Hi there :) This week was, well, a week from...Heaven, but in a VERY disguised way. I want you to know though, how much comfort and strength it brings to me, to know you are reading this blog and by God's grace, taking something from it for you and your own life. AND, that you are reading this and praying for me, the other missionaries and our friends. Thank you with my whole heart.
Getting robbed
Christian came knocking on our window as usual Thursday morning, but this time, we didn't let him in right away. You see, the afternoon before, Christian made some very inappropriate comments to me in front of his friends and never apologized. Denis and I explained to him that his behavior was wrong. He said he was sorry and at once I forgave him and opened the door to him. As usual, he scarfed down his bread and tea, LOADED with sugar. The phone rang and Denis went to take it in the other room. 30 seconds after Denis left, Christian got up from the table and headed towards the stairs, which ALL the kids, especially him, know that it's totally off limits. I didn't want to make a big scene and freak out, so I calmly walked over to him and told him to come down. He smirked at me and ran up and slammed the door of our office. I barged in to find him tearing through our bookshelves, throwing books and papers everywhere. And then he found what he was looking for in no time at all, money. He dumped our money bank (tin can) onto the floor and grabbed 200 pesos. At this point, I was completely bear hugging him, screaming at him to give back the money. He was cussing and kicking me. I screamed for Denis and he came running up. He grabbed Christian, tore off his shirt and went through his pockets. Christian was crying hysterically, pointing at me and yelling words that I will leave to your imagination and claiming he took nothing. Denis couldn't find the money. He picked him up and literally tossed him out of our house. At this point, the commotion had awaken the interest of our neighbors and they were all out of their houses trying to figure out what was going on. Christian grabbed a huge rock and tossed it at our front door and than ran off. We learned later that the 200 pesos were in his underwear. Of course, I experienced a lot of emotions; I was angry, heartbroken, and scared. I have such a fondness for Christian and truthfully saw him in an innocent light. But that morning, he not only robbed me of our community money, but he robbed me of the innocence in how I viewed the children. People would tell me that the kids steal and can be dangerous, but I never really believed it...I didn't want to believe it. Now, my naiive view was taken from me and I viewed Christian (and some of the other children) in a different light. However, there is goodness in all this, of course. God is giving me a great opportunity to forgive and to love in a way I have NEVER experienced. Christian is grounded from our home for 1 month. Yet, at 1 month, whether he apologizes or not, he will be allowed back in. You see, everyone in the Villa turns their back on Christian. His own mother and grandmother, don't acknowledge him! If Heart's Home was to close our doors to him permanently, we would be exactly like everyone else in his life, and our mission is to love those who are the MOST abandoned by everyone. It's seems so poetic in words, almost romanticized. But living it is a whole other story :) God give us your grace! *On a very positive note: 2 of the boys who live across the street, saw how upset I was and came over and washed all the dishes that I was supposed to do, which allowed me time for prayer and to cool down. I was so proud of them*
Bringing the little ones to Jesus
Our daily hour of Adoration is one of my most favorite times of the day. I dump everything on Him...trust me...I do not hold back! And I let Him fill me up, so that I can serve my friends that day. 2 days this week, I have had the chance to witness God's yearning for the children's hearts in Adoration. On separate occasions, Ezekial (8 yrs) and Jemena (9 yrs) came over to our house and asked for me and when they found out I was in Adoration, they asked to come visit me there. When Ezekial came in he kneeled down and bowed his little head. I asked him if he knew who was right in front of us, and he said "Jesus!" And I asked him if he wanted to sing Jesus a song and he said "Yes!" And was so excited as he began to sing a song about elephants!!!! hahaha :) Ezekial, was so pure in this moment and so little before our Lord! I can't even imagine what JOY he brought to Jesus in that moment. Afterwards, he asked that I sing a song in English and I sang a verse of "Holy God, we praise Thy name, Lord of all we bow before Thee..." He smiled really big and I smiled back at him :)
Jemena came in and snuggled up right next to me, while I was deep into prayer! I asked her to pray a Hail Mary, Our Father and Glory Be together and off we went. I'm SO excited to say I know the Hail Mary and Glory Be in Spanish...however, I left the Our Father to her! Afterwards, she asked that we pray one more Haily Mary :) When we finished, she said that I did the sign of the cross incorrectly!! haha...When you finish making the sign of the cross, you have to either kiss your thumb or place your hand over your heart! I loved it! I did as she said and she smiled really big :) We sat in front of Jesus, and she just started to talk to me about her family. Her life at home is really difficult and she was telling me about her deceased grandparents. Her grandpa used to beat her grandma and she said it made her really sad. I assured her that she was safe with God in Heaven and she agreed.
