The Background: I had run into a scheduling conflict sometime last fall while planning my study abroad time and found a way to spend as much time in South America as possible following a suggestion from the lovely French professor at Grace to start looking for some sort of internship during the summer break. The subject came up at church and my pastor suggested applying to work as a missionary associate in Montevideo, Uruguay, right across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires.
map credits:
south america: http://espanol.vacationstogo.com/cruise_port/Isla_de_la_Plata__Ecuador.cfm
rio de la plata: http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata
Soooo, I applied for the position and by the grace of God, the Richline family and the OPC Foreign Missions Committee, was accepted.
I had the opportunity to visit the family for a weekend around the end of October, and this just fed even more my excitement for living with them. You can read more about that in previous posts.
The Characters with whom I will be working: (pictures to come)
-The Richline's (American Missionaries - OPC): Mark and Jeni and their kids Sabrina, Josh, Julia and Isaiah
-The Call's (American Missionaries - PCA): Ray and Michelle and the kids Rebekah, Jeremiah, Ana Grace, John, Daniel, Christina, Peter
-The Rolim's (Brazilian Missionaries) : Mauricio and Sandra and the kids Calebe and Ana Tereza
-And finally, the members of La Iglesia Presbiteriana del Uruguay or, the Presbyterian Church of Uruguay.
The Job:
To give a broad idea... I will will be attending the church functions, possibly teaching a few Sunday school classes in Spanish, house and dog-sitting for the Richlines with Rebekah Call my awesome roomie while they are on vacation in the US for four weeks, celebrating Christmas with the Calls and helping them settle in as they just moved into a new house, tutoring the Call kids in Spanish, doing some basic cultural observation and processing that information, and helping plan VBS which is in February, among whatever other odd jobs my bosses give me. It will be a workload, but I am pumped to have the opportunity to be of use here in Montevideo. I'm really hoping for a few solid beach days thrown in there too, as the city is surrounded by playa (beach).
Prayer Requests:
- for safety in many travels, the Richlines in the US for a month and the Rolims going back to Brasil on furlough until March.
-for safety, wisdom, responsibility and trust in God for Rebekah and I as we learn how to clean, cook and shop for ourselves and basically take care of a house and dog, thankfully we have Flechita (the dog) to scare off any potential trespassers.
-for the growth of a sister church plant in Mercedes, about a 3 hour drive from Montevideo
-for the church members here in Montevideo, for their growth in the knowledge and grace of God, their kindness has already made a huge impression on me!
-for me, that I would learn dependence on God conducting a lot of stuff in a second language and in doing some things I have never done before, as well as continual perseverance in learning the language.
-for the Calls as they settle in, that they would quickly learn the culture and how to get around and how to speak the new accent
-for the future church plant in Montevideo that the Call's and Richline's will be starting, and trust that this is the plan of God.
-for two things that I am learning to be very important in the church and am excited to see taking place here: humility and unity. (John 17, Jesus prayed that the church may be one so that the world would recognize that Jesus was sent by God - vs. 20-23 and Philippians 2 putting others needs before ourselves following the humility of Christ)
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