Argentina: 1 Down

Well, I have officially lived in Argentina for a whole month now! Time has gone by so quickly! At times I feel like I don’t know enough Spanish to have been here for so long, but I am realizing that I understand much more than when I first arrived and am able to communicate better when I try to. My main goal for this month is to really push myself to use as much Spanish and as little English as possible. You would think that that should be easy considering I’m in another country, but I almost always with PBB students or other Bilingual students, and so the natural tendency is to just speak in English, so I have to make a conscious effort to say what I can in Spanish!

As the seasons are transitioning, a lot of the PBB has been getting strep throat and similar sickness :P Luckily I just got Pharyngitis and since it’s the weekend now I should be able to get some rest and recover more quickly than if I would’ve gotten it at the beginning of the week.

This past week we have had the greatest professor! His name is Jaime (Jim) Evans, and he is honestly one of the most fascinating people I have ever met!! He was teaching us Timothy, but really we spent most of the class just starry-eyed listening to his stories of the mission field. He is 74 years old now and spend his life in Peru as a missionary to the tribes along the Amazon River. (Don’t worry, after hearing his stories, I am NOT going to the jungle! At least not on a long-term basis lol)!

One thing that did really stick out to me today that I thought I would share was 2 Timothy 4:11. Paul is ending his letter to Timothy and asking him to come and visit soon because he is alone. He lists the people who have abandoned him and says "Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica." This is something that normally I would skim through and just think oh this is just personal stuff for Timothy's information, but in class we always go through the books we study verse by verse, and it really stuck out to me. I don't want to be Demas! I love home and I love my family, but at the end of the day I need to love God and doing His will more. I don't want it to be said of me that I gave up my mission because I love the things of this world. So as much as I want to be at the fair tonight, or want to live down the street from my sister when I grow up, I want at the end of my life to be able to apply Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4:7 instread: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful."

For those of you who are praying me through my time here, you can pray for: those of us who are sick, that we would get well so we don’t have to miss much class, for Spanish comprehension, time-management (I now have to have my room cleaned and be out the door by 7:00 am which has completely thrown off my routine!!), and for the funds to return in January. Also pray that God would begin to show me where He wants me next fall (as far as what school).

Love and miss you all!!

<3