My out of place space

cosas que pasaron

2006-05-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

Well, as not much has been happening...i guess i'll just do the same thing that i did last time, tell you funny stuff i've seen, that's included in the culture here. WEll, i went to town the other day and saw something pretty hilarious...mixed in with all the trafic of cars, mopeds and bicycles with two people on them (not tandems...btw, just regular bicycles, with a person sitting on the handlebars) there was a man going down the road in a wheelchair...one of those electic ones. He was obeying all the laws, which is as far as i know just includes stopping at red lights. But it was really funny to see that. I didn't have my camera with me, but it reminded me that i should be carrying my camera more. The other comical thing that happened concerns traffic laws here again. I was riding with this pastor to a church a few weeks back and he said, "hey, here's something you can't do in your country..." and he threw a glass bottle through the window...on the driver's side. I told him that we could do it if we wanted to trash our country and get a fine at the same time...he responded..."See, i told you argentina was better, you don't get in trouble for it here." *sigh* south american thinking...gotta love it. Now, if your south american...don't get mad at me...i know if hadn't made that comment you would have made it yourself. It's okay..i'm not making fun...tranquilizate. WEll, that's all i got. Sorry it's short but, it's better short that long with nothing to say. If you guys will put some good comments, maybe i'll have somethign to write about...cuz nothign happens here. Oh tests are next week...and i found a really good alfajor...Argentina's junkfood. I'll bring some back so that you can try. thanks for reading. that's it...ima go..chau.

I have another story to tell, which happened one week ago from today. Monday the 1st of MAy. I went to work in the morning, just like anyother day. And they sent us to get chemicals. Where we work they keep the cleaning chemicals diluted and in small porportions and when they run out, they tell send people to go get it for them, from this building where there in giant drums and concentrated. In that building there's one bucket and one funnel, to use for all of the chemicals. Maybe i'll go take a picture and post it later so you can understand better. But anyway, We were supposed to fill up the lavandina (some type of cloric acid) and detergente (detergent-in case you didn't know what the spanish word was ;) ) Those two chemicals mixed make a chemical reaction that disolves metal and produces toxic gas. We filled up the container of detergent first and we started to pour the clorine type stuff into the bucket (which had a little bit of detergente in it...a little more than a little, it turned out) and the reaction started. WE were like, bueno, we'll just leave until it stops. So we left for about 15 minutes and i re-entered and picked up the bucket and asked "where do we pour this stuff" -famous last words. I took in my last breath for the next 30 seconds. My throat started to burn and close up and i was putting as much effort as possible to get air but it wouldn't go in. After 30 seconds (i'm guessing around there) i could begin to take litte breaths, but it hurt. THey were so little though that i couldn't get sufficiant oxygen so i would try to take deep breaths but when i did, i would cough for another 10 seconds. And we all know that while your caughing you can't really breath. So it was little short breaths, giving me barely any oxygen or one semi-deep breath every 10 secs. The lack of oxygen made me tired and my vision darkened in various moments. This went on for about 20 minutes before we finally decided that it would be a good idea to go to the medical center. They did the usual shot in the butt and a pill and they put me on a resperator for some time. After about an hour or so there they told me i could leave when i was ready. So i left, because i had studying to do. I had respiratory problems for the rest of the day...and that's the story. Yep, i was scared. Nope, i didn't die. Yes, i'm fine now. I won't be playing with chemicals anytime soon. Thanks for reading...more. Chau.

an update, por fin!

2006-04-13T16:33:00.000-05:00

Not much has been happening lately, but classes will have started by the time i post this. I'll be studying Christian life 1 and Discipled Evangelism...en español of course. Since not much has been going on, i figured i'd tell you a story that happened to my friend here. His name is Tim..and he had an on-going headache so he went to the medical center. The doctor sent him to town by himself (oh, he doesn't speak spanish THAT well, by the way) to talk to a doctor there who would subscribe him medicine. So Tim's trying to explain himself to a doctor who ends up just giving him some pills and charges him medicine. I don't know about you, but that sounds dangerous because he could have not named the symptoms right. Then, when he came back to campus the doctor told him to get into his underwear and wait on him. Tim did, and when the doctor came back he stuck 9 pins in him...one in each wrist, each ankle, and three just above his crotch...the lower stomach area. And left him there with the door open in his office for like 30 minutes..just laying there. The doctor didn't ask him if he wanted to do it...or even tell him what he was doing, he just did it. I laughed...maybe if he had told you the story you would have too...but it was soo funny. They do things different here, what more can i say? OK, well i have to go wash dishes, so i'll be back...ok, so i'm back. I remembered something else. As most of you know, they have this drink here, called the "mate"..if you don't know what it is, just google it, you'll learn enough that way. But anyway, Here, one way to prepare a mate is to put coca leaves in it...and one of the churches i went on ministery sold them. (because the church is held in a kiosco...a sortof candy/nick nack stores. Sortof like pete's grocery, if your from Tobaccoville) Anyway, so me and my friend peter are getting coca leaves for our mate soon..from a church...wierd huh. Oh, incase you didn't realize, coca leaves are what they make cocain out of...and i think that if they were selling those in a church in the united states..somebody would have problems with it. So that's why i thought it was funny. the end. Thanks for reading. Chau

