Argentina / Chile

Once again, this was the group, plus a couple translators and one older guy I still don’t really know. The group leader, David, is still the short guy squatting in the middle of the picture.

The three GMF (Global Missions Fellowship) staff workers on our trip: Maria Magdalena, now living in Buenos Aires; and David and Jenn, both Texans living in Dallas.

Vince and Andres, a missionary kid who translated for us. In Andres’ own words, he is the blackest person from the State of Maine. I think Vince agrees.

We called this cabin home for two weeks during the Los Andes campaign. Chile is a spectacular country for many reasons. The country is basically the Andes Mountains, and breathtaking views are ubiquitous...

...the winter weather is gorgeous, the sun is always shining, and - best of all - Chileans tend to be fun-loving and welcoming (at least the ones I met!)

During the Santiago, Chile campaign. Antonio, next to me in the solid light blue shirt and glasses, was my translator for the week. He is a 27-year-old pastor at a relatively large Baptist church in Santiago. You know those people that just radiate humility? Antonio is one of them. He is extremely gifted as a preacher, but he never attempted to show himself off as someone special (as sometimes pastors tend to do). I really admire his desire to serve God humbly.

Let me introduce you to Isabela, the 20-year-old in red. While chatting together in a small group after one of the evening services, Isabela asked me why my ears were so red. The answer was quite simple, really: my ears become warm very easily and so they are naturally oftentimes red. To inform her of this, I translated my English thoughts word-for-word into Spanish and said: "Cuando estoy caliente..." Unfortunately, that phrase has the strong special meaning of "When I am very turned on..." Good grief. I was throwing feathers and I didn't even want to!

The extremely rare and unique national tree of Chile, bearing fruit (of-the-looms) in season. So this is where briefs come from!

Yeah, yeah, the crickets. I know.

A Chilean home in the country.

The food in Argentina and Chile is relatively easy to explain: meat, and lots of meat. Chicken, beef, pork, rice, potatoes. That about sums it up. The strangest thing I personally ate was a helping of raw hamburger, soaked in lemon juice. Honestly, it didn't taste too good. And it tasted a lot worse when I learned what it was.

Trying my luck at riding a mule in the Chilean Andes. My mule was named Regalona, which means "the most prized child" in Spanish. However, towards the beginning of my journey, I was forced to change my mule’s name to Gerry, short for Geriatric. Good grief, my mule was the laziest mule, I am convinced, in the entire world. While all of her brothers and sisters and cousins were running off, Gerry lagged behind, loping along like Eeyore. Mules are made to carry loads, right? Was it too much of me to demand that Gerry keep up with the rest of the pack? I could have riden a tricycle uphill in inch-deep sand faster than this mule trotted. Nevertheless, a bond grew between us.


While Patricio (above, left) and I were going door-to-door, he managed to ring this one doorbell well over 20 times, under the mistaken belief that it was broken. It wasn't broken, and our ridiculous annoyance woke up Carlos (above, right) from his slumber. I thank God for this mistake, because after sharing about Jesus with Carlos, he became one of my closest friends from South America.
	^ Carlos with Vince (or, according to some Chileans, Will Smith) < Carlos with Rod (Matt Dillon?) and motorcycle


	Rod, Ana, Virginia, Brent, Brooke at Ski Portillo, 9,500 feet high in the Chilean Andes.

The mountain view from Los Andes, Chile.

The view of Santiago, Chile, population 5 million. As evidenced by the fact that you can hardly see it, Santiago (right up there with Los Angeles) is one of the smoggiest cities in the world.