La Vida en Chile

Dear Friends and Readers,

     For the next three months I will be writing about a new chapter in my life. God has blessed me with an amazing and unexpected experience. I am even now staying with a friend, Isabel Diaz, and her family in Santiago, Chile.

     Let me tell you how this came about.

     Many people have told me the best way to a learn a language is to live in country for a while. As I feel God is leading me to learn Spanish and work with Latinas, a month or two before I graduated from Lee I contacted Isa, who lives in Chile, asking if she knew of any work  opportunities there. She responded THE NEXT DAY saying she had talked with her parents and they would be glad for me to come and live with them and I could work in their church.      After this, I did a lot of praying. Finally, Friday, two and a half weeks ago, I felt the peace and assurance that I should go. The amazing thing is that God has just worked everything out so smoothly since then. I messaged Isa that Friday that I had decided to come and she responded the following Sunday. Within the next couple of days I had informed the director and professors for a group going to Chile from Lee that I would be living there the next three months, perhaps taking the the same flight down in order to have some familiar faces and recieved a positive response saying that there would always be room for me on the bus. (Practically, for job purposes, leaving sooner would be better. Also, it was a good time to take this kind of trip for other various reasons.) We purchased the ticket a little over a week and a half ago (an AMAZING graduation gift from my parents) and I spent the last week and a half getting things in order. Thankfully, my passport is all I needed to live in Chile for three months.

     So I have now been here for half a week. Throughout my trip to arrive in Santiago and my daily life, I have felt an incredible contentment and peace. I had a few small adventures at the airport like falling head over heels on top of my luggage while bumping down the up escalator, and almost getting lost in the airport trying to find the correct terminal, but even then, I had a knowledge that I was in God's hands and things were good.
      In my next post, I'll begin recounting my adventures and sharing what God is doing, giving snapshots into my life, as it were. Please excuse me if there are times I simply *must* say something in Spanish. It sometimes captures the essence of an idea or experience here better than English can and is an integral part of each day.
     Until next time, blessings!