It’s been a busy couple of weeks here in Chile. The first service at the new church was held last Sunday and went great, and every seat was filled!

That afternoon, my team went to the mall to find some wi-fi, which has been more difficult to find than we had expected. Getting home on the bus was a little sketchy, because we weren’t 100% sure that our bus was even going to come, but after waiting at the stop for almost 45 minutes, it finally did and we made it home.

Monday, our “rest day” was anything but. I woke up early to do a workout, then went for a short walk with a teammate, and then our ministry hosts came over to do some Yoga together (that part was planned). After that, they offered to take us on a hike to the top of a hill overlooking the city. It was great and we had a worship session at the top, but boy was it exhausting.

Tuesday, they came with us to downtown Santiago. We watched the changing of the Guard at the president’s house, saw some official government buildings, and ate way too much for lunch at an underground restaurant. Then we hiked yet another hill with a castle lookout on top to get a 360 degree view of downtown, which was totally worth it. After that we went to an artisan fair (I LOVE fairs and markets). I bought a small bag with a llama on it!

For several days this week, my team and I have been working to repair the front gate for the church driveway, and I have to say, it looks AMAZING. We have been taking the wood planks off the gate, sanding the planks AND the gate, painting them, and putting them back on (which is a lot more difficult than it probably sounds). And we finished that today! It looks great!

We’ve also been working on pulling weeds and leaves and dead plants from the large flowerbeds in the yard, and we finished that project yesterday.

Friday night, we went over to our ministry hosts’ house for a Young Life meeting with some local teens. It was SO much fun! We played volleyball, and some of shared our testimonies with them. And our hosts made me share mine in Spanish.

Today, we went to the first church our hosts planted here in Chile. Three of my teammates shared short testimonies about why they came on the World Race during the service, and several people were touched by them! After that, we played soccer in the yard and were treated to a Chilean BBQ.

My team and I have the opportunity to help students practice English at a local school, starting tomorrow! We’ll do that three times a week until we leave Chile.

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I’m not yet fully funded for the World Race, so please prayerfully consider donating- I need to be at $13,000 by mid-November. Thank you!