Last Day in Jujuy With Our Area Directors

Today was a good day.  I woke up to Jonny coming in to get into bed with us.  Then not too much later Nate as well.  I finally got out of bed to make more room.  : )  I got breakfast going & starting getting the kids ready for the day.  Finally, Aliana got up.  Man was she tired this morning!  lol.


I took Ali to school and dropped her off.  Got her there just in time to get ready to leave to go see the play "The Wizard of Oz," in Spanish of course, with the rest of her class.  I think she had a good time.  Only trouble is that her friend did not sit by her on the bus...there or on the way back again.  That makes for BIG kindergarten drama...if you are a kindergarten age girl.  Wow.  Anyways, we got it sorted out it later.  : )

Heather took the J man downtown to hang out with our Area Directors one last time.  They walked around downtown, found a cool coffee shop, got some joe, and chatted awhile.  In the meanwhile, I was at home frantically trying to clean up before they came over to the house.  We had gone to bed exhausted the night before and had not cleaned up yet.  It was a liiiiiiittle messy. 

After doing the dishes, laundry, cleaning up, going back to the school to pick up Ali and sort out her emotional distress, etc, etc & taking care of Nate while getting ready to go myself - and then the Ellis' showed up. 

We talked for a bit while I prepped some yerba mate to take on the road.  After all, my AD grew up in Argentina and I had yet to offer him any.  Ouch!  We took some pictures (I hope they don't show up on line) with the kids and then had to get going to the airport. 

While I was taking our AD's to the airport, with Jonny & Nate, Heather was at home prepping to lead worship at the Women's Ministry.  The trip went well.  N & J were pretty goofy on the way over.  I think they did not want to see Uncle Dave & Aunt Carol go home.  : )  We got there fine, got them dropped off and said our good-byes (too quickly for me, but what can you do - when you've got to go, you've got to go) and headed for home.

Then it was party time.  We stopped at a YPF and got drinks & snacks.  I cranked up the music they liked on the way home and it all went great on the trip home!  Good times : )

We got home just in time to give Heather the car so she could drive to the women's meeting.  She was thrilled!  No having to lug her heavy guitar and case across town, on foot, up hill, both ways.  : )

She and AJ headed to the group while the guys and I stayed at home.  We did dinner, watched a Veggie Tale, took baths, and fought going to bed.  Well, I didn't fight going to bed - the kids did. 

Finally Heather and AJ got home, got a snack and got the little one to bed.  Then Heather and I locked up and jumped in to bed...and watched a great episode of Psych.  Gotta love Shawn and Gus.  : )

Well, that was not a "normal" day, but there you have it.  Tomorrow is a huuuuuuuge day - getting ready to preach in 2 Bible Colleges and hit the road on Saturday for a very long drive - to Cordoba and then to Buenos Aires.  I had better get some sleep.  Starting to feel a bit under the weather.  : (

Have a great day -
God bless

Paz, prosperidad y evita la destruction que va a venir - ja ja

Google Map It

Hi Guys -

Sorry I had not written anything in the last couple of days.  It has been very busy here in Jujuy, Argentina.  Even now, I am mildly sick and it is nearly 11 pm (I really need to get some sleep!) but I am trying to get into the rhythm of posting in this on-line journal every day - so - here goes.

I had a hard time getting up this morning.  Our beloved Area Directors, Dave & Carol Ellis, are visiting us all the way out in Jujuy for the first time.  Not only that, it is their first time ever to make it to this part of Argentina.  So we are catching up with them, talking about all of the things we need to take care of in the short-term, sharing dreams and vision for the future, and showing them around.  It is great fun and we are thrilled to have them here but it is also a lot of work and takes us out of our normal routine.  I thrive in routine so it is double tough in that regard.  Thankfully they are great friends and incredibly gracious people.  : )

This morning I got up about 7:30 am (way later than I wanted, yet I could hardly get going).  I got a little to eat, checked out some things on line as fast as I could, took a shower and prepped the car for the longest, hardest road test yet since it got out of the shop a few days ago.  Then at 10 am we went to the hotel to pick up our AD's and show them a little bit of our amazing province. 

