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Home Again Gone Again

Well, after 3 days of non-stop travel on buses I make it back to my home in Puerto Madryn. The first day I end up sleeping almost right through from 2pm onward to the next day, although I did get up to eat a quick something during the night. Travelling was exhausting.

Long road
On the road again, heading north to Cordoba.

But today I am on the move once again. This time, as I write this, I’m on a 19hr bus journey northward to Cordoba, travelling with Jorge to a fledgling ywam base where he will be teaching. We will be there one week.

YWAM Cordoba base
The YWAM base in Cordoba.

I guess it is a lot of travelling. Even for me. Somewhere along the way I was even asking myself what I am doing hurtling along to some other place just after getting back. Some people back at my base are starting to ask who I am and what I’m doing there. There are so many new faces now. But here I am, on a bus, heading north.

Jorge teaching
Jorge teaching the Discipleship school students.

As they say… Here again, gone again. Or in my case, home again, gone again. And so I am.

Breakfast in Cordoba
Breakfast in Cordoba (Coffee, maté, biscuits and dulce-de-leche).

Cordoba mall in the city
The main mall in Cordoba city centre.

Cordoba city
Heading into Cordoba city from the YWAM base.

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Puerto Madryn to Santiago in Chile

After an early start to the day, a cold snap caused snow on the road to delay my bus for an hour and a half. Wandering down to the beach to watch the whales play in the water seemed the best way to pass the time at this hour of the morning. A further delay in Cippoletti made it likely that we would arrive very late at our destination, but some fast driving through the night delivered us only one hour behind schedule.

In Mendoza, after purchasing my ticket for Chile, I heard of some other YWAM staff heading to the same place as me. So rather than try and find my way alone, a second ticket put us all on the same bus. Sandra and Marcela were heading to a seminar held by YWAM Chile for the weekend and had brought Lorena with them, a friend from church. It was not long before we were all well acquainted and chatting and laughing our way over the Andes mountains.

Our journey was not quite as simple as that however, as it had started to snow in Mendoza and the bus companies were beginning to cancel their scheduled journeys. Our company decided to continue onward, and after a break-down stranding us along the side of the highway for an hour, we climbed into the majestic mountains to be welcomed by bright sunshine and clear skies. It was hard to find better conditions than these.

A short delay of about an hour in the border crossing, with the compulsory luggage checks, and soon we were easing our way down the steep razorbacks winding their way into the valley below. The setting sun cast a beautiful pink glow over the powerful snow-capped peaks surrounding us, before slipping away into darkness through a variety of crimsons and reds on the horizon. It was night time in Santiago city when we finally disembarked from our minibus and wandered into the terminal to grab a bite to eat.

It would be a late night before we finally got to sleep in our new quarters on the YWAM base here, but our travels were now over, our main concerns gone. We had made it.

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Fleeing for My Life

What just happened to my friend Paul and me still has my head reeling. It felt like I was living a movie scene… except they were real people chasing me, with real bullets flying over my head… and I was in some serious danger.

Always Walking
It all began as we were walking back to our home after visiting a church in the city. Our home is about three kilometers from the city limits, along a long and dark gravel road, a planned cluster of properties that form a suburb outside of the city.

As none of us have vehicles and the bus service only passes three times per day on week days, we tend to walk everywhere. This is not a great problem, and most of us enjoy this time if the wind is not whipping up clouds of dust into our face and the temperatures stay above zero degrees Celsius. Even so, walking takes a significant amount of time and we are always looking for shortcuts to the places we are going.
Wind whipping up the dust
Wind whipping up the dust along the roads of the Quintas.

Taking the Shortcut
It so happened that the shortcut that Paul and I were taking this night was a very remote area outside of the city. We were cutting through here to save ourselves an extra ten or twenty minutes of walking, and with Paul suffering some pain in his leg with every step, it seemed worth it at the time. Little did we know what was about to happen along this lonely dirt track.

When we had passed through here heading for the church at the start of the night, it occurred to me then, that I had foolishly brought everything with me related to both money and identification. My passport, credit cards, driver’s license and all of the information about my travels was stored in my mobile phone. There was nothing left at home that could identify me. How careless I had been, especially when my travels to Australia were in just two weeks. But nothing would happen to us I reasoned… after all, it never has before.

A different shortcut
Taking a different shortcut during the day, about the same distance from the city.

Continue reading “Fleeing for My Life”

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Just like being in a freezer

Inside we have large gas heaters set to their maximum, the doors and windows are tightly shut and foam circles their joints to ensure any stray cold air from outside does not enter. It does not seem to help. The cold still gets in. We are all here, huddled around the heater, winter coats layered upon us.

frozen water
All water outside was found frozen in the morning

Another section of the building normally offers us a warmer alternative to our main heater. It is a narrow hallway that seems to always be hotter than everywhere else. Tonight it wasn’t. In fact, there was no place that we could find that was warm. Right next to the heaters provided the only little heat we could find.

Oh the cold.

Little did we know that this night was going to end up the coldest night on record for the last five years.

Outside all water froze over. In the morning we found our water pipes frozen too. One burst under the pressure, requiring immediate attention. Fearing further cold nights, I spend the rest of the day fitting insulation to all of the most susceptible pipes, using whatever was on hand.

Ruben helping me to fix the burst pipe
Ruben helping me to fix the burst pipe

Later in the day the news comes out… it was -10 degrees C. Just like being in a freezer.

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House of Prayer

It has been a long time in coming, but finally we have finished building the prayer house. The bathroom area still awaits completion but will be waiting a while. The important thing is that we can now use the house.