Campaña

2006-03-22T12:27:00.000-05:00

WElp, the campaign is over and there's now nothing left to do but school work. The campaign went very well. I got to witness for the very first time in spanish, and God even blessed me with the privelege of leading a 17 year old guy to Him. It was amazing. It's only been about 6 months since i've known the alphabet in spanish and now God's blessed me with the words to bring people to Him. The people here seen to have no problem letting their kids walk away with strangers and not come back for hours. We went door to door asking kids in this really poor area of the town if they wanted to come to this thing at the field in the town square. There we had games and food and then the gospel was presented and people like me and others from the bilingual program shared with the kids. It was really neat, although i feel like alot of the kids came just for the food, knowing that they'd have to listen to a message. One of the kids, however went back home with someone from my class and that person got to share Crist with the kid's mom, who ended up recieving Christ as her Savior and Lord. The saddest thing is that we probably won't get to see the fruits of our labors until we get to heaven. I was in a traveling group, that went to a different church every day, so i didn't get to see that kid again that i lead to Christ...which saddened me, as it should i guess anyone. I think that one of the biggest problems in the church is a lack of discipleship. People get saved and have no idea where to go from there...some might not even know to go to the church and seek discipleship. Like this kid, for example, had never even heard of Jesus and His sacrifice, much less about growing through prayer and reading the bible and fellowship with believers. Well, basicly, i learned alot, and was blessed emensly (sp?). Thank you everyone for your prayers and for reading...i'm out for now. God bless you all.

Back

2006-03-07T15:12:00.000-05:00

Well, i've made it back. After 40 hours of bus rides i'm still living and all is well. I had some great times, saw some wonderful views, and ate some great food. Actually, i ate the best chocolate that i've ever eaten and ate the best hamburger that i've ever eaten and done the hardest hike of my life...all which i can say were done in the andes mountains. It could have happened anywhere, but it didn't, it happened in the andes. So now i can say, so yea..that time when i was mountain biking down the andes...or rock climbing in the andes....or eating icecream in the andes. It's just a cool claim. But really, i had a great time and took some great pictures. Be sure to check some of them out. When i get back home, i can show you all more, but until then, you'll have to do with the ones at the bottom of this page. Right now, were in the month of march. (That's right, the months here are the same as the months in your country!) And i thought this was going to be a really long and boring month...but now i see my errors. We've been given this book "ahora que creo" (now that i believe) and we have to read it and write a book report...so that should take up a large part of this free time i have on my hands. Also, i have to be preparing for this evangelistic campaign that were going on here in a few weeks. I'll put more updates on that campaign thing later. Basically, were going to be door to door witnessing...which is hard, for me, not knowing all that much spanish. I mean, i know alot considering how long i've been studying, but it's still going to be tough. So if you think about it, pray for me, and the others who are going to be with me and those who we'll be talking to. At the end of this month, I'll be halfway done with this 6 month segment, and starting the Bible institute...bible classes..in spanish. I'm really excited about that. It's coming fast. Other short news: i got a cell phone, but it charges me for incoming calls...which it shouldn't, so i'll have to call an oporator and try and get that fixed...another interesting situation. I've talked on the phone in spanish before...and believe me, it's alot harder that in person...b/c you can't see hand signals or facial expressions. So, we'll just wait and see how that goes. Ok, well, i'm out..check out the pictures...and feel free to comment, and ask questions if you want...i love hearing them. I miss you all. Chau.

