I'm having trouble believing this, but I've now been in Chile for 2 months--halfway done with my trip. Man, there is just so much I need to catch everyone up on! So, here we go.
Spanish. You know, the funny thing is that even as I'm writing this blog post, before I begin to type, my mind processes what I'm going to say in Spanish. Then, I have to tell myself, "No. Turn on the English switch." So, I'd definitely say that my Spanish is improving when it comes to conversation, both speaking and understanding (which is probably the most difficult part of learning a language). However, I'm still by no means fluent, which is an ambiguous term anyways. And, the sad thing is, I completely butcher my words sometimes when I speak in English. That, or I say English words with my Chilean accent.
Family. I'm really starting to feel more and more like a member of my Chilean family. The truth is, when I meet people for the first time, I tend to be overly polite and conservative. The hardest part for me is being able to make jokes with the family and be myself, without feeling like I'm offending them in some way. By the way, jokes can be extremely hard to make in a new language and culture. When one cannot laugh at situations, or make puns, or simply act goofy in one's own home, that can wear on you a bit. The tendency for me in the past has been to feel like a house guest who's overstayed their welcome and is doing everything they can to make up for it. However, now I'm adjusting more by relaxing and smiling more at situations rather than sweating over them. Side note: My Chilean family has been hosting students since 2000. In total they've had probably 40-50 international students throughout the years. This blew my mind, but just yesterday my Chilean mother told me that I am the first gringo (American) to make their bed and keep a tidy room, male or female. I guess the pressure's on to keep that up now.
Fiesta Patria. For all those out there who don't know what Fiesta Patria is, no worries, I didn't either before I began my adventure to Chile. Literally meaning Native/home land party, Fiesta Patria is September 18 when they celebrate Chile's independence from Spain. But it's so much more than just that. I really lucked out, because the way the date falls this year, we celebrate this bad boy all week long. When's the last time we got 11 days off from school for July 4th? Never! America, you should consider adopting this cultural idea. Basically, there's food, drinks, people, dancing, and fun (generally a recipe that all cultures use to celebrate). Specifically, they grill out or have "asado," which is somewhat similar to a cookout in the States. Besides that, they have an awesome traditional dance called "la cueca," which is danced a lot during the week. Finally, I'm really excited for "las fondas" which are basically big tents or street festivals that take place during the week, where one can find food of all sorts, music, dancing, and of course plenty of alcohol. Hence, these may be a little out of hand, I'm not sure yet.
Jesus. Man, this is where the title of this post comes from. So, this past month has certainly had it's fair share of low points spiritually to say the least. However, in the midst of all of it, I had some great people who were persistently pursuing me with love. I've been doing life with a good friend of mine who I met while in Chile for a while now. Essentially, we've been meeting up maybe once every week or so to chat about our lives, struggles, and whatever else may come to the table. Even amidst being in some low points recently, this friend continued to pursue me and to encourage me to talk with God about these things. Additionally, I communicated with some good friends from back home who took time out of their days to pursue me as well. Finally, our program director here in Chile took an hour and a half out of their day to meet with me and talk, pray, and listen to all of my struggles. To sum all of this up, it has been evident to me that God has been persistent in pursuing me, trying to get my attention, and desiring that I simply be with him and converse with him. So, I finally did. After being in a place that would be best described as being apathetic, I began to pursue Jesus persistently. Man, and the coolest thing is that I wasn't doing anything incredibly difficult or impossible. My prayers in the past week or so have been, "God, I want to fall in love with you. God I want to be with you. God I want to know you." Or maybe, at other points, I recognize some of my struggles and I'll simply ask God, "God, help me overcome my unbelief. God change my heart. God rid me of myself. Jesus fill me." After no more than a few days of pursuing God and asking for him to fill me, to change me, to draw me to him, wow, it sort of got answered all at once this past Friday night. We were at youth group at the church in Viña that I've been to countless times. After the sermon, I really don't know what to say, we were singing songs and it kinda just hit me really hard. It's like my prayers and desires to be with God, to love him in a natural way, not something forced, to trust him, and to experience him all got answered. My experience really can't be adequately recounted with words. However, what took place was me, being caught up in the truest realization of God's presence, his power, his love, his eternal qualities, and his mission for us as his children, having so much peace and joy and satisfaction that I simply began to respond physically with tears, with laughter, with smiling, with words of praise and thanks. It's kinda funny. My friends' first reactions were to think that something was wrong with me, due to me being bent over praying and crying. But, as I would soon explain to them, it was quite the opposite. It's so good. That's one phrase that I couldn't seem to stop saying that night. It's so good, God's love is so good, it feels so good.
So, why is the title of this post persistency? As I've had the privilege to discover firsthand, God is persistent in pursuing us. Whether we want to receive him and his love or not, he's constantly pursuing us. Why? Put simply, he wants to us to know him. It's like this: A loving father wants his children to be with him, because he knows that he can provide for them and care for them. He knows that no one else is going to be able to love them rightly and adequately. So, that father is going to persistently pursue his children with his love in hopes that they might be with him and get to know him. For then, they will enjoy him, learn from him, and grow to be more like him. However, I want to be sensitive and say that I know not all earthly fathers are quite like that. However, God is like that, and he's even more than all of that. Also, here's the second part of persistency. When we respond to God's persistent pursuit of us by persistently pursuing him, it's really only a matter of time before awesome things of God start happening. That's not to say pursuing God is always easy. In fact, most times it can feel quite difficult or frustrating. But man, he is so faithful. I hadn't been praying but for only 5 or 6 days before he responded in a big way friday night. So good.
What's next? Well, can I just say, when you know you're constantly and consistently loved by your creator, your dad, the one who created all existence, that may change how you go about your days. In fact, I'm incredibly hopeful for what's to come. There's a missionary team from Texas coming in 2 weeks that I'll get to meet, work alongside, and be an interpreter for. Also, after the holidays, the Veritas group will begin to visit children in the local hospital with cancer and other illnesses once every week. Additionally, I'm getting the opportunity to meet with another friend regularly and talk about our lives, kinda similar to how my other close friend has been meeting with me a lot. Plus, there's like 50 students that I encounter frequently from all parts of the US that I can hopefully be able to simply love and care for, as Jesus guides and enables me. Essentially, from here on out, I'm incredibly pumped about what God's going to do.