These little moments made a HUGE impact on my heart. First of all, because it was quite the contrast from my experience with Christian!! And I know God let me experience this partly that I see the children as children still... and realize that not all of them are going to act as Christian. I was also humbled to see the respect and knowledge they had of our Lord at SUCH a young age. When I was 8 or 9, I don't think I knew what they knew or had the respect for God as they did. In those 2 moments, God let me feel for a moment, His IMMENSE love for His little children...what JOY they bring Him. I wanted to grab all the little kids in the street and bring them into Adoration!
Final Thoughts
There was more to the week than all of this, but as I reflected on everything, I realized these 3 experiences stuck with me far more than the others and challenged and taught me the most, so I am excited to share them with you! Keep storming Heaven and know that I'm your little prayer warrior here in the Villa. Miss you and love you! xoxo
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Week 2
HELLO!!! It feels like ages since writing you, but really it's only been a week :) I'd love to catch you up with some highlights...
My First Permanencia
Permanencia is when one of us missionaries stays at home for the visiting hours, so that the children can come over and play, help cook for dinner and just be available for our neighbors to stop by and say hi. The other missionaries were quick to warn me that while the children might seem so sweet and angelic now, wait until my first permanencia. Well, that turned out to be VERY true! These little angelic children turned into absolute terrors in a matter of minutes. I was speechless..and not just because I can't speak Castellano yet! There was around 13 or 14 kids all in our little dining room area. Some kids were coloring, others were doing puzzles and others were chasing eachother around in circles. I was having so much fun playing Uno and asking the kids to tell me the names of different things like ''horse'' and ''car'' and ''soap'', when all of the sudden madness broke loose! One of the kids wanted more paper or crayons or something and we didn't have any more and the tantrum started, which set off some of the other children and then they didn't want to share anymore, so they started throwing pencils, markers, puzzle pieces, FOOD, all over our kitchen and screaming at one another. I was trying so very hard to remain calm, and all I could say was ''Basta por favor!'' One of the little girls is quite challenging to deal with and for whatever reason is very rough with me. She was making fun that I couldn't speak in Castellano and when I tried to kindly remove her from our home for bad behavior she screamed at me and called me all sorts of names. This same little girl, just days before drew me a beautiful picture that read, ''Te Quierro, Brooke!'' with lots of smiley faces and flowers. I am only beginning to realize the challenges of loving these children. They have NO rules, no one to say ''You can not do this'' or ''do your hw'' or ''you're grounded.'' It just doesn't exist for these little ones. And one of the missionaries put it so beautifully regarding their behavior that I hold on so closely to these words to remind me of how I must look at them from now on. She said to me that when they are screaming, yelling, cursing, stealing (yes! these little ones steal anything they can get their hands on from us to sell and buy food, candy, drugs, beer, etc), that they are actually saying to us ''Please pay attention to me. Please love me. If I do this, will you still love me? Please look at me.'' And she is exactly right. They are screaming for attention and for love and they do not know how to achieve this any other way besides their attempts at terrorizing us.
