The end of the road leads home!!!

Families as you read this know that we are sitting in the Santiago airport waiting to get on a plane to the states. This past week has been fun, but I am on a time clock here pay by the 15 minutos so I will not go into detail. We had a fiesta last night that included dancing, presents, and TONS of Chilean food. It was so much fun and yet so sad. Coming home is bittersweet because we are coming home to our country and our families, but it seems like we are leaving a family here and that is no fun. Thank you for all the prayers and we will see everyone in a few days. Dios Le Bendiga, Rebekita

Late yesterday afternoon, we were sitting around Moscow trying to decide what to do with our last few days in Russia. On the spur of the moment, we decided to go to St. Petersburg. So, after going to two different train stations, we managed to get tickets for 2 a.m. that night. We packed light - a jacket and a toothbrush - and got on the train at 2. This time we didn't have beds. We spent the whole 8 hours sitting upright trying to get some sleep. When we got to St. Petersburg, we spent the day sightseeing. First we went to the corps for a quick look around. Then we walked to see Paul's castle (the grandson of Peter the Great), the Cathedral of the Spilt Blood (built of the site where Alexander II died), the Winter Palace, and visited the Hermitage. We got to go on a tour of the Gold Room and see all sorts of decorations and jewelry from all sorts of time periods. We spent a few hours walking around the Hermitage looking at the artwork. It was really amazing, but we would need about a week to see everything there. That evening we took a bus/boat tour around the city and arrived back at the train station just in time for our 10:30 train back to Moscow. This time we were in a better situation - nice beds and a meal. We got back to Moscow at 6 a.m., had breakfast at our hotel, and took a nap before heading off to DHQ. Today we plan to hang out with homeless kids and spend our last evening with the Worthingtons, a family that works at THQ. Tomorrow we will go to the Lublino corps before starting the journey home in the afternoon.

This will probably be the last post I write in Russia. We have had a great time here and will be sad to leave those we have met. On the other hand, it will be great to come home and see everyone.

Beslan camp experiences

Hello again from the Russia team! Don't worry - we're all still alive and well. Sorry for not updating - we've had no way of getting on the internet. We're back in Moscow for a few days before we return home. A lot has happened in the past two weeks at the camp for the Beslans.

We took a two-hour plane to the camp. There were just over 30 people on staff from the Salvation Army. We all travelled together on the plane and then the bus to arrive at the camp on the Black Sea. The rest of the staff was made up of about 30 people from a program called Living Waters. Because the two groups had to work together to run the camp, and because the two groups have very different approaches, there were some difficult times and not everything flowed smoothly.

Apart from the staff, the camp was made up of about 90 kids of all ages and about 30 adults. A lot of them had been directly affected by the school hostage situation in Beslan - whether by being in the school at the time or loosing family or friends - which made it hard for those on staff who spoke Russian and could communicate with the campers. We had a trauma counsellor on staff who walked us all through a bunch of seminars on how to deals with situations that could have come up.

Those who came to camp from Beslan were Assetian. This is a whole people group with their own beliefs, superstitions, customs, and dances. Watching them do their national dance was amazing - they look so graceful and proud when they dance. One day some of the women baked some Assetian pies for the staff. They always make an odd number of pies (in this case three) in order not to offend their superstition/religion. A lot of the people there were Christian, but I think that most if not all are new believers. Some of the kids came to Christ during the camp.

We were on the activites staff for the camp - planning & doing games. We also helped plan the night programs and basically helped out anywhere we were needed. For the first few days Justin and Kirstin were councellors for the older boys and girls. However, the language barrier made it very difficult for them and they finally had to step down. We helped out in the dining room putting food on the tables and setting up for the meals. To be honest, the food wasn't very good. We had a variety of porriage stuff for breakfast, mush and mystery meat for lunch and dinner. We ate A LOT of bread with butter and cheese, plums, and tea. It's wonderful to be back in the city where we can feel full again.

