Earthquakes and Ideas

Another earthquake today, this time an 8.8 in Chile.

I've been in three earthquakes in my life. I'm still here. I'm assuming for a reason. Why not go? If I'm supposed to die in an earthquake, I will. If not, I won't. God knows what He is doing with me.

So while at the gym this morning beating this almost middle-aged body into submission, all I could think of was what I read the other day on this missionary family's website. There is a family from Oregon with seven children living north of Bariloche (northern Patagonia) maybe two hours. They are planting self-propagating churches in the native Mapuche communities. They wrote on their blog that there are 11 communities out of 40 or so that already have churches. What struck me most is this: most of the leaders of the indigenous churches CAN NOT READ.

So... how can they know how to follow God if they can not read His Word??

Is anyone teaching them to read? My guess is not. And certainly not for free. Why couldn't we teach them to read?

I mentioned it to Tony. He said he was thinking the same thing. (Big smile :))

I just love that God taught me Spanish... 20 years ago now. Hubs is a native speaker. Why couldn't we just go and teach them to READ? All Mapuche speak Spanish, but many can not read it.

I taught my kids how to read. I didn't find it to be rocket science. As a matter of fact, most people would be shocked to find out how very little I did to get my kids to read. Yes, it's true, I did almost nothing. I admit it to all you homeschoolers with your pre-packaged curricula. I confess it to all you public and private schoolers who believe it takes years of professional instruction. It's true, I did very little. It was extremely painless. I gave my kids a couple of books. I took them to the library. I encouraged them to "read" (ie, look at) the books that interested them, answered their questions about how to say this or how to pronounce that, I read to them a LOT.... I don't know... I really didn't do that much. I just winged it. I truly believe all people are smart in their own way - if you take the time to get to know them and find the key to unlock them then - whamo!

How hard could it be to teach someone to read in Spanish? I don't think that hard. I taught some English-speaking teens and pre-teens to read Spanish. It wasn't hard. Spanish is easy. Infinitely easier than English with its "more exceptions than rules".

I can totally see my husband teaching an illiterate leader of a church to read. He could then read his Bible. Then he could teach his congregation to read... they could teach their kids....


Just another idea.
:D

Broke The News

I know a girl that has been traveling the world alone since she was 16 years old doing missions. She's been to several very under-developed countries, some pretty scary places. She now works teaching kids on an Rez in North Dakota, where the poverty is as bad as it is in Haiti. I asked her what her parents thought of her going off to all those places alone. Didn't they worry about her? How did they do it?

She just said, "Well, I guess they just trust me to the Lord."

Wow. Yeah, I guess so.

That's what I will have to do someday with my own kids. Probably what I should be doing now, come to think of it.

Well, we let the cat out of the bag. First told the fam. Went well, I guess, all things considered. Now we are telling our friends. My apologies about the Facebook bomb, if anyone thought that was weird. It's like pregnancy, having to tell people one by one takes forever. I don't get out much, and miss so much church and life because someone always seems to be sick, just figured it would be easier. And anyone who knows me knows I don't do the phone. :D So far everyone has been encouraging and supportive, which means a lot to us. But I'm sure not everyone will be. That's just the way it goes.

The JESUS Film Project

The people at the JESUS Film Project are so nice! They helped me add a banner and link to their site (see above). Isn't it awesome? I still don't know what an HTML is... but at least it works!

We definately are going to show the film in Argentina.... ooooo, the possibilities!

I thought it was really cool in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people of Patagonia. Check it out!
:)

Venemous and Poisonous Animals

I was always the fearless wonder kind. Until I hit 35 and realized I was a mere mortal. Well, ignorance is bliss, or at least it was for me for many years. It was really nice to live like that, I have to say. I liked it better, much better, than this worrying I do now. I've done stuff like taken a dip in shark-infested waters, hung my hammock in Brazilian wandering spider territory, hiked in Western diamondback rattlesnake country; you know, dumb stuff. Now, I never knew all these dangerous things were underfoot at the time, because I was just plain dumb and incredibly unaware in my younger years. But, even if I had, I was foolish enough that it probably wouldn't have mattered anyway.


Then I had a son. My son taught me more than I EVER wanted to know about all things venemous and poisonous.


