All Good Things Must Come to an End

In case you haven't been keeping up with us, this is the final blog that we are going to be writing from Uruguay. The trip has been great and we've both learned a lot about ourselves and God. It's going to be good to be home after the time gone but at the same time it's going to be sad to leave the relationships that we've made while we were here. Next week we will be posting some final thoughts and a full overview. So let's look at what we've been doing since the last post.

So the farm has over 4,000 trees in it. So just because one orchard gets finished doesn't mean that the work is done. We started pruning another orchard and as of today we are about halfway through it. This orchard is a lot smaller than the one that we just finished so we will hopefully finish it by the time we go home. Roy has also said a few things about other jobs that he wants to get finished so it all depends on what he gives us to do. Only 2 more full work days though. As I type that it's finally hitting me how close the end of the trip is, WOW!

This last weekend was the first weekend since the very beginning of the trip that we didn't have a place to go and we got to make our own plans. We decided to stay at the OM base for the weekend and spend some time with the girls. Saturday we decided to go to the center of town and do some souvenir shopping. Little did we know was that it's normal for most places to close early on a Saturday. We basically only found 2 stores that were open. Dan got what he wanted to get but Chris didn't find what he was looking for so we are hoping that we can find some time this week to go down there one last time. That night we decided to try to make fondue for dinner. We didn't have everything that we needed so we kinda made up our own recipe. If anybody is thinking of doing this stop and go buy what you need. It had the consistency of chewed gum and taste...I don't even know how to describe it. Then we watched the Paraguay soccor game and they lost 2-0, so the girls were unhappy. All in all is was kind of a failed day, but such is life.

Sunday we got up and came back to the farm early so that we could participate in a Sunday School that they run here. The girls planned and taught the lesson and we participated. They taught that story of David and Goliath so naturally Dan played Goliath. Instead of using a rock though we decided that it was a good idea to use an egg. Again, if you are planning on doing this stop and think it through better. Leyla was the one throwing the egg and she missed the forehead a little bit and hit Dan square in the squishy part of the nose. The egg didn't break, it just bounced off and broke on the floor. Luckily it didn't break his nose, it didn't even bleed actually. The turn out was pretty good and we will be continuing to pray for the ministry that they will continue to have after we leave.

Since it was our last weekend in the country we decided that we needed to take our first trip to the beach and jump into the ocean. For those of you that don't realize it, Uruguay is in the southern hemisphere so the seasons are the exact opposite of the ones in the northern hemisphere. And for those who still don't get it; THAT MEANS THAT IT'S WINTER!! As soon as the shirts came off and we started to run into the water we realized that it wasn't the best idea that we've had. Also it turned to being rock about 10 feet out so while we were running our feet got tenderized. Basically I think that the theme for this weekend, besides having a good time, was making bad decisions. All in all it was still a fun weekend.

Well, with only a few days left in the trip we are trying to concentrate on what God still has for us that we haven't learned yet. For anyone that is interested in knowing, we will be arriving at the Reno airport Friday June 12 at 8:09pm on American Airlines from Dallas. Hopefully we will see some of you there and if not sometime soon after.

As the Nights Grow Colder

So as of today we are officially 8 days until we leave Uruguay and 9 days until we will be back in Reno. Part of it is sad because the relationships that we have made here are amazing and it's going to be hard to leave them. On the other hand it will be good to see everyone back at home and see how things have been moving in our absence. It's kind of a bitter sweet feeling but we have both agreed that the sweet out-weighs the bitter. Enough of being sentimental though, let's look at what's changed since the last update.


Since it has been getting further into the winter here it has definitely been getting colder. It definitely gets colder in Reno but the difference here is that we have heaters. Here there is no heating inside the houses so the only warmth that you have is what the insulation keeps in. For the most part we've been doing pretty good with this but it's not something that we're completely used to yet. This morning we actually had a little bit of trouble getting out of bed because it was so warm and the apartment was so cold. It's changed the work conditions as well. All day yesterday we were working with jackets, hats and gloves on. By the end of the day we were looking forward to a hot shower just to warm up. But today the sun is out and it's not as bad. This morning we finished the orchard and Roy has told us that we are going to be starting something other than pruning. We are excited to see the work that we will be doing in our final days here.