http://photobucket.com/albums/d64/jaycleary/Pichi/ --photos

Vamos por micro

2006-02-17T13:36:00.000-05:00

This saturday, i begin the longest bus ride of my life....probably forever. Unless of course the one one the way back is longer. I'll be sure to take several pictures while there in the south. I'll select the best to post, but i'll take more, so if you want to see, you can buy a cd for just a mere ...jusk kidding. But you will have to wait until i get home. There, there should be mountain biking, rock climbing, white water rafting, and those tobogan things that slide down a mountain. I don't really know what there called, but they're cool. I'm going to pass my 19th birthday down there...so i get to say, i spent my 19th birthday in the andes....cool claim, i s'pose. I'm not really going to say much about that, because i'll want to write about it AFTER it happens.
Cool things going on: I'm learning spanish very quickly. I spend almost all my time speaking spanish. I hate when i have to spend time with north americans because i feel like i'm wasteing time. Because when we're together we rarely speak spanish together. My vocabulary, is still pretty bad, since i didn't study before hand...but my speaking and understanding is pretty good, considering i leaned my first word in spanish 5 months ago, plus i had a month break in there. I'm able to talk about my quiet time with my friends and listen to them share stuff with me from the bible and their quiet times. I'm able to listen to the sermons and take notes and i've even starting to learn to play songs in spanish on guitar. I can't wait to come home knowing how to sing in spanish. Of course, i'm saying all of this to update, not to brag...so...if it didn't seem so, i appologize. Also, i'm finally able to express my self and my personality through this crazy language. 99% of phrases that we have in english dont translate, so i'm having to learn new ones, or make them up. But yea, this is amazing. I can't wait to see what God's going to do. If you think about it...pray for me, that i'd have direction in my life, some sort of goal. Or, that i would quit worrying about it. Recently, i've really wanted to know His plan for after this program ends. But, praise God, i'm just following Him day by day, and He's led me here, so i'll serve Him here, until He leads elsewhere. Alright, more updates after Pichi Traful. Oh yea, pictures are available. Check them out here: http://photobucket.com/albums/d64/jaycleary/Nuevas/

Shorty

2006-02-08T14:28:00.000-05:00

Less than two weeks and i go on a 24 hour bus ride to Pichi Traful. Wow! Long ride....but i´ve heard it´s more than worth it. It´s in the andes mountains...and i´ve heard it´s beautiful. Spanish is progressing well, but some guys want me to edit this short show series there making, and if i do, i´m not going to get to practice my spanish as much, so i´m debating about editing all of it. It takes about an hour of editing per minute of video, or more. Probably 2:1 would be more appropriate. But yea, i´m progressing, so that´s good. I´m able to read the bible in spanish, get stuff out of the sermons (not in it´s entirity) and can talk about things of God with my friends in spanish. I still want to go home, but i know when i´m done, and am bilingual, it will have been worth the sacrifices made. I got a package from the whitmans....i´ve almost consumed everything in the box...minus the package materials...if it can kill fish, it probably can hurt me. Well, that´s it for now, it´s time to try to get a cell phone, for the 3rd...or is it 4th...time. Chau. I miss you all. Yes even you...the one in the chair, shaking your head. Yes, even you.

hold (hot-cold)

2006-01-31T13:12:00.000-05:00

Things here are hot. Well, not today nor the day before. They've actually been cold. But when i started to write this, things were extreamly HOT. 10 guys in a room that sleeps 7, really the size for 2-3, with argentina's summer heat with the window and door closed...stinks. In odor and figuratively. Since i work late at night and come in from the fairly decent air outside..it's an amazingly rapid change when i walk into my room, which reaks of men-sweat. I shower cold and by the time i've made it back to my bed, i'm sweating again. I wake up in the morning and peel off the sheets. (Why does he use sheets if it's so hot?) I peel them off my back, which were under me. Then i preceed to take another cold shower. But now..it's so cold that i wish i hadn't packed my comfortor away in "EL deposito." you can figure out what it does. Just remove the last 'o'. The weather here is so wierd. Nothing else is really all that different. Most of the gringo's have gotten there work changed out of mayodormia(bathroom cleaning), leaving just me as the only whitey there. I guess they can't take it. They said it's because they don't get enough sleep, but that's just an excuse. There are several girls that have it in the bilingual program, with the exact same schedules, maybe even more strenous(sp?), that make it, by taking naps. They do it, i do it...why can't these guys? I dunno. But i do praise God because by them leaving, i'll have to speak even more spanish, because i'm the only guy that knows english there. That's GREAT! I do remember asking God in a prayer to give me more opportunities to learn spanish, i guess this is it. We'll be a little understaffed until some people change in to help us...but praise God anyway, right? Of course! Today, Jan, 31st, I'm going to a birthday party of this girl here. She "completes her 19th year" this day. That's how it would be said in spanish, for birthday. (Which actually makes alot more since that birthday, if you think about it. Don't you really only have "one" birthday? The day you were born? Whatever...) The cool thing is that i get to play guitar for her b-day, err..completed year. I'm really excited because last semester i played the guitar like once...this semester, which has only begun, i've played it almost everyday. Jesus, You Rock!!! Thanks to you too, lee, for sending me the music. I'm learning songs in spanish on guitar, too. In my opinion, worship songs in spanish are prettier than the ones in english. I know thats not important, but it's my opinion. Most of the songs are just translated english praise songs, but everyonce and a while you'll find a brand new latino praise song- and they sound great..with excelent words, might i add. Well, i beleive that's it for now. Cell phone still doesn't work right. Getting a new one Thursday. Moustache still coming along. Slowly but surely. Alright chicos y chicas, I'm out...chau!