Christian
There was a knock on our window around 8am and we opened the door to this little angel named Christian. He was filthy and smelled like feces and I realized why once I looked in his hair and saw he had feces all over the back of his head. He wanted some hot tea and bread with jam, so we invited him to sit with us for breakfast. This young man is quite well known among our HH because since he was born 11 years ago, he has grown up with HH. His mom lives next door to us and is a prostitute for a living. When he was 9 years old he moved onto the streets because he hated his life at home and was mortified by his mom's work. Last year, Christian started to deal and do drugs...he is only 11 years old. As he sat with us at breakfast, he was so quiet and very well behaved. He poured literally HALF of our thing of sugar into his tea and globbed lots and lots of peach jam onto his bread and scarfed it down in seconds. I asked him little questions here and there and then he said something that pierced my heart and broke it in half. I asked him when his birthday was and he said he didn't know. I thought he was only kidding, but he told me that it was never celebrated at home and he actually has no idea what month or what day he was born, but that it was in the year of 1997. Can you imagine??? I immediately thought of that MTV show ''Sweet 16'' about these lavish birthday parties that wealthy people throw for their teens turning 16 and I literally wanted to vomit. This little boy, who is living alone on the cold, dangerous and downright scary streets, whose mother has abandoned him, who has no idea who his father is, who is made fun of my the other children and even the men in the Villa because everyone knows that his mom is a prostitute, who has not seen a shower in weeks, has never celebrated his own birthday?! It was no surprise to me then, that later that afternoon, when he returned with some friends from the street that he acted like a complete animal and was so mean to us. He came storming in our home, threw pots and pans everywhere, stole food from our fridge and spit at us on his way out. My eyes are filling up with tears now as I write this, because tonight, Christian is freezing cold, sleeping in dog feces and probably went to sleep hungry and alone. Tomorrow he will come over and we will love him and feed him and make small talk with him and maybe he will behave well or maybe he will not. Please pray his little soul. Please flood Heaven for him and for his mother. Her name is Selena.
My First Permanencia
Permanencia is when one of us missionaries stays at home for the visiting hours, so that the children can come over and play, help cook for dinner and just be available for our neighbors to stop by and say hi. The other missionaries were quick to warn me that while the children might seem so sweet and angelic now, wait until my first permanencia. Well, that turned out to be VERY true! These little angelic children turned into absolute terrors in a matter of minutes. I was speechless..and not just because I can't speak Castellano yet! There was around 13 or 14 kids all in our little dining room area. Some kids were coloring, others were doing puzzles and others were chasing eachother around in circles. I was having so much fun playing Uno and asking the kids to tell me the names of different things like ''horse'' and ''car'' and ''soap'', when all of the sudden madness broke loose! One of the kids wanted more paper or crayons or something and we didn't have any more and the tantrum started, which set off some of the other children and then they didn't want to share anymore, so they started throwing pencils, markers, puzzle pieces, FOOD, all over our kitchen and screaming at one another. I was trying so very hard to remain calm, and all I could say was ''Basta por favor!'' One of the little girls is quite challenging to deal with and for whatever reason is very rough with me. She was making fun that I couldn't speak in Castellano and when I tried to kindly remove her from our home for bad behavior she screamed at me and called me all sorts of names. This same little girl, just days before drew me a beautiful picture that read, ''Te Quierro, Brooke!'' with lots of smiley faces and flowers. I am only beginning to realize the challenges of loving these children. They have NO rules, no one to say ''You can not do this'' or ''do your hw'' or ''you're grounded.'' It just doesn't exist for these little ones. And one of the missionaries put it so beautifully regarding their behavior that I hold on so closely to these words to remind me of how I must look at them from now on. She said to me that when they are screaming, yelling, cursing, stealing (yes! these little ones steal anything they can get their hands on from us to sell and buy food, candy, drugs, beer, etc), that they are actually saying to us ''Please pay attention to me. Please love me. If I do this, will you still love me? Please look at me.'' And she is exactly right. They are screaming for attention and for love and they do not know how to achieve this any other way besides their attempts at terrorizing us.