Last weekend we joined Siegfried and two other OM volunteers (Job and Tim) to tour around the country and make people aware of the ministry that OM is doing. This was good because we were never 100% sure what it was that OM Uruguay did outside of a teen event once a year and the planning for the youth center. We got to see that they are in charge of supplying material to different churches and stores so that they have christian material that is usually only available in the big cities. Dan got to join Job and Tim in playing some Ecuadorian Folklore music at all the stops. IT was fun because it was a different experience and a type of music that he's never played before. Chris on the other hand was put in charge of running the book table a couple times and that doesn't work out too well since he doesn't know and Spanish.


Besides all the time with churches we got to see other parts of the country outside of Montevideo. All in all it was all flat farm land. If you've ever driven through the mid-west it's a lot like that. It made us long for the mountains that surround us in Reno. The last stop that we made was the most northern city in Uruguay and it actually went right up to the Brazil border. Since people will live on one side and work on the other they don't have border patrol there until you leave the city. So during some down time we decided to take a walk to Brazil. Basically it was just a river with Spanish signs on one side and Portuguese signs on the other. We may not have gotten a stamp on our passports but we can at least say that we've been to 3 different countries this trip.

Well, there is only one more post until we come home. Keep praying for us that we learn what God wants us to learn in this home stretch.

Drunken Escapades in Canada

Disclaimer: This blog actually has nothing to do with being drunk or with Canada. We are just joking about rumors that went around over the weekend. The whole story is too long to tell here, but if you ask we will tell it to you.

So this week seemed to be full of more adventures than any week that we've had so far. Actually it was just the weekend. The week was just a normal week of pruning more trees. We got about to the halfway point of the orchard that Roy would like us to have done by the time we go home. So if it continues to be sunny and nothing goes wrong we should be good.


Now let's get to the exciting part. This past weekend we went with the girls to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We visited a couple, Tanya and Gustavo, who work with OM Argentina to see their ministry and have them show us around the city. We arrived late Friday morning and much to our dismay we discovered that Chris had lost his passport. Chris and Tanya then spent the day at the U.S. Embassy attempting to get Chris a new passport. After $100 and 4 hours of paperwork/processing, they gave him an emergency passport good for 1 year. During this time Dan, Gustavo, and the girls just walked around the city and did a little sight seeing. That night we took the most crowded train we've ever seen to an orphanage. Chris spent most of the time clinging to the side of the train while standing on the entrance stairs. The kids seemed very happy to have us visit. They wanted to show us the presents that they got that day and they all called us Tio (uncle). After the meal we watched Slumdog Millionaire and Gustavo connected that with a good message about how we're all millionaires in Jesus.

Saturday morning we got to see the main part of Gustavo and Tanya's ministry. They both love sports so they minister to kids and teens through different sports activities. On Saturdays they go to a community center and have a volleyball practice for girls. So the girls got to participate while we just watched and helped get the balls. That afternoon we took the train to another town further south called La Plata. Here we met up with a man named Juan who is a youth leader in his church. That night we went to and participated in the youth meeting. Chris shared his testimony and Dan shared about his experiences in Asia. People in Argentina run on a much different schedule than we are used to. Eating dinner around midnight and going straight to bed around 1 is considered normal. So we got to experience Argentinian dinner hours this evening. Needless to say it is nothing that we could get used to.


Sunday and Monday of the trip were some of the first days that we have spent since we got here doing any sight seeing and souvenir shopping. Tanya and Gustavo took us to the different historical places and tourist areas. We were surprised to see a lot of American restaurant chains in the city. Monday night we went back to the port to take the boat back to Uruguay. Chris decided to ask if anyone had found his passport on the off chance that they did. Even after calling on Friday and being told they had found nothing, Chris still walked onto the boat with 2 passports.