His venemous arachnid stage lasted 8 long torturous months, only to be followed by his venemous snake obsession. That lasted years. Now it's sharks. Lucky me. I'm still traumatized by all those "I Shouldn't Be Alive" shows he made me watch, all the "Jaws of Death" shark specials, "Bugging with Rudd", Jeff Corwin animal adventure shows, World's Most Deadliest Snake specials and on and on and on, etc., etc., etc... I swore I would never, NEVER go camping again. Or hiking. Or swimming in the ocean. And I haven't. And I don't plan to. Ever.

Oh wait, that's not totally true... We did go to hiking once while in the midst of this many-years obsession. And guess what we almost stepped on??? That's right... a you-never-see-them-except-when-WE-decide-to-go-hiking Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake.

Yep. Totally traumatized.

So, guess what I just found out? This is GREAT NEWS!!! And I quote...

"Patagonia has no snakes or dangerous wild animals, making it safe for visitors to enjoy outdoor activities."

Glory! Thank you, Jesus. You're so good to me.

(I hope that website is right.)
:)

Little Faith in a Big God

How many galaxies are in the universe?

We just watched a lecture yesterday on DVD (a very expensive, college-level course that landed at our door by accident, and we were allowed to KEEP it!). It poses this very question.

Well, no one really knoooows.

Because we can only see a FRACTION of the universe, even with the best telescopes, instruments, and technology of the day (like the Hubble) scientists can only estimate that:

* There are 150-400 billion stars in our Milky Way (our sun is just one of those).

* There are 100-200 billion galaxies in the universe (according to current estimates from real smart people who should know).

Uh... okay. Do the math on THAT.

galaxies...

...more galaxies...

galaxy with dust cloud

Tadpole Galaxy

My God is SO BIG. I don't know about yours, but He is SO COOL! He made ALL THAT. What's more, the Bible says,

"When I consider thy heavens, the work of the fingers..." ~Psalm 8:3

Fingers? God didn't even need to use his whole hand? Just his fingers?? To make the Universe???

Isn't that cool?! Aren't you impressed?

This prof. also went on to try to answer where all this came from. Of course, like 99% of PhDs today, he teaches the "Big Bang". You've got to have serious faith to believe it all exploded from something the size of a golf ball. Another version of the Big Bang Theory (yes, it's still a theory) is that it all exploded out of something called a "singularity". That's a small point somewhere, smaller than a golf ball, see... not in the Universe... because... that didn't exist yet... Soooo, inside this "singularity" were these things called "quarks" which were "pre-atoms". You know, because real atoms would be obliterated if all the matter in the entire universe were compressed into such a small point... (by this point I'm thinking to myself, "Is he making this up???").

Anyway, I felt bad for the guy because here he's a Ph.D and is sounding really kind of... unsure.

Anyway (I like to say anyway a lot), I believe in the Bible, that God created the Universe. But that's just me. I didn't always believe that, but it seems the most logical thing to me now. For those who think the universe exploded into being from something the size of a golf ball, and people by some 'chance' (actually millions, billions, of random chances) crawled their way out of some primordial soup little by little miiiiillions of years ago, well then, hey, I think they have much more faith than I do. So you see, everything really IS about religion, what you believe. You can't take faith out of Science. Although everyone tries to do that. Can't. You either believe in the Big Bang and biiiiillions of years ago (cause you have to believe it, it can't be proven, remember this is still a theory and theories can't be tested, repeated, or proven), or you don't. 

It's simple, really. See?

Whew. Glad I got THAT off my chest. Man, I just love blogging. I get to rant and rave and ramble on 'cause it's MY BLOG.

:)  MORE HUBBLE SPACE PICS :)

Missions Organizations

Some of you are probably wondering if we're going to go with a missions organization.

I used to think that that's the only way to go. I don't know where I got that idea, but that's what I thought. In my research, many missions organizations require college degrees, seminary, and/or special training of some sort. Not to mention other major and minor "requirements". Although I understand where they are coming from, it "disqualifies" so many well-intentioned Christians from ever doing anything for the Lord abroad. Or at least that's what they'll come away believing. It also "disqualifies" us from ever being able to work with certain organizations.