Christian
There was a knock on our window around 8am and we opened the door to this little angel named Christian. He was filthy and smelled like feces and I realized why once I looked in his hair and saw he had feces all over the back of his head. He wanted some hot tea and bread with jam, so we invited him to sit with us for breakfast. This young man is quite well known among our HH because since he was born 11 years ago, he has grown up with HH. His mom lives next door to us and is a prostitute for a living. When he was 9 years old he moved onto the streets because he hated his life at home and was mortified by his mom's work. Last year, Christian started to deal and do drugs...he is only 11 years old. As he sat with us at breakfast, he was so quiet and very well behaved. He poured literally HALF of our thing of sugar into his tea and globbed lots and lots of peach jam onto his bread and scarfed it down in seconds. I asked him little questions here and there and then he said something that pierced my heart and broke it in half. I asked him when his birthday was and he said he didn't know. I thought he was only kidding, but he told me that it was never celebrated at home and he actually has no idea what month or what day he was born, but that it was in the year of 1997. Can you imagine??? I immediately thought of that MTV show ''Sweet 16'' about these lavish birthday parties that wealthy people throw for their teens turning 16 and I literally wanted to vomit. This little boy, who is living alone on the cold, dangerous and downright scary streets, whose mother has abandoned him, who has no idea who his father is, who is made fun of my the other children and even the men in the Villa because everyone knows that his mom is a prostitute, who has not seen a shower in weeks, has never celebrated his own birthday?! It was no surprise to me then, that later that afternoon, when he returned with some friends from the street that he acted like a complete animal and was so mean to us. He came storming in our home, threw pots and pans everywhere, stole food from our fridge and spit at us on his way out. My eyes are filling up with tears now as I write this, because tonight, Christian is freezing cold, sleeping in dog feces and probably went to sleep hungry and alone. Tomorrow he will come over and we will love him and feed him and make small talk with him and maybe he will behave well or maybe he will not. Please pray his little soul. Please flood Heaven for him and for his mother. Her name is Selena.
Viviana
I'm not sure if you remember her from last week, but if you don't, check about her from last week's post and you will have a better understanding of her story. I was in the middle of washing dishes after a nice lunch with some fellow visiting missionaries and the phone rang. All of the sudden, Garmon was whisking me off to our friend, Vivian's home. She came rushing out of her home with tears streaming down her face and her hand was dripping of blood from a dirty rag. I was in utter confusion because I could understand VERY little of what she telling Garmon and myself. We were driven to the local police station and then off to the hospital. Finally, I learned that she and her abusive spouse had gotten into an argument. He had been drinking and in his anger grabbed a knife and attempted to stab her. She blocked him with his little hand and it cut her hand up very badly. The police were TERRIBLE. They could care less of her situation and told her there was nothing they could do. The hospital was just as bad. She was whisked away into a room and the doctors were literally smoking and sitting around chatting about who knows what! I felt like I was in the twilight zone! They bandaged her up and we had to take her back to her home, where her dangerous husband was waiting for her. I can not even begin to explain to you in words the sick feeling I had as we kissed her goodbye and watched her walk inside. It amazed me that in all of this, Vivi called US at HH. Not her daughters or her son, but us. How grateful to God was I at that moment that we were able to be present for her, even if we couldn't do anything at all, except hold her hand while she was stitched up and give her kisses and tell her that we love her.
Carolina
Miss Carolina is my new favorite little girl! You must think I'm terrible that I have all these favorite kiddies...but I do. Some of them touch my heart in ways that are quite unique and special...Carolina is one of them. We went to visit her home last week to wish her a Happy 11th Birthday. Her home was absolutely disgusting. The place was trashed with clothes, garbage, dishes, empty bottles, dogs, etc. cluttered everywhere. She was sleeping when we arrived. Her mom told us that they just didn't have the money to buy her anything for her birthday. Now, I understand not being able to afford a present, but I am passionate that every person should have a cake of SOME sort on their birthday...yes, even in the Villa Jardin. In fact EVEN more so in the Villa Jardin. So, we invited her over for a little fiesta at our house in her honor the following evening. As I was leaving, Carolina slipped me a card with my name on it. When I opened it, I found that she had made me a BEAUTIFUL card that read, ''Even though you are the new missionary, I know we will be the greatest of friends.'' This little angel gave ME a card on HER birthday when she received NOTHING. This, my friends, is why I keep saying how much I have to learn from my friends here in the Villa. They have nothing, yet give everything. They are completely detached from this world! I wish I had her heart. I wish I had her selflessness. I can only PRAY I would be so loving and generous, if I woke up on my birthday and was given no card, no present, and no cake. The following night, I made her American brownies and she LOVED them. I prayed the whole time I was making them for her. This was my special gift to her and I wanted her to feel so appreciated and so loved and just everything she made me feel when she gave me my card. Everyone kept asking me for the recipe and I was trying to explain how they came in a box and they were so confused!!!! hahaha :)
Final Thoughts
The lessons God is teaching me through my new friends are absolutely incredible. I am actually overwhelmed. Where do I look first? Where do I begin? How do I accomplish Your Will, Lord? I suppose, I just continue to get up and go through my day and accomplish the duties the Lord has given to me for that day with as much love and prayer as I can give. St. Therese has been an absolute gift to me this past week. She is teaching me that I can not worry myself with the outcome of my actions. For my duty, my responsibility, is only to accomplish what God is asking of me to the best of my ability...nothing more, nothing less. The fruits of what happen are in HIS hands!