During the camp we went to the beach once or twice a day. As you can imagine, we are all very tan and fortunately not very sunburnt. One day the whole camp went to a water park. It wasn't like the ones back home, but there were water slides and a lazy river...and food vendors, so we snuck in a meal of shashlik (meat on a stick). By the way, the ice cream here is really good and really cheap. We eat a lot of it, especially when we're with Edik, who always suggests stopping for some whenever we pass a store.

We made a lot of friends on the staff during the camp and also some friends among the campers. All of us stayed in rooms with the kids, so we learned useful words: I want sleep, good night, close the door, where's the key. On the whole, everyone was really great. The older girls would invite us to sit with them and drink tea at night, the younger girls adored Bonnie, and some of the other people on the team picked up their own admirers as well.

That is just a broad idea of what our camp experience was like. It was very hard, the days were long, we sometimes got frustrated, sick, and tired, but I think that at the end, we felt good about contributing to a couple of weeks in the lives of the Beslans. Thank you for all your prayers. We're praying for you, Chile team!

Chile week 5!

Ok so it has finally hit home. This is the start of our last week in Temuco NOOOOOOOO!!!!!! This past week has been a rather interesting one. Not as interesting as the last post, but you know fun. I am two weeks behind on my journal so I have to think extremely hard about this post and everything that has happened this week.

Monday, We started our preparational meetings for Escuala la Biblica Vaccaciones AKA: Vacation Bible School with Tia Blanca. We just brain stormed ideas and she was so excited that we had bought a spanish VBS kit in the states because they are too expensive here to purchase. Any officers who feel it in their hearts to send old VBS spanish material here it would be greatly appreciated. We had no manual labor today except that the shelves needed to be painted in the vegetable storage room so Jacob and Jeremy did that. The rest of us went out and picked up trash around the neighborhood it was so much fun people were so excited to see us picking up trash. We also went to visit one of the ladies that came for the food give out two weeks ago. She was really sweet we brought church to her. Later that night we went and hung out at Tia Blanca¨s for dinner and a movie. We watched Anastasia without color, it brought back a lot of memories.

Tuesday, The boys once again worked on the roof. The girls went to Lider to buy torta ie:cake for the girls. We had everyone¨s birthday party that night. It was so much fun we ordered pizza which was 2 for 1 and some of the girls had never even seen pizza before. We then had cake and gave them presents. We gave them necklaces and glow bracelets the girls had so much fun with the bracelets and were turning the lights off dancing with them. It was a lot of fun. I did a devotional about how they are special to God and he knew when they would be born and that they are children of the king.

Wednesday, we the girls had to finish painting the borders in some of the hallways so now I can officially say praise God we are done painting. The boys had the joy of starting the roof until it started to rain and they came down. Jacob fell through the roof and put a big hole in the girls bathroom ceiling. Just his leg fell through not his whole body, but all the girls and Tias said QUE PASO!!!! ie:WHAT HAPPENED! The girls had home league and we learned about hemmoroides what fun what fun. Oh the joys of home league. That night we learned our new timbrel drill David¨s Dance. It was a long day, but a fun one.

Thursday, We worked in the morning the boys on the roof. Kally and I went to the Doctor she was my translater. I have this mysterious rash on my arm and he said that it was an allergic reaction to a bug bite, it is not contagious, but it will more than likely spread. After lunch Major and Captain took us to the Vaolcanoe because it was a nice day. We were speeding up a dirt road in the 15 passenger van slipping and sliding across the road when all of the sudden we got stuck in the snow and ice what fun. We all got out of the van and a group of Chileans had a 4 wheel drive with a wrench and about an hour later we were on our way. We had Bible study that night and got home about 5 min before it started. Major talked about why we should Pray.

Friday, the boys worked again on the roof, while the girls painted and colored the decorations for Vacation Bible school. With the help of the girls from the home we got the decorations done and put up in the chapel. Some of the girls started to leave today so that they could go home on vacation so they will not be here when we leave. We cried and it was hard to say goodbye.That night Jacob, Kally, and Matt went to Tio Davids church to see a special guest singer. Nina, Jeremy, and I stayed and went to Youth night which was an explanational meeting about their upcoming Youth Councils. Afterwards, we went out to give out hot milk and bread to the homeless downtown. We parked on the train tracks and just walked around the poorer section of town screaming hello and hoping that people would come out. We met a lot of people and there was one family that invited us in and I fell in love with there daughter. She came running after me when we left. It was such a blessing to see everyone and just talking to them. At the very end of giving out milk there were two drunk guys that wanted some milk. They could speak some english so they were trying to talk to us in english. One of the guys told me how beautiful I was and wanted to buy me a beer, I told him Thank you for the offer, but I don¨t drink. I really enjoyed giving out the milk.

