Time to go! I am finishing some last minute emailing and packing, but I am ready... really ready. I have my passport, airline tickets, Spanish books, bilingual Bibles, sunscreen and bug repellent loaded into a tiny roller suitcase which is bursting with everything I will possess for 6 months.
Here is how this crazy trip came about:
When I first decided to go to Chile, it really was a whim. I wanted to travel, go somewhere new (originally to more comfort-zone-friendly Australia), meet new people (who spoke English)... then I asked God what He wanted me to do. He always has a better answer! He put me in a job where I could learn more Spanish in one week than I ever learned in high school, and I became friends with so many incredible people working there. So I asked God for some opportunities to tell them who He is, and He opened more doors than I could follow through with (keep praying for my friends there and visit them at Los Arroyos if you're in SB!) It has been so amazing to see God working there in the personal relationships I formed there - He has His eye on some hearts there He wants for His own!
The harder I tried to apply for YWAM bases in Australia, the more rejection emails I got (those seem to be much more popular for American and European YWAMers and fill up faster), so some friends named Tricia and Kevin asked me why I wasn't going on a DTS to a Spanish-speaking country since God had obviously been laying it on my heart to learn Spanish for some reason and giving me witnessing opportunities with my Mexican friends. I didn't have a good answer to give them, so I applied. The first base to get back to me was Pichilemu, so I confirmed. And in the following month and a half, I quit my job, said bye to Reality and my Sunday School class I have taught on and off for four years, moved out of my cozy Santa Barbara apartment I have shared with the best roommates ever, said bye to my friends and family in San Diego who made me who I am today, and I am heading off to a small surf town in Chile where I know absolutely no one, have no idea what it will be like there, what the food is like, where I will be living... but I wouldn't have it any other way. I do know I will have internet there, so I will try to keep you updated.
I feel like the journey has already begun though: God has also been preparing my heart in so many ways through my women's prayer with Reality (thanks girls! keep praying for me please!) and my insanely awesome Reality HomeGroup (don't forget to adopt me!). He has given people around me some really powerful visions and words of encouragement that keep my eyes focused on Him, but they also reveal to me that this is something bigger than just a simple 6-month foreign exchange vacation. He has begun a motion in my heart towards missions and the Latino countries I am headed and I don't know if it will look more like the classrooms full of Spanish-speaking students I have been teaching back in SB or something entirely new and different in a new and different place, but it's all part of the journey towards finding where He wants to use me. And the surprises and twists along the way are so much more fun!! I keep saying this is like a romantic getaway the Lord is taking me on, away from all the distractions of day-to-day life where I can really fall in love... with Him, with His Word, with prayer, with the culture and language and people there, with life!
So to answer the questions I have been asked over and over: :)
-I don't know yet where I am going on my outreach. I will tell you when I know... It will be with a DTS team of ten or so others from my base in Pichilemu.
-I speak only conversational Spanish... but I'm not afraid to make a fool of myself and ask a million questions so I hope to learn quickly!
-I am coming back to San Diego July 1st, then back to Santa Barbara for the fall. Absolutely no job plans yet.
-I will be traveling around Chile and neighboring countries on some free weekends and the tail-end of my trip in June.. any destination suggestions or travel companionship offers?
-Yes, I can surf. I am not very good. At all. But I can!
-And yes, there are llamas that hang out on the black-sand beaches there. No, I don't think I am allowed to ride llama-back. But that doesn't mean I won't try.
Love you all!
We miss you already B, and prayed for you at prayer on Monday night!! There is a Brooke shaped hole in the heart of this apartment. (I'm planning to write a song with that title). If you find a way to ride the llamas, give me a call and I will come join you.
ReplyDeleteI love you so much! xx