Hola Mendoza!

December is always a crazy, hectic month for YWAM Mendoza. It begins with the International Day for the Fight Against HIV/AIDS campaign at the first of the month, then leads into intense preparation for Semana Diferente and then ends with the grand finale...Christmas and New Years! Here's a quick look back at the activities we were involved in during the International Fight Against HIV/AIDS campaign during the last few days of November and the first few days of December. We teamed up with El Projimo, our ministry that reaches out and ministers to the HIV/AIDS community and also works in the area of prevention. We hit the streets with the "murga" making noise, passing out leaflets and encourages everyone, young and old, to do their part and get themselves tested. Here are some pictures.... Diciembre siempre es un mes de locura, lleno de mucha actividad, para JuCUM Mendoza. Todo comienza con el dia internacional de la lucha contra el VIH/SIDA, luego vienen los preparativos ...

A couple of weeks ago the Transculural Missions School traveled to the nearby province of San Juan to help a church host a missions conference. The conference was three days long. Each day was filled with workshops, dramas, games, informational stands and international food. Several youth from the church and other churches in the community took part in the event. The purpose of the event was to teach about God's heart for missions, what our part is in the Great Commission and to inspire the church body to move in God's purposes for their lives. Hace unas semanas la escuela de misiones transcultural viajó a la provincia de San Juan para ayudar a una iglesia en una conferencia de misiones. La conferencia duró tres dias. Cada dia había talleres, dramas, juegos y dinámicas, varios stands de información y comida internacional. Muchos jóvenes de la iglesia y otras iglesias de la comunidad participaron en el evento. El propósito del evento fue enseñar sobre el corazón de Dios para mis...

Within two kilometers of our base, one will find a small space of flat ground used as a football pitch in a poor district called Santo Tomas. Once a week, in this tiny area of dirt, the kids of Santo Tomas are given the opportunity to enjoy their favorite recreational pastime: football. Every Wednesday afternoon, the sports ministry organizes a game of football for them. After separating the children into two teams, the whistle is blown, and the ball is kicked-off. Until the sun begins to slide down the back of the mountains, we look after the kids as they pass hours of enjoyment playing football. In the past, the children were rowdy and disrespectful, and in every game we organized, a fight would break out, or an insult would fly out, but after investing our time in their lives, we have seen the fruit of our work. The kids have learned to be obedient, patient, and have self-control. A dos kilómetros de nuestra base, en el humilde vecindario de Santo Tomás, se encuentra un pequeño es...

Pictures taken on a recent training hike.... Fotos de una caminata de entrenamiento...

Team members of Aconcagua continue training for their summit attempt later in November/beginning of December. The team trains together twice a week in the pool and in the gym with professional trainers. Los miembros del equipo Aconcagua siguen entrenandose para su escalada a fines de noviembre/principios de diciembre. El equipo se entrena junto, dos veces a la semana en la pileta y en un gimnasio con entrenadores profesionales .

The Transcultural Missions school took a trip to the Cacheuta Thermal Springs last week. After an intense week of classes, book reports and an exam, the leaders of the school decided to head to the mountains for some relaxation.... La semana pasada la escuela de misiones transculturales tuvo una salida a las termas de Cacheuta. Despues de una semana intensa de clases, trabajo de libros y una examen, los lideres de la escuela organizaron una salida para disfrutar de un tiempo de relajamiento y descanso.

The Transcultural Missions School spent last week learning about the countries that make-up Central Asia, its complex history of nomadic culture, its ethnic groups, worldviews and the issues of being a Christian and/or a missionary in a closed-country context. The classes were given by a visiting missionary family, whose names and pictures can not be shown for security reasons, who have spent the last 10 years serving in Central Asia. They told exciting and inspiring stories of the work that Christians are doing in Central Asian countries despite the dangers and risks. They also challenged the students to respond to God's callings over their lives, no matter the cost. At the end of the week they prepared a typical Uzbek rice dish called "Osh." The meal was eaten in typical Uzbek fashion, seated on the ground and using hands instead of silverware. The food was delicious! The evening was rounded off by watching the movie "Mongol," which portrays the story of Geng...