Jujuy is divided into 4 main geographic areas - the Yungla (very wet, low lying, tropical climate), the valley (little higher, much drier and a little cooler - where we live in San Salvador de Jujyuy, the capital of our province), the Quebrada (climbing mountainous terrain, getting much drier and a cooler still) and the Puna (high mountain desert - and I do mean high!) 

They had already seen a little bit of the Yungla & the Valley so now it was time to go for the other 2.  We headed north on route 9 and visited many little towns along the Quebrada de Humahuaca, including but not limited to: Volcan, Purmamarca, Tilcara, & Humahuaca.  It is a beautiful drive and quickly you go from the valley floor (4,100 ft) to over 8,000 ft in just 1 hour.  The landscape changes rapidly and dries out greatly.  To us, it is a thing of pure beauty.  In Humauaca, Pastor Dave was so excited.  It was a place he had often read about in Argentina's history, but had never seen.  We drove around quite a bit and he snapped lots of pictures.  : )

Then we doubled back and went over the mountains on Route 52, winding, and winding, and winding, up, up, up until in 1 more hour we topped out at 13, 700 ft. What an incredible view.  The road is extremely steep and I wish the STL SUV had 1 more gear between 1st & 2nd.  We ran too high of RPM's in 1st gear, but could not keep our speed up in 2nd gear and had to keep bouncing back and forth between them.  The good news - the vehicle ran great under a very heavy strain! 

Once you start down the west side you come to a huge salt flat, Salinas Grandes.  We drove across a large section of the flats, got out and took pictures, found some harvest pools and stuck our hands in (the water was ice cold even though the temp outside was nice), and licked our fingers afterwards (very salty!).  The cool part was that if you wiped your hand on your shirt you could see the salt residue on it after it dried! 

After a time we reversed our direction and headed for home.  We stopped in Purmamarca to look around, let the kids run and play a bit and to buy some local crafts.  In the central square of the town, it is completely surrounded by people selling their stuff.  It is a huge amount of stuff for such a little place!  Beautiful stuff thought.  Heather bought 2 Andean blankets & a scarf to use for display when we return to the US.  So cool looking. 

Finally we returned to San Salvador de Jujuy, everyone trying to get their ears to pop.  Our AD's were kind enough to treat us to dinner at Mostaza - a Burger King knock off in our little mall and to pay for the kids to play for a time afterwards in the arcade.  They had a blast and are very grateful to them.  : ) 

Finally we dropped them off at their hotel, headed home, and worked on getting the kids to sleep.  Tomorrow is another big day. 

Love you all
God bless you and give you a great night
If God gives you the chance to climb the high mountains in your life and (literally) get above the clouds - take it!  There is nothing like it.  : )

Paz, favor, poder en el Espíritu Santo -

Energized

Today it was cloudy and cool in Jujuy.  Most unusual for this time of year.  I shouldn't be by this point in my life, but I never fail to be amazed at how much the weather affects me.  I HATE cloudy, especially when it is mixed with cold - absolutely without a doubt when it is added in with moisture.  Rain sucks.  I don't see it any other way. 

Well, we needed to road test our STL SUV anyway (just got it back from being in the shop for a long time) so we prepped the fam & jumped in.  We headed north - the road that directions only goes one way - up, up, up!  The nice thing is that in just about an hour you climb almost 4,000 feet in elevation and pop out - ABOVE the clouds! 

It is an amazing truth that no matter HOW cloudy, rainy, dreary, stormy, (fill in the blank with any other depressing "y" word) it is - the sun is STILL shining!  Yes!  : )   Nothing can stop it! 

Well, once again I lived the truth of this.  We got up to Purmamarca and it was so sunny and beautiful.  : )  I was instantly energized - happy, smiling, in a good mood.  Amazing the affect that the sun has on me.  As we drove I enjoyed the stark, barren, wind blown landscape.  To many people the desert is a horrible place.  To me, it is incredibly beautiful.  So are the people who live there. 

They are strong and unmovable.  They live in the harshest of environments.  They have to make do with the least of resources.  They live in the sun, soaking it in.  They are dry, overly tanned, possibly leather skinned, and tough.  Yet, they are beautiful...just as is the land they live in.  Others can't stand to live there.  I can't stand not to. 

