Escapade

12 kids, a Translator and a Journey ahead

2012-02-28T19:32:00.002-08:00

The theme for the Vacation Bible School was animals in the Bible and the love of Jesus. And yes, I thought of the theme all by myself. So of course it was a goofy and fun theme. On Monday was a dove (teaching Noah's ark), Tuesday was a whale (Jonah), Wednesday a sheep (Parable of the lost sheep), Thursday a donkey (Jesus entry into Jerusalem) and Friday was a pig (the Prodigals Son). At the beginning of the week we had about 20 kids show up at the Church next to the house I am staying at. It was a neat time with a small group of children. We split up the kids into a coloring table for the little kids and discussion questions for the older kids. During these discussion groups 7 kids made decisions to accept Christ! 7 kids! Praise God! Then on Thrusday we had 45 kids show up the Church, it was chaotic, but a lot of fun. On Friday, Lissette shared her testimony in front of the group of kids. She looked the kids in the eye and say "I have been where you are, I grew up in an orhaphange. But I met Jesus and he made all the difference in the world and now I am living life for Jesus." It was beautiful. Then she told the kids to close their eyes and raise their hands if they wanted to accept Christ. About 5-8 hands went up and we prayed with them after. It was a beautiful time and many hugs were shared. Overall it was a busy and chaotic week but so neat to participate in the work of God. At least 12 children accepted Christ for the first time. Praise God! Thank you for your prayers during this busy week. Also pray for wisdom on follow-up with the kids who accepted Christ.(pictures are below of the VBS last week).

The Casa Esperanza is full and noisy now. All the girls have returned from vacation and are living in the Casa Esperanza (House of Hope) for this upcoming school year. There are 6 girls living in the House and meal times are filled with laughter and jokes. I am having trouble understanding many of the jokes, but other than that my Spanish has been improving quite a bit. I have become a translator for some visitor from the states. I translated Sunday School last week and have been speaking in Spanish very fast. In the mornings I wake up with Spanish songs in my head and I can't remember words in English. It has been neat to be at this point where the frustration does not over power the joy of learning a new language. Continue to pray for my relationships with all the girls at the Casa Esperanza and with my Spanish learning.

On Thursday Lissette and I embark on a 18 hour journey. Today we bought our bus tickets to Cordoba, Argentina!! I have been invited by a friend to spend the weekend with her in Argentina. So Lissette and I are leaving here Thursday and will return Monday afternoon. I am so excited to drive through the Andes Mountains and explore parts of Argentina on a bus. Please pray for safety on this long, long journey and that it will be a time of encouragement.

Photos of VBS

2012-02-28T19:13:00.002-08:00

Pig heads, tourism and Valentines Day

2012-02-18T19:01:00.000-08:00

Valentines Day in the States is promoted in the beginning of January all the way until Feb 14th with red hearts and chocolate everywhere. This year, I almost forgot about Valentines Day. In the Chilean stores there was typically a tiny stand of chocolate for this "holiday" but not much else. As my family would call it "Hall-Marky" holiday. Since Valentines Day fell on a Tuesday, my Chilean friend (Lissette) and I went to teach English at the Hogar. We sang a opening songs as usual and then had the neat opportunity to share with this kids what God's love is all about. It fit in nicely with the Valentines Day theme and Lissette presented the gospel in Spanish. It was really neat to hear the Gospel in Spanish as the kids were finally paying attention to what we were saying. With it being a Catholic Hogar, my friend made sure to point out how God desires a relationship with each of these precious kids. Hopefully God is stirring in their hearts and that there will be transformation at this Hogar. It was a great Valentines day!

I have been continuing to teach private English lessons and I have been translating small words here or there for my host family. Many of our dinner table conversations consist of trying to translate English to Spanish or vice-versa. A funny conversation occurred on Thursday night. My host dad could not figure out how to pronounce "us" in comparison with "ass" in English. They sounded the same to him as we repeated over and over again these words so that he would not use the wrong one when talking in English. It was quite funny.Another funny dinner table incident happened this week when we went over to 'abuelita' (grandmothers) house for dinner. Sandwiches are typical for dinner as lunch is the big meal here. I leaned over to Lissette and asked her what the brown, squarish lumpy thing was. "Mashed pig head" she replied. "You have to try it" said my host mom. I was thinking, "You will eat anything, you will eat anything..." So I tried it and probably hope to not try it again, but I passed this cultural test, just barely.