Yesterday, our day off we just spent hanging out. We practiced for our special numbers in the early afternoon, and then we went to the centro to see Los Cuatro Fantasticos ie: The fantastic four. It was fun. Afterwards we were invited to dinner at the pastors house of Tio David¨s church. We were fed so much food Hamburgers, tacos, hot dogs, empanadas, pizza, cookies, green beans oh my goodness the food just kept coming and coming it never seemed to stop. The family was so amazingly sweet they told us that anytime we come back to stop in and visit them. They also told us to come back during the summer and they will take us to their cabin to hang out. We stayed and talked until about 11:00 pm then we decided it was time to get going home.

Today, We had church it was really good. Kally preached in Spanish she did a great job. Tonight was the farewell for the General Secretaries they are moving to Brazil to become the tropical divisions Divisional Commanders. We performed Davids Dance timbrel drill which was completely amazing. Afterwards we had torta and cafe. The day was once again amazing and a lot of fun.

Well one week left. It is really sad to think about it. We are all doing well. Please pray for VBS this week it should be a good week. Pray that Kally gets her passport before we leave or else she will be hanging out in Chile. We love you all and will be home next week. Love you all bunches.

Dios Le Bendiga,
Rebekah

Matt Trantham, 2nd letter

Well, things are going well, its hard to believe we´ve been here so long, I´ve almost forgot what the states are like. My first trip out of the country has been an awesome one, the officers here are so awesome and I can´t wait to eat every meal with them every day. The food has been great, the fellowship has been great, and everyone on the team is growing in different areas of their spiritual lives. I can say that this past week God broke me a little more, throughout our experience of being robbed. My favorite, first ever study bible was taken. It was given to me by my first corps officers captains paul and deanna gilliam, and has been the most prized possession i´ve ever had. Since I¨ve only been an outspoken Christian for about 5 years, though I grew up in a Christian home, I´ve had that bible and had taken it into battle quite often. To lose it was truely hard for me to handle. But luckily I have a back up while I´m here, I only understand half of it though, half spanish half english. This past week I gave the lord 2 huge things that had been hindering my spiritual growth, and I would like to thank all of you who are praying for us and especially for me because those prayers have been answered in my life this week. I´ve begun to take thoughts captive everyday, and give every day to the lord, and it´s amazing to see what God does when you live a life of submission to him everyday. I look forward to the last 2 weeks, and can´t wait to see what he has in store for us. Thank you family and friends so much, Love and prayers, Matt Trantham

Chile Week 4!

Well, this week has come to an end and I am sitting in front of a computer past 10:00 pm with blurry eyes and a very exhausted body. This week has been more than memorable to say the least. We learned a lot from God he taught us more than our share of things this week.

Monday, The 4th of July will be one that I will never forget. We painted until lunch once again the girls inside the boys outside this time though the boys had to climb on the roof and lean over it to paint bits and pieces that they could not reach. They stated that it was the scariest thing, I was just glad that it was not me. After lunch we changed clothes and got into uniform because we were heading off to a town in the South called Baldivia. The Divisional Commanders, Major, and the team were special guests to the Baldivia Corps one year anniversary coronation service of their day care program. The band was asked to perform and we did a good job. The program was so adorable the kids performed and they had a Royal Court. Afterwards we had dinner at the Corps officers apartment attached to the Corps. We had cake to celebrate the fourth of July. The cake I kid you not instead of having like cake in between the icing it was sugar it was interesting to say the least. We returned to the van and all got in prepared to leave when we realized that some of our stuff was missing. We had been ROBBED. Kally had her backpack taken which had her passport in it, Jacob had his CD player and all his CD´s taken, Matt had his backpack stolen and his study Bible which has been really hard on him. The funny thing was that Matt had some wet tighty whities in his bag from the hotsprings last Saturday.Oh and all of our jackets were taken and they took my pillowcase to put it all in. They were nice enough to atleast leave the pillow. We ´prayed for them while at the police station filling a report. At least they were now warm, had food, had drink, had Christian music, and had a Bible.