I wrote you a NOVEL! I just want you so badly to experience, even for just a moment, what this mission is all about and I pray that this blog is doing just that for you. Please continue to pray for my conversion and for the other missionaries. And of course, I beg you to keep in a special way in your prayers, the friends I have mentioned in this blog. You are with me in prayer each day! I can't wait to talk to you next week :) xoxo
Karina Karina & me enjoying some good ol' American brownie mix!!!!!!
Meet Carolina and her Mom, Rosie; I made the brownies for her 11th birthday and they were a hit!
My first day of dish duty
Drinking Columbian coffee and singing Castellano songs after our lunch
Some very close friends of HH; Maria and Maria!!Monday, September 15, 2008
Week 1!!!
I am sending you a BIIIIIIG hello, kiss & hug from Argentina! WOW! I can not believe an entire week and 4 days has gone by...yes, I am counting days :) Ok, so let me catch you up with the latest and greatest!
Day of Rest
Tuesday is a day I have come to favor and look forward to because it is our day of rest! Each of us take turns in visiting VERY generous families who live in B.A. and welcome us into their homes as if we were their own children. They feed us yummy meals, let us do some laundry, use their internet (hence how I can keep up this blog!!!), and most importantly, sleep in quiet and peace!! It is truly a gift from above. Last Tuesday we stayed with Lillie and this week it's Maria Pia...So far, I like Lilie's the best because she reminds me of my Mom. I am absolutely humbled by these families because we are strangers to them, yet they completely understand the mission of Heart's Home and while they might not be able to live with the poor like we are doing, they are still living out the Gospel just the same. They are sharing their resources, time and love with us missionaries, when we are completely exhausted, hungry and missing our own Moms, Dads and Sisters.
Our Piano Concert Fundraiser
Wednesday night we had our annual piano concert fundraiser for Heart's Home. It was at The French Embassy in Central B.A. and it was GORGEOUS! I was able to meet some other missionaries from the HH in Santa Fe, Argentina as well as an HH priest and seminarian. My job was to hang up the fancy coats of our guests...and I might have tried on a fur coat or two ;) I have to admit, I was extremely excited to dress up and wear heels and makeup and the whole bit! It won't be happening for the rest of the mission, so I soaked it up! Afterwards, we all went over to a friend of HH's apartment and ate empanadas!! Empanadas are a-mazing. They are a staple for the Argentina diet...I mean it's no In N Out, but it will definately do :)
My New Friends
Slowly, I am beginning to learn more and more about the personal lives of my new friends of the Villa Jardin (Garden Village). You see, each day we take turns going to various houses in the neighborhood to visit with people, learn about their lives, laugh with them, cry with them and pray with them. The people here are SO welcoming. They have absolutely nothing, live from day to day and often can not even afford to but their own families food. Yet, when we come over for a visit they offer us whatever they have and we MUST say yes, because they take offense if we decline. Although, eating their cookies and crackers is so difficult to do, when you know that that might be their only food for the day. Mate (pronounced Mat-ay) is an absolute staple for our visits...much like tea in the afternoon for the English.
The Children
I must be very honest with you and if it sounds terrible, it's because it is. There have been moments when a child will come over to color and play and they want to be held and I cringe. I cringe because they smell as if not been bathed for weeks, which is most likely true. They have boogers and snot running from their noses and their hands and face are black with filfth and their hair is filled with lice. My first reaction is to run. Yet, when I ask God for help to look past it all, He comes through every time. And when I look past all the icky outer stuff, my heart melts as they snuggle up next my chest and tell me they love me and that my eyes are a pretty blue. It's moments like these that I realize how small my heart is and how HUGE God's is...and thank Him, that it is He who is loving the people through me.