Friday is usually our "play/explore" day and so this Friday Lissette took me to 'Plaza de Armas'. A famous plaza in the center of Santiago. Before we left, my host family giggled because the only people in Plaza de Armas are tourists and Peruvians. When we got there, I found out this was true with many tourist snapping photos and wearing khaki pants. It was quite entertaining. But a fun day exploring Santiago a bit more. Because Chile was conquered by the Spanish, most of the architecture is Spanish and European looking. It was a very beautiful day.

This next week will be very very busy and I hope I survive. I am in charge of planning and executing a Vacation Bible School for this next week. They say I am the "jefa" (boss) for this week! The theme is animals in the Bible and the love of Jesus. We are hoping for about 20-30 kids to show up at the church each day. We are bringing the kids from the Catholic Hogar who were mistreated in their past to the VBS this week! Hopefully they will have fun and learn more about Jesus along the way! Please pray that everything goes smoothly and that the kids have fun and learn a lot in the process. The desire of my heart is to see the kids from the Hogar begin a relationship with their Heavenly Father even at their young age. Please pray for this with me for this next week. Thank you!

"How Great Thou Art"

2012-02-12T19:34:00.000-08:00

The highlight of my week occured this morning during church. My host mom leaned over toward me and said "this is my favorite song" in Spanish as I waited in anticipation. "Cuan Grande el El" or translated "How Great Thou Art" was played as goosebumps appeared on my skin. Oh how beautiful it was to hear that song in Spanish. To see the Chileans in this church cry out to God in praise for His greatness was beautiful. It was a beautiful time of worship to the Lord. Then the offering basket was passed around. While many congregations in the States give out of their extra, these people give out of their suffering. A widows might.

This week at the Hogar I was teaching alone for my Chilean friend was at a summer camp this week. Thank you so much for your prayers! My host mom and brother came with me to communicate in Spanish and keep the chaos to a minimum. On Tuesday I taught the letters of the alphabet in English and on Wednesday taught colors and fruits. It went much better than I expected and there was no blood or broken bones. Crayons, games, football, and some lollipops seemed to be enough to keep the kids entertained. Oh yea and about a few dozen hugs as well. There are pictures below of the kids at the Hogar. Please continue to pray for Christ to transform their lives and bring healing to each of the kids here.

I thought I would enlighten you with a few cultural things here in Chile since I have been here for a month now. A typical Chilean drink is called "Mote con Huesillo" which is peaches juice with a boiled peach inside with floating pieces of soft cooked wheat. Oh it is delicious and refreshing on a hot summer day here in Chile. Empenadas are just as popular or even more popular than the Chilean drink. Empenadas are similar to meat pies that are either fried or baked with meat or cheese inside. I have probably eaten twenty of them by now! Dwarfs are always used in telling scary story to little children. The news on TV only covers the beach, the market and football. Bread is delivered fresh to the house by the kilo everyday. Horse racing is a popular sport as well as soccer/football (of course). Dogs are everywhere in Chile, all muts that mind their own business. Spanish is spoken very very fast and parts of words are cut off. For example "Como estas?" is limited to "Como ta?". This distinguishes Chilean Spanish from other Spanish speaking countries, but makes it very hard to understand native speakers. Pesos are used and it is about 500 Pesos to the Dollar. Oh and did I mention that the people are beautiful?

Please pray for the kids at the Hogar, that they will see Jesus in our words, actions and hugs. Pray that the Lord will continue to put words in my mouth to speak boldly (Jeremiah 1). And pray that God will bless my host family for they work endlessly for His Kingdom with little earthly reward. Chile has been wonderful and God is good. How great God truly is!
Thank you very much. -Marie

Pictures of my ninos!

