Buen Dia, Querridos!

I pray everyone is healthy and splendid!

I wanted to tell you a bit about this last week. I just arrived back at the base this morning from a 7-day Missions Conference in Mendoza, Argentina, and could not be more thrilled with how things went! The Lord blessed our 14-hour bus ride home and brought us back safely…and dirty! Though the conference was held at the YWAM base in Mendoza, there was not nearly enough room to house the more than 500 Jucumeros (YWAMers), so we spent 7 days in a city of tents - camping and NOT showering!! Thus, my first shower in a week was AMAZING! God has definitely been teaching me to appreciate the little things…like water and soap!
But let me tell you, this conference was incredible! Every YWAM base in Argentina showed up – staff, DTS students, workers, everyone! It was so great to spend time with the students from the other bases and hear how God is moving in their schools! I also got to know a lot of the staff from Mendoza and other bases, and was so blessed by the new relationships God allowed me to build during my time in that gorgeous place. Mendoza is truly one of the most beautiful locations I have ever been to – towering mountains, Eucaliptis (sp?) trees, incredible stargazing, and acres and acres of vineyards!
Aside from the view, though, God did fabulous things in the hearts of nearly every person from our base. People were hearing words about their futures, new ministries, specific countries, and SO much more! It’s SO awesome to witness more than 500 YWAMers joining together for a week to seek the Lord, and truly hearing His voice! Praise God for His faithfulness!!
Things are going great at our base as well. The students are bonding – especially after this trip – and the whole team is working together beautifully. No major health issues either. I was sick with a cold for the majority of our time in Mendoza, but as always, God gave me the supernatural strength to fight it and still fully enjoy the conference!
My Spanish has been improving like crazy – Gloria a Dios! I was actually mistaken for an Argentine at the conference – apparently my accent fits in well. I have also been having many more opportunities to translate – my favorite being a conversation between a Bolivian and a woman from Africa who spoke English. The two desperately wanted to have a conversation, but Rosa, the Bolivian, didn’t speak a word of English, and Bongi (the African woman) didn’t know any Spanish, so I sat between then and translated their entire conversation! It was splendid. Such a blessing that the Lord is giving me success in acquiring this beautiful language! I love it SO much!
So, we are now back to reality. Lots of classes and work, but it will be great to get back into the swing of things! If you would please continue to pray for our decisions about the Outreach phase – we should be finalizing things by the end of this week or so. I will let you all know as soon as I know where I’m headed in January! Thank you for continuing to be such an important part of this journey!

Todo mi Amor,
Katie

p.s. I am still working on getting pictures sent out. Our internet connection rarely lasts long enough for me to get an album put together, but you can expect some photos very soon!