1/12.5th of the way there

2006-01-25T12:34:00.000-05:00

I've been here for two weeks (at least from when i'm writing this, it might be a few days before ya'll get it, that is if people read this thing) and i've got stuff happening to blog about actually. First, there was a tornado...see picture. The thing never actually touched ground nor would it have been dangerous if it had. But this picure is what i've always dreamed a tornado would look like. Funnel cloud in the background and some cows grazing in the foreground...it's great. So wizard-of-ozzy. No worries, they don't get tornadoes here, so...i'm safe.
...from tornadoes...except i'm not safe from armed bank robbers. Wait! what's he saying? is he being random again? NOpe, its true. One of the campers came here with a gun with the intention of robbing the bank here on campus and shooting a few people to get away. Not such a smart guy, if you knew the location of the school...a good mile from town...and everything else. He wouldn't have a getaway vehicle either because you have to call a cab to leave here, and then wait for about 15 minutes. Unless he had a fully automatic gun with a couple thousand rounds, he would have no chance in getting away. In case you couldn't tell by the conditional tense of my words...he didn't do it. He instead got saved and through his gun in the lake and gave a testimony of God's grace! How cool?!? That's right, pretty darn. God's arm is not too short to save anyone! Other things of notice, i live with a guy from france...he's going to be starting the first year at the same time i do...in april...by the way, while i was writing that, he came over here and reminded me how wierd he was. I've never met a wierder man, if i had the microphone set up, i'd record him right now...it sounds something like pewr pwer pewr puh puh...say it loud and repetitively and i think you'll have the idea. But it's funny because he knows about the same amount of spanish as i do. But he knows zero english and i know zero french, so we talk in spanish. How wierd, i know. But it's cool. Last: I'm growing a mustache...which i'm really bad at, since all my hair grows on my butt....chin. As in my butt-chin. It was just some random thing that a couple guys decided to do, since we're allowed to have mustaches, but no other form of facial hair. I think they do this because no one really grows mustaches anymore, and that way it makes them look more liberal than they really are. But the problem is that 80% of the people growing the things shaved them off...but i'm going to endure. I have 5 more weeks to grow it, then you'll recieve a picture. Just thought you'd like to know. I'm done blahing...imean blogging. Chau

ultra vez

2006-01-19T12:56:00.000-05:00

There for a while i was ready to pack my bags and come home. God's finally broke me and i'm appreciative of his provision for getting me here, instead of hating it. Something i guess we need to learn in everything that we don't like. God went through a lot of work to get me here. (well, it wasn't alot for Him, but He made many improvisions). I'm excited to see how/what He's going to teach me through this time. I'm getting a cell phone soon, so that means, if you want to buy a phone card and pay several dimes a minute, you can give me a call. Ofcourse, if i dont know you...then don't worry about it, but if i do, ask someone like my mom or kayla or andywhitman. If you don't know them, sorry for wasting 6 seconds while you read it. In mayordormia (that's the spanish word for my work, you know, where we clean bathrooms) I'm making something special for all of you. It should be ready in the next couple of weeks, and hilarious. I have a free day on thursday from cleaning, so i might finish it then. I have a question for you guy(and girls) back at home. What would be easier for you...to put this "mystery project" in a powerpoint for you all to see, or make it as a video? As a powerpoint it will take up less space...but not everyone has powerpoint..i dont think. In a video, to get it to a reasonable size, i'd have to reduce the quality alot, but everyone could see it. What are the votes...powerpoint, or video? OH speaking of videos, i'm also going to make a video here and edit it and send it home. Don't be jealous brad, ben, lee, and adrian...ya'll are my number one....sss...err...number fours? I dunno! Just don't worry, you arn't being replaced. ANd of course, josh and morgan, the camera boy and computer girl. If you don't know what i'm talking about, go here: www.yield2him.org/media and check out persecution. While your there you should look around a bit. Especially check out the home page. Things to note: 1) I got a haircut...and it looks....shorter 2) I made a C on my first test back. 3) Don't buy argentine cabinets...they stink!
Last things..most important too: My friend met some mormans last time he went to town who are here on a two year mission trip. Apparently all mormans do this and the 2nd largest Morman temple in the world is in Buenos Aires...1.5 hours from here. They speak english, and him and another guy have a meeting tomorrow with them. Since it will have already happened by the time you read this, you can't be praying that God works in their hearts still. As you can see, there are oportunities to witness everywhere, even when you don't speak the language. Don't wait for opportunities, make them. Tell the world! Have a good day, i'm out.