As I was driving along, big smile on my face, so thrilled with the emotional boost from the sunshine - I started thinking of how The Son (Jesus) has the same affect on me.  Every time I come out of the dark, cold, dreary spiritual environs and into the light and warmth of His presence, the Son of the living God - it has the same affect on me as physical sunlight.  Amazingly wonderful.  Emotionally uplifting.  Like laying out pool side in your trunks with your shades on in the summertime.  : ) 

Good night all.
Spend lots of time in the SON Light - it won't give you cancer - in fact, it might just heal you of it.  lol.

Paz, favor y vida nueva en la luz de Jesus -

Full Day

Today was a very full day!
It started in the middle of the night when I had to put Jonny back to bed.  He had had a bad dream and wanted me to lay down with him until he fell asleep.  We both did.  When I finally woke up and started to go back to my own bed, I realized that Aliana had traded places with me.  I felt it was easier to sleep in her bed than to try and move her back.  (That beautiful little girl is full of lead!  Carrying her at 3 am is not fun.  :  )

Then at 6:45 am Aliana decided she couldn't sleep anymore and came back to her bed to get me up.  She needed company.  I did my best to keep her quiet so that the other kids could continue sleeping - a DVD, breakfast, drink, etc.  In the meantime I was sipping Yerba Mate in the kitchen and doing my best to start my day off talking with my Heavenly Father.  Thankfully He puts up with me when I am really tired and can hardly put 2 coherent thoughts together.  : )

When the other kids got up I took care of them as well, trying let Heather get all the sleep she could.  When she got up, I started working on receipts and reports.  Ugh.  Also hard to do in the early AM but I made good progress.

I then headed out shopping and running errands.  Tomorrow the whole county shuts down for elections.  I had a lot to get done.
Afterwards we prepped to teach our 2nd English class, taught the class, went to the Kids Club Outreach, raced home for dinner, and then went to a special Saturday Night Service.  It rocked, but I did not get home until after 1 am.  Now I am trying to catch up on line.

Boy, am I going to pay for this tomorrow, no, later today actually.  : )
Battery is dying so I have to go.

Love you all and God bless
Paz, prosperidad, and santidad -  

The Wait Is Nearly Over : )

After 3 months of saving up money to fix our STL SUV (didn't want to get it into a shop and find out it was going to cost a fortune to fix it & we didn't have the money to do it) and then more than a month of it being in the shop - I think we are finally going to get our vehicle back tomorrow.  Yeah!  : )

It has been quite the wait.  I thought the first part of it was a long wait.  3 months of having to stare at it each day; sitting in our front yard.  We had to squeeze past it to get in and out of the front gate...every single time we came to and from the house.  It was a little like having it rubbed in your face. 

I still remember the day when the mechanic's shop came to tow it in to their business.  We were so elated!  We thought we would have it back within a week.  Well...about 6 months later...we may be finally getting it back.  Ha Ha.  I thought it was tough seeing it in the driveway every day.  It was even tougher not being able to see it, wondering if we were ever going to see it again. 

Why the long wait?  Well, there is no dealership for our car here in Jujuy (Hyundai Terracan), or within several provinces reach.  In fact, almost every part that needed to be ordered had to come from Buenos Aires.  It takes several days to find the parts, then several days to get them.  Once a repair was made, it seemed to lead to the next piece of the puzzle.  My mechanic friend was quite frustrated by it.  One day he told me, "Your car is full of surprises."  I don't think he meant that in a good way.  

Things may have been able to have been finished faster, but there were set backs.  One time, the company in BA sent the wrong parts.  3 days to get here, 3 days to go back, 3 more days to get the right ones.  Then there was also the fact that one part could not be found in Argentina at all.  (Seems there are some supply issues.  Something about tariffs, tit-for-tat, etc.) 

Anyways - long story short - I think it will be done tomorrow!  I will keep you informed.  : )

Good night all and God bless -
Yeah, Yeah.  I know I have not written every day.  I'll keep working on it. 

Paz, favor, y bendiciones -

Back to Business

Well, I still don't know that I'm at 100% but I am fairly well back to business!  All this week (minus Monday) I have been able to get up just after 5 am, get a shower (although this morning I nearly fell asleep under the warm water) and walked the 20 minutes + to and from the church for 6 am prayer.  (It wasn't easy though.  Felt like an uphill walk, both ways, each day : ) 

Then I would come home, get a drink and get Nate & AJ out the door and to school.  There I would hang with Nate, doing a little translating for him, helping him to stay on task in class, and keeping him from getting into any kind of trouble.  While doing so, I sneak in all the reading and study time that I can in free bursts of minutes.  Sometimes, I can really crank out a lot of work.  It's like having your own office to work in (still need one of those), only filled with a bunch of crazy 2nd graders. 

