Thursday, July 22, 2004
happy birthday to me
it's my birthday tomorrow
no one here could know
i was born this thursday
23 years ago
well, it's a day late and i changed the lyrics slightly, but that song has been in my head for the last week so i had to get it out somehow. i was planning on posting it last night, but i ended up not being able to make it down to the locutorio after a long day. it's a bit of a hike from our campground and i was enjoying the dinner company, so that was that.
today has been a fairly enjoyable birthday considering that i'm far far away from the people i love most. that aside, i'm glad it's happening sufficiently far into the project that i've had a chance to get to know the rest of my team and they me, so we've got a basis for celebrating together. this morning ashlee made french toast for the team, which was really good (it's been at least 10 months since i last had that) and some homemade syrup that was slightly runny but still quite tasty and a great job considering she made it from scratch and we're at a high altitude which throws all cooking measurements off.
after our morning devotional i was initiated into the argentine birthday experience, which consists of being pinned by our team leader bill (a big former football player) and paddled on the back by the rest of the guys on the team. i can only assume they each hit me 23 times, but i lost count after a while.
but no birthday on a missions trip in the mountains of northwest argentina is complete without an adventure of some sort, so i emarked on mine with hernan and maxi[miliano]. we went to visit a kid named toni (antonio) who had accepted christ with us tuesday night after watching the jesus film, and bring him some followup material to go through in case we're not able to meet up with him again. the meeting itself went really well, and as we proceeded through the assurance of salvation portion of followup, it was almost as if he had been through it before or had memorized the little 4 principios booklet that we gave him after the movie (which explains how you can have a personal relationship with God through Christ, but in spanish, of course). every time we asked him a question about an important point, he was right there with the correct answer and was very sure of himself. very sharp, and he turned out to only be 11 years old! he definitely looks older to me (at least 14 or 15), but it's cool nonetheless.
then toni's parents pulled up in front of the house (he had been home alone) and our adventure began. toni went out to the car and his dad began screaming about telling us to leave and this and that and the other (we could all see each other through a large window in the front of the house). hernan, maxi & i took that as a sign to pack up our things, and as we were leaving the house, the dad runs up and starts screaming in our faces about being shady characters and how we shouldn't be trying to hang with his son. he's heard us on both the local radio stations, but apparently since we didn't explicitly state who we are, what exactly our platform beliefs are, etc. (which we weren't allowed to do, nor were we given time for), he didn't think he knew enough about us.
that much i can understand (and moreso after finding out how young toni is), but he went on about us not informing the people enough about why we're here in cachi and what we're here to do (which i don't agree with) and every time we tried to explain to him who we are, why we're here and what we're doing, he'd just interrupt, yell some, go in the house, and then return. rinse. wash. repeat. the only break in the cycle was that sometimes he would yell at toni for having let us come over, which i felt really bad about.
if this had taken place in the u.s., i think the dad would have been one of those upper midwestern, survive on your own militia types. that's just the vibe he gave off, what with the jeans, plaid shirt, cowboy hat, shades, bullet on his keychain, and walther 9mm pistol poster hanging on the door of toni's bedroom. the longer we were there, the more i thought the dad was about to start swingin at us, and of course i was the closest to him. each time he went into the house, i was telling myself not to be too surprised if he came out brandishing some sort of firearm. thankfully the Lord was over the situation and things didn't come to such a boiling point.
the whole time, the mom was really cool about everything, and during the various times that dad was in the house, we were able to explain everything to her and it didn't really seem to bother her. they are catholic (that was part of the dad's spiel), so it wasn't like we were trying to change everything toni believes in. we ended up leaving on seeminly peaceful terms with her, but i could hear the dad yelling at toni as we walked down the street. i felt horrible for the kid, leaving him there alone under such seeming opposition, but i had no control over the situation. all we could do was pray, so we did. i was also reminded of the passage in matthew 10 where Jesus sends out the disciples to minister to the people. He says in verse 14: and if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, sahake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. all the roads around here are dirt, so i literally did have to shake the dust off my feet, but it was comforting that i could take joy in the rejection, especially because toni seems to have solidified his faith very quickly. if you think about toni, pray for him, that his dad would become more understanding, and that God would provide an environment for him to grow in his new relationship with Christ.
and all that happened before 1 in the afternoon. but i'm tired and i think they're attempting to bake me a cake over an open flame at the campsite, so i gotta go see how that turns out. don't worry, i'll be full of stories when i get back to la plata, so you can ask me all about the rest of our trip when i get there. m'out.
symphonic melodies: switchfoot - let that be enough (in my head, since i don't have any music out here. i'm dyin!)
