I guess I'll just start where I left off. Tuesday night we had the extreme pleasure of visiting Regalo, Sinai's newest church plant. Our wonderful and beautiful friend and translator Ana is the pastor there, and prayers for her and her church are always appreciated! That night, Pastor Daniel preached on how the Holy Spirit gives us strength to overcome obstacles in our lives that we could not do on our own strength, a lesson Madison and I would later teach the children during our mini VBS day. One thing that's very cool about Regalo is how the majority of the youth went door to door in the neighborhood the church is located in, inviting everyone to the service that night. Although I don't know if any of them came, I do know that this door to door invitation is normal, and I know that eventually, as Daniel put it, "that smile, nod, and 'sure, I'll come' will begin to come true," as God begins to work in the hearts of those that live in the neighborhood.
Wednesday morning our team got to visit several church members in their homes. One elderly lady we met was especially inspiring to me. Paulina used to live right where Sinai is now, and she had a great impact on the current pastor of Sinai, Pastor Elba. God has blessed Paulina with health in her old age, and she uses the days God has given her to evangelize people she meets every day. EVERY DAY of this Godly woman's life is used to advance God's kingdom. She has been taken advantage of and stolen from, but she still dedicates every day to the Lord. She's amazing, and I can only pray that when I am her age, I will have lived a life completely dedicated to God just like she has, and that I will serve Him for the rest of my days as she will. She asked us to pray with her for her grandson, a young drug addict. We prayed for her and her grandson, and I am so thrilled to say that God has ALREADY started to answer our prayer. Paulina's grandson has returned to her, and is now living with her in her small home, right across from Sinai. This is just one of the prayers that we prayed over people's homes, families and health that have already been answered. Prayer is so powerful. Praise God! Wednesday morning we also were invited to the home of Alexis and Valeria and their adorable son Benjamin. This family is one of the sweetest ones around, I guarantee you. They have a heart for God and for each other. All of us completely fell in love with them, Madison and I especially when we saw Valeria (who's pregnant with their second, mind you) and little Benji arrive at Sinai on the family motorcycle. Seriously, this woman is awesome.
Wednesday afternoon began the first installment of the two part sermon Mr. Michael had for the worship team at Sinai. Madison and I got to listen in, and we were blown away. This blessed sermon focused on how being a worship leader isn't possible when one's trying to be a rock star. Before David became king, he learned to worship God all alone, his only audience being sheep. Like David, we must learn to worship God every day, and our worship cannot be any different when we're on stage if we want to lead a church congregation in meaningful worship. Worship is all about glorifying God! The sermon that night at Sinai was also preached by Mr. Michael and had a similar theme.
Thursday morning we visited and prayed for more families in their homes, and later Mr. Michael met with the worship team for the second time. Mads and I weren't there for this session because we were struggling to help in the kitchen, preparing food for the homeless. Uruguayan potatoes are much harder to peel than American potatoes, y'all ;) Feeding the homeless in downtown Montevideo was awesome. La Mission has been doing this for a while, and I'm glad we got the chance to experience it. One of the coolest moments from that night happened after we had offered one man some soup and bread, and he said a few things to us in Spanish (there were other members of the church present, ones who just spoke Spanish) and was turning to leave. My Spanish is extremely limited, but I used one of the very few phrases I know, "Dios de bendiga", or "God bless you." God used this one tiny little phrase to spark interest in the man, whose name was Andres. He stayed and talked to us a while longer, and we got to pray for him. Turns out, he is going into rehab for drug use in less than a week now, I believe. It was amazing to see how God uses the tiniest little thing for his glory. We also got to talk to another man later that night, a usual to the program and a friend of many of those at La Mission. He and his sick mother were planning on leaving to go to his cousin's, and they have probably already made it there. We talked to him for a good 20 minutes or so, and he was very intelligent, very young. He and I even talked about science, chemistry and medicine a bit (nerdy, I know..). He does not want to talk about Jesus or religion or anything of the sort, but I have been praying for him. God could so change his life, if only he would let Him!
Friday morning we got to visit one very adorable couple's home. Jorge and Blanky are just the best! They are the youth pastors at Sinai, and their home was amazing, might I add. We chatted for hours. They are just so sweet. Friday afternoon Niki & Juanita (who doesn't speak Spanish! Inside joke.. sorry) led the women's group. That night there was another service, this time at Horab in Villa Camila, the church plant we painted last year. It was a treat just to see how wonderful the place looks; Marcelo and Daniela (she's one of the amazingly gorgeous and talented translators and he's the funny, totally fantastic pastor of Horab) are doing a wonderful job. What happened during and after the sermon was even more of a treat. Josh had a wonderful word for this church; it was uplifting and encouraging and you could tell the Holy Spirit was using Josh's words to mend the hearts of the church members. The team got to pray over the leadership of Horab and Sinai, and then we got to pray over the congregation. Moments like this are always crazy and my words cannot begin to explain the situation. There are people standing, sobbing, and worshiping all through the church, with the church leadership and our team going from person to person, praying for them. You'd think it's hard to pray for a person you don't even know, over problems and situations you're unaware of. But it's not hard at all. Somehow, through the power of the Holy Spirit, you just... know. And even though the person you're praying for doesn't speak the language you're praying in, they know, too.