At some point I realized that, if we were to go some day to an overseas mission field, it might not be with an organization. I let that dream die a slow, pitiful death, and actually mourned that loss for years. What would we do? I guess I was wrong, maybe we're not called. Tony did not go to college, and neither one of us have gone to seminary. We have no special training that we could put on a resumé to make us look really good. We're just ordinary people who happen to love Jesus and want to live for Him. That's all. Sigh. I guess we're not qualified either.

Peter was a lowly fisherman. Probably didn't even finish high school, the poor guy. There were tax collectors, women, soldiers, somebodies and nobodies who all followed Christ and helped to spread the Good News 2000 years ago. Yes, Paul was highly educated and well-trained... but that was Paul.

But back to missions organizations... our situation is unique in that Tony and I are already fluent in the language. We don't need to spend six months and a lot of money on language school. We don't need special visas to get into the country, we're already citizens/residents (Tony and Big A by birth, the rest of us by association). We don't need special training on how to get around, how to bridge the culture gap, how to pay the bills, or prepare the food, or really anything. God himself did a pretty good job already preparing us.

Cameron Townsend, founder Wycliffe Bible Translators

I remember wanting to go on a mission trip to a South American country once and tried to jump in on the action a little too late. I didn't end up going, but I was shocked to find out how much it cost the people who did go. We could have sent our whole family for a month on what each individual paid to go! The $1500 ticket we could have easily found for a third of the price.  And I guess that's why organizations are needed, most Americans don't know their way around the system or how to get things done the right and best way abroad, so they need that help.

We are 38 and 41 years old. We don't want to spend any more time "getting ready" or waiting until we are "prepared enough", whenever that is. It reminds me of parenting. If you wait until you are "ready" or "have enough money", you'll never have kids. The truth is, who is ever ready? and who ever has enough money?

If you want to be inspired, read a few great missionary biographies. Cameron Townsend, Gladys Aylward, George Muller, to name just a few. You'd be surprised to find out that Gladys Aylward flunked out of Bible school. Cameron Townsend, who founded Wycliffe Bible Translators, found himself in Central America at a very young age as a missionary, only to realize he had NEVER ONCE SHARED THE GOSPEL WITH ANOTHER LIVING SOUL. George Muller had faith he said was nothing special. We all have access to the same kind of faith.

Interesting how God still used a failure, a young unprepared nobody, and just some ordinary guy... Read it for yourself! :)

To Whom?

Over the years when we have discussed the possibility of moving back to South America as missionaries, Tony has always said he would go to where the poor are. That has always been his conviction. Now, not all of South America is poor. There is a wealthy, thriving, upper class in every country that, like our middle class in the U.S., seem to have no apparent need for much of anything.

Bariloche, an area we are looking at, if you don't know, is sometimes called the Switzerland of South America. For its mountains, for its skiing, for its posh Hotel Llao Llao (you've probably even seen it in a movie at some point). My flesh loves to be comfortable, just like the next person. Who wouldn't love to just camp out at Hotel Llao Llao and enjoy life? I would. Pick me! Pick me!

But outside of this small, wealthy, inner-circle of elite vacationers, there are people that make $500, $300, $50 a month on which to live. Or less. There are also at least one or two slums in Bariloche that I am aware of. What's more, the northern three provinces of Patagonia are home to hundreds of small, indigenous communities of Mapuche Indians. There is so much more to life than skiing there.

kids from one of the less than fortunate areas of Bariloche

house in Bariloche

We just watched a YouTube video the other night about a small, 25-family community of Mapuche that used to travel "only" 20 km round trip to the next town. Four years ago their bridge, and only link to civilization, was washed out in a storm. It is now a 200 km commute. They have no access to schools, medical attention, running water, or electricity. They said that no one will help them, and the government has forgotten about them.

We could spend years driving around Patagonia, from village to village, and never meet everyone or run out of things to do.

Mapuche community

entering Mapuche land

rural school kids

In the end, we all need salvation. We all need forgiveness. We all need to hear about Christ: the rich, the poor, the Mapuche, the American, the Argentinian, everyone. We all deserve the opportunity to accept or deny God's free gift in Christ. I am so thankful someone had the courage to put themselves aside and tell me about Him. Why wouldn't I want to do the same?