Vicki
She is a friend whose home is connected to our patio. She has 4 children and 1 grandbaby. She, her husband, and her 4 children and grandchild all live in her home which is the size of a large bathroom in a normal sized house...if that gives you any idea at all. Her oldest daughter, Tamara has a 3 year old little girl named, Aileen. Tamara is very nice, but is only 19 and wants to go out and party all the time. So, she leaves her daughter with Vicki a lot and it makes Vicki sad because Aileen loves her mama so much. Isabel and I went to say hi and about 30 minutes into our conversation, she just started to cry. She said how stressed she is and how difficult the living situation is and that there is nothing they can do because they have absolutely no money to move into a bigger place. How helpless I felt as she poured her heart out. How much I wanted to do anything to buy her a home, but I could not. Instead, I could hold her hand and silently pray for her family, and so that is what Isabel and I did.
Viviana
Viviana lives right across the street from our home with her 3 kids (all teens), her husband and her new grandchild. Her family makes little knick knacks to sell at one of the local kiosks. When I went over for a visit, I hit it off with her oldest daughter, Natalia who wants to learn English soooo badly! She was begging me to speak in English so she could mimic me. I watched as Viviana's husband played so nicely with his new grandchild. He was very quiet and kept to himself much of the time. The house seemed so peaceful and I was pleased that this family seemed to have things somewhat in order. Then, I learned of the real situation as we walked home. Viviana is dying of cancer and because she has no money for treatment or medicine, she is in a lot of pain all of the time. Her husband is an alcoholic and when he gets drunk he turns into a monster and beats his whole family. This happens on a nightly basis. Her precious smile just kept popping up in my head and I wanted to go back in her house and kick the crud out of the dad...but what would that do? So, Denis and I offered up her family to Jesus during night prayer and will continue to love her and comfort her through our visits and through prayer.
Shonnie
Shonnie and his younger brother Fernando are very close friends of ours. They come over nearly every day. I absolutely love them. They always have smiles on their faces, they always help with cleaning the house or cooking and are just a lot of fun. I just found out a couple of days ago, that these boys' parents abandoned them when they were 10 years old and left them on the streets to fend for themselves because both parents were drug addicts and couldn't afford their addiction and their children, so they made a choice. At the age of 12, Shonnie became addicted to a local drug called Paco. It's extremely addicting and can kill a person after one use because it is so toxic. It's basically the waste products of marijuanna and cocaine...it's a street drug. Because of the love and outreach from former HH missionaries and the help from Padre Maxi, Shonnie is trying to get clean. However, life has been handing him terrible circumstances lately. He and his brother were kicked out of their home, he can not get a job because he has no record of existing since his parents never registered his birth and he just found out that his younger brother is using the same drug he is trying to kick. This young man is only 17 years old! He never complains and is always smiling and giving thanks for what he has. After dinner one night, I nearly broke down in prayer because I have SO much to learn from him. This young boy is suffering so much in this life. Yet, he has no clue of the reward stored up for him in Heaven. He is literally living the life of Jesus's passion, every day, all day. No breaks, no days of rest, nada. Yet, when he comes into our home, he knows without one doubt he is loved and wanted and needed and THAT helps to enable him to keep going...at least that is what he tells us.
Final Thoughts
I am slowly, very slowly, realizing why God and lots of saints, talk a lot about how doing small things with great love is far better than doing big things with no love. I can give absolutely nothing materially to my friends and it is so hard for me. I'm used to being able to pick out the cutest card from Target for my mom, or to find the perfect gift for my dad or to pick up a coffee for my sister to show them my love. Here, the only thing I can give to Vicki, Viviana and Shonnie, is my presence and my prayers...it's that simple. It's not easy and I have to tell myself over and over and over that it's what they need more than anything.