Now we are yet again back on the farm and back to pruning more trees. This weekend we will be joining Siegfried and others from the OM team to tour around the country and visit different ministries. We are now at the point where we have only about 2 weeks until we get home. So we will see you guys then or we will catch you on another time.

Rain Rain Go Away, Come Again Another Day...

Week five is just about ready to come to a close, and it's honestly been the most uneventful week of the trip so far. Monday was a normal work day, just pruning more trees. Starting Tuesday though, it started to rain and we weren't able to get any work done. It then continued to rain for the next 4 days. When Friday rolled around we had only gotten one row of trees done when the week before we had done about twelve. It got really boring trying to find things to do around the barn.

For the weekend we joined the girls and Darwin at a church close to the farm in order to help them out with their children's and youth programs. The girls spent all of Friday walking around the adjacent neighborhoods telling people about them and that they should come on Saturday. Saturday morning we had the children's program and about 20 kids showed up for it. We played some games with them and it ultimately turned to soccor by the end. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday night was the youth group and that was different story. We went in to the church, opened the doors and sang songs so that people would know that we were there. It ended up just being Miriam, Thirza, Darwin, and us singing songs for 45 minutes or so. We learned that Uruguay is called the graveyard of South America for this reason. People just don't seem to be open to hearing about the gospel. Everyone is comfortable with where they are and no one thinks that they need God. A plus to this is that all of the Christians here are on fire and they don't seem to be discouraged by this. Please pray for all the ministries here and people can start to be more open to the gospel.

After the weekend and all the rain it's just been back on the farm and back to pruning. Today alone we did twice as many trees as we did in the entire week last week. So it will be more of that now until the weekend. This weekend we are joining the girls for a four day trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina and we are excited about it. Check back next week for more exciting manventures of Chris and Dan!

HALFWAY POINT!!!

Time has really started flying and it's crazy. It seems like the time is going so fast but at the same time it feels like the trip from the airport with Seigfried was forever ago. That's probably because we have done so much in the short time that we've been here. Now that we have been on the farm for a week we have gotten a routine down and we now know what to expect during the week. The work days have, and will continrue to consist of pruning the 4,000 trees that they have on the farm. So far we have worked on the peaches and the nectarines and will probably get to the plums eventually. If they ripen we will probably be picking lemons also. The work hasn't been too hard but it has kept us busy. The worst thing that's happened so far is Chris kneeling in an ant nest and having to tear his pants off in the middle of the orchard. Working with Roy has helped a little with homesickness because he speaks only English and we can talk to him throughout the entire day. Plus his last name is Kitchen so it makes Dan feel a little more at home.

We have become accustomed to the fact that our weekend plans will be made for us and usually on Friday. Seigfied seems to be pretty late at telling us when we will be doing things, but it's all good. Last weekend we joined a team of Brazilians at a church pastored by Martin, who we helped with the roof tarring. The church had an outreach this weekend that we helped run. The majority of the day on Saturday was having games and other activities for kids. After this we walked around inviting people to the music and preaching that night. About 25 people showed up and we had a gospel presentation, worship, and Dan even played a few songs in English. Sunday we just attended their service and then headed back to the farm after lunch (which was an amazingly awesome BBQ).

This week so far is looking to be a normal week for us. This weekend we will probably be joining the girls from Paraguay to run a youth outreach with a different church. Check back again next week for our next update. BORK BORK BORK!

Home, Home on the Range!!

We have just about reached the end of three weeks, and boy, have we been busy these past couple days! We finally got to finish the ceiling at the OM base and is looking mighty good, but Siegfried wired the lights wrong so its not quite done yet *sigh*. The last bit of work we got to do at the base was to begin painting the house we were staying in. I believe this is the first time we truly got frustrated and in a bad mood while working, because painting white walls white tends to do that to you, especially when you find out later that you are only supposed to put a small coat of paint on at a time, not the five or six that we ended up doing. Paint down here is apparently a lil different than up in the States. The walls soak it up like a dang sponge. And its horrible. But a good lunch and a lil fellowship, along with some prayer, got us back into the groove, and we ended up getting our rooms completely done and the hallway and kitchen ceilings done.




