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Cold, Fire, Color, Surprise: my month in South America

There's something i'd always wanted to do...take an entire month to travel through South America
In August God provided me and Damon Crim with that opportunity. Here's a brief account of what happened.

Cold: In Paraguay, I was cold. It was the kind of cold that gets into your bones where you feel you cant ever get warm. one night i just stayed in the shower with the water as hot as i could take it hoping to get warm. The poverty there was unlike anything i had ever seen before and there were a lot of stories of brokeness. Perhaps this is why you cant find books on Paraguay in the travel section at B&Noble. Yet, they were rich in Spirit. I can still see the glow radiating from a woman, living in a small 4 room house, who'd contracted aids from the unfaithfulness of her husband. Her love for God warmed my soul.

Fire: Argentina is on fire for God and it's contagious. What makes this place special is the spirit of David that is evident in the lives of the people there (Jorge, Becky, Vane, Aby). Like David, they worship God without reservation and simply cannot seem to get enough of Him. It shows. We all know that God is omnipresent but His presence is very evident there. As I once heard Phil Yancey say, "God goes where He's wanted". They really want God there and He makes Himself known.

Dreams: Desires of our heart...we all have them. It was about a year ago that a friend of mine, Vanesa, expressed a dream in creating a faith based school of the arts for children on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. On August 8, i was there to see the grand opening. About 3 years ago it was a dream for Jorge and the worship team, iadoracion, to have their own cd. I held that cd in my hand.

Color: Thats what comes to mind when i think of Brazil. The people, fruits, foods, clothing, toucans, and even their flag is bright and colorful. As it turned out i was in the very front of a canoe going up the Amazon and I remember looking straight ahead into the jungle and for a moment i stopped rowing because i was in absolute awe of all the different shades of green that i'd never seen before.

Surprise: is the word i use to describe Ecuador. It was more beautiful than i'd imagined. i was surprised that you could actually balance an egg on a nail on the equator. And surprised to see what God is doing trhough a couple who accepted God's call, somewhat late in life, to, like Abraham, pick up and move from the comforts of home to do ministry to children in Quito, Ecuador.

There's the

ministry: preaching/teaching, visiting the sick in hospitals (Arg), explaining the authenticity of the Bible (through Damon) to a girl in Rio de Janeiro, putting a new pair of shoes on the feet of children in Ecuador

light-hearted: seeing the scariest clown ever in Brazil - he had dreadlocks, telling a british soccer fan from liverpool "we've got Beckham now", cheezy magic tricks for the elderly (they thought i was cris angel).

touristy stuff: walking the streets of downtown buenos aires, drinking out of a coconut at the beach on Rio d J, seeing the famous statue of Jesus overlooking the Rio d J, and getting your photo made on the equator standing w/one foot in the northern hemisphere and one foot in the southern.

Firsts: for the first time ever seeing "flight delayed" made me smile. there had been a wreck and 2, yes 2, broken down trucks on a 2 lane road to the airport. by all accounts we shouldve missed our flight. But, for the very first time ever in my whole entire life i was happy to see those wonderful words, "Flight Delayed". First time i'd ever been in a taxi that got a flat. Other firsts: holding an alligator, eating carolina style bbq in ecuador, and preaching with only 12 min of sermon prep time.

Quotes: "This says row three! We must be in first class!" (not, there were only 12 rows in total for the whole plane), "hey, have you seen my passport?!" "Have you seen my tickets laying around anywhere?" "was i dreaming or were chickens trying to get inside our room this mornnig?" "guarani, pesos, reals, dollars,we dont have any of the above." "dude, are you going to eat some guinea pig?" "Bobby, are you ready to preach again? youre up after this next song."

but really its about the

people

Nelson, a guy in Paraguay I'd only known for a few hours who offered me his sweater bc he was concerned that i was too cold.

Los Szczeckos, a family where the fruits of the Spirit are like an orchard.

The Citichurch team: In many cases i knew of the struggles they were facing in coming up with the $, getting the time off of work/school, etc.

Kristen: The original plan was for her to join me in Argentina but it simply didnt work out but on Sept 1 i think i felt a little like Adam at seeing her again after a month, "At last..." Gen. 2:23.

A trip like this should change you...does change you. Its really indescribable in how we saw the hand of the Lord in so many conversatons, situations. Fortunately, Damon and the team from Citichurch can back me up on the fact that it exceeded our expectations.

I want to say thanks to all of you for your prayers. I could feel them and we experienced God's favor on more than one occasion. We were able to see the fruits of our ministry. New friends, deeper relationships with old ones, all glory to God.

"I have much to write to you, but I do not want to do so with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face. Peace to you." 3 John 13-14