2012-02-12T17:40:00.000-08:00

Grape vines and Metro system

2012-02-04T18:48:00.000-08:00

Walking through the entrance to her back yard, grapevines covered the patio and fresh grapes hung down within arms reach. A hammock was to the left, apricot and plum trees surrounding me as my eyes were caught by the tiny pool in the backyard of "Mami"s house. Mami is the grandmother of this street, the kids pile in her tiny pool during the summer months and women sit on her patio while drinking tea and eating sweets. Her backyard is cozy, breezy, and beautiful. Mami has five children who live in Chile, and she works close by. She has been attending the church next door for 26 years and is a crucial member of the congregation. Mami is my newest student for my English classes. We covered a few food names in English, the basic "I have" and "I don't have" as well as the difference between "a" and "an" on our first day, it was quite successful as she is a brilliant lady who desires to increase her knowledge in English. She is an inspiration to me, if she desires to learn a new language at her old age, I must continue in my pursuit for comprehension of her language.

One of my biggest accomplishments this week was mastering the Metro system in Santiago. As I studied the metro system links, prayed, found my stop at "La Ovalle", prayed, took a bus, prayed and arrived at my destination a sense of pride swept over me. I had taken the Metro all-by-my-self for the first time! I arrived at another missionaries house in a different part of Santiago to check out their ministry. The Swanson's work at a small orphanage and have been here for 18 years, so they seemed like a good couple to get to know and learn about the culture a bit more. They were impressed with my Spanish after only being here for 3 weeks, and I was the translator for two other American visiting the country. It was a huge compliment with Mr. Swanson said my Spanish was really good for the time I had been here.

On Thursday I went to my first Chilean birthday party, it was filled with sweets, sandwiches, games and laughter. It was a lot of fun. On Friday I went to my first Chilean funeral. Quite a contrast to the day before, solemn, sad, but my host father gave a sermon. The people at the funeral do not attend our church regularly and were only there for this one service. So my host father took the opportunity to boldly preach the Gospel on this Friday night. He explained the differences between the Catholic faith and Christianity. It was a beautiful presentation of the Gospel despite the sadness of the occasion.

Twice this week Lissette and I took the 30 min walk to the Hogar down the street. This week we were teaching "opposites" and "in/at/on" to the kids at the Hogar. We sang Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord to begin our class and then separated the kids into the coloring table and the older kids. This week the kids really seemed to grasp the concepts we were teaching. They seem to be getting more comfortable with us and are starting to build friendships with each of them. Sabinne was with us on the second day we taught, we expected trouble again, but she was very well behaved this time! Praise God! She participated in the singing, colored nicely and neatly and even played the outdoor games with us! She still had her spunk but was involved in all we did and was a lot of fun. Praise God! Next week, Lissette is going to summer camp, which means that I will be teaching at the Hogar all by myself! My nine year old host brother might accompany me to help me with the language barrier, but I will be creating the lesson plans, and teaching alone.

Please pray for my teaching at the Hogar next week as it will be a very difficult week. I will be teaching numbers and colors. Please pray for Lissette as she is at camp next week. Your prayers and support are so helpful and comforting. I feel alive here in Chile and it is so neat to see God working! Thank you!

Tough Love

2012-01-27T20:31:00.000-08:00

As she violently kicked me and pushed me to the ground, I wondered what this 7 year old's girls past history was like. Sabinne was sitting calming on my lap one moment, and the next she was wrestling me to the ground to get a hold of the lollipops behind me. I am not sure of Sabinne's past history with her family, but I am certain that she has either been abuse sexually or physically, probably both. How do I show her the love of Christ? The first time I met her, she ran up to me and gave me a long and strong hug, you could tell she was not shy and desired to be loved. Chaos was the word for the first day, as I was kicked multiple times and another teacher was slapped in the face while Lisette lead games for the older kids using her guitar. My Chilean friend and I, Lisette, started teaching English classes at an orphanage down the street and will be teaching there for six weeks. It was a crazy first day teaching English, but the older girls seemed very eager to learn English and eager for visitors who would love on them during their summer in Santiago. We returned the next day, on Wednesday, to continue to teach the numbers in English to about twelve children. The second day went much better. The 'rascal kids' weren't there for some reason, so it was quite a bit calmer. I was in-charge of the coloring table of about 7 kids while Lisette taught about ten girls how to write and spell the numbers in English. It was quite a successful day playing "duck duck goose" and "spud" to practice counting in English. On Tuesday and Wednesday this coming week we will return to the orphanage and attempt to control the chaos while teaching English simultaneously.

