To all my readers out there. I would like to say thank you for all of your prayers and support. This trip has been an incredible adventure, and it has been a pleasure to be able to share it with all of you via blog.
Those of you who have been reading probably remember the maid that gave me the address to the Hogar de Cristo and set my volunteering in motion. Anyway, Her name is Paola, and in my time here in Chile she has quickly become one of my favorite people. I even got a job at the hostel this week so that i could spend time with her making beds and such.
Paola is the nicest lady you will ever meet. She always has a smile and she workds very hard cleaning up after people here in the Hostel. She is a wealth of information on Chile and the surrounding area. She has an adorable daughter named Isadora who means the world to her. 70% of our conversations have had Isadora on center stage. Paola grew up in the Catholic church, but her mom used to force her to go and so now she doesn't really like church (that seems to be a recurring theme with many people i have met here), but she still knows that God exists and goes into the churcht to pray for her daughter from time to time. Sentiments about church aside, if Paola doesn't know Jesus than none of us do. She is so full of love it just bubbles out of her. She is truly an example of someone who understands what a relationship with Jesus looks like.
Anyway, the reason i am writing this is because i would like to raise a little money to give to her because she works super hard and doesn't get to spend the amount of time she wants to with ther daughter. I also love her deeply and just want to express to her how special she is. She goes on vacation on Tuesday and i am going to be giving her 50,000 pesos (the equivalent of about $100) before i leave. If any of you feel lead to give please just send me a check. If you want a tax break for it make the check out to "The Walk" (that is my Church) and i will be sure to get her the money. Thank you in advance for helping me bless a woman who blesses all those around her with her love.
With all of my love,
Mateo
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
The Most Beautiful Silence
"Be still, and know that i am God"
Psalm 46:10
So, I went camping this past weekend in the Cajon de Maipo. It is a river valley surrounded basically on all sides by towering, snow covered peaks. The view was quite breathtaking. It may have been one of, if not the most beautiful places i have ever been to in my entire life.
Anyway, i experienced something amazing while on a 5 hour (thats right, i said 5) hour hike. We got to the top of the mountain we were hiking up after a gruelling ascent from 1100 meters to about 1800 meters, and there was snow everywhere. We came to this clearing on the top of the hill which is pictured above, and there i encountered what was the most profound silence i have ever felt in my entire life. I say profound silence because in this silence I felt a presence outside of myself. For the first time in my life the Psalmist's words written above had real meaning. I have always understood them to mean we need to be quiet and take time out of the busyness to be in the presence of God, and i still think that is what it means, but let me tell you there is something else there. I think it is saying that when we get into a place of actual silence, where there is seriously no noise, and we stop and still ourselves, we will FEEL the presence of God in that silence. A presence that says I am with you, even though you can't see me, and you don't always feel me, I am there. You see, if it weren't for God i think this silence would have been uncomfortable because it would have brought an intnese feeling of loneliness, but that wasn't the case at all. In pure silence, i knew in my heart that God was with me.
Getting to spend some time in the beautiful creation of God was truly wonderful. I am so glad that i got to get away from the business of the city and spend some time away. Please enjoy the pictures.
Can you say Don Quijote? booyah!
Anyway, i experienced something amazing while on a 5 hour (thats right, i said 5) hour hike. We got to the top of the mountain we were hiking up after a gruelling ascent from 1100 meters to about 1800 meters, and there was snow everywhere. We came to this clearing on the top of the hill which is pictured above, and there i encountered what was the most profound silence i have ever felt in my entire life. I say profound silence because in this silence I felt a presence outside of myself. For the first time in my life the Psalmist's words written above had real meaning. I have always understood them to mean we need to be quiet and take time out of the busyness to be in the presence of God, and i still think that is what it means, but let me tell you there is something else there. I think it is saying that when we get into a place of actual silence, where there is seriously no noise, and we stop and still ourselves, we will FEEL the presence of God in that silence. A presence that says I am with you, even though you can't see me, and you don't always feel me, I am there. You see, if it weren't for God i think this silence would have been uncomfortable because it would have brought an intnese feeling of loneliness, but that wasn't the case at all. In pure silence, i knew in my heart that God was with me.
Getting to spend some time in the beautiful creation of God was truly wonderful. I am so glad that i got to get away from the business of the city and spend some time away. Please enjoy the pictures.
Can you say Don Quijote? booyah!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Jesus and Matthew
So I have developed an enormous amount of respect for Jesus while on this trip. Allow me to elaborate.
I have spent a lot a time hanging out in the bar at the hostel talking with people and getting to know many people that Christians might refer to as pagans, people whose actions and lifestyles make many Christians look down their noses at them and try to avoid them. But these are the very people that Jesus spent his time with during his time here on earth. Lets take a look at the calling of Matthew the disciple.