THANK YOU for your words of encouragement. I read them over and over and over again because I have no doubt that God uses you all to speak to me, to keep my eyes and heart focused and to be reminded as to why exactly I'm here. Please, keep me, the missionaries and my new friends in your prayers as you are always in mine each and every day. I can't wait to share with you next week :)
Buenos noches!!!
xoxoxo
Day of Rest
Tuesday is a day I have come to favor and look forward to because it is our day of rest! Each of us take turns in visiting VERY generous families who live in B.A. and welcome us into their homes as if we were their own children. They feed us yummy meals, let us do some laundry, use their internet (hence how I can keep up this blog!!!), and most importantly, sleep in quiet and peace!! It is truly a gift from above. Last Tuesday we stayed with Lillie and this week it's Maria Pia...So far, I like Lilie's the best because she reminds me of my Mom. I am absolutely humbled by these families because we are strangers to them, yet they completely understand the mission of Heart's Home and while they might not be able to live with the poor like we are doing, they are still living out the Gospel just the same. They are sharing their resources, time and love with us missionaries, when we are completely exhausted, hungry and missing our own Moms, Dads and Sisters.
Our Piano Concert Fundraiser
Wednesday night we had our annual piano concert fundraiser for Heart's Home. It was at The French Embassy in Central B.A. and it was GORGEOUS! I was able to meet some other missionaries from the HH in Santa Fe, Argentina as well as an HH priest and seminarian. My job was to hang up the fancy coats of our guests...and I might have tried on a fur coat or two ;) I have to admit, I was extremely excited to dress up and wear heels and makeup and the whole bit! It won't be happening for the rest of the mission, so I soaked it up! Afterwards, we all went over to a friend of HH's apartment and ate empanadas!! Empanadas are a-mazing. They are a staple for the Argentina diet...I mean it's no In N Out, but it will definately do :)
My New Friends
Slowly, I am beginning to learn more and more about the personal lives of my new friends of the Villa Jardin (Garden Village). You see, each day we take turns going to various houses in the neighborhood to visit with people, learn about their lives, laugh with them, cry with them and pray with them. The people here are SO welcoming. They have absolutely nothing, live from day to day and often can not even afford to but their own families food. Yet, when we come over for a visit they offer us whatever they have and we MUST say yes, because they take offense if we decline. Although, eating their cookies and crackers is so difficult to do, when you know that that might be their only food for the day. Mate (pronounced Mat-ay) is an absolute staple for our visits...much like tea in the afternoon for the English.
The Children
I must be very honest with you and if it sounds terrible, it's because it is. There have been moments when a child will come over to color and play and they want to be held and I cringe. I cringe because they smell as if not been bathed for weeks, which is most likely true. They have boogers and snot running from their noses and their hands and face are black with filfth and their hair is filled with lice. My first reaction is to run. Yet, when I ask God for help to look past it all, He comes through every time. And when I look past all the icky outer stuff, my heart melts as they snuggle up next my chest and tell me they love me and that my eyes are a pretty blue. It's moments like these that I realize how small my heart is and how HUGE God's is...and thank Him, that it is He who is loving the people through me.
Vicki
She is a friend whose home is connected to our patio. She has 4 children and 1 grandbaby. She, her husband, and her 4 children and grandchild all live in her home which is the size of a large bathroom in a normal sized house...if that gives you any idea at all. Her oldest daughter, Tamara has a 3 year old little girl named, Aileen. Tamara is very nice, but is only 19 and wants to go out and party all the time. So, she leaves her daughter with Vicki a lot and it makes Vicki sad because Aileen loves her mama so much. Isabel and I went to say hi and about 30 minutes into our conversation, she just started to cry. She said how stressed she is and how difficult the living situation is and that there is nothing they can do because they have absolutely no money to move into a bigger place. How helpless I felt as she poured her heart out. How much I wanted to do anything to buy her a home, but I could not. Instead, I could hold her hand and silently pray for her family, and so that is what Isabel and I did.
Viviana
Viviana lives right across the street from our home with her 3 kids (all teens), her husband and her new grandchild. Her family makes little knick knacks to sell at one of the local kiosks. When I went over for a visit, I hit it off with her oldest daughter, Natalia who wants to learn English soooo badly! She was begging me to speak in English so she could mimic me. I watched as Viviana's husband played so nicely with his new grandchild. He was very quiet and kept to himself much of the time. The house seemed so peaceful and I was pleased that this family seemed to have things somewhat in order. Then, I learned of the real situation as we walked home. Viviana is dying of cancer and because she has no money for treatment or medicine, she is in a lot of pain all of the time. Her husband is an alcoholic and when he gets drunk he turns into a monster and beats his whole family. This happens on a nightly basis. Her precious smile just kept popping up in my head and I wanted to go back in her house and kick the crud out of the dad...but what would that do? So, Denis and I offered up her family to Jesus during night prayer and will continue to love her and comfort her through our visits and through prayer.