It´s getting better

2006-01-15T12:35:00.000-05:00

Hello world, i'm writing this at 7.10, Argentime(get it?) on Saturday. I say that because i probably wont put it on the internet until a few days later. I've just got some cool/uncool things to blog about. I guess i should have just said things. ANYWAYS! A cool thing happened while i was working. My friends who work with me were dancing while we were getting supplies...that's right, dancing. And this kid, i forgot his name (b/c it's hispanic & and i'm bad enough with english ones), saw them while he was "escaping through the window." At least that's what he told us. Anyway, to make a long story shoter...not short, but shorter...he ended up talking to us and helping us clean all of the bathrooms, just because he wanted to serve. I got to ask him about his relationship with Christ, and it turns out to be really good and he tries to do everything for Him. So it really inspired me to shut up and work. He wants to study at palabra de vida when he gets older. I forgot to mention, he's 15. But yea, it was nice to have the help, and to get to meet the kid to. He worked so hard, and nothing fazed(sp?) him. He cleaned those bathrooms like there was no tomorrow. (whatever that means) Basically, he cleaned well, and thoroughly. It was also cool to be able to see how his walk with the Lord was...in spanish. The other story is this: the day before, instead of having to clean bathrooms, we had to move chair/desk combos about a quarter mile. You know, the kind of desk-chairs they have in most schools? Yea, well, they're really awkward to carry, and there were 500 of them. And 1/4 mile is really far. They do things really inefficiantly in this country, because this would be the 3rd time i've moved those things from somewhere to somewhere else. I promise you i'm not complaining, i just thought it was hilarious how inefficiantly they do EVERYthing in this country. Also, it made me realize that there were worse things than cleaning bathrooms everyday for 6 weeks- carrying chairs, everyday for 6 weeks. I want to go back by there and get some pictures of how many chairs 500 is. We only moved half, because they ran out of time to make us work. Me encanta argentina. No, realmente, está bien, pero extraño mucho a ustedes. Last things...check out these pictures from the trip here. I thought they were pretty sweet...and i bought a memory stick so that i can do things like this, so i thought i'd use it. I'm not sure yet how i'll put them on, they might be hosted at my picture sight. I'll be sure to let you know how to see them, if i don't post them on my webpage. I think i fogot where i keep my pictures. If that's the case, you might have to wait for these pictures that i'm lying about. (remember, i have to blog a few days ahead of when you can see it. Alright, chau amigos!!!

ok, go here- http://photobucket.com/albums/d64/jaycleary/
nvm, i couldn´t post them here, without it looking wierd. plus i don´t have time to try and figure it out.

Another Phase

2006-01-11T13:42:00.000-05:00

I´m now here in Argentina, once again. It´s my job to clean bathrooms, once again. And i´m having communication problems, once again. Things are pretty different. Everyone here, just about, is a camper, and only here for a week. Because of that, there´s a very bad stealing problem, and you have to guard your things closely. The rooms have 3 more people in them than they´re designed to hold, and, therefore, crowded. I don´t really have anywhere to put my stuff.
>ok, that´s it for the bad. The good is, i´m where God want's me and i can't get home, so i'm trying to make the best of it. I miss home alot, especially my mother and father and my good friends. The inconvienences of being here wouldn't be bad at all if i had you guys here, that's my only problem. I'm increadibly blessed to have a God-loving family and God-loving friends. I praise Him for you all. Keep me in your prayers, and email me and tell me what happens. I might not respond right away, and if you ask things like "how's argentina?" and that's it, i might not respond. But i'm going to do my best to communicate with you all back home. It's just increadibly difficult. I love you all, if you don't know my email address, get it from kayla, or adrian, or my mother. I'd post it here, but that i would hate to have to take what little time i have filtering through spam. Thank you all!!!
Chau

a hope

2006-01-02T01:04:00.000-05:00

I hope that this next trip to argentina will result in posts that have more of these:

<-Mr. Whitman, my pal. I know he looks psycotic here, but he's always like that.

that's right...pictures. Actually, i tried to upload more, but it's really complicated. Basically, if you want to see the pictures i've uploaded, just check out http://photobucket.com/albums/d64/jaycleary/