Tuesday some of us were bumming while the rest of us just realized how truly blessed we are. We painted again today and then Major took us into the Centro to replace the stuff that was stolen and for Kally to get passport pictures taken so that she could file for another passport to get her home. She said that her parents would die if she were stuck down here. We had Bible study that night and it was good as usual just very intense.

Wednesday, we painted again but guess what WE ARE THROUGH PAINTING IT IS ALL FINISHED. WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The girls had home league and that was an experience and a half to say the least. We had a relaxation day where we had partners and massaged them and rubbed all over them it was interesting to say the least. The tea that day was way ridiculous we were given 4 different cakes, a sopapilla, and a cheese sandwhich. I ate my sopapilla which are amazing by the way and the ladies commented on how they could tell by looking at my face that I had lost weight. They then went on to say that my mom would not like to see that I have lost weight because she would think that I was not being fed well down here. So the ladies then gave me more food to eat which I didn´t eat because I was full. I want to lose weight and I think my mom would be very happy that I had. Kally left at midnight on a bus to go to Santiago to file for a new paasport with the US Embassy she was very excited to be seeing other Americans she could not wait to get their.

Thursday, we were off we were supposed to go to the Centro to hand out War Cry´s, but it was pouring down rain so Major told us to take a break. We did some shopping and went on a visitation that afternoon to Maria Theresa´s house our translator and her Mom. We had a mini service at her house and almost were eaten by her dogs. We had Bible Study that night and Major did a great job.

Friday, we went to the centro this morning to hand out war crys and tell people ¨God Bless You.¨ Here they have a big Salvation Army costume that is a shield with a head it was the funniest thing and Jeremy wore it throughout downtown. It was very nice to see ppeople smile and reading the war crys and tracks that we were handing out. Nina and I called it our ¨Jesus Juice¨ it really was a lot of fun and I can not wait to go again. We had youth meetings that night it was a fun night. We had a devotional thought about loving who you are and not wanting to be someone else because God made you who you are. Then we played games we played hospital where you have a partner and you call out things from the ïnfirmary¨ basically it is a different version of upset the fruit basket. The games were a lot of fun then we had a surprise party for Hans it was his 18th birthday so we had cake and snacks. The day was really a lot of fun.

Yesterday we went to the Pacific ocean which was gorgous. You climb this big sand dune and just see miles upon miles of untouched beach. We were in such awe of God and his creation we just had a good time in God. That night we went to play soccer against Tio David´s church and lets just say that these Chilean boys don´t mess around with soccer they are in it for blood. The girls were told we couldn´t play because it is a ¨MAN´S Sport¨ I was upset at first until I saw the soccor ball get kicked into the goalies face and he was readjusting his jaw thats when I realized I was happy to be a girl. Hans and GianCarlos came to play on our team with us thank goodness, but I do have to say that our boys could play some soccer. Our day off all in all was a great day.

Today was amazing as usual. Morning Worship was cool we performed ¨Ven Espiritu Ven¨this morning our mime and Matt preached about submission. Jeremy painted while the service was going on and it turned out amazing as usual. This afternoon we all just chillaxed. Matt slept because he was up until 3 am finishing his sermon. Then the night program was amazing. They had an enrollment service of Giancarlos, Hans, and Hermana Aurora it was beautiful. They signed their covenants at the altar and then they picked someone who means a lot to them to put their epaulets on them. Kally and I got emotional. The D.C. spoke tonight and it was amazing. The alatar was lined and to have someone pray with you even though you do not know the language is amazing. I love coming to church here on Sundays it is such a powerful gut wrenchiung thing and a true Holy Spirit shaker.