Team England & Spain/Equipo de Inglaterra y España Team Argentina/Equipo Argentina The Sports DTS recently finished the three month theory phase of the discipleship training school. The school has been divided into two outreach teams for the two month practical outreach phase. Last week both teams went to the Desert of Lavalle to work with the communities we have been building relationships and sharing with over the last past decade. This weekend the teams will be returning to the base and couple of days later will head out on the second portion of outreach. One team will be in England for three weeks and in Spain for two weeks. The other team will be traveling to various cities within Argentina. Both teams will return to Mendoza in December just in time to help out with ¨Semana Diferente,¨ which is an annual weeklong camp put on for the families of the Desert of Lavalle community. La EDE de Deportes acaba de terminar los tres meses de la parte teórica de la escuela de discipulad...

The communications ministry recently put on a "coffee shop" evening and named it Cafe Vitreaux. Hot drinks, milkshakes and homemade desserts were on the menu. The coffee shop night was open to friends of YWAM Mendoza. There was a great turnout of people. Some of the students from the current Sports DTS played music which was a fusion of different sounds. They also presented a couple of dramas. During the week prior, the communications ministry filmed short "videograms," or video messages, to be "delivered," or shown, on the night of the coffee shop. There were quite a few creative videograms. Everyone had a great laugh! The communications ministry also debuted the blogspot. The evening was a huge success and was a lot of fun. The communications team hosted Cafe Vitreaux as a fundraising event for the ministry. YWAM Mendoza's communications ministry formally began as a ministry just five months ago. The ministry works on promotional videos...

Last month, Martin and Jose, our base directors, along with Trudy traveled to Europe for meetings and conferences. Their three weeks were packed with activity. In England Martin and Jose attended YWAM Argentina national leadership council meetings in Harpenden. While in Harpenden they were also able to reunite with some Mendoza DTS alum that are in the UK. Martin, Jose and Trudy shared in the excitement of traveling to Nottingham to meet the newest addition to our YWAM Mendoza family, William Harniess, just days old at the time. Congratulations Luke and Christina! Before leaving England they shared at Simon's church (a Mendoza YWAMer) and got to see the sights in downtown London and nearby Nottinghill. While Martin and Jose were in England, Trudy attended the GLT Youth Track in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was a part of a group of young YWAM leaders who were invited to learn from and observe the Global Leadership Team (GLT), made up of leaders from all the continents, during t...

It's always fun to get together for dinner and entertainment, especially when it's a "themed" occasion! Last night everyone showed up in various assortments of black and white attire. Some even took the assignment a little bit further and came dressed as, well, you'll see when you check out the pictures. We had a fabulous time and had some seriously good laughs! Leo and Pete, as expected, entertained us with some great impersonations and dancing and Alex, from the Sports DTS sang two songs that he has recently written. Siémpre es divertido juntarse para cenar y disfrutar de un buen momento, especialmente cuando hay una consigna! Anoche todos llegaron a la cena en varios arreglos de blanco y negro. Algunos se atrevieron y fueron más allá, llegaron vestidos como, bueno, vas a ver cuando te fijes en las fotos de abajo. Fue un tiempo fabuloso y nos reimos un montón! Leo y Pete, como siempre, nos entretenieron con buenísimas imitaciones y baile. Alex, de la ...

Martin, our YWAM Mendoza director, had a birthday this past Sunday. We celebrated with him as a YWAM family during our staff meeting! Many birthday blessings Martin! Martin, nuestro director de JuCUM Mendoza, cumplió años el domingo pasado. Lo celebramos como familia Jucumera en nuestra reunión de obreros. ¡Muchas bendiciones Martin!

The much anticipated Missions School has officially begun. Last night we held the opening celebration and welcomed 15 students from seven nations to the second-level YWAM school. Students representing Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, The U.S., England, Sweden and Puerto Rico have begun the challenge of digging deeper into discovering God´s heart and dreams for the nations. The school theory phase is three months and is followed up by a three month outreach phase. This missions school will be spending their three months of outreach traveling through India, China and Central Asia. Martin Peregrina, the base director, who has recently returned from conferences in England and Cairo, Egypt, shared a challenging word. He shared that we have been called ¨to such a time as this.¨ God has called us and appointed us to bear lasting fruit. Martin shared that the times that follow will be difficult times; we need to prepare ourselves and be trained. But what encourages us in these times ...