last day in Argentina...

Today we leave Argentina and head to Paraguay on a bus for 18 hours. It is kind of a bitter-sweet moment because we are all excited to get to Paraguay and meet our new families and learn what we will be doing for the next 10 months but we are also sad to leave the people we have made connections with here. They have been so great accepting us into their community and families and we are very appreciative of all they've done for us. Sadly, I am not able to communicate my appreciation to them because my Spanish is TERRIBLE! I hope it starts getting better when we get to Paraguay.

When we get to Paraguay on Tuesday at around noon we should be greeted by some people from the church there and then after that, we have no idea what we are going to do. That has seemed to be the theme for this whole journey so far. I think flexibility and just going with whatever happens is something God is really trying to work on with me. (Like going bowling at 3:30 in the a.m. when I'm sick, not a big deal, just go with it :) ) I tend to like a schedule and stick to it and that is not the case here for sure. It has been something I've kind of struggled with this week, and the language barrier doesn't help, but I think if I have the right attitude it will get easier to adjust to! God has a plan and I just have to let him fulfill that plan. :)

I'm nervous to get to our new home because I have been lucky enough to live with one of my teammates, Cara, who is really great and it has been so good to have her here with me. She has been basically translating everything for me and has been able to communicate what I want to say to our family here and I won't have her in Paraguay so I won't be able to communicate very well when we first get there. It's scary! But, I know it will all work out some how. Keep me in your prayers for the language barrier as well as loneliness, it is a strong possibility that will set in once I get to my house by myself. Thanks for all your support and prayers! Miss you all!

Travels to South America...

The last few days have been an adventure for sure. It all started when we left Chicago last Thursday. We flew to Miami and officially left the U.S. at around 10:00pm or so, it was pretty hard b/c it was the last time I was going to be able to just call my family and say hello. So after a few tearful phone calls we got on the very uncomfortable plane ride to La Paz, Bolivia. I didn't sleep much on that 7 hour flight but I lived:) We then sat in the plane in La Paz for an hour or so and flew to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We had no problems when we got there which was surprising b/c we didn't even think we'd be able to get our bags with out issues from the customs people. We were then greeted by our leaders (Isaac's) family. They were so happy to see us and we felt the same. They took us to see the city and out to lunch. It was really cool to see the city we were supposed to be in and eat some of their food. We only knew these people for 3 hours or so and we attached to them really quickly, they are great, it was hard to say goodbye but we got on the plane to head to Argentina!

When we arrived in Argentina we were greeted by the pastor of the church, his son, and another church member. They took us to see the church and the neighborhood and the boys got all settled in and then Cara and I went to the house we are staying at. We are staying at the Pastors house. We quickly had to adjust to the difference in lifestyles here because they don't eat dinner until around 10:00 or 11:00 so that's what we did. We were pretty exhausted but managed to stay awake and get to know our new family a little better. Cara is great at Spanish and has basically been my translator, it's nice! But I am not doing so well with the Spanish, its coming though, I can understand people more than I can actually speak to people.

Our time here so far has been going to the church a lot, singing in the worship team during service and just getting to know the people. They are wonderful, so loving and accepting. One thing I really love about them is how they worship the Lord. The service we went to was four ours long and started at 6:00pm. Even though I didn't understand the language at all I could still feel the Holy Spirit present, it was amazing. I also love that the people don't care at all how they look when they worship. They shout, cry, jump, dance, stand still, anything, and its wonderful. Their love for God is so obvious and it just makes me really happy and makes me want to show God how much I love him and not worry about what other people think around me.

There seems like there is so much more to share but that's all I can write for now. Hope everyone is doing well, I'll try and update more often.

Katie

Last and final change...

Well this has been a crazy week of trying to figure out our plans for this next year! I think they finally came up with a permanent placement for us! YAY! So we leave the U.S. tomorrow afternoon, fly into Bolivia, stay there a couple hours, fly to Argentina, stay there for a week to get our Visa to go to Paraguay as our final stop! This is where we will live and work for the next 10 months! It's crazy but I'm just glad they have found a permanent place for us. The volunteer opportunities sound interesting. We have no idea what we'll be doing but God has a plan for us! I'm excited and nervous to see what it is! Prayers are still greatly appreciated and I will try and update you all as soon as I can after we get to Argentina on Friday. Thanks for your support!
~Katie

Change of plans....

I've only been away from home for less than two weeks and God is already working on making me flexible and showing me how to adapt to new things and rely on him! We are no longer going to Bolivia...they won't let us in at all! Unless some miracle happens! So the plan is to go to Argentina for the first month in hopes that they will have enough for us to do there to stay for the whole year. If we cant stay then we will go to Paraguay for the rest of the time. I'm just trying to remind myself that God has a plan in all of this craziness and it's all going to work out according to what he has set for us. Thanks for your prayers!
~Katie

Prayers please....

So the last few days have been full of deep thought, inward thinking, and just getting to know ourselves and our teams. It has been really great and very interesting to learn all of these things about myself. I've enjoyed it. We've also been able to go around Chicago and see some of the cool sights they have here.  It has been really great.

My team is in need of some prayer. We are not able to enter Bolivia at this time because our Visa's are no longer valid and they are sending MCC people that are there already home. We are unsure of details but it is possible that we will have to go to another country first and then reapply for our visas in that country. I will let you know as best as I can what is going on with this process. Please pray for us as we wait to hear our future for this next year, they will be much appreciated! Sorry this one is so short, talk to you as soon as I can!

Thanks,
Katie