Volunteering and traveling in Argentina to proclaim God's great love, and hopefully not getting sick along the way.

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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

The rollercoaster of emotions while attempting God's work on this earth

As briefly mentioned, this week(end) has been one of goodbyes. Sarah left on Saturday, and John and Heather should be in Santiago as I type. I am excited for what God will be doing in their lives where they are, but I also know the ministry here will be missing their presence greatly.

For example, the boys' institute. We decided to have an ice cream party as a goodbye. We were surprised to find that there were, as is the colloquial phrase here, "a mountain of kids there." Normally we see 8 or so, and this day, the floor was covered with little kiddos enjoying a movie for the day off.* Approximately 12 or more. And when we mentioned that JD and Sarah would be leaving, you should have heard their agony. Chechu especially, who asked "Why does John have to go? When will he come back?"

It was hard to watch all those boys give a hug to the 6 foot gringo of the team, because what I saw was the lack of a genuine father figure in their lives.

I talked with a new boy today, Cristian, who talked about his family or lack thereof. "My sisters are in jail; my other brother is in another boys' home; I don't know where my parents are," he told me. Cristian, 13 years old, has been living on the street for many years.

So there Javi and I were, talking about the needs of these kids, and the reverse cultural shock the three will be facing in the coming weeks when...

..a guy driving his motorcycle crashed right in front of us. Okay, to the right of us. This guy (Fabian) and his friend just fell over, out of nowhere. In seconds, we ran over and pulled the bike off of them and then helped the guy get to the side of the street (the girl turned out to be fine). He moaned in pain as others gathered to the scene.

"Do we call someone?" I asked.

The guy said that we couldn't call the cops because he didn't have all of his papers with him. So we waited to make sure he had company until more help came. The after conversation thus, was what exactly were we supposed to do in that situation. Pray? Call anyway? Figure out if he broke his leg or not?

We go to the boys' institute and it went better than normal. They behaved very well, and I got in some good conversation time with the new kid, as I mentioned. We went to a nearby mall to play in the miniature arcade. Cristian's eyes widened at the sight of not the games but the escalators, and was overjoyed to ride one as soon as he could. He had the wonder of a 3 year old riding them for the first time or something. The moment took me by surprise, and I thought about what types of things impress me.

Then the moment of saying goodbye to Heather and JD. It's just so very strange to know they aren't coming back. And then there were four...

Next came going to the girls' institute where we made bracelets. Never in my lifetime did I think of myself as a crafty person, but I've actually gotten pretty good with making these things. Today was the first time I had seen Gladys so excited too, as she made (with lots of help), three bracelets, and for many people. My heart was overjoyed watching her enthusiasm and it reminded me of Cristian again.
As Javi said on our walk home this time, "Sometimes it's hard to remember that while they are mothers, they're teenagers too."

I got to thinking again, but only had enough time to do this and have a short chat with a friend from NU before teaching English to a lovely young woman I've gotten to know over the past couple of weeks. By the time that was over, a small dinner.. then here to type while chatting with Sarah.. and then I sucked myself into watching Good Will Hunting (after a conversation about it today).. there are other things to do to prepare for the weekend, but I'm just going to have to push them back because my mind is overflowing.

*Is it just me, or does Argentina ALWAYS have a holiday? Perhaps every other week there is one and it affects the schedule of our work.

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