Saturday, May 26, 2012

Worship Seekers


Some of the men from project!

Week #1 of Uruguay summer project 2012 is coming to an end. After traveling for close to 24 hours, it was great to finally arrive in Montevideo. I am so blessed to be a part of this team. So far there has been minimal conflict and we all get along really well. It’s great to be with a group of believers that all are here for the same purpose. “Worship seekers” is our theme for this summer. “Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church, worship is”- John Piper. Having this theme for our summer has been a great reminder of why we do missions and how we should do missions. If we aren’t worshipping the Lord well in our own lives, then we shouldn’t be doing missions. Knowing this has helped encourage me to be completely dependent on the Lord and spend good time with him every day! This week we have been getting settled in to life here in Uruguay. It’s almost winter here, but it’s been around 65 everyday so it’s quite mild.
Jesse and I with some of the Vida Estudiantil leaders

The food is pretty similar to the U.S. except I’ve had hardly any fruits and vegetables since I’ve been here and we’ve been eating A LOT of meat (which is perfectly fine with me), and the people are great and very friendly for the most part. On Wednesday we toured the different “faculties” (or campuses as we like to call them) that we would be working at. Each campus is a different school, so all of the students at one faculty are in a similar major to each other. That evening we had a welcoming time with some of the Vida Estudiantil leaders. It feels great to meet brothers in sisters in Christ who worship the same God as we do halfway across the world! The craziest thing that’s happened to me so far happened on Thursday. Long story short, I cut my hand on a bunch of glass and had to get stitches for the first time in my life. After an embarrassing ambulance ride and an 800 dollar hospital visit all is good!
My wounded hand (I can laugh about it now)

On Thursday and Friday we had the privilege of doing some evangelism at the universities. My partner, Jesse and I, talked to large group of students at the University of Social Sciences. The first day we talked to them we basically just hung out and talked about their culture. The next day we went back to the same place and met up with some of the guys who then invited us to watch the Uruguay vs. Russia soccer game with them. While we were hanging out we were able to share the gospel with them! (Keep in mind this is almost entirely in Spanish). They didn’t make a decision to trust Christ then, but they were very willing to talk to us and they might come to the Vida Estudiantil outreach meeting on Monday night with us! The Lord has been working in huge ways so far since we’ve been here and I can’t wait to see what else He’s going to do the next 5 weeks.

A mate demonstration by Andres (National Director for Cru in Uruguay)

Thursday, May 17, 2012

It's almost time!



 
Excitement, nervousness, uncertainty… these are all words that I could use to describe my emotions right now. In 3 days I will be on a plane headed for Montevideo, Uruguay. It’s been almost a year since I left for Orlando, FL for the Walt Disney World Summer Project 2011. God really moved in the lives of many students over that summer project, and I am really excited to serve Him on a mission project once again! Our team of around 20 will bring the hope that is only found in Jesus Christ to the lost college students in Montevideo. We will be going to college campuses 5 days a week looking to initiate spiritual conversations with the students we meet. Lord willing, we will be able to share the gospel with many of the students we meet, and I pray that they would see their need for Jesus Christ and give their lives to him. I will be a student staff member on this trip, which means that I have the privilege of serving a dual role as both a student and a leader. I will be leading a bible study, coaching a team, and discipling some of the guys going. I am really looking forward to pouring into the guys on the trip and getting to know them on a deeper level. Please pray for the whole team that God would provide the rest of the finances needed in order to make this trip happen, and for God to be preparing our hearts as well as the hearts of the Uruguayans for this summer. I’ll post another update once I’m in country!

In Christ,
Berto