We get out and head home for lunch at 1 pm.  My time with Heather!  She puts on a video for the kids and gives them something to eat.  Then we get something to eat ourselves and watch great TV shows on line like Psych & Star Wars the Clone Wars.  40 minutes of peace.  Sort of.  There are usually more than a few little interruptions.  That happens with young kids.  lol.

The afternoons have been filled with cranking out work, lots of internet keeping up to date, and running errands.  Occasionally I take care of the kids for Heather so she can get things done.  And when running errands, I quite often have a kid in tow.  It gives us quality time together and gives Heather a little slack. 

In the evenings there is more work, events, etc.  And finally late at night, a little more quality time with Heather and possibly some very late night work while Heather tries to get a little more sleep than I.  After we go to bed, there is a good chance of having to get up with one of the kids anywhere from 1 to too many times during the night.  : ) 

Then the alarm goes off at 5 am, after 4 hours of sleep and we do it all over again.  No, I am not back to 100% but I am close.  A month ago, I could not have done this even once and not been sick the next day.  Now I am pushing nearly a week of this and only just now starting to get run down.  I hope to get a few extra hours of sleep tonight.  : ) 

Good night all & God bless
- Remember to get your rest and eat your veggies.

Paz, unción, y presencia del Señora -

Snake!

So, while I was gone to Mendoza for the Argentine General Council, the family had a little excitement.  You can follow the link to watch the video of it that Heather made.  Apparently, it was quite the show around here.  : )

 https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=09efd9475bfb955a&id=9EFD9475BFB955A!119#cid=09EFD9475BFB955A&id=9EFD9475BFB955A!120

They do make fun of me in the video, but that's alright.  Indian Jones was a man's man and he hated those things too!  I am in good company.  lol.

Now...to figure out how to keep them out of the house.  We had a smaller one before.  If they keep getting bigger, we are going to have issues.  : )

Good night all and God bless -
Paz, proteccion, y que Dios mate cada una de ellas -

Giant Pastries

In Mendoza I got to save money over staying in a hotel by staying in the home of fellow missionary Dallas Hinds.  Poor Dallas, he just recently moved in after being in Buenos Aires for a couple of years and isn't even unpacked.  There were boxes everywhere.  Made it hard going up and down the stairs.  lol.  He was an incredibly gracious host and 3 of us had a great time there.  He's also an excellent cook.  If you get the chance to hang out with Dallas in Mendoza, take it!  - God bless you Bro for your great hospitality. 

In his neighborhood he introduced me to the most incredible bakery.  I should have taken a picture of the place.  It not only had all of the usual Argentine pastries, but they had some very unique creations as well.  Thankfully I did not enter the bakery (Panaderia as it is called in Castellano) until my last morning there, right before I left to head home.  Otherwise I might have gained a lot of weight.  : )

Below is a picture of one of their creations - The Palmera.  Usually these are found all over Argentina in 2 different sizes: small & very small.  This panaderia had those as well, but then they also carried the largest ones I have ever seen.  I brought home 5 of them on the bus, one for each person in the family.  They take up almost the entire surface of a dinner plate!  They're about 7 inches across. 

The best part, they were good too.  Sometimes when you buy the abnormal variety of something you like, it turns out to be a disappointment.  Not so with these.  : )

Just one of those cool little things about being in a different part of the world or getting outside of the usual routine. 

Have a good one & God bless -
- Remember to get outside of your usual routine and find something cool in your life

Paz, bendiciones y el amor de Dios en tu vida -

City of Mendoza, Mendoza, Argentina

The capital city of Mendoza in the province of Mendoza, Argentina is an incredibly beautiful city!  Located on the far west side of Argentina, about right in the middle of the country, north to south, it lies near the base of some of the highest peaks in the Andes Mountains.   It is the Cuyo Region of Argentina.  It is a high desert, very arid, and big time wine country.  In many ways, I felt right at home.  All of the surrounding countryside reminds me alot of eastern Washington!  : )

It was developed in great part, so I hear, by my beloved German ancestors.  Always the far-ahead thinking and mechanically inclined, the city is well laid out.  It has huge drainage channels running through the city.  Why?  After all, it is in a desert region.  Why would it need all that drainage?