"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector´s booth. "Follow Me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew´s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need adoctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy not sacrafice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." -- Matthew 9:9-12
You see, Jesus didn´t spent his time with the people that thought they already had things figured out. He spent time with the people who were in desperate need of a relationship with the only one that can make us whole again. I have so much respect for Jesus because no matter where he was, his presence changed things. (I suppose his being the son of God helps with that, but you know what I mean). He wasn´t affected by what people thought, and he didn´t judge anyone by what they did or looked like, because he sees us all for what we really are: Desperate people, drowning as we cling to scraps of wood such as money, popularity, beauty, prestige. Not caring who we step on or kill in an attempt to feel some sort of worth and to save ourselves from what feels like certain death. On my own I am no different from the prostitute on the street, or the crooked business man with his millions. The thing that makes me different, (or at least I hope different) is that I have Jesus with me, and as we have all know, being in the presence of Jesus changes everything. As Christians we are called to be different, but I think we need to rethink what this means. I think so often when we think about this whole, what makes us different thing, we jump straight to a, "no drinking, no drugs, no sex before marriage, no abortion, lets just box ourselves in and ride this out" mentality which is, I believe, not what Jesus means at all when he tells us to be different. What I think he means is that we stop playing the worlds game. We stop judging others and trying to get praise from man for "our" accomplishments and "our" good behavior. We stop looking for the speck in the other persons eye, and we just start loving. We love becuase Chirst first loved us, and we reflect everything back to Jesus. After all, he is the one that this is all about in the first place. So, I challenge you. Spend time with someone that makes you feel uncomfortable and don´t think about how you are so far ahead of them morally, and do what Jesus did. Love them.
I know that I don´t always do the best job being an ambassador for Jesus, but I know that with him all things are possible. It has been truly a blessing to meet the people that I met I will never forget them because they have made me realize why we need so much of Jesus, it is so that no matter where we are or who we are with, people may drink of the life we have inside of us. This post is dedicated to them.
Liam and Andy
All the Caterpillar employees at the Restoran in Cascada de las Animas
Rosie, Faye, Izzy and Stephi
I have spent a lot a time hanging out in the bar at the hostel talking with people and getting to know many people that Christians might refer to as pagans, people whose actions and lifestyles make many Christians look down their noses at them and try to avoid them. But these are the very people that Jesus spent his time with during his time here on earth. Lets take a look at the calling of Matthew the disciple.
"As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector´s booth. "Follow Me," he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew´s house, many tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?" On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need adoctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: I desire mercy not sacrafice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners." -- Matthew 9:9-12
You see, Jesus didn´t spent his time with the people that thought they already had things figured out. He spent time with the people who were in desperate need of a relationship with the only one that can make us whole again. I have so much respect for Jesus because no matter where he was, his presence changed things. (I suppose his being the son of God helps with that, but you know what I mean). He wasn´t affected by what people thought, and he didn´t judge anyone by what they did or looked like, because he sees us all for what we really are: Desperate people, drowning as we cling to scraps of wood such as money, popularity, beauty, prestige. Not caring who we step on or kill in an attempt to feel some sort of worth and to save ourselves from what feels like certain death. On my own I am no different from the prostitute on the street, or the crooked business man with his millions. The thing that makes me different, (or at least I hope different) is that I have Jesus with me, and as we have all know, being in the presence of Jesus changes everything. As Christians we are called to be different, but I think we need to rethink what this means. I think so often when we think about this whole, what makes us different thing, we jump straight to a, "no drinking, no drugs, no sex before marriage, no abortion, lets just box ourselves in and ride this out" mentality which is, I believe, not what Jesus means at all when he tells us to be different. What I think he means is that we stop playing the worlds game. We stop judging others and trying to get praise from man for "our" accomplishments and "our" good behavior. We stop looking for the speck in the other persons eye, and we just start loving. We love becuase Chirst first loved us, and we reflect everything back to Jesus. After all, he is the one that this is all about in the first place. So, I challenge you. Spend time with someone that makes you feel uncomfortable and don´t think about how you are so far ahead of them morally, and do what Jesus did. Love them.
I know that I don´t always do the best job being an ambassador for Jesus, but I know that with him all things are possible. It has been truly a blessing to meet the people that I met I will never forget them because they have made me realize why we need so much of Jesus, it is so that no matter where we are or who we are with, people may drink of the life we have inside of us. This post is dedicated to them.
Liam and Andy
All the Caterpillar employees at the Restoran in Cascada de las Animas
Rosie, Faye, Izzy and Stephi
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
How to find a church.
Ok, so the next time you are in a foreign country and you need to find a place to go to church. Don't go with the traditional see the obviously cathedral, go to the closest one method. I suggest the little old lady in the park method.
So, I went for a walk through the city to the "Cerro San Cristobal" (the picture that is at the top of the blog was taken from that hill). It is an 850 m. hill in the middle of the city with a giant statue of Mary on it. Anyway, as I was walking through the park I saw this woman preaching in the square. It didn't seem like too many people were taking the time to listen, and she didn't seem to be all that affected by that. She wasn't condemning anyone, or shouting. It was hard to hear her amidst all the other noise, but I tell you what, it would taken a hardened person not to be the slightest bit touched by the amount of faith and love this woman was portraying. I, for one, was moved to tears by this woman. I sat there and thought, there is no way in hell I would be caught doing this in say balboa park by the fountain or some busy place in San Diego, and I thought that was a shame. I am not saying we need to all take to the streets preaching from our tattered bibles, but I am saying that we need to think about what is important. We need to remember that Christ Jesus loved all people equally, and that his friends consisted of pagans, money-mongers, diseased, and poor people. We need to ask God for the faith to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us. May we all have the faith of the woman in Chile, who daily preaches, and daily touches lives.