Shonnie
Shonnie and his younger brother Fernando are very close friends of ours. They come over nearly every day. I absolutely love them. They always have smiles on their faces, they always help with cleaning the house or cooking and are just a lot of fun. I just found out a couple of days ago, that these boys' parents abandoned them when they were 10 years old and left them on the streets to fend for themselves because both parents were drug addicts and couldn't afford their addiction and their children, so they made a choice. At the age of 12, Shonnie became addicted to a local drug called Paco. It's extremely addicting and can kill a person after one use because it is so toxic. It's basically the waste products of marijuanna and cocaine...it's a street drug. Because of the love and outreach from former HH missionaries and the help from Padre Maxi, Shonnie is trying to get clean. However, life has been handing him terrible circumstances lately. He and his brother were kicked out of their home, he can not get a job because he has no record of existing since his parents never registered his birth and he just found out that his younger brother is using the same drug he is trying to kick. This young man is only 17 years old! He never complains and is always smiling and giving thanks for what he has. After dinner one night, I nearly broke down in prayer because I have SO much to learn from him. This young boy is suffering so much in this life. Yet, he has no clue of the reward stored up for him in Heaven. He is literally living the life of Jesus's passion, every day, all day. No breaks, no days of rest, nada. Yet, when he comes into our home, he knows without one doubt he is loved and wanted and needed and THAT helps to enable him to keep going...at least that is what he tells us.
Final Thoughts
I am slowly, very slowly, realizing why God and lots of saints, talk a lot about how doing small things with great love is far better than doing big things with no love. I can give absolutely nothing materially to my friends and it is so hard for me. I'm used to being able to pick out the cutest card from Target for my mom, or to find the perfect gift for my dad or to pick up a coffee for my sister to show them my love. Here, the only thing I can give to Vicki, Viviana and Shonnie, is my presence and my prayers...it's that simple. It's not easy and I have to tell myself over and over and over that it's what they need more than anything.
THANK YOU for your words of encouragement. I read them over and over and over again because I have no doubt that God uses you all to speak to me, to keep my eyes and heart focused and to be reminded as to why exactly I'm here. Please, keep me, the missionaries and my new friends in your prayers as you are always in mine each and every day. I can't wait to share with you next week :)
Buenos noches!!!
xoxoxo
Pepito and Denis outside of our home, Pepito lost his wife and home in one year and was forced to live on the streets where he became an alcoholic. He is a good friend to us and always says to me, ''Buen dia, Linda!!'' or ''Good day, Beautiful''
Baby Miriam and me; notice all the Bob Marley stuff?? Our friends LOVE Bob Marley and listen to him all day long on the maximum volume level haha
A visit with some friends...and of course mate!
Isabel and me getting all dolled up for our big fundraiser!!
HH missionaries, priests and a seminarian
Karina, my new Argentina friend! She is AWESOME! She totally tutors me in Castellano and I help her with her English. She learned all of her English (which she knows a lot), from watching American movies!!! lol
The French Embassy-Piano Concert roomMonday, September 8, 2008
A few pictures of my new home!!
The view from our front door.
The children and missionaries made me a "Bienvenida Brooke" sign :)
Our Chapel
Where we pray Liturgy of the Hours
& have daily Adoration
This is our main room for cooking, eating
& entertaining
Our sink
We only have cold water to wash dishes and I'm quickly learning that Lanus has never, ever been touched by bleach or Lysol!!! hahaha...germ freaks beware (aka Melanie!) :)
Where we pray Liturgy of the Hours
& have daily Adoration
This is our main room for cooking, eating& entertaining
Our sink
We only have cold water to wash dishes and I'm quickly learning that Lanus has never, ever been touched by bleach or Lysol!!! hahaha...germ freaks beware (aka Melanie!) :)
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