Thursday Notes

Hello everyone...

It is currently 12.51 am here and I have finally caught up the blog. The other guys are asleep and hopefully resting peacefully. Today was a very emotional roller coaster for all of us. We originally had today as a day off and we would spend it sight seeing, shopping and resting. The plans changed and we were scheduled to go to a town called La Ranca at 5 pm. I have to be honest and tell you that each of us were really looking forward to having the entire day to ourselves. Each of us were so tired and worn out that no one wanted to really go.

Cliff, the missionary, arrived around 9am this morning and we headed to town for the sight seeing. We walked to the subway and rode it to San Lucia. I learned the Chilean people have like an understood rule on the subway of "no talking". Imagine our group on the subway and you probably could guess, this rule did not work for us. The sight seeing at San Lucia was beautiful as you can tell in the pictures.

After San Lucia, we walked to a outdoor shopping outlet/flea market type place. We spent about one hour here looking around and shopping. We all learned you get a better deal if you pay with Chilean cash or American cash. If you used your debit or credit card, you did not get as good a deal.

We headed back to the dorm rooms and on the way, we prayed that the Lord would give us strength as we were all tired and worn out. We got dressed and headed to La Ranca. The ride was fairly short and we all tried to boost one another up. We pulled into the area were the field was and we saw the players on the field. As we drove up to park, the players came running off the field and greeted us at our van. These players were standing outside the doors of the van in anticipation for us to get off. As we got off, several of them greeted us with a hand shake and told us their name. This was so awesome and humbling. You could see the energy level and enthusiasm in our group just rising as we greeted these players. We had such a good time with these players and it was just what we needed. As we were getting ready to leave and were loading back onto the van, one of the younger players was crying. I walked over with a interpreter to see what was wrong and to see if he was hurt (from the pile on). The interpreter spoke to the young player and found out he was not hurt but sad because we were leaving. I hugged the player and my eyes filled with tears. These players did not know us at all but they welcomed us like we were the best. Do these kids have role models? Do they have hope? What will happen after we leave? These questions went through our minds and our emotions we hard to hold back. Are these kids the reason we made the trip? Did we make a difference in their lives in the two hours we were there? Our prayer was obviously answered as the Lord provided us with much more than strength to make it through the practice. The Lord opened the eyes of our hearts and we needed this.

We are emotionally, physically and spiritually drained right now. We miss our families and are ready to come home. We know we have three more days here and a lot of work left to be done. We are all up for God´s work and the mission He has planned for us. Please pray for our strength to continue what we came to do.

Our group devotions have been unbelievable and much needed. It seems like the Lord has planned each one and given the perfect words that were needed to be heard. This team is building lasting relationships with each other and it is a blessing to see it happening. Jack did devotion tonight and he talked about Life Changing Events. Jack talked about the 1st mission trip we went on to Los Vilos Chile. Jack spoke of a devotion from that trip were Scott washed the feet of each one of us just as Jesus did for His disciples. Jack talked about how this event changed his life. Jack stated his prayer for each member of the team was that they may experience a life changing event on this trip.

There is no doubt that lives are being changed on this trip. I can tell you I have personally seen team members lives changed. I hope and pray we have made a difference in the lives of all the Chilean baseball players.

We have a big day tomorrow and I hope you each will pray for us. Please pray for our families as we miss them very much. Each of us love and miss each of you and we thank you for supporting us.

Good night!
Andrew