Birthday Celebrations

Yesterday and today we took some of the kids to a local school with Pati (yesterday) and Amanda (today) and they had a great time talking English and Spanish together. The photo's are from today. Others of us spend time in the main building sorting, organizing, cleaning, pitching and just having an overall blast helping.  The boys and men worked on clearing out an area outside so that the children will have a small area to play.  We are super excited about seeing that done.  Some of the teens have been sorting thru shoes and they are close to being done.

Then we celebrated the birthdays of Suzanne and the intern Rachel, whom we really love and adore.  The nino's decorated for the party.  They have the best tradition but I will let you figure it out by looking at the pictures.of shoving the birthday persons face into their piece of cake! They were nice to Suzanne but Rachel was covered in pink frosting.  Then- the nino's licked it off! So funny.

Then we went  to Once's again at friends homes and we all had a good time.  

But one of the best parts of the trip for the Cameron's was going to see their World Vision Child.  They  traveled about 2 hours to see him and got to spend the day with him and his mother.  Steve and Laurie and Jesse were really touched.  They gave him some pop rocks candy and one exploded right out of his mouth.  Needless to say, he liked that!

And for now, Chow.

The Walk

Today was a day full of walking.  We began with taking the Metro which is the under/over ground subway here. It was pretty fun.  It sure gets you from one side to the other quickly.  We were trying to make it for the Changing of the Guards but caught the after parade which was pretty awesome to see.  Military we believe, some on horseback. Saw a gorgeous Catholic Church and looked at the street vendors art work, and played a bit.  We engorged in Eminadas which is a flaky pastry filled with cheese or meet.  Then it was on to the big shopping time.  We saw so many homemade items and got to get our families presents.
The best part of the day was bringing the nino's with us.  We had 7 of the children with us, seeing their own culture in a way they probably hadn't been exposed to yet.  We were in groups and each had at least one child.  They enjoyed being out, and especially eating the empinadas.  I (Vicki) had Carla and she helped me to figure out the money I owed for the items being bought.  I also had her reading to me any and all signs so we were working on her reading.  While shopping they were happy to walk around and see all the goodies and get ice cream with us after.

The parade after the changing of the guards

An artist at the Plaza

The famous Chilean Cole Miner
Living statue

Jorshua, Cony, Najelly, Carls, Juanito, and Constanza

Playing many clapping games

Cony

Carla and Constanza

We walked so very much on Saturday.  But we can't tell you how many miles.  My guess is at least 7 miles....

Sunday we went to Jack and Janine's Church, which actually meets in a building that is a Sushi Bar during the week.  We were packed in like sardines and enjoyed every minute of it.  The worship music consisted of songs we knew by heart so we could sing in English while they sang in Spanish and it was the most awesome thing to listen too.  Two cultures praising in voices that sounded so different but praised the same God using the same words.
Our teens performed a skit, one that brought tears to several eyes.  We are hoping they will perform it for you at MCC.  We enjoyed a lunch (once-pronounced own-say) out, then a visit to a Pentacostal Methodist Church, and then a shrine where a thief was killed by police and the people have 'sainted' him and they now pray to him and have made a wall in his honor.  It's all part of the culture.

We are safe and healthy.  Please continue to pray for rest and good communication between all.
We love and miss you.

We Made It!!!

Hello everyone! We made it. We got to the orphanage about noon yesterday. Everything went smoothly in every aspect of the traveling. To checking in, to plane ride to customs. God was definitively in control!!!   Here are some pictures from the airplane:

Above are the Andes Mountains from the plain.  So amazing God's creation.

Right above is our group photo at the Santiago airport.
Once we all go settle in Jesse, Pati, Savannah, Jon, and Me went to the fish market with Jack, others went to the grocery store, and others went to the corner market.  At the fish market me and Pati tried raw seafood.  Pati somewhat liked it.  I didn't like the first piece I tried but the raw clam was ok.  I preferred it cooked.  For dinner we had fish, mussels, and clams. Many of our team members tried mussels and clams for the first time. They were cooked.  Some liked it and some didn't, but we are in a new culture and I'm proud of them for trying.

We met some of the children and they are beautiful!!! More pictures will come of them.  The last picture here is the orphanage.  Thank you all who have prayed and will continue to pray.  God is in control of this trip.

Chile Mission Team