Update

2005-11-14T13:57:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone. If there is still anyone who checks this thing. I´m sorry for the terrible update pattern. This is how things go when you attend school in another country, it´s a little difficult. Anyway, things here are pretty good and I´m learning spanish pretty quickly. As far as gramatics and accent, i do pretty well, but my vocabulary is horrific. I´m trying, but the only way to improve vocab is to practice and study.
Contrary to popular belief: i will be returning home this summer...or winter for you guys. I´ll have one month before i have to fly back down here. I´m planning on leaving a suit case´s worth of stuff here and bringing back more clothes because the winter (starting in april) is going to be rather tough. I´m meeting alot of people here...the latino´s are wonderful. I am psyched about learning the language to a level where i can have some really good latino friends. But right now...there only sortof close. I´m thinking about living in a spanish speaking country for a year...maybe. Seriously. Several people here have told me that they would let me stay with them for free, and that they´d help me find work. This would be great for my spanish improvement and to help me understand the culture of hispanic americans better (ie. everyhispanic person minus those from spain...más o menos)
One more note. A guy came here from the united states with a church called Woodstock baptist...supposedly its a big church in georgia. but i´ve never heard of it. haha. w-e. Anyway, he came here because the church is involved with sending missionaries to the middle east. And it´s next to impossible to send missionaries there from the United states because of our color. But a latino would have no problem. To make a long story short-er...my roommate is seriously considering being one of those missionaries. He´s fluent in english, french and spanish and is certified to teach. This would make him an excelent person to go over there. I ask that you pray for him concerning this. His name is Andrés Herrera, from mexico. He´s a swell guy who i know that if he went, would honestly enhance the kingdom of God. How cool would it be to say, I roomed with this guy who´s a missionary in the Middle east? pretty cool, i know.
well thats all for now, i´ll try to get back soon.

Dificult moments

2005-10-12T15:19:00.000-05:00

I'm sorry to tell you all that i'm not able to post like i was in past. Someone took advantage of the privelege we had of using the internet and got it taken away. So in the mean time i'm unable to write everyone as i was in the past. Forgive me. I'll still be calling my parents about every other week so if you want to make sure i'm still living, you can call them.
Special notes to people:
Adrian + Kayla: i'm sorry i havn't written.
Adrian: answer your phone
Mom: I wrote you a nice email but i can't send it...maybe in a few weeks to a month...otherwise i'll show it to you in december
Dad: happy early birthday, i love you
Grandma + Grandfather: I got your letters yesturday, thank you so much for them
PJ(papa jim): I hope you got my email...i have no way of checking for now.

I'm having a great time..keep me in your prayers when you think about it.

in HIM, jayson cleary

Palarmo

2005-09-27T15:13:00.000-05:00

The trip to Palermo in Buenos Aires for the Day of the Student went very well. About 400 students from the bible institute went on buses to the Capitol of Argentina and broke up into about 10 groups and spread out over Palermo (= to time square…only bigger). In each group there were about 4 open-air preachers (in spanish) and everyone else went and street witnessed. At the end of the day, 1477 people had made a first time decision for Christ as their Savior. Praise GOD! I personally didn’t get to lead anyone to Christ, but that’s quite alright with me. Everyone here, well, almost everyone, is Catholic. I’d say about 90% of the population...which was just seconded by my roommate. It was quite an experience. I’m sorry i didn’t get any pictures taken, but i sort of like my camera.

The PBB (bilingual bible program aka. the English speaking students) have gotten their work and sports assignments. I have mayordomia which is like house keeping. On Friday i cleaned all the men’s bathrooms and Saturday i moped and waxed some floors. It’s not too bad…actually i think it’s the easiest job to have here. However, it is sort of gross when you have to sweep up toilet paper because there’s no trash can in the stall. In most south American countries, the plumbing isn’t good enough to flush toilet paper, so they put it in the trash can next to the toilet, however, sometimes there isn’t a trashcan and then it just goes on the floor. You may all smile now J. I’ll write more as more happens, comment some prayer requests if you’d like and keep me connected with you all through prayer. Chao!

Cultural things

2005-09-19T11:57:00.000-05:00

I went to Buenos Aires and that was pretty cool, i got some pictures, but nothing too special. I wanted to get some more but the group i was in was in such a hurry that i couldn't do much. I'm thinking about staying back a few weeks at the end of the year and to some tourist things while here…it’s sorta expensive to fly back. About BA: There's this building that's the equivalent to the US's white house and it's painted pink. The story behind it is that there were two major political parties that ran for office, and they alligned themselves with either white or red. Every time the other party was elected, they painted the house their party's color. Then this one man got elected, (i forgot his name), and he said he wanted to be the representative of all of argentina, and he painted it pink. And it's been that way ever since. neat story, eh? BA was huge, and the street we walked down was called florida street, a severe tourist trap, never the less, a pretty neat place. At some point along the way we went into a food court and i got me some protein. (did i mention that we eat hardly any meat at this place?) Yea so anyway i got me some meat in the form of a really large burger. Jeremy ordered for me so i wouldn’t get ripped off for not knowing the language. (a thing you gotta watch out for)

The day before the Buenos Aires trip we went to that ranch that i wrote about. It was pretty neat. We learned about the land of Argentina (which is extreamly flat) and cattle farming and some other things. I learned that on this particular farm that there were 2.5 acres per cow...which allows for not having to add things to the diet, making it very natural. In the united states, they put more cattle on less land, sometimes as many as 100 on one acre and therefore have to add nutrients through supplimental foods. Afterward we had an awesome dinner with some of the finest beef around...sloughtered just days before. The meat here is sort of fatty, but if you learn to just eat it with the fat, you'll enjoy it alot more. I wish there was some way i could bring some argentine beef back stateside, but it prolly won’t happen.

