I am learning so much down here. On Monday, we went to Retiro (the train station) for the first time. Immediately my attention went to a little boy who was dragging himself along the train station floor. He was a beautiful kid, about a year old, but he was totally filthy. He was covered in dirt, and it was a heartbreaking introduction to the situation of the people living there. His mother greeted all of us with a kiss, and we sat down on the floor with her and her family, and another woman. I was expecting awkwardness, mistrust; suprisingly, there was none of that. We talked for a while, a couple more people came along to join us, we played cards for a while (Egyptian Ratscrew! Thanks Sarita for teaching me that game). A couple of little kids were running around, climbing all over us and coloring on some paper that we brought.
One of the women we were with was filling out a word search (they seem to love word searches). She seemed older, in her early 20s maybe, and she was asking for our help filling them out. Soon enough we found out she couldnt read, and didn't know her letters, and had no clue where to circle. That was heartbreaking too.
Leaving was hard. I kept thinking of efficiency--what they need is a bath, education, housing, a stable job. It was discouraging to think that my presence there couldn't mean much, that I could only be a witness to their suffering. They DO need these concrete things, and if I were to give each one of them a house there would be thousands more who needed one as well; it's overwhelming. But the more I think about it, the more humbled I am. In a sense, it matters that we were sitting there on the floor with them. One thing I think I take for granted is that I always have people reminding me that I'm worthwhile, that I matter, that I have value and dignity. The people begging at Retiro and the little kids playing on the floor probably don't hear that very often. They spend their day being ignored by thousands of passersby. And to have a group of people stop, sit, and value their time might seem small, but for those who never hear that they matter, it's necessary. Its how God works, I think. Starting small (he came as a baby, after all). Love can come in tiny packages, and my prayer for now is that he can take our tiny love and make it something deeper.
Tuesday was our first visit to the villas. We went to Villa Flores 1-11-14, where a tiny church (Iglesia Esperanza) has been reaching out to one of the most violent slums in the city for 19 years. We met with the pastors (Pablo and Sarah Chang) before going into the villa--they moved from Korea to Argentina, learned Spanish from scratch, and are now raising three little girls in the slums in spite of Sarah's battle with cancer and the risk of a crime-ridden and drug-infested environment. Their lives are so selfless, and their faith is really big.
In the villas, the 'mini-Europe' I'd heard so much about disappeared. None of the streets were paved, about 95% of the people have darker skin and are from other countries, and all of the buildings are made with red bricks and mortar. But in the church, when we started our English classes, the rooms filled up with kids who were so eager to learn. They took notes, responded enthousiastically to every word. They were such good kids, and it's crazy thinking that they've probably been through a lot more than I know. Afterwards, two older women (one from Peru and one from Bolivia) gave us homemade bread pudding and milanesas (steak and bread). They showed a hospitality that put mine to shame. The neighborhood might be run by druglords and full of poverty, but God is there too. For sure.
Please pray for:
-One of the babies on the street who has seizures.
-The families on the street, there are so many kids who sniff glue and spend their days high. Please pray that they can understand how valuable they are.
-Our lessons at the villas- pray for relationships to be built, and for something positive to come out of it all.
-Our conversations from the book studies and reading assignments; there's a lot we can learn and grow from there, but it takes clarity. Pray for ideas from our end--since this is a new field, there are so many ways that the outreaches can grow, so pray that we can put our intellect and gifts and creativity to use in a sustainable way.
Pictures will come soon! Im working on it. Thank you guys for reading and for praying.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Thursday, August 20, 2009
The Deal.
Hola everybody!
So its official. Im in Buenos Aires, and Im here for a while. (im also still figuring out how to negotiate these computer keyboards, so im missing apostrophes, its because i dont know where they are and not because i dont know where they belong).
First impressions: Id heard that Argentina was very European, a "little Paris" in the middle of Latin America. That seems to be true to an extent--people dress nice, buildings look old--but its also very different (at least so far). Im staying in Barracas, right next to this area called la Boca, where everything is a a different color and everyone is loud. Its a pretty run-down area, with huge murals at every corner and political graffitti decorating the walls, but I feel really safe (dont worry mom and dad!!) The accent is way different. Ive interviewed a good bunch of people already, and what I know so far is that
-Argentineans eat at like 9:30 or 10. Dinner. They dont go to bed until way later.
-Argentineans love soccer. A lot more than I do. Hopefully this wont cause any problems.
-Everything good that ive heard about Argentinean meat is absolutely true. Im about to eat more beef than ive ever eaten in my life.