brain eats: the da vinci code by dan brown (entertaining, fast, 4 day read)
it's my birthday tomorrow
no one here could know
i was born this thursday
23 years ago
well, it's a day late and i changed the lyrics slightly, but that song has been in my head for the last week so i had to get it out somehow. i was planning on posting it last night, but i ended up not being able to make it down to the locutorio after a long day. it's a bit of a hike from our campground and i was enjoying the dinner company, so that was that.
today has been a fairly enjoyable birthday considering that i'm far far away from the people i love most. that aside, i'm glad it's happening sufficiently far into the project that i've had a chance to get to know the rest of my team and they me, so we've got a basis for celebrating together. this morning ashlee made french toast for the team, which was really good (it's been at least 10 months since i last had that) and some homemade syrup that was slightly runny but still quite tasty and a great job considering she made it from scratch and we're at a high altitude which throws all cooking measurements off.
after our morning devotional i was initiated into the argentine birthday experience, which consists of being pinned by our team leader bill (a big former football player) and paddled on the back by the rest of the guys on the team. i can only assume they each hit me 23 times, but i lost count after a while.
but no birthday on a missions trip in the mountains of northwest argentina is complete without an adventure of some sort, so i emarked on mine with hernan and maxi[miliano]. we went to visit a kid named toni (antonio) who had accepted christ with us tuesday night after watching the jesus film, and bring him some followup material to go through in case we're not able to meet up with him again. the meeting itself went really well, and as we proceeded through the assurance of salvation portion of followup, it was almost as if he had been through it before or had memorized the little 4 principios booklet that we gave him after the movie (which explains how you can have a personal relationship with God through Christ, but in spanish, of course). every time we asked him a question about an important point, he was right there with the correct answer and was very sure of himself. very sharp, and he turned out to only be 11 years old! he definitely looks older to me (at least 14 or 15), but it's cool nonetheless.
then toni's parents pulled up in front of the house (he had been home alone) and our adventure began. toni went out to the car and his dad began screaming about telling us to leave and this and that and the other (we could all see each other through a large window in the front of the house). hernan, maxi & i took that as a sign to pack up our things, and as we were leaving the house, the dad runs up and starts screaming in our faces about being shady characters and how we shouldn't be trying to hang with his son. he's heard us on both the local radio stations, but apparently since we didn't explicitly state who we are, what exactly our platform beliefs are, etc. (which we weren't allowed to do, nor were we given time for), he didn't think he knew enough about us.
that much i can understand (and moreso after finding out how young toni is), but he went on about us not informing the people enough about why we're here in cachi and what we're here to do (which i don't agree with) and every time we tried to explain to him who we are, why we're here and what we're doing, he'd just interrupt, yell some, go in the house, and then return. rinse. wash. repeat. the only break in the cycle was that sometimes he would yell at toni for having let us come over, which i felt really bad about.
if this had taken place in the u.s., i think the dad would have been one of those upper midwestern, survive on your own militia types. that's just the vibe he gave off, what with the jeans, plaid shirt, cowboy hat, shades, bullet on his keychain, and walther 9mm pistol poster hanging on the door of toni's bedroom. the longer we were there, the more i thought the dad was about to start swingin at us, and of course i was the closest to him. each time he went into the house, i was telling myself not to be too surprised if he came out brandishing some sort of firearm. thankfully the Lord was over the situation and things didn't come to such a boiling point.
the whole time, the mom was really cool about everything, and during the various times that dad was in the house, we were able to explain everything to her and it didn't really seem to bother her. they are catholic (that was part of the dad's spiel), so it wasn't like we were trying to change everything toni believes in. we ended up leaving on seeminly peaceful terms with her, but i could hear the dad yelling at toni as we walked down the street. i felt horrible for the kid, leaving him there alone under such seeming opposition, but i had no control over the situation. all we could do was pray, so we did. i was also reminded of the passage in matthew 10 where Jesus sends out the disciples to minister to the people. He says in verse 14: and if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, sahake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. all the roads around here are dirt, so i literally did have to shake the dust off my feet, but it was comforting that i could take joy in the rejection, especially because toni seems to have solidified his faith very quickly. if you think about toni, pray for him, that his dad would become more understanding, and that God would provide an environment for him to grow in his new relationship with Christ.
and all that happened before 1 in the afternoon. but i'm tired and i think they're attempting to bake me a cake over an open flame at the campsite, so i gotta go see how that turns out. don't worry, i'll be full of stories when i get back to la plata, so you can ask me all about the rest of our trip when i get there. m'out.
symphonic melodies: switchfoot - let that be enough (in my head, since i don't have any music out here. i'm dyin!)
brain eats: the da vinci code by dan brown (entertaining, fast, 4 day read)