Saturday. We got up so early to prepare for the kids, who would arrive at 11am. Thankfully, we pulled together all the games and the game show before people started to show up, because we literally started planning the game show questions and decorations the night before. Saturday morning I was starting to freak out, because despite my extensive preparations on the message I was sharing with the kids, I still felt overwhelmed and under-prepared. That's what's so cool, though. I was sharing with these kids how the Holy Spirit gives us strength, and the message was exactly a testimony as to what I was talking about. Ten minutes before the service I was in my room running through what I was going to say, trying to bring as much energy and entertainment to the message as possible, but the words were just not coming. After being prayed over, the message went spotlessly. The kids laughed. They paid attention the whole time. And I genuinely believe they understood the importance and the reality of the message. THE HOLY SPIRIT GAVE ME STRENGTH! In my flesh, there is no possible way I could stand in front of 100 rowdy kids and talk to them about something as abstract as the Holy Spirit without completely losing their attention. But through God, the message stuck. If you've ever worked with kids, I know you understand how big a miracle this is! :D
Saturday night, youth night, was a bunch of fun. The message that night was provided by the amazing Josh, and afterwards we put together a harder version of the kids' game show for the teens. Instead of splitting it up girls vs. boys like we had with the kids, we split this group up Penarol vs. Nacional, the two major soccer teams of Uruguay. And let me tell you, these guys are SERIOUS about their soccer teams. They believe in one, and the other one is like poison. Needless to say, by the time that game was over, I had a massive headache from all the shouting and taunting. Every minute was a blast, though.
As it so happens, Sunday was Father's Day in Uruguay. Our wonderful dads (Daniel, Michael and Josh) invited two very special girls to spend the day with us. Desha and Vale are currently without a father, so we adopted them for the day. We visited the Uruguayan street market for some presents for the girls, hit up the bakery for some delicious treats, then headed back to Sinai for lunch. We spent the afternoon watching Alvin & the Chipmunks (it's so much more entertaining in Spanish) and Twilight, two of the movies the girls picked out from the market. We didn't necessarily pay attention the whole time, though; a vast majority of Alvin & the Chipmunks was spent engaging Josh in a hacky sack war. So basically, we pelted each other with hacky sacks, in a church, watching Chipwrecked. We loved every moment of it :D
The sermon Sunday afternoon was very special. God started to give Daniel this sermon eight months ago, and its been built up and prepared ever since. It was finally the right time and place for this message, and gosh, did it hit home. Daniel spoke about how we don't see God's entire purpose for our lives, just like we sometimes don't see both sides of these images:
Maybe we don't see God's calling on our lives because we think He's calling someone else. Maybe it's because we don't think we're qualified. Maybe it's because we just don't see the other side of the illusion yet. This is actually something I'm struggling with right now- just like I sometimes need people to point out, "Hey, that duck is a bunny, too!", I need God to point out my calling somehow. Let me tell you, it's hard to sit in a worship service where people are crying, praying, worshiping, and having revelations about God and STILL not have your question answered, especially if you have been asking that question all summer. But I just need to wait, because for some reason or situation I am unaware of, I am not ready for the answer yet. I just have to wait and trust God's timing, no matter how hard that is.
Monday was our free day in Montevideo. We spent the day shopping for friends and family back home and exploring the beautiful old side of downtown Montevideo. It is probably the most beautiful spot I have ever seen. I should note our visit to the beautiful chapel there; I think it's the oldest in Uruguay. To some people, that church may just be a building, a piece of history, a place to go when you have a need that you need met. To me, though, it was so much more. From the minute I stepped into this chapel, I couldn't breathe. 
I could just feel God's presence. And I just kept thinking to myself, "You think THIS is beautiful? This was built on man's creativity. You should see the temple that GOD designed!" Just... wow.
On a different and slightly yuckier note, our team ate at an open air market where they just cooked a lot of meat and stuck it in front of you. Anthony Bourdain actually went to this market, if you want to look it up. The food was delicious... well... most of it. I am both proud and disgusted to admit that I tried intestine that day. I'm not even sure what animal it was, but I am sure that it was gross and disgusting and that I will never eat it again. However, I TRIED IT! Bonus points to me.
Monday night felt like torture as I said my goodbyes to Uruguay for the second time. I made so many new friends on this trip, and strengthened old relationships, and it was so hard to leave these people. After a good 20 minutes of saying goodbye to people at Sinai, we drove to the airport and were met by the majority of the youth group, all there to see us off. We checked our bags, then had ANOTHER 20 minutes of pictures and goodbye hugs. Here's the thing though: I didn't cry. At first, I felt bad about it, because everyone else seemed to be shedding a tear or so and I was just fine. Then I realized, I was saying more of a "see you later" than a "goodbye". Am I positive that I'm going back to Uruguay next year? No, I might not be because of college and finances and who knows what else. I am positive that I am not letting these people out of my life, though. Already I've connected with a bunch of people on facebook, and we get to talk that way.
This has truly been another adventure. God has blessed me, and I hope that he blessed those in Uruguay through me. Thank you to all that have been a part of this journey with me. May God bless you like you have blessed me. <3
