Some excerpts from Matt’s 2004 journal entries. Jan 10- This evening Juan stopped by our house. He began to ask me ask me a series of questions about the Bible. We talked about a wide variety of topics from things like the great flood and giants of the Old Testament to what Peter said about us being a kingdom of priests. I never know what directions our conversations are going to go. However, I feel like some day Juan is going to stop by and say, by the way I want to be a Christian. Jan 11- We went to the Hanlon’s for dinner to get to know the four new interns a little bit. We had a good time getting to know them and answering some of their questions about the ministry here in SdC and prepping them with some cultural info. Jan 12- Tonight was my evening to lead the GBU Bible Study. I talked about how our spiritual life is like a house and how we often only allow Christ into some of the rooms of our soul instead of giving him full access. My words seemed to resonate with the students. I hope that it will be a challenge for them to not just be Christians when they are in church or with their Christian friends, but submit every area of their lives to Christ. Jan 14- Last night we put Abigail in her “Big Girl Bed” and she was absolutely thrilled. Putting the crib down in the baby room makes everything with second baby seem more real. I cannot believe that she will be born in just a few short weeks. How cool! Jan 16- I started reading The Heavenly Man today and could not put it down. I could not believe the things that read about that are going on in the church in China today. I felt a renewed sense of awe at God’s power and was totally inspired and convicted as I turned through each page. Jan 17- Tonight the Hanlon’s invited us to dinner with their landlord and their friend Victor and his family (sisters, mother, and some extended family). I had a great time talking with Victor, but I felt like I was learning Spanish all over again as I had to decipher the Chilean accent and slang words that he kept using. Jan 20- Today Danny and José interviewed me in a mock radio program for their final grade in one of their Journalism classes. They asked me questions regarding my work here in Santiago. Afterwards, I looked at Danny and said that I thought I made up a few new Spanish words. We both laughed, and he said that I didn’t invent too many. Jan 21- Matt Hanlon was invited to an ecumenical meeting of Catholics and Protestants last night. He was intrigued that some people appeared to be learning policies for the first time that the Catholic Church instituted in the 1960s during Vatican II. However, he was encouraged at the desire of both branches of the church to work together and encourage one another in SdC. Jan 22- I was relieved that I was able to get in contact with all of the work teams today before anyone had bought their tickets to come to SdC. They were all equally as shocked as we were - that the owner of the café locale decided to stop renting to us today. After two years of renting to us and approving our plans to put in a café it seems like really weird for her to pull out now. We were all glad that it happened before we started doing renovations. Today I was comforted all day by the proverb that says “commit your plans to the Lord and they will succeed”. Our whole team seemed to be at peace, as we trust that the Lord is leading us where he wants us to go. Jan 23- We received an e-mail from Tim and Becky Chesney today. They have started training in Elgin, IL and are planning to come join our team this year. Jan 24- Tonight Padre Sal took us and the Hanlons out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. He ordered way too much food, but we all had a wonderful time catching up. He also brought a friend from Romania for us to meet because he new that the Hanlons speak a little bit of Romanian. I tried Peking duck for the first time in my life. Wow, was it delicious. Jan 27- Today the leader of GBU in our province invited me to a coffee. He was coming through town and wanted to catch up. It was very encouraging to meet with him and know that he appreciates the work that our team is doing in SdC. We talked for a couple of hours in a little café with a very annoying dancing parrot. In spite of the parrot we had some excellent discussions. Feb 2- I feel pretty good today in spite of hanging out with Luis from midnight to 5 am. We watched Super bowl XXXVIII in one of the only bars that was open that late on a Sunday night. It was fun being the expert on football, since I am normally the least knowledgeable person in any given room that contains Americans. Some excerpts from Lori’s 2004 journal entries. Jan 9 – Hour 18 of our 21 hour trip back to Santiago. Madrid airport. Abigail is asleep in the stroller, Matt went to go get some water, and I am an absolute Zombie. I want to be asleep in the stroller. I put my swollen feet up on my suitcase, lean my head back and shut my eyes for just a few minutes. Then I feel someone standing and looking at me. I open my eyes, and see three someones standing and looking at me. After pushing back the cobwebs, my brain tells me that I don’t recognize two of them, but the third one. . . Erin! It was three of the college interns who arrived in January to do ministry here in Santiago for a semester, and somehow we all managed to be on the same flight from Madrid to Santiago. Seeing them woke me up a bit and made the next hour and a half of waiting in the airport actually kind of fun. Jan 14 – Today we put the crib in the baby’s room and set up a twin bed for Abigail. She was so excited to have butterflies on her bed. She finally settled down and slept well after she flicked the lights on and off for a while, played with all of her toys, and finally came out into the hall. She loved it. Jan 24 – Tonight Father Sal took us out for Chinese. He is a Filipino priest who has retired here in Santiago, and since he spent over 18 years in the states, he has sort of adopted us as his family here. He may be