-Young people dont really dance tango. They dance to Cumbia and Electronica. Old people and tourists do.
I like this country a lot.
The living situation: Im living with the Pastor and his wife in Barracas, on the third floor of the Baptist church we´ll be working with. We have hot water (Im relieved, because its pretty cold), and were going to be washing clothes by hand (im sure ill appreciate how many clothes i have soon enough). Ive got a roommate, another volunteer from Wisconsin who is 23 and studied education with a minor in Spanish and English as a Second Language. On the second floor, Christian and Laura live with their 2 year old baby Dilan. They used to live on the streets, but through their interactions with the missionaries down here, they joined the church, got a job, turned a lot around, and now theyre helping out with outreach to the homeless kids in the same train station where they used to beg. We got to eat with them and talk with them a while late last night, and then watched Diamante de Sangre (Blood Diamond) until 1am. Its crazy, Laura is only 19 and has been through more than I probably will in my whole life. Christian is an incredible cook, though, and he already promised to teach me. Were also living with three other students --2 Argentinean guys, Lucas (hes studying marketing and works as the secretary/does everything for the church), Daniel (a 23yearold with dreadlocks who plays the bongo and rides a motorcycle), and female student from Peru whos my age. Theyve already roped me in to play piano for a youth retreat (youll be glad to hear, mom :))
The church is pretty big-- they have prayer meetings all the time, and huge slumber parties for all the homeless youth every other week called Encuentros. One took place Tuesday, actually, and we got to meet a lot of the kids. Most are older teenagers, and bit over half are male; those who are female come with males and babies. If I thought Argentinean Spanish was difficult, Argentinean street slang is ridiculous. Ill learn in time. But they were a lot more welcoming to us foreigners than id expected. Its so good that theres a place like the church for them to go.
The pastor (Juan Jose) and his wife Lorena are really cool. Hes a theologian from Peru who knows a lot about liberation theology-- I wrote my senior thesis on the subject, so I hope to grill him about it over dinner tonight. Lorena is Argentinean, and I dont know much about her yet...
The Work: This whole week has been a sort of orientation-- in addition to getting to know the area, the staff here and our host families, weve been going through the mission of the organization here and the details of our work. I am so excited, and am very much assured that this is where im supposed to be. Word Made Flesh is very much about working with those who are most marginalized in urban centers around the world, but doing it in community and in pursuit of true Christianity. In terms of the WMF people here, theres a couple that serves as regional staff leaders for South America, two Argentinean-Americans named Walter and Andrea Forcatto (they have two little girls), as well as a North American couple that serve as Servant Team Coordinators, Jenn and Jeremiah Dean (they have 3 little kids; the oldest boy Jordan is 4 and he has seizures, and Selah is 2 I think and Eli is only 4 months.) There are 3 other volunteers besides me, all girls and all from the midwest/west.
3 days a week, it looks like well be going to Retiro, the main train station/hub for the city, to spend time with the homeless kids and get to know them in their own context. Two days a week, well go to into the villas (or villa miserias, pronounced ´vee-SHA,´ so strange), which are basically pockets of extreme poverty right at the outskirts of the city. The population there is mostly immigrant families from neighboring countries; when we go, well be teaching English, and hopefully music as well. Well see. As a group, were going to be doing a lot of reading and discussing about Jesus, poverty, marginalization and ministry, to figure out how the Church can best love God and each other in situations of inequality & poverty like this. Were also meeting independently with an Argentinean ´tutor´who will tell us about history and culture so were not totally ignorant.
Again, Im excited.
Prayer requests so far:
-Unity for the volunteers in this ´get-to-know-you´stage, and unity with everyone Im living with (there are a lot!)
-Clear and attentive ears to hear what God is up to here
-A lot of the families in the villas, Christian was saying, sell their daughters into prostitution, and theres a lot of sexual abuse from fathers to their kids. I know I read about all this in school, but its kind of overwhelming that its so common so closeby. So pray for all that please.
I live right next to an internet cafe, so please please email me back whenever about whatever (christinamcolon"gmail.com) (I cant find the át´sign!)
Peace,
Tina
So its official. Im in Buenos Aires, and Im here for a while. (im also still figuring out how to negotiate these computer keyboards, so im missing apostrophes, its because i dont know where they are and not because i dont know where they belong).
First impressions: Id heard that Argentina was very European, a "little Paris" in the middle of Latin America. That seems to be true to an extent--people dress nice, buildings look old--but its also very different (at least so far). Im staying in Barracas, right next to this area called la Boca, where everything is a a different color and everyone is loud. Its a pretty run-down area, with huge murals at every corner and political graffitti decorating the walls, but I feel really safe (dont worry mom and dad!!) The accent is way different. Ive interviewed a good bunch of people already, and what I know so far is that
-Argentineans eat at like 9:30 or 10. Dinner. They dont go to bed until way later.