As far as tourism goes, we try to have fun when we are not teaching English. Lisette took me to San Cristobal in down town Santiago. Cerro San Cristobal is a huge "hill" in the city that looks over all of Santiago. We rode a train like car to the top and it was breath taking. There were too many skyscrapers to even count them all. It was incredible. We walked around the top of the "hill" and watched the city from afar. Before we left, we sang "Your the God of this city, your the God of these people..." it was a beautiful way to conclude our time on top of the world.

Another breathtaking adventure was the Andes Mountains. These are the real mountains! Tall, majestic, sky piercing! I am a mountain type of a girl, and I couldn't get enough of them. My host family took me to San Jose de Maipo which is about half an hour from where we live. It is quite a touristy area, but we just did the free stuff. :) We saw rivers, bridges, trains, tunnels and of course more and more mountains!

In front of the church congregation tonight I made an announcement that I will be teaching private English lessons to anyone who would like to be taught. 4 sessions in a month for 2 mil pesos ($4). It seemed to be a big hit and I have already 3 people come up to me and say they would like to start lessons after their vacation. I said "Si" a lot and hoped to communicate with them that I would love to teach them English during my time in Chile.

Please pray for my next week teaching English at the orphanage. Please pray for wisdom for how to love these children who have had abusive pasts, especially Sabinne. Tough love is needed to create some discipline and respect, but I want so badly to show the love of Jesus. Strength and energy during these times are much needed. Continually prayer for language learning and patience. Thank you so much!
En el nombre de Jesus, Marie

A God of Beauty

2012-01-22T20:22:00.000-08:00

Cerro Santa Lucia is an old Spanish castle that is in the center of Santiago. It is quite famous and now has become on of my favorite places on the planet. Below are picture of our day spent there. It was absolutely beautiful! At the base there were huge water fountains that lead us to a huge stair case with twisty and winding stairs. At the very top was a castely platform that gave you a 360 degree view of the entire city of Santiago! It was so neat to see all the sky scrapers and buildings of Chile. It was really neat. We walked around the variety of gardens, got some icecream, took a bunch of photos and relaxed. It was a beautiful place with so much rich history and beautiful ivy surrounding every brick. It was truly and enchanted place and an adventurous day in the city. God is truly a God of beauty.

I have started dreaming in Spanish and can understand the gist of most conversations now! The other day I had a huge accomplishment... I talked solely in Spanish for 20 min with two strangers about my family, why I am in Chile, the food here, the places I have been etc! (don't worry, they were friends of my friend where I live) It was great! I felt quite a bit more confident in my Spanish until later that evening at the dinner table my friend had to translate my "spanish" in to real spanish for the Chilean family to understand me. And I have accidentally been swearing in Spanish quite a bit, so I will have to keep practicing Spanish every day as to not offend as much. But it progress none the less!

On Tuesday I will start teaching English classes at an Orphanage of about 30 kids for 2 hours. (It is not really an orphanage because most of the kids there have families, but they have either been raped or abused and are taken away from their families for protection) We will split the kids up into Beginner and Intermediate Levels for teaching English and will teach twice a week. I am very excited to be around kids and love on them as much as I can. My friend will help me teach and we are both 1/2 bilingual. :)

Today I moved into my host families house right next door. It isn't a typical Chilean house because it was built by many American teams for this ministry here. It is a pretty big house and the Mena family lives here. The husband and wife are incredible and have dedicated their life to serving the girls who have been taken away from their families. They are truly servants of God and have been my entry way into understanding the Chilean culture. They have 2 daughters who are currently away and a son who is 9 years old. We play football every night and make popsicles during the day. God has shown me His beauty in this family already. It has been fun getting to know them and I will live with them for the next 6 weeks!

Please pray for boldness as I continue to strive to share Christ with those around me as we build each other up in the Lord. Pray that my time at the Orphanage will go well and chaos will be limited during the English Lessons. Thank you for your support and prayers! In Christ, Marie

Enchanted Spanish Castle!