My sources say that it is because it is located at the base of the mountains, and when the water sheds off of the mountains or when the rains do come, they don't mess around.  Those wise German engineers decided to prepare for the worst.  : ) 

They also built incredibly wide avenues (so the traffic really zips along) and even wider sidewalks (probably so you don't get killed by the speeding traffic).  It is a huge and beautiful city, and of all the cities I have seen in Argentina, it probably is more like the capital of Buenos Aires than any other. 

I have to give it to the city planners for another thing - there are trees EVERYWHERE!  Seriously.  The city is committed to them.  They have cut holes out of the sidewalks on nearly every single street, best I can tell, and have long rows of big beautiful shade trees growing.  It really makes it a spectacular city.  Lush and green in an otherwise arid land, lots of fresh air, and great shade for all those hot days.  It truly is incredible to see. 

The one draw back that I could find: little mini-canal-gutters everywhere.  Some of them are covered but many are not.  While walking around the city, one truly has to pay attention to where they are going!  Once I was trying to cross a wide and busy intersection to get to the convention center where the General Council was taking place.  I had to jump back as cars came shooting around the corner - only problem, no where to jump back to!  I had drifted down hill a few feet and was no longer next to the little sidewalk "bridge" over the gutter.  Instead I had to carefully balance on a narrow curb - between speeding traffic and a 2 1/2 foot drop into the gutter.  It was exhilarating, but I wondered how many poor old ladies had broken hips or more falling into those things all over town.  In some places, there is not even curbing.  Drivers have to be careful not to drop a wheel in! 






All in all though, it is a beautiful city and I could be totally happy living there. 
Of course, Jujuy rocks and I have NO plans on living anywhere else!  : )

Have a great day & God bless -
- Don't let the "gutters" where you live take your eyes off of all of the great things that are there as well. 
Flourish where God has planted you. 

Paz, favor, y poder de Dios sean con todos  -

Argentina General Council

Well, it only took a 23 hour bus ride to get there, (and another 23 hour ride back) but I had a great time at my first ever (for me - 64th for them) Argentina General Council.  : )

Sorry I have not written in awhile.  I said from the start that this is not my strong point, but I will work hard at being more regular. 

Anyways, had a great time!  Got to ride down to Mendoza, Argentina on a chartered bus (the national office here underwrites the cost to help all the pastors be able to make it) with all of the local pastors from Jujuy and Salta provinces.  It was a huge, beautiful double decker bus and the ride was far more easy to endure than I had imagined.  I got in lots of prayer, thinking time, talking with Pastors, and as much sleep as I could pull off.  - honestly, I can't sleep very well sitting up.  On the way home I was so in need of prayer that I didn't care what anyone might think and just laid down on the floor.  It worked pretty well, albeit I was a little dirty.  lol. 

The Council was amazing.  They had 4 different speakers: our Superintendent, + those of Peru, Columbia and Spain.  Each was excellent and had a totally different style of presenting God's Word so it really kept it fresh and easy to follow.  Excellent messages all! 

My favorite part by far was the altar time & preservice prayer times.  There is nothing like spending sweet, refreshing, powerful times in Father God's presence.  Forgetting about all others but Him and pressing in close to Him.  Yes! 

What an incredible burden He has placed in our hearts for Jujuy as well.  At times it was almost overwhelming.  But that will need to be a subject for another night.  It is now midnight and I really need to get to sleep.  : ) 

Good night all.  Thank you for your prayers.
My back held up great and I have no misconceptions about why.  I know it was your lifting me up before God that gave me the aid I needed.  Should have killed me, but instead hardly bothered me.  Thank you so much! 

Continue to pray for us and for Jujuy!  The need here is so great that it is truly mindboggling and we are looking to God for answers on where to work and how to move forward in it. 

God night and God bless
- Find your place where you can be strengthened by God's presence and by the unity among His followers before going back out into the fray -

Paz y poder en su Espiritu Santo -