Illusions of Grandeur

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us." 2 Corinthians 4:7

Today we received two invitations to go to the mission field. That makes three times this year. What are we still doing here?

The first was more of an indirect invitation, not to us personally per se. It was in the monthly newsletter we receive from our missionary friends in Ecuador, whom we visited two years ago. There are still villages high in the Andes that have never heard of Jesus. Who will go and tell them?

The second was from a Bolivian friend of mine I met while she was a missionary in Argentina. She since has returned to her native Bolivia. She asked when we were coming down. She is working with 120 kids in Camiri and needs help.

The first time someone actually asked us to consider coming down to help was last year when another friend, also working in Bolivia, said they needed help. Would we come? We so wanted to, but I had just had a baby, so that, as well as many other factors, made it pretty impossible.

But the point is, what are we still doing here? What are our excuses? We are quickly running out of them.

I no longer have illusions of grandeur. I probably once did. You know: I'm special, God wants to use me, look at all my talents and abilities, I have this to offer and that to offer, I mean I speak 3 languages for goodness sake! Why wouldn't God use me??

Yah. Whatever. Get over yourself, Chris.

Sometimes the Lord has to take you through tough and humbling times to show you that you're nothing apart from Him. "For no good thing dwelleth in my flesh". I have come to see that all too well.

I no longer have illusions of grandeur. Maybe that's why God is able to finally reveal His plan to us. I have no desire to be great, or well-known, or important, or to teach, or to have my husband be a pastor and me a pastor's wife to all these people who "need" us. No, a quiet, peaceful life in the mountains somewhere, sharing God's love and plan of salvation to whomever will listen is enough for me.

That's why we are broken vessels, and we hold this perfect message in jars of clay. It is not us, but God who wills in us to do of HIS good pleasure. Are we willing? Will we go? Will we offer up our bodies as a living sacrifice?

They went...

Raising Boys

We only have one boy, so we're not experts. But we do seek to be the parents our son needs. It's not easy, and our son has been quite a challenge. But we do our best and pray that God will make up the rest.

As our son nears the double digits, one need of his has become more and more apparent. We see his increasing need to be with Dad. Unfortunately for him, Dad is at work M-F. A noble and honorable thing, of course, but Big A can't exactly go with him. So he's at home with Mom. Well, Mom does her best to raise her boy to be a man, but what Big A really needs, at least at this point, is Dad to teach him to be a man. So Dad does the best he can from the hours of 6-9pm, and on weekends.

I read once that if Mom is the only one raising Junior, don't be surprised if, at 15, Junior acts more like Mom than Dad.

Now, everyone's free to raise their kids as they see fit, I'm not passing judgement or saying there is only one way to do it. I just don't want my son to act like me, that's all. I think Tony's a far better role model. All I know is that we have been entrusted to raise the one boy we've been given. A monumental task. But we, like so many others, are stuck in this modern day merry-go-round where Dad just can't be around as much as we would like.

In my ideal world, I would do the academics with Big A in the morning, then off he would go to do manly things with Dad for the rest of the day. Like work, chop wood, go to Home Depot, fix things, build things, install fences, raise chickens, you know, manly things. Whatever.

Leaving for the mission field is in many ways a blessing. I've often mentioned to Tony over the years how wonderful it would be if Big A could be with him most of the day. The poor kid just seems to wander around the house half the day. It's very taxing for me to find things for him to do. (And no, sending him to public school is not the answer). It's very sad and frustrating when he says things like, "I wish there weren't so many bad people in the world, so I could just go outside and you didn't have to watch me all the time." Well, unfortunately for both of us, there are, and I do. Several times a week we have people walk right across our yard. Like RIGHT across our yard, right passed the above-ground pool, toys, and within feet of the windows. It's creepy, especially when it's some strange guy dressed in shorts in the middle of winter, covered in tattoos, and talking loudly only to himself.

 

Leaving for the mission field would be a blessing, indeed.

What To Do, Part II

As I mentioned before, there are SO many things to do.