Remember Josue?? my roommate? Well he’s even cooler than i thought. On Thursday night we broke bread and shared testimonies through a translator and i learned that josue is studying so that he can go back and serve in his church back in Bolivia. He also said that he is praying for me that i can learn the language quickly so that he and i can have in depth conversations with me and we can study the bible and pray together. I’m excited about this. A lot of the people in the bilingual program (the ones who speak English) are not very encouraging or edifying. I’m praying that it changes but if not, that’s okay because not associating with them as much will help my spanish a lot more. But all this is to say, i’m excited to learn Spanish so that i can have a cool relationship with josue. Well, i shall update as the week progresses, and be praying about Wednesday for when we have that first day of spring evangelism thing. Thank you all for all your prayers.

First post from S.A.

2005-09-15T15:42:00.000-05:00

I know i know..it's been a really long time since i last updated this thing, but it's okay because now i have cool stuff to talk about since for the next year i'll be living in Argentina, S.A. I wasn't able, nor will i be able to stick to the format i sugested a while back because of timing issues. sorry.

So what's going on?? Well life here is good...cold, but good. Today i had my first spanish class and i love it. It'll take me a while to catch up to everyone else in there with me, considering i've had no exposure to spanish, but esta todo bien! (it's all good). I wanna tell you about the people i've met here and how awesome they are. for readability, i'll give them all a paragraph.

First there's Josue, my room mate. (who just left the room btw). he's awesome. He's from Bolivia and speaks very little english, though more than i do spanish. Somehow, we have great conversations...not deep, just good- and we end up laughing at each other a lot. I can tell he's going to be one of the main people that i learn Spanish through, and i can't wait to have in depth conversations with him.

Next there's Jeremy…he's a New Zealander who’s only known the LORD for about 1 year. I love this guy, and not just because of his wicked cool accent. He’s a very edifying person and i’m blessed every time i talk to him. He spent 3 months in Argentina during the summer (opposite from North America’s) and therefore is pretty fluent in Spanish...not entirely, but he can speak it well. He’s teaching me a lot too, and telling me about cultural things that are important that i’ll hopefully bring back with me.

that’s it for people for now; i’ll give you more bio’s as things come along. More about Palabra de Vida (Word of Life)

I live outside of a town called Monte, which is where all the students go for most of their free time. It’s a thirty minute walk or a 2 peso taxi ride. In town you’ll see most people either walking or riding unlicensed mopeds down the one-way streets. I’ll put some pictures up hopefully of Monte soon. About 40 minutes away is the capitol of the country. Were going there on Saturday and it’s going to be great. Then were going again next Wednesday for something that’s like the US’s Labor Day. And there’s going to be about a million people in the square (like NY’s time square) partying and drinking and what not. And Word of life is going there and we’re gonna do a bit of open air evangelism and street witnessing. They said that in years past that they’ve seen as many as 600 first time decisions for Christ. I won’t get to be too much of a part of that, due to the language barrier, but perhaps one day. If any of you read this, be in prayer for that; thanks. Tomorrow/Friday, i’ll be going to this ranch type place where we’ll ride horses, have a cook out and play games…i’m excited about that. that’s it for now...more to come. Chao!

Acts 1

2005-03-18T23:51:00.000-05:00

Introduction: Acts is a book that simply shows the fulfillment of the words of God through Jesus Christ. In this book we will see some awesome accounts of certain individuals getting empowered by the Holy Spirit and doing great works that further the Kingdom of Heaven. Written by Luke, the only gentile writer of the bible, he focuses much on the historical events that happened during the 30 some years after Jesus' death.

v3. Our faith rests on solid facts. When Jesus presented Himself resurrected to the world by many infallible proofs He showed that He was alive to several people. This is a believers standing point that Jesus is the Son of God. If we don't know this as fact then what do we have? nothing. There will be several places in the future in the book of Acts that I'll focus more on this.

v5. This should be proof enough that Salvation doesn't come from being immersed in water. If so, then why would Jesus have commanded here for further action? (Ref: Matt 3:11) Here also is a promise from Jesus directly which we get to see come true. Not many days from now is a great promise. Jesus is God and for only that reason could He know that the Holy Spirit is coming.

v8. you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you can be said negated, too. If we aren't covered in the Spirit, that third person of God that we often neglect, then we are powerless. But with that power, the disciples were able to be witnesses all over the world..try doing that in your own power. I also see this verse here as a command to tell the world about Christ. When you are a witness in court, what do you do? You tell what you know about the situation. A common misconception about sharing your faith is that many people think they have to know a lot. You are just simply telling what you know. But if you want to know more there are some great BIBLICAL techniques here: www.raycomfort.com

v11. A promise that our LORD will return...and in a pretty neat way, too!

