Month 3 Recap [photos]

Month 3 included both Christmas and New Years in Mendoza, Argentina. It was all squad month, so the whole squad was together plus our awesome squad leaders. And while being away from family for the holidays is never the first choice, it was fun to spend it with the whole squad and the YWAM staff.

Housing:

• We stayed in cabins on YWAM’s base, which is like living at summer camp
• Running water and electricity sometimes turned off, but the water here is drinkable which is a huge win.
• The other teams lived in cabins next to us and it was fun to be able to visit each other’s houses.

Places visited:

• Borbollon Argentina, the neighborhood where the YWAM base is located.
• Mendoza, Argentina, the city where we spent all off days for WiFi, where we did ministry and where we loved to hang out
• Sao Paulo, Brazil, we had a layover on the way to Togo and had one day to explore. I didn’t see too much but I did attempt some Portuguese for a day.
• Casablanca, Morocco, we had another layover still on the way to Togo. We had one day to explore and went to a mosque and had delicious food. It was a quick but super cool stop.

 Travel:

• After our plane to Argentina, travel has been pretty easy this month
• We take Uber’s or the bus into the city, taxi around the city, then Uber or bus home
• To get to Togo we had a 4 hour flight to Sao Paulo Brazil where we spent the night in a hotel. We had a 9 hour flight to Morocco, where we spent the night in a hotel. Finally, we had a 4 hour flight that brought us to Lome, Togo.

 What we did in Argentina:

• Hospital ministry, we went multiple times around Christmas to pray for and encourage patients and their families. We even held worship in the lobby and it was so cool.
• Soup kitchen
• Service projects, raking, cleaning a ginormous pool, moving tree branches, building a wall, all kinds of projects around the base
• Foundation to Yair’s house. There was a family down the street whose whole house burnt down destroying absolutely everything they owned. One day we mixed and poured concrete to build the foundation to their new home.
• Evangelism, lots of prayer walks and evangelizing in the plaza.
• Kids soup kitchen. They call it a soup kitchen, but that’s not what I would describe it as. But it was super cool nonetheless. A woman and her two adult sons host 80 to 100 kids every Saturday night where they do indeed feed them, but they also love them like family, teach them Bible lessons and pour into them.
• VBS, the last 3 days that we were in Argentina we ran a VBS in the neighborhood and it was so fun. They were really invested and loved the crafts.

All new ministries, especially in new countries, are bound to bring new experiences, and I for one, generally love new experiences.

New Experiences:

• Learned some Argentinian slang
• Killed a scorpion
• Worshipped in a hospital waiting room
• Secret Santa with a ton of people

This month we said bye to our beloved team leaders who went home just before Christmas. I miss them a ton but am so thankful for the time they were able to spend with us. New team leaders were raised up from within the squad and are stepping into their new roles wonderfully.

What I enjoyed most:

• Getting to know the staff at YWAM.
• Meeting the family who serves at the soup kitchen.
• The friendly people of Mendoza, especially our friend Ambar who we met day 1.
• All squad Christmas celebrations.

We are now officially in month 4 which takes us to a brand-new continent, AFRICA. I can hardly believe it.

This is day two of Togo and I love it. People are sweet and friendly. I understand almost nothing that is spoken, but there is something so beautiful about being able to communicate even without language (ask me if I feel the same way in a couple weeks).

I am also still fundraising! If you could join me in prayer, or financially as I continue the fundraising process, I would greatly appreciate it!

With so much love,

Kayla