For what? Well, obviously for prayer, but also for meetings, counselling, and as a place apart from everything else where you can study and think. Of course, being a House of Prayer, it is prayer that always takes precedence over the other activities.

The House of Prayer
The House of Prayer finally finished

COP - Looking at the side where the bathroom will be
Looking at the side where the bathroom will be, with the cesspit in the foreground

COP Inside looking at the front door
Inside the Prayer House, looking towards the front door

COP Inside looking toward the wood heater
Inside looking toward the wood heater

Our home-made wood heater that works wonderfully
Our home-made wood heater that works wonderfully

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Bumpy Ride

Today I caught the bus to town from our YWAM base in the Quintas. There is a long, several kilometre road, between us and the main town with its sealed streets. Our road is moderately used, but degrades quickly, leaving deep corrugations that shake even the eyes in your head.

Our poor old bus was pretty worn out, with several of the stabilizing poles inside, rattling loudly and moving dangerously with every bump. I now understand why we always end up with the oldest bus in the flete. The new buses never come out our way, but if they did, they would not remain new for long.

Shaky Bus
Trying to take a photo in the shaky old bus

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Mendoza Base

It was a freezing cold wind that whipped at our faces as we waited in line to store our bags in the bus. Jorge had just seen off his family and now he and I were about to embark on the first leg of our two week journey.

It was 24hrs later that we pulled into Mendoza bus terminal, tired and hungry after the long journey. We are greeted there by Elly and after a short taxi ride we reach the “Office.”

theoffice.jpg
Reaching the Mendoza YWAM Office

The Office is YWAM Mendoza’s city base, a huge old Spanish colonial house in an area of the city that happens to be in the red-light district. Few people work in this large building but it is constantly filled with people, teams that are coming and going which use this place as their base. We stay here for one night before heading out to the “Farm.”

The Farm Entrance
The entrance gate to the main YWAM base

The huge farm, not very far out of town, is still in its early days. YWAM is in the process of building its base here, and in the meantime the DTS school meets and eats in a tent on the edge of a football field. Nobody minds lining up in the cold for their food, nor the fact that most things are done outside. Most are happy to be here, focusing on the benefits and not their level of comfort.

The tent
The tent where all meetings are held and meals eaten

Today it is freezing though, and even the layers of coats I have on do not seem to help much in keeping it out. Everyone is in the same situation, jumpers, coats, scarves and beanies are the order of the day. The temperature is not terribly low, but the humidity here takes the cold that exists and makes it many times worse than in the south.

I am placed in with the staff, a small room crammed with too many people. The place is a mess, a factor of too much stuff and not enough wardrobes. I scuffle some stuff out of the way and make myself at home. I will be here a week.

Our week is filled quickly with teaching during the first few days and the rest of the week spent in applying the theory just taught. By the weekend we are both exhausted and glad to have some time to rest.

Jorge teaching in the Mendoza tent
Jorge teaching in the Mendoza tent

Although Monday was our scheduled travel day, a serious bout of the flu made it torturous to travel that day. Now we are travelling today instead. Our week in Mendoza now over, leaving behind some solid friendships that formed during this time.

One of the privileges of travel is getting to know so many amazing people. The drawback to travel is leaving these same wonderful people behind. Distance may separate us but the heart stays united regardless of the miles between us.

A friend from Mendoza
One of my new friends from Mendoza

Today we are leaving Mendoza, but carry with us the memories and friendships formed during this time.

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Carlos Anacondia in Puerto Madryn

Carlos Anacondia came to Puerto Madryn to run an evangelistic campaign in the city. It was amazing to see the number of people turning up each night at the location which was quite a long way out of the centre.

Each night he preached on the love of Jesus and each night thousands of people came forward to commit their lives to following Christ.

Poster for the campaign
The poster for the campaign – Jesus loves you

The stage, crowded with people
The stage, crowded with people wanting to commit their lives to Christ

People pack the stadium to hear Carlos Anacondia
People come from all over the region to hear Carlos Anacondia speak about Jesus’ love for them

Waving banners during worship
During worship the people waved banners with the music

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Oh The Wind

Oh the wind. Today is a very windy day with strong gusts lifting up everything that is not tied down. My big bottle of Coke is wobbling precariously on the table beside me as I stare out at the impenetrable clouds of sand and dust moving along with the gusts. It is a good thing that I am on the protected side of our main building.

Dust
The dust thrown up on a still day

It is days like today that I realise clearly that I am living in the middle of a desert. A patagonia desert, but one with lots of dust and sand and very little green.

One day when I was travelling in a bus northward, I remember waking up to trees and grass and being astounded at how pretty it was, staring out the window for hours. There is very little green and hardly any grass here where I am living.

But life is not bad. It was just today. When the wind pushed dirt under the door jams and through window gaps. When walking outside meant being covered in dust and dirt whipped up by the wind. It was just today that had me wondering why I was here, in the middle of the desert, on a little YWAM base.

Now the wondering did not remain too long, and another gulp of Coke and some delicious food that was generously placed in front of me soon helped me to forget all of this pondering. Then another gust of wind came. Dust lands in my food. Crunch. Ow. Nasty.

I get up and wander back inside. Here is everyone else, all of us locked inside, as though it was a fierce storm outside. Here is lots of action, people chatting, cooking, laughing, and enjoying life. Here I forget about the wind, forget about my ponderings, and enjoy my food.

I am not here for the weather, nor for the pretty-ness of the place. Each time the wind picks up it helps me to remember. I am here because I believe that this is where God has called me to be.