We found out Wednesday evening that we were going to be accompanying the girls to an event called "Proyecto(Project) America" an international community service outreach. We wound up traveling for about four hours to Florida, a city outside of Montevideo, which is really only an hour away. Buses stop EVERWHERE here, impossible to get anywhere quickly. The whole point of PA was to go out in the city to various places, like a high school, prison, poor neighborhoods, and get some work done. We chose to help with the gardening team, so the extent of our Friday invloved machetes and twenty foot bamboo stalks. It was a little too fun to be considered work. Saturday was incredibly slow, we just ended up running errands for all the projects, taking sand, sheet-metal, or lumber on a big truck around town, with hour breaks in between, not fun. Last day was mostly spent cleaning up the high school and getting all the equipment packed up. We decided that we were the only two people who went to this event who did not know how to speak Spanish, which was kind of a bummer because the main speaker sounded like he had some good things to say and was pretty passionate about what we were doin, but we just had no idea what he was sayin and he was too loud for the girls to be able to translate for us. All in all it was a good weekend, lots of work got done, and we had the pleasure of sleepin on foam pads, sweatshirts as pillows, and no showers for four days.





Now that the weekend is over, we have finally been taken to the farm where we are going to be stayin for the remainder of our time down here. Today Roy and Cathy took us on a tour of the place, and we love it. They guessed it was about 40 acres, but it seems to be a lot bigger than that, with lemons, peaches, nectarines, and plums everywhere you look. We look forward to start work here, sounds like we are gonna be pruning A LOT of trees in the next couple weeks, should be a blast.

Thats all for now, we'll see you guys in a jiff

BORK!!!

We're just about at the end of week two and time has deifinitely sped up. The first week seemed to take months but the second week only felt like a day or two. It seems like we've done so much in the short time that we've been here. At the same time though there is still a lot of work and a lot of things that God has to teach us.



So last week was our first full work week. We've started to get into a routine and have difinitely seen results. Weather is a little unpredictable so we decided to take advantage of the nice weather we've had. We took a break from replacing the ceiling and started work on reapairing the roof of the OM base. This was deifinitely work that we never thought we would be doing. First thing we had to do was scrape off all the old tar that had bubbled up over time. This required a lot of time on our knees and our arms and hands getting covered in fiber glass. Then we had to cement all of the holes that we created from the scraping so that it created a smooth surface. The final step was to cover the entire thing with tar (to include a good patch on Chris's leg). We finished this about lunch time on Friday.



After the roof was finished we continued our work on the ceiling. The material that they chose is a huge pain so this has been a somewhat slow process. After a full day on that we are just about done. After that I think we will be building an awning in the courtyard of the base. This will probably be our final task here before moving to the farm.

Enough about work, let's talk about our awesomely fun awesome weekend awesomeness. We actually didn't do a lot, it was just really fun for some reason. Friday night we went to the youth group again but this time we played volleyball and actually held our own. After that a few kids were really exciterd to have us teach them how to throw a football. In the same way we have the stereotype of all Latinos (which is pretty much true) they have the same one for Americans with football. They're as awkward with their hands as we are with our feet. Saturday Siegfried took the girls and us to the highest "moutain" in Montevideo. There was a museum at the top that we walked around in for a couple of hours. The view of the entire city was amazing. Later we went to a park in order to teach the girls how to play Ultimate Frisbee. I've never seen a rookie have so much fun with that game before. Sunday we went to a church where Alejandro (the head of OM Uruguay) is the pastor. Chris was pleased to see that they had a ping-pong table and we played with 2 natives for about an hour. Later we went back to the park because the girls really wanted to play more frisbee. All of this entailed us walking probably close to 15 miles over the course of the weekend.

That's about all for the update this week. We are excited to see what God has for us next. Thank you for all of your prayers, we love you guys.