First Visit to a House Church

This morning I had classes from 9:30 to 1:30.  In one class we watched the movie "Machupa" which is about two boys who attend the same private school, one rich child who pays and one poor child who goes for free.  The boys become quick friends, dispite teasing.  The movie is set in the time period of the military dictatorship in Chile....so it begins in late 1972/early 1973.  It's a true story and it is very well acted...it's just so sad that it's actually true.  Unfortunately the movie ends on a very sad note but it was really interesting dispite the tradgedys that take place.  I highly recommend watching it & for those of you who don't speak spanish, you can use english subtitles :)  In our other class, we did grammar work about "se."

After class, I went home because I thought we were going somewhere earlier than we actually did...I need to pay better attention to times in Spanish!  Everyone else went to the mall for ice cream but I'm glad I went home because I talked to Mom & Drew on skype for a long time then did a little homework.  Carlos & this lady toured the house for literally 10 minutes because they're expanding the program at UVM at the lady is in charge of the program...visiting host families is part of the process.  At 5:00, Mama, Rodrigo, Fernanda, & I had "once" (tea & bread).  It was really good....my favorite thing to put on my bread is manjar, a chocolate spread kind of like nutella. :)

After once, Laura Kate & I went with Mama to church.  She says they have it Wednesday nights instead of the usual Saturday nights because more people are able to come then in the summer.  It was such a great experience.  Once we arrived at the house church just two blocks away, we discovered that it's a Jewish church.  I was excited because I've never been to a Jewish service before but it was really interesting.  We sang songs then listened to two testimonies then listened to the sermon.  After the sermon, everyone stood up and three older girls & all of the little girls had people read specific Bible verses about praising through dancing and song.  They taught us a few dance moves then we all sang & danced to a song.  Even though it was extremely crowded it was a unique experience.  It was a very personable church...at the beginning all of the people with guests stood ad introduced their guests which was very sweet.  There were about 30 people there are 3 people brought guests so I though that was great.  I really liked the atmosphere of the sweet people & God was definitely present.  Laura Kate & I are looking forward to going back next week.

Please pray for my strength as I continue to live here.  I absolutely LOVE my host family and all of the new people I'm meeting.  I need strength though to share the gospel to those around me.  I know that only through Christ's guidance will I be able to do so.  Also, please pray for safe travels on Friday as we venture to Santiago for a tour. I hope everyone is doing well!!  Chao :)