Here I Am

Made it safely to the good ole' US of A yesterday and I am happy to report that it was a pretty uneventful night of traveling. It's never fun to "sleep" on an airplane but I survived and was warmly welcomed back. Today is a day of rest and adjustment for me which I greatly needed but tomorrow officially starts the whirl of activities of furlough. What better way to kick of my time in the US than a 4th of July party in the Capital of our country. I am looking forward to a great fireworks show over the national monuments with old friends and new. And I gotta say, I am enjoying this heat. It is a welcome change from rain and cold.

Happy 4th to you all!

Here I Come

Farewell Party Group

Some of my sweet new friends

Well, LST is officially over. We had our final farewell party on Thursday night and the team left the next day. It was such a wonderful experience and we got to meet so many new people. I am thankful and pray that some of our new friends will soon be a part of our Christian community.

And as LST ends it is also time for me to step away from Chile for a bit. I am heading to the US this weekend for a 6 week trip to see supporters, friends and family. It is a little strange to think about being away from my Chilean home for so long but any strangeness is quickly forgotten by how excited I am to see those I love and miss so much.

I feel like I should do some big reflection blog as this trip is a pretty big marker in my ministry here but mostly what is on my mind now is making sure everything is packed, that I have all the right traveling documents and that I am healthy. There will be time for reflection later.

US here I come!!!!

LST

Let's Start Talking is an organization in the US that sends teams around the world to teach English using the Bible. I have never participated in their work but this year they sent their first team to work with us in Concepcion, Chile. We spent months preparing for them to arrive by finding our office, furnishing it, advertising the program and taking reservations for class. Finally, they arrived this week and began their project and it is off to a great start.

The way it works is that they use an easy to read version of Luke from the Bible and read it together and answer questions, all in English. This way the Chilean gets to practice their English (which so many of them want to do) and we get to share the Bible with them. Oh, and its free. They do not have to pay anything and they know what text we use to teach so everyone wins.

The workers that come read all day Tuesday-Saturday and on Thursday nights they have a get-together party time where the readers (and the missionaries and church members) all meet together to play games and practice English in a fun environment. This gives us a chance to connect with the Chileans in hope of continuing relationships with them after the month of LST is over.

So far we have had 40+ people sign up for class and had a good crowd for our first party this week. It is so exciting for us missionaries to meet new people. Most of them are college students, whom we have not had as much success getting to know yet.

Here are a few pictures from the first week. Please keep this work in your prayers this month and I cannot wait to share how things go over time.

Arrivals at our first interest meeting

Big crowd!

Our fearless volunteers from Texas

Sharing about the program

Our first Thursday party- learning about each other

LST Party!

Playing games in teams

Group shot from first party

Year One Down

A year ago, on May 27th, I arrived in my new home of Concepcion. I had been waiting for this moment for years and it finally happened. To think that it was a year ago that I made the drive from Santiago and started my stay with good friends Marco and Kathy, it crazy. On one hand it seems like it was only a few months ago that I arrived, while at the same time it feels like I have been here so much longer than just a year. So much has happened this year!This is what I was up to a year ago.

All my stuff in the back of a mini van

On the road

Getting close (no that is not LA in California)

The wonderful family that opened their home to us crazy gringos

Amazingly, they are still friends with us!

My new home I found after a few weeks of searching

How I lived for a while. Hard to imagine.

I am so thankful for all the ways God has blessed me this year and I cannot wait to see what the next year in Conce brings!

Chilean Census

You get a sticker on your window to show you participated and that they do not need to visit you again.

Well, I am officially a part of the Chilean population. That's right. I participated in the Chilean Census this past week. I knew it was coming because I had seen a few ads for it. I asked my friends if as a foreigner I should participate and they agreed that I should since it is just a survey to see who lives in this country and they like to know how many foreigners there are. So, when I saw the lady in my condominium the other day I got ready. She came in the house and had a form that she asked me questions from and filled it out as we went along. It was fairly easy; mostly stuff about my living situation (how many people, do I have internet, do I recycle, how do I heat my house, etc.). There really will be no record that it is me specifically because she did not ask for my ID number or my last name but there is a Deanna in Chilean records now. Hooray!

Happy B-day to me!

 I was blessed this year with a really great birthday party, surrounded by many of my close friends. I turned 28 on April 20 and had a wonderful time celebrating. I invited my teammates and most of my Chilean friends to my house for burgers and had a really great turn out of 30 people. We mostly just ate and talked and opened gifts. That is the Chilean way as is hosting your own party yourself. Thanks to my teammates and the visitors I had in town we got everyone fed and and just enjoyed hanging out together. I had never had so many people in my little house. Luckily the weather held up and we could be outside as well. I felt so blessed to have so many people to celebrate with and really had a good time.

Lots of yummy food to choose from

Cute decorations

Enjoying talking to friends

Blowing out my traditional cookie cake

Opening gifts

My sweet friends

Had a great turnout, but not such a great picture

Love these girls

Here We Go Again

 Students are protesting...

Sunny days are gone...

Here we go again.