Uruguay: The 'dark horse' of South America

Thank you for reading my latest update – it means so much to hear from friends and family that you are keeping up with my news through my blog…I hope you find this instalment interesting!

Interesting is definitely one of the words I would use to describe our time in Uruguay as its been one of my favourite countries so far…I was not expecting it to be the case but it definitely has been!

When we crossed the border from Argentina we had no contacts or plans so were fully relying on God to show us the way…our first challenge was to get car insurance (easier said than done…we can’t let you in without car insurance said Customs but you can’t buy it at our office and we don’t know where you can…also said by Customs…!) 


After a process of negotiation they let one car go and with a very helpful tourist information office we went to the first main town to an insurance office. As is often the case the office workers were very curious about us and why we were travelling so we explained and after buying the insurance they all got up from their desks, formed a circle and prayed with us….not bad we thought for the most secular country in South America (so we are told!)

After one of our team members Charlotte emailed a bunch of organisations who work in Uruguay, we ended up partnering with a German Mennonite church whilst staying at a Salvation Army base in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, for most of the time. The church got us involved in everything…from working with the homeless distributing clothes and food…to leading small groups…to running their youth meetings as well as preaching in church. 

For one young adults meeting myself, Amanda and Natalie from my team went to help out…when we got there they said ‘you can run the evening and by the way there are 5 visiting churches here’…we finished praying for everybody at gone midnight! I spent a lot of time speaking and praying with a young man who had been significantly abused as a child and the repercussions he was experiencing as an adult…what a huge privilege and fantastic to be able to mix my Christian faith with previously acquired social work skills!

With the Salvation Army we painted fences and cleaned wheelchairs…I loved getting my hands dirty and great to be able to bless an organisation that does so much to help people in need. Since being in Uruguay I’ve also been able to take on more of a leadership role and helped co-ordinate all the different activities which the team has got involved in…I’ve enjoyed the challenge in the main!

The church was definitely my favourite to work with so far…they cooked us great cakes and seemed very organised (always a good combination!) They were also incredibly generous towards us and took up various offerings (unknown to us) which paid for all the necessary repairs to our vehicles (they had no idea how much the repairs were going to cost but the offerings covered them and more!). 


As I explained this to the church on our last Sunday I started to cry, and then the leader did and lots of people present also…..and then the church blessed us with their beach camp…for free…which has been an amazing gift especially after the busyness of the last few weeks and getting ready for Brazil…

Yes I am very excited that on Friday some of us will be crossing the border to Brazil (whilst some wait for visas to come through)…we are planning to do Brazil in two parts with Paraguay and Bolivia in between (as you do!)

Thank you for your prayers, friendship and support. God bless you all lots!

Don’t cry for me Argentina…

Well after a crazy three days travelling including two night buses and ferries and crossing the Chilean/Argentinian border twice, we ended up back in Santiago, Chile.  Most of the team stayed with the church who had hosted us before but a couple of us went back to the base where our vehicles were to do a grand clean.  As one of our ‘homes on wheels’ had been visited by little rat friends everything needed cleaning…so my passion for therapeutic cleaning came into action!  As a team we also had to ‘downsize’ our bags as some peoples (read: some girls!) had been added to and this was beginning to impact our vehicles and fuel consumption. 

Having added two new girls to our team, we then drove to Buenos Aires, Argentina.  We arrived late at night to find that the only ‘camp ground’ available to us was actually a piece of grass outside somebody’s house (the owner gave us permission!) so we set up tents whilst some slept in vehicles….to wake up the next morning to the police standing over us telling us that the neighbourhood was very dangerous and that we could have been killed during the night (I think there may have been some exaggeration there but it was funny or concerning depending on your view point!)

Later that day as a team we felt it was right to go to a well known church in the city centre, Rey de Reyes, which has seen amazing growth over the last few years.  So we went to an afternoon service and when the leadership heard we were with Iris Ministries they invited us up to be prayed for…and when they found out where we had slept the night previous, they treated us to two nights in a nice hotel…sheer bliss!  It was also great to be able to eat a couple of good breakfasts….there’s only so much oatmeal on a tight budget a girl really wants to eat!

As a ‘thank you’ to the church, we worked with their homeless outreach which was a special time.  The team helped prepare and serve food, clean toilets and chat and share with those whose home is on the streets.  I loved chatting with the guys and learning from them…even if Argentian Spanish sounds quite different from other Latin countries!

Our last few days in Argentina were spent at the YMCA base outside the city centre which lots of the team used as a retreat time.  I also took the opportunity to do some sightseeing…Buenos Aires is described as the ‘Paris’ of South America and I can see why..stunning architecture although no Eiffel Tower! 

Just as I was feeling pretty tired having been a big sister/mum to many of the team, I got my own little treat.  You may remember that last October I accompanied Dianne from my team to Costa Rica, where her daughter in law Rhiannon had drowned swimming.  Dianne’s friend, Judy, flew to Buenos Aires for a few days to have a break with Dianne…and as a thank you for my support to Dianne, Judy invited me to their hotel for a night complete with an Italian meal.  So I got to have my own pamper time, eat some of my favourite food and use fast wifi including watching the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Thames pageant online, watch my nephew Edward play and speak to my god daughter Niamh through skype!  Thank you to Daddy God and Judy for such a special and well timed present!

Thanks for reading and God bless you lots!

Next stop: Uruguay….