2012-01-22T19:50:00.000-08:00

Primero Semana

2012-01-15T19:24:00.000-08:00

Hola! It was not until after I arrived that I learned that only 5% of Chile speaks English. Hence, Spanish is everywhere. There are two people who are in my community who speak English and they have been my translator as I have been trying very hard to understand Spanish but I still need a lot of help. I have already started dreaming in Spainsh and it has only been 4 days in Chile! Pardon my English in this blog, I have already forgotten how to put sentences together. Oops. Pero, Chile is beautiful! The Andes Mts. surround our house on everyside and I can see them from my bedroom window. The houses here are vibrant colors, they are neat to look at. It is summer time here in Chile, so the sun sets at 9pm and everybody is on vacation. Which means that I get to be here for the summer fun! On my first full day in Chile we went to the Amusement Park in Santiago. "Fantasilalandia" was the name of the park, it was a lot of fun! The second day we went to the beach which is about one hour away, but it is a special treat as well to go to the beach. I collected many shells and we got to ride on boats at the port. There are picture in my previous blog about our trip to La Playa (beach). It was a lot of fun.
The ministry I am working with is called La Casa de Esperanza (house of hope). It is ministry that houses girls who have been abused by their families and helps pay for their university. These girls are about my age, but there is only one girl currently at the house because it is summer. Her name is Lily. She is my only friend my age in Chile and she is wonderful. She is my translator and is studying to teach English as a second language to people in Chile. So we make a perfect pair, I practice my Spanish and she can practice her English on me. It is great! In a couple weeks, the house will be very full and I will be very busy, but this is a perfect time to learn about the culture and the people in Chile while everyone is on vacation.
Please pray for me to learn the language fast, it is very difficult being the only fluent English speaker, I will be teaching English classes next week to people in the Church who want to learn. And please pray that I will be able to enter into the community and the ministry smoothly in the next few days to come.
Thank you! Adios!

Pictures of Chile!

2012-01-15T18:49:00.000-08:00

Count Down

2012-01-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

5 days until I board my flight to Santiago, Chile. The more I hear about the Hogar (Home) in Chile, the more I get excited. Very soon I will get to meet the girls, learn their names, memorize their faces, practice my Spanish, and become their friend for the next 4 months. It is evident that the Lord has prepared me for such a time as this in many ways. In the past I have worked at an all girls camp, seen and been in orphanages overseas, and practiced my spanish with others. I can't wait to enter into what God has prepared in advanced for me to do!

As far as my itinerary looks, I will be in Chile from Jan-May 1st, Nigeria for the month of May, Spain for June, New York for July and August and then back to California for school in September. Pray for safe travels.

The Lord has been teaching me a lot about Healing recently. To have the privilege to bring healing to the girls in Santiago who have been raped or abused is truly a privilege. The Lord delights in healing as his children are drawn closer to his heart. This healing can take many different forms: braiding the girls hair, passing out as many hugs as possible, teaching English, and learning Scripture with the girls in Spanish are all small ways in which the Lord can bring healing to these girls who have been mistreated in the past.

Thank you for your prayers and support. I still need about $300 for my room and boarding while in Chile. And I hope to post weekly on this blogspot to keep you updated about my trip. Thank you so much.

-In Christ, Marie Ardill

Support in a variety of ways....

2011-12-03T23:41:00.000-08:00

Hello,

Santiago, Chile will be my new home for the next four months because this is where the Lord has lead me. I will be working at an orphanage/women's shelter doing volunteer work and research and immersing my self into this beautiful culture. I am so excited to see what the Lord is doing and how I can be a servant and learner into this new area.

Along this journey that God has called me, trust and obedience have been two words that define my journey in Christ. I am asking for your prayer support especially for safety as I travel alone for parts of the trip. The Lords’ presence with me is crucial during this trip to Santiago. Also, if you would like to help support my trip financially you can go to http://visionforchile.org/involvement/how-can-i-give/ and donate while indicating “Marie’s Internship” the money will be set aside in an account for me. Or if you would like to send a check, have it written for “Vision for Chile”, while also indicating that the money is for “Marie’s Internship.” The address is 1176 Olde Cameron Lane, Franklin TN 37067. All donations are tax deductible. IRS receipts will be sent at the end of the year.

If you would like more information on Vision For Chile, see the link above and watch the movie clips on the site or please email me at jesusfreak_mea@yahoo.com. Thank you very much.