Hello friends and family,
First of all we would like to thank you all for your many prayers and support throughout our preparation, journey, and now ministry. After a very long period of traveling and desperately running through airports because we thought we were going to miss our plane, we arrived in Santiago Monday around nine in the morning. It was the first international flight for many on our team and I think as a whole we can say it was pretty rough. Tom, the Casa Esperanza (House of Hope) director and a young woman in residence, Nicole welcomed us with open arms at the airport and not much longer we arrived in the neighborhood of La Pintana. We met most of the amazing young women right away and even though each of us only know little of the others language, we make communication work quite well and we look forward to forming friendships with them in the days to pass. Also on our first day we took tours around the neighborhood and grounds to become familiar with the people and environment.
Today, (Tuesday, June 9th) we got down to work. After breakfast and devotions, we walked down the street to a local school, Forjadores del Futuro, and spent most of the day there. In the morning we visited an 8th grade classroom and performed a skit to show Christ’s love throughout trials in life. They performed a fun dance for us as well, and then Ashley got a chance to share her testimony with the class. We prayed for the children and then played a fun game of volleyball before Lunch. In the afternoon we gave the teachers of the school a presentation on first aid and how they can effectively react in emergency situations. The feedback we received was so good on the presentation that the same school wants us to come back later in the week and teach children on first aid as well! We also did some clean up around the grounds. Tomorrow (June 10) we plan on doing some painting and interacting with more children! Please continue praying for us to effective Hands and Feet of Christ and be receptive to the Holly Spirit! More updates will hopefully come depending on how the WiFi works!
We love you all!
Annie, Ashley, Diana, Caitlin, Angela & Jenna J