I just want anyone who reads this to know how much I love you, and more importantly how much God loves you. I went to church and it was enough just to see the smile on the old woman's face when I came in not to mention the hug I got from her. Pass on some love to someone that needs it, or to someone that makes you angry.
I talked with the woman again today, and it was really pleasant all though I have a hard time understanding her spanish. I will update you on what is going on soon, and I will put up more pictures soon too, I promise!
This is a picture of the women her name is Ised or something like that, and the girl is her granddaughter, Isimar
Ciao,
Mateo
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Mis Nuevos Amigos
So things are going great at the Hogar de Cristo.
I worked there on Thursday night and Friday night this week. It was really an awesome experience. I truly believe that it is easiest to see the love of Christ demonstrated in the poor and needy. They understand what it means to be in need, and they understand how important it is to feel the love of Jesus.
I was assigned to "sector azul" on Thursday night which is the VIP section for those people that have to get up for work and are really calm. I loved los educadores (which are the people in charge of the various sections). They are all very nice and the two that I was with Victor y Jacolyn were the best. We talked a lot about life and why I was here. I was a big hit because I was from the States. It was so good to be around local people. I think my Spanish is already improving.
So, something really cool happened after I worked on Thursday night. I met one of the guys in the Hostel in the bar after I got back and we got to talking about what I did that night. He said he would be really interested in doing something meaningful and asked if he could come along the next day. It was really great to be able to share the experience of giving and sharing with someone. His name is Hussein and he is from England, and it was so great to get to know him. Needless to say, Friday night was spendid. There was a man there that was feeling really depressed. I went up to him and asked if I could pray for him and even though my prayer was in half English and half Spanish, God was able to speak to him and comfort his heart through my love. I think that I found someone who is a local that works there that I can stay with so, I am going to be looking into that. I appreciate the continued prayer, and I love everyone very much back at home.
Con todo mi amor,
Mateo
I worked there on Thursday night and Friday night this week. It was really an awesome experience. I truly believe that it is easiest to see the love of Christ demonstrated in the poor and needy. They understand what it means to be in need, and they understand how important it is to feel the love of Jesus.
I was assigned to "sector azul" on Thursday night which is the VIP section for those people that have to get up for work and are really calm. I loved los educadores (which are the people in charge of the various sections). They are all very nice and the two that I was with Victor y Jacolyn were the best. We talked a lot about life and why I was here. I was a big hit because I was from the States. It was so good to be around local people. I think my Spanish is already improving.
So, something really cool happened after I worked on Thursday night. I met one of the guys in the Hostel in the bar after I got back and we got to talking about what I did that night. He said he would be really interested in doing something meaningful and asked if he could come along the next day. It was really great to be able to share the experience of giving and sharing with someone. His name is Hussein and he is from England, and it was so great to get to know him. Needless to say, Friday night was spendid. There was a man there that was feeling really depressed. I went up to him and asked if I could pray for him and even though my prayer was in half English and half Spanish, God was able to speak to him and comfort his heart through my love. I think that I found someone who is a local that works there that I can stay with so, I am going to be looking into that. I appreciate the continued prayer, and I love everyone very much back at home.
Con todo mi amor,
Mateo
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
A Really Brief Update
Ok, So, God is good.
I was talking with the maid in the Hostel I am staying in who happened to come in right when I got there to change sheets and stuff, which was really great because I got to talk to her for like a half an hour and I fell in love with her immediately. Anyway, we got to talking about why I was here and I asked her if she knew of any churches or orphanages that needed help. She didn't have any information for me, but she was able to direct me to a place called the Hogar de Cristo (house of Christ). http://www.hogardecristo.com/hacemos/a_mayor.htm
So here is how that went. I followed here directions and took the metro down to a street called Avenidad General Velasquez. Then I walked down the block till I reached a sort of brownish red building. I was looking around and about to go knock on a door when I saw a guy in a wheel chair asking for money. I gave him some and this other guy came up to me and talked to me. He explained how he works hard for his family and asked if I would give him money for food. I said sure and asked if I could eat with him. He laughed and asked what I was doing. I said I was here to volunteer. He said there was a North American girl volunteering and he started walking and I followed him. We walked a few blocks down the massive complex that is the Hogar de Cristo, and he knoced on a metal door. An old man came to the door and he asked for the girl that was volunteering. She actually turned out to be German, we exchanged a few words in Spanish and I Went into the complex. Then I was lead to the office of Leo, He is the guy in charge of volunteers. I told him my story and filled out a form and that was that. I am scheduled to go and help feed and provide shelter to the homeless tomorrow seeing as the nights in Santiago are rather cold. I am so excited and happy. More to come. I love you all.
This picture is the building that is the Hogar de Cristo
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