v13,14 is a good example of obedience. I'm pretty sure that those who had just watched Jesus ascend into heaven wanted to go out and tell the world immediately. But as commanded in v4 by Jesus they had to wait for the promise of the Spirit. Again, this shows our helplessness without the Spirit working in the background. (He's not background by choice...we've pushed Him there-don't forget to thank God for sending His Spirit, His Helper, to..well, help us.)

v15. Peter takes charge of the group and lays out the plan. Sometimes the reason that no one steps up to be a leader is because God wants that leader to be you...or me. A hundred and twenty men had become faithful followers of Christ by this time.

The next several verses Peter talks about the fulfillment of a prophecy done by Judas Iscariot.
v18,19 Seems to mean that the rope Judas hung himself with broke and his body fell and left a mess on the ground below-a terrible death. This event made such an impact that the people of Jerusalem named the area after him: Akel Dama.

v20 the two quotes out of the Book of Psalms comes from 69:25 and 109:8 respectively. The first speaks of the area where Judas' body rests and that no one would ever live there. The latter is scripture that the position of one who works evil and is removed by God is to be replaced. While losing a member of the body is hard to take and very painful-it is important to replace that part to continue on with the mission laid before us: bringing others to Him.

v21,22 are the criteria for the replacement of the 12th disciple. He must have been an eye witness to the resurrection and had to have followed Jesus from the time he was baptized-Jesus' entire ministry. Therefore, there must have been more than just God's chosen twelve following Jesus around the entire time. Why Jesus focused on them I don't know, but Judas filled many prophecies from the that proved that Jesus was the Messiah. (The thirty pieces of silver is my favorite-Zechariah 11:12) I don't know much-but I know God had a purpose.

Casting lots was a Jewish custom that would determine God's chosen. Two tablets were put in a jar and shaken until the one chosen by God fell out. If God is sovereign, which He is, then everything is under His control. So there's no such thing as random...His hand is always in it.

v26 Matthias is now the new twelveth disciple, chosen between himself and Joseph(or Barsabas)-Chosen by God. We are God's Chosen. Just think on that for a second and feel blessed that even as detestable our actions are, God's grace overshadows it all because He loved enough to pay the price for us. AMEN!

New format

2005-03-18T23:46:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, the LORD laid on my heart something that I'm going to struggle to do. Instead of using my blog to post things about me, I will be using it to post my personal Bible studies; so that I can keep track of the things I learn and it will be easily available from anywhere and to anyone, so they can be blessed by it. I will make no claims to what you can expect...this is just from my heart-which is corrupt by nature-onto the web. Feel free to comment on what you read..I'm learning, just like anyone else.

Account it as a good day

2005-03-01T22:20:00.000-05:00

Today we had accountability group, and that went well. Antendees were: Adrian, Ben, Brad & Josh. Havn't seen Josh here in a while, so...that was nice. If you live near me, and your a guy, then you fit the criteria to come sometime. We share a little from what we learned in our readings (from God's Word) and we share prayer reqests. If you'd like the encouragement, IM me or something and we'll get you plugged in. Tomorrow I submit my application for Advance Auto Parts; I hope I get the job. I really need money, cuz life is expensive. Eternal life is expensive, too, but someone already paid for it. (Jesus of course-all of you who just scratched your head.) I wrote a paper yesterday for Environmental Science and I left a section blank because I couldn't find information on it...well, turns out, that part could be fictional. ARGH. well, that's all I've got. Feel free to comment..it'll give me something interesting to talk about. OH yes..I almost forgot: tomorrow is when we meet our potential youth intern. So pray for that situation (if your into thas kinda thing)..that God's will would be done. DAng, I'm remembering all sorts of stuff. Also I got sent out of Ms. Wallace's class today, for saying "uh-huh" in response to some girl backtalking my friend. Teachers these days!! sheeshz. oh well, Shalom.

My Bday

2005-02-25T23:05:00.000-05:00

Usually I don't get happy about my my birthday, and I probably wont ever again. But today was special. I must give the credit to God..thanks, LORD for this day! But, yea, everything was better than I could imagine. Just the little things, like Ms. Wallace (more on her later) not doing any work in Latin, and adrian giving me a giant sheet of paper to fold up into a popper. Then I went to my best girl friend Kayla's house to get some "money" and it turned out to be a suprise party. So praise God for today. oh, incase you were wondering, it was my 18th birfday(yes, with an 'f'). I might just buy some cigarettes for my dad b/c...well, just b/c I can. I know that all of 2 people read this, and of those two, will be people who I make come here. But I just intend for this to be a place where I give credit where credit is due, and that's God.