This week started out pretty bad, but we made the best out of a bad situation. We made lemonade cause life gave us lemons. We hope that our families are doing well. We are doing well, a few of us are homesick and can´t wait to get home others like me don´t ever want to leave. Well, goodnight all. Know that we are thinking about you. Oh yeah and mom everyone says thanks for the cookies and brownies especially the American flag ones. They loved them and were so happy to be eating a piece of America. Love you to all our friends and families.

Dios Le Bendiga,
Rebekah

happy 4th of July!

Hello from the Russia team! And, as we've been told several times today, congratulations! it's independance day! We're spending today at the Caldwell's apartment, relaxing and eating food we can recognize - spaghetti, cherries, strawberries. Wednesday we fly out with a larger group to the Black Sea to prepare for the Beslan camp. Tomorrow we're doing some more sightseeing and packing our bags.

Thursday we visited a hospital and handed out food. The hospital was very small. The girls and guys divided up and visited the male and female patients seperately. Communication was very difficult, but both the girls and the guys had someone with them who could speak the language. While they didn't do much translating, at least there was someone there to offer some encouragement and words of hope. The Taganka corps officer came and did a devotional. Later that evening we went to the Lublino corps officer's house (Ulia). Some of our Russian friends were there as well and we had a good time hanging out, eating pizza, and looking at pictures.

Friday we ended up watching the cadets' kids. We were going to split up, some of us continuing the works we had been doing at the Lublino corps, but in the end we all stayed together. There were two little kids. We played with them in the park and then went up to their apartment for lunch (which was borsh). The three older kids were awake by then and after a while we took them out to a different park and taught them to play red rover. The game was made interesting by the appearance of three drunk guys who found us highly entertaining and began shouting at us. It began to rain and so we spent some time ducking into bus stop shelters and looking for a cafe. We finally found a place and had some pastries and things like that. We took the kids back to DHQ and they played ping pong while we had a band practice. Because of a miscommunication, Justin and Luba (one of our Russian friends) ended up taking the kids back home.

Saturday was commissioning. Earlier in the day we ran through some songs to play before the meeting and while the first year cadets marched in. We had lunch at Friday's and raced back in time for the 1:00 meeting. There were two meetings that day. The first was the actual commissioning service. Most of it was translated and Commissioner preached in English, so we knew what was going on. The meeting was small and not nearly as grand as ones in the Southern territory, but everyone took it seriously, and the joy on the faces of the newly commissioned officers was wonderful to see. They have worked hard and know their stuff - during the meeting they all got up and recited all of the doctrines. The second meeting was like a talent show. The cadets sang and performed skits, songs - both serious and funny. The kids even had their own presentations: a song and a Georgian dance. That night after dinner the five of us (Justin and Jaron were spending the weekend at their parents' hoouse) walked around a mall and amusing ourselves.

On Sunday the meetings were held at DHQ. During the 11:00 meeting, some of us played with the kids. They liked our crafts, but the language barrier was hard to get over. It's harder to make yourself understood without using words (or using very few words) when dealing with little kids. We had lunch at a place across the street with some of our Russian friends and Edik, Olga, and their kids. The second meeting was when the new officers recieved their diplomas. We played for the preliminaries and during the meeting we sang and tried to remember the words to the hymns which we knew. When the meetings ended, we went souvinier shopping with Captain Caldwell, and afterwards he took us out to eat. Two of our Russian friends, Luba and Dan, joined us and then hung out at the hotel with us.

And that brings the blog up to date! Time to go and eat apple crisp and enjoy the day off! Dasvidanya!

Chile week 3!

Hola! Wow another week come and gone it seems like time is just flying down here and I really am not ready to think that it is going to be over soon. This week has been an amazing one.

On Monday, The girls cooked for the Montes´ a good old American breakfast we cooked french toast and bacon. The Captain who is a semi health nut ate 4 pieces of french toast and wanted more. They loved it so we taught them how to make it when we leave.Later that morning Major and the family took us to the National Park here in Temuco it is a mountain that has look out points that over look the city. The Mapuchi Indians that are natives in Chili meet there every 24 of June to celebrate their New Year, so there are humongues wooden carved statues at the park. The entire ambiance of the park was amazing. The view was gorgeous. After we got back to the girls home we played with the girls until bed time.