-Argentineans love soccer. A lot more than I do. Hopefully this wont cause any problems.
-Everything good that ive heard about Argentinean meat is absolutely true. Im about to eat more beef than ive ever eaten in my life.
-Young people dont really dance tango. They dance to Cumbia and Electronica. Old people and tourists do.
I like this country a lot.
The living situation: Im living with the Pastor and his wife in Barracas, on the third floor of the Baptist church we´ll be working with. We have hot water (Im relieved, because its pretty cold), and were going to be washing clothes by hand (im sure ill appreciate how many clothes i have soon enough). Ive got a roommate, another volunteer from Wisconsin who is 23 and studied education with a minor in Spanish and English as a Second Language. On the second floor, Christian and Laura live with their 2 year old baby Dilan. They used to live on the streets, but through their interactions with the missionaries down here, they joined the church, got a job, turned a lot around, and now theyre helping out with outreach to the homeless kids in the same train station where they used to beg. We got to eat with them and talk with them a while late last night, and then watched Diamante de Sangre (Blood Diamond) until 1am. Its crazy, Laura is only 19 and has been through more than I probably will in my whole life. Christian is an incredible cook, though, and he already promised to teach me. Were also living with three other students --2 Argentinean guys, Lucas (hes studying marketing and works as the secretary/does everything for the church), Daniel (a 23yearold with dreadlocks who plays the bongo and rides a motorcycle), and female student from Peru whos my age. Theyve already roped me in to play piano for a youth retreat (youll be glad to hear, mom :))
The church is pretty big-- they have prayer meetings all the time, and huge slumber parties for all the homeless youth every other week called Encuentros. One took place Tuesday, actually, and we got to meet a lot of the kids. Most are older teenagers, and bit over half are male; those who are female come with males and babies. If I thought Argentinean Spanish was difficult, Argentinean street slang is ridiculous. Ill learn in time. But they were a lot more welcoming to us foreigners than id expected. Its so good that theres a place like the church for them to go.
The pastor (Juan Jose) and his wife Lorena are really cool. Hes a theologian from Peru who knows a lot about liberation theology-- I wrote my senior thesis on the subject, so I hope to grill him about it over dinner tonight. Lorena is Argentinean, and I dont know much about her yet...
The Work: This whole week has been a sort of orientation-- in addition to getting to know the area, the staff here and our host families, weve been going through the mission of the organization here and the details of our work. I am so excited, and am very much assured that this is where im supposed to be. Word Made Flesh is very much about working with those who are most marginalized in urban centers around the world, but doing it in community and in pursuit of true Christianity. In terms of the WMF people here, theres a couple that serves as regional staff leaders for South America, two Argentinean-Americans named Walter and Andrea Forcatto (they have two little girls), as well as a North American couple that serve as Servant Team Coordinators, Jenn and Jeremiah Dean (they have 3 little kids; the oldest boy Jordan is 4 and he has seizures, and Selah is 2 I think and Eli is only 4 months.) There are 3 other volunteers besides me, all girls and all from the midwest/west.
3 days a week, it looks like well be going to Retiro, the main train station/hub for the city, to spend time with the homeless kids and get to know them in their own context. Two days a week, well go to into the villas (or villa miserias, pronounced ´vee-SHA,´ so strange), which are basically pockets of extreme poverty right at the outskirts of the city. The population there is mostly immigrant families from neighboring countries; when we go, well be teaching English, and hopefully music as well. Well see. As a group, were going to be doing a lot of reading and discussing about Jesus, poverty, marginalization and ministry, to figure out how the Church can best love God and each other in situations of inequality & poverty like this. Were also meeting independently with an Argentinean ´tutor´who will tell us about history and culture so were not totally ignorant.
Again, Im excited.
Prayer requests so far:
-Unity for the volunteers in this ´get-to-know-you´stage, and unity with everyone Im living with (there are a lot!)
-Clear and attentive ears to hear what God is up to here
-A lot of the families in the villas, Christian was saying, sell their daughters into prostitution, and theres a lot of sexual abuse from fathers to their kids. I know I read about all this in school, but its kind of overwhelming that its so common so closeby. So pray for all that please.
I live right next to an internet cafe, so please please email me back whenever about whatever (christinamcolon"gmail.com) (I cant find the át´sign!)
Peace,
Tina
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