retired, but he is full of vision and ideas. At dinner he shared with us his desire to see some of the unused properties that the Catholic Church has around Santiago turned into shelters for immigrants who are looking for work. Feb 2 – Our language tutor, Marta, started a new job today at an art gallery. Last week she told us that she makes a commission off of the pieces that she sells, and if she doesn’t sell anything then she gets to choose a painting from the exhibit. To me it sounded like a pretty good deal. She invited us to the reception for the first painter who is exhibiting in the gallery. We were excited to go and see her as well as to look at some cool art. When we got there, I quickly glanced around and immediately thought 70’s. Then, as I’m looking I see that there’s at least one naked woman in every painting. Eventually Marta introduces us to the painter. He said, “Well, this is what I paint.” Matt managed to be polite and say that he thought they were well done. Poor Marta. She’s going to have a hard time choosing a painting. January 24, 2004 Must Read! I just finished reading an amazing book called “The Heavenly Man”. From time to time I recommend books that I find worth the read, but this one quickly moves to the top of my list. While I was not overly impressed with the writing style, I was so intrigued with the real life stories that I could not put it down. It is an autobiography of Brother Yu, a Chinese pastor who became a believer in communist China in spite of the governments attempt to suppress the spread of Christianity. This book gave great insight into the state of the Christian Church in China, and the persecutions that believers there are willing to face for their beliefs. Once I opened the book I was captivated by the faithfulness, captivity in communist prisons, and ways that Christ worked in and through the life of brother Yu and his family. I was equally inspired and convicted as I read about the various experiences of Brother Yu. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it!!! Radio Show Two weeks ago, I got a phone call from one of the students that I know from the GBU Bible study. He is majoring in Journalism and for his class has to do a mock radio program every week. He asked me if I would be willing to come to his class and do an interview with him in Spanish for his final project. He told me that the topic of our interview would be about what drew me to do ministry here in Spain. So, I had the opportunity to explain in front his class, experiences that I have had that drew me into ministry. I also talked about how all who are Christians are called to be ministers in word and deed no matter where they live. I the end of the interview we both laughed over some of the “new” Spanish words that I invented during the interview. February 19, 2004 Special Announcement!! Isabel Nora Swain was born on February 11, 2004 at 7:15 pm. She was 7 lbs and 20 and1/2 inches. Isabel means “consecrated to God” and Nora means “light”. Both Mom and baby are doing very well and are now at home! Lori and I call her Isa and Abigail calls her “Babeesa”. We have been trying throughout the week to get both photos and an announcement out at the same time, but to no avail. We switched e-mail service last month and are still waiting for the service to be set up in our house. As soon as we are set up we will send a barrage of photos. Café News! Many of you have been praying with us and we have received many encouraging e-mails regarding the café. Well, this week things really began to move in a good direction. Lori and I have been to busy with the new baby to write anything, but wanted to pass on the most recent news that our team leader Scott sent out. Also, if you would like to see some photos of the place described in his letter, you can see them at thestriblings.org under “café Terra Nova”. So, here is Scott’s letter: It's just past midnight here in Spain and I'm having a hard time sleeping. It's amazing how many things have happened in the past month, and especially the past few days. Since we lost the lease on the original café location, we've searched the city and our hearts, prayed for hours, called on what feels like 10,000 places, talked to a zillion agencies, and seen inside opportunities for a new location. Nothing has kept me up at night like this place that we found a few days ago. How does it compare with the original place? Well, it's at least double the size, has two levels (meaning we could do all of the ministry things we hope to do), in a FAR better location, and it is virtually the same price to get into. Amazing. Oh, and we would be open most likely sooner than our original target date of May 1st because it already has all of the permits that the city requires. It's ready to go, only needs a few coats of paint and the changing of a few pictures on the walls. Maybe buy a few comfy couches. So, we need some prayer! We are in the middle of negotiating with the owner about the major details- and the obstacle at the moment is the price of the rent. It's higher than it should be, but not completely and totally out of range. We'd really like to see him lower it though. Would you pray today for that? Pray that we find favor with this owner so that we could proceed, and that he would lower the rent. If we can agree on a rental price- then we he would let us take 30 days to secure financing and get all of our ducks in a row. That means our team would have a month to raise the rest of the support that we need to get this place, and then we would be able to open for business. Soon. So, please pray with us! We should know something about the rent hopefully before the weekend. We'll keep you all in the loop. Thanks to so many of you who have followed this story and constantly write with encouraging things to say and letting us know that you are praying. It's been an challenging time for our team, obviously, but I feel like God is bigger than ever. Many blessings, I'm off to bed to hopefully get some sleep now! Scott