Tuesday, we painted everyone was on the roof.and it started to rain and was gusty we almost fell a couple of times and David our supervisor told us to stay up there and finish. After we were done painting for the day we had Bible study that night. It was a good lesson.

Wednesday, We guess what Painted again! We are enjoying painting though because the girls face and the Tia´s that work here were in tears when talking to us about what we are doing. The girls painted inside and the boys were once again on the roof in the rain and they said to tell you Joy that are jackets aren´t waterproof. So we painted all day which was fun. Well, the boys painted all day the girls were invited to Home League and it was AWESOME! We had so much fun. They had a special guests of two nurses talking about Osteoporosis and then they had a prayer meeting, after the prayer meeting they enjoyed tea and bread, and then we were taught a dance that we were to perform on Sunday. We really enjoyed ourselves and can not wait until Wednesday of this week.

Thursday morning we painted once again the girls downstairs the boys on the roof and once again it was raining. Later that afternoon Major took us to a Mapuchi Indians mueseum and house that we could see how they live. Major Montes wants the division to set up an outpost in the countryside where the Mapuchi tribe lives. They are an interesting community of people, we really learned alot. When we got back there was about an hour before we had Bible Study so we played with the girls until then. During Bible study Major talked about who we are and we need to realize that we are children of God. He is a really good teacher and preacher. We enjoyed ourselves very much.

Friday, the boys painted which was fun for the girls. The Major and David had to buy more paint for the inside of the house so we were free until they returned home. The boys were painting outside of our window so we were having good conversations with them. David finally returned back at noon and said that because the girls got home at one we were not going to paint inside. He then escorted us to the back of the house and we were to sweep off the wall and then scrape the paint off while the boys got to rest. That afternoon we had a food mission where needy families from around Temucco come and receive food and flour. There was about 20 or so families that came to get food. Then some of our team members halped take the food to peoples houses. It was really cool.We had Youth night that night which Juan Carlos was in charge of so we played games which was so much fun. We played something like don´t pass the fruit but with a keychain and sticks. Whoever was caught with it 3 times had to give a valuable possession up at the end of the game we had to do something to earn our possession back. I had to sing and dance so I sang I´m a little teapot. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday we slept in which was great. We went to the Centro ie: the center of town. So, the girls could shop which was a lot of fun for the girls. The boys except Jacob stayed back at the girls home because shopping is not their forte.The girls were in heaven. I bought so much stuff which was awesome. We then went to the movies to see War of the Worlds which was pretty good. It was a lot of fun to be away for the day and eating junk food. Nina finally got her ice cream that she has been craving since we got here. All in all it was a great day of rest.

Today we had a good service. I preached and it was interesting to have a sermon translated. We were in charge of singing two english choruses in Sunday School we sang I´ve got the Joy, Joy Down in my heart. We had a hard time singing I´ve got the wonderful love of my blessed reedeemer way down in the depths of my heart. The kids loved it. We also sang It´s no longer I that liveth. We had a lot of fun and we celebrated Founder´s day which was a lot of fun. Tonights service was Candidates Sunday so it was a good service. Major talked about the call and how amazing it is to feel God´s power on your life. The Home League performed our dance number which was a lot of fun. This day was just a lot of fun and very powerful. They had the I´ll Fight speech on a poster that was hung up and in spanish which was a lot of fun to read.

All in all it has been a good week. Please keep on praying for us as well as our families so that we will not be that homesick. Tomorrow is going to be a rough day for some of us. It will be some of our first times away on The 4th of July in another country. Major said that he is going to take us to McDonald´s for dinner to celebrate and fireworks are banned so that is a true bummer. Anyways we love all of you and miss all of you bunches. Hugs and kisses to everyone. Also just a note Sundays are the only days I can post so all of you who are getting impatient I´m sorry. Have a great 4th of July all of you in the states. We love you all.

Dios Le Bendiga,
Rebekah