I once read that 6% of Argentina was born-again evangelical. In my personal experience, I find that number to be extremely generous. Extremely. I would guess, and this is just my opinion, that the number of true believers is more like 1 or 2%, maybe 3 or 4%. Again, being generous. It's just reality.

In the United States it is said that there are upwards of 60 million Christians.

For years I have heard people say, "Oh, but there is so much you can do here! You don't have to leave the country to serve the Lord, to reach out, to share the Gospel.".

True. Very true. But I agree with Jim Elliot who said (and I paraphrase), "Let the dusty Bibles of the United States speak as a testimony against the people." You can read the exact quote in The Journals of Jim Elliot. It's found at the part where he sets sail for Ecuador. Excellent, excellent, excellent read. It has a surprising twist at the end, too. And I don't mean that he gets martyred, most people know that. I mean, his last entry is something you would never expect. His wife was later criticized and pressured to edit the ending because it made too many people uncomfortable. She refused. You can read her response in Through the Gates of Splendor.... or was it Let me Be a Woman? I can't remember, I've read so many books! :)

Rabbit trail.

Anyway, Tony and I are no Bible teachers. Nor do we aspire to be so. Too much responsibility. Neither is it our calling. We just want to be the hands and feet of Jesus. In a place like Argentina, people just need to hear the Gospel message in a clear and simple way, they need hear about Jesus, about God's plan of salvation. They need someone to go visit them, talk to them, give them some clothes, a Bible, some toys for their kids because they can't afford even one. One tract. That's all.

Showing the Jesus Film is also another possibility. Operation Christmas Child. The Good and Evil book (like in the photo above :)). These are just a few ideas we've had.

What can you do? What is your gift? What do you feel God has naturally equipped you to do?

Where To Go, Part II

Location, location, location, as they say.

Well, we've narrowed things down a bit. We are now looking at an area between Bariloche (in the province of Rio Negro) and Esquel (in province of Chubut), northeastern Patagonia. I remember someone saying once that God gives you common sense, and He wants you to use it. So, why here?

1) There are people.

2) It's close to the largest city in Patagonia (food, doctors, banks, supplies, internet access, etc.)

3) It's centrally located to all the surrounding Mapuche communities (see map).

Perfect.

Bariloche is the largest town in the entire northern region of Patagonia, at 100,000 or so. Esquel is about 3 hours south in the Province of Chubut. The largest town (Andes side) in the Province of Chubut is Esquel, population 28,000. It dwindles from there south until you get to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, southern-most inhabited city in the world. Tony's brother actually lives there. I don't necessarily feel like I want to.

Now, I don't mind getting away from the Rat Race and all, but Esquel is a little further than I had originally anticipated. But we are trusting God to make that clear to us as well.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  ~Psalm 119:105

Little House On The Prairie

One of the things I enjoy most about homeschooling is reading out loud to my kids. I just love to expose them to books they would otherwise maybe not pick up and read for themselves.

A couple of years ago I read Little House on the Prairie to Big A and Little M. It was one of my all-time favorite TV shows as a kid, but I had never had the pleasure of reading the book. I didn't even know there was a book, let alone a whole series!

I read a chapter or so a day to them until we were finished. It was fantastic! Wow, history just comes alive when it's written in story form, not as a dry, boring textbook. We learned so much about building a log cabin, hunting, taking care of horses and other farm animals, wolves and other animals of the prairie, the American Frontier, sustainable living, how to make bullets, covered wagons, 1800's American History, and so much more.

We loved it so much, that after we watched the original TV movie that sparked the show (available at our friendly neighborhood library) we dove into Little House in the Big Woods like a pack of ravenous wolves (ok, maybe I dove into it, they just played along).

For me Little House in the Big Woods was even BETTER than Little House on the Prairie. LHitBW sets the backdrop for LHotP. It describes the everyday lives of the Ingalls family in such rich, descriptive detail that you can completely and totally imagine yourself there. It follows them as they prepare to leave their life in the Big Woods of 1800's Wisconsin for life on the prairie. It's absolutely delicious.

We learned how to make cheese, garden, smoke meat, grind wheat, tend cows, store meat and vegetables for the winter, and that panthers actually used to roam the woods of the wild Midwest. How cool is that?

Read it if you can!