold beverages. Wearing your bathing suit all day long, splashing water on your extremities and forehead and standing in front of the fan, or dousing yourself with the hose just to hang some clothes out under the penetrating sun. This is how we manage. I'm sure there are other ways, like air conditioning - but we left those luxuries behind us in the First World. 

 

Little Chunkies making "birthday soup" for Bear, Bear, and Wow-wow - and using the container designated for watering our favorite street dog



Negrito - our favorite street dog



terere: South American loose green tea leaves steeped in cold pink grapefruit juice - I'm addicted to this

Or we homeschool, looking for any excuse to not go outside. 88 inside is better than 108 outside. Today we found my girl's computer math program. It got packed away almost six months ago. She was actually excited to see it and asked to do math on a Saturday.

Maybe one day we'll get AC here. For now, the four window units we brought are useless. We have bars on our windows - not conducive to popping in a window unit. AC is ridiculously expensive here. $1000 a unit and up. Sha! I don't think we'll be getting one soon.


the bars on our windows (on a very ashy day with, incidentally, a lot of desert dust plastered to the window)

Tonight, after hitting 102F again today, God had mercy and sent some rain. And an electrical storm. And another beautiful sunset. Times of refreshing, albeit brief.

He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters,

Who makes the clouds His chariot,

Who walks on the wings of the wind

~Psalm 104:3