It's Getting Hot!

Welcome to May where the land in S. Asia starts warming up rather quickly! So the hot season has officially arrived and it is feeling like the middle of summer on most days. We thankfully live in an area of the country that does not get as hot as many parts, but it is still hot. And it is not that it is hotter than most areas in the US, but the key difference is that most homes and cars that you travel in will not likely have an AC.

Our bedroom that we are currently using as a family has an AC so we run that at night, but the reality of no central AC is starting to kick in. The car that we are using also has no AC so I (Matt) usually wear one shirt to drive in and change to another when arriving. Unfortunately for Elliot he sweats like I do so he is usually uncomfortable by the time we arrive at a place, which can always be a lot of fun with a one year old!

The past month has been a great month of networking with national partners in both our local city and our focus area in our bordering state. These relationships have helped open up many doors for different ministry opportunities and also provided some friendships that we were strongly desiring.

Andrea has more clarity now as to what areas of ministry she wants to focus in on in order to make the best use of her time. She will continue to meet in neighbors homes as often as possible using creative ways to build genuine friendships and to use that as a platform for sharing the gospel. In addition she will soon be able to use her artistic skills in the painting of a home for women that are leaving the red light district and lifestyle.

Matt has continued to stay busy travelling, but he is getting a better grasp on setting up a routine travelling schedule. It looks like he will spend two nights a week away from the home in order to lead trainings and spend time with the group of guys that he is investing in. Just in the last two weeks he has also been given more clarity in regards to the specific areas that he is looking to target. It looks like he will target three districts, all made up of three million plus people. The key district where he will spend most of his time is considered an education and business hub for the area, so Matt's pursuit is that it will one day too be known as a church planting hub.

Life here seems to get easier and harder at the same time. Easier as we get to know the culture and language better and in many ways lower our expectations of daily living. Harder as we know that more time has past since we have seen our families and friends and the reality that life is moving on without us. Setting up times to Skype with family, friends, small groups, etc. has been one of the biggest encouragements to us as it shows us that people back home not only care about us, but they are truly partnering with us in different ways to see the gospel go forward here.

Please remember the following in lifting us up:

• Regular translator for Matt.
• Filtering process of obedient men for Matt to invest in.
• New language helper for Andrea.
• A part-time helper to watch Elliot so Andrea can focus on language and ministry.

What it looks like to be a women here in SA/ Que es el ser una mujer en AS

American mother's day celebration is coming up and that is why I (Andrea) am getting my inspiration for writing this post, so you all could find out by my perspective in what it means to be a women in S. Asia.  As somebody that has lived in a country for 4 months and doesn't speak the language fluently yet, I will only focus in what I have seen so far and the general factors.

La celebracion del dia de la madre en USA es este domingo que viene y por ello (Andrea) me estoy inspirando a escribir este post, para que uds puedan saber un poco lo que es ser una mujer en AS desde mi perspectiva, como alguien que solo ha residido 4 meses en el pais y aun no habla fluidamente el idioma. Por este motivo solo hablare de lo que he podido observar hasta ahora y de factores bien generales y llamativos.

First of all let me tell you that for those ladies that love shiny, colorful and over the top type of clothing; this is the place to be! From the top of their head to the bottom of their feet, most woman (middle and old generation, some times little girls too) will put on them all what it is in their closet: bangles, dupata, saree or kurta, pants, sandals, etc, etc; and everything will perfectly match.

Primero, dejenme decirles a todas aquellas mujeres que les encanta lo brilloso, colorido y las llamativas vestimentas; este es el pais donde deben vivir! Desde la cabeza hasta los pies, las generaciones mayores, del medio y aun las mayorias de las ninias se visten con todo encima, agregando todo tipo de accesorios (pulseras, aros, dupata, sandalias, etc) que siempre hace juego con el resto de sus vestimenta.

                                     The beautiful lady in yellow, she is even matching her flip flop with 
                                                 her outfit. La hermosa mujer que esta en amarillo, hasta coordina el 
                                                                         color de sus ojotas con el de su ropa.

The cast system plays a big part on the dressing code. Women that have traveled outside the country dress in a modern way with less accessories but with expensive type of clothing. The other ones with money but that never have been outside the country are more traditionalist in their dressing code but you can tell the social status by the expensive type of fabric and the high quality accessories that they wear.

El tema de la casta (clase social) juega una gran parte en la vestimenta. Muchas mujeres que han viajado mucho y vivido en otros lugares se visten modernamente y con menos accesorios, pero aun asi sus ropas son de marca y salen vestidas a la calle con lo mejor de lo mejor. Las mujeres de dinero que no han salido del pais, son mas tradicionalistas en su vestuario, con telas bien caras y de alta gama.

In the construction site, in the cleaning of the streets and many other jobs; you can see the women working and all of them are dress with the traditional sarees. It doesn't matter the weather, the place or the type of work, all of them are dress like that.

En la construccion, limpieza de las calles o cualquier otro trabajo; se puede ver a las mujeres trabajando y todas estan vestidas con sus tradicionales sarees. No importa el clima, no importa el lugar o tipo de trabajo, todas estan vestidas asi.

The young generation has been modernize. It is very normal to see at the church, shopping mall or in the streets; the girls wearing T-shirts, jeans, blouses, skirts and even shorts and that is not seen as an offense, only while they are wear with modesty and discretion.

La juventud se ha modernizado. Es muy comun ver en la iglesia, el shopping mall o en la calle, a las chicas vestidas en remeras, jeans, camisas, polleras y hasta bermudas y no es mal visto por los demas, 

siempre y cuando sean ropas decorosas y no reveladoras. 

                              This is our sunny day walk kinda of style. My umbrella is colorful and it shines. 

                                       I will not use an umbrella like this in USA or Argentina, but here... why not? / Este 

                                       es nuestro estilo de caminata en un dia muy soleado. Mi sombrilla tiene muchos 

                                       colores y lentejuelas brillosas. En USA o Argentina no usaria nunca algo asi, pero 

                                                                                            aqui... por que no?

        

Happy mothers day! to my friends here and the ones in USA (in Argentina mother's day is in October) I thank the Father for allow me to be a women, a wife and a mother and for place me in this country at this time. Love isn't something that we learn, it is a gift that has been given to us and that can touch to many other lives. Here is a short passage from the Bible to all of you dear mothers.

 "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.  Her children rise up and call her blessed;  her husband also, and he praises her: “Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.”  Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.  Give her of the fruit of her hands,  and let her works praise her in the gates." (Proverbs 31:10, 28-31)

Asi es! Feliz dia de la madre para todas mi amigas aqui y en USA (en Argentina es en Octubre). Yo agradezco al Padre por haberme dado la oportunidad de ser mujer y madre y por haberme puesto en este pais en este tiempo.  Amar no es algo que se aprende, sino un don que nos ha sido dado y que puede tocar muchas mas vidas que las que uno puede imaginar. Aqui les dejo un pasaje para uds.


"10. Mujer virtuosa, ¿quién la hallará? Porque su estima sobrepasa largamente a la de las piedras preciosas...28 Se levantan sus hijos y la llaman bienaventurada; Y su marido también la alaba: 29 Muchas mujeres hicieron el bien; Mas tú sobrepasas a todas. 30 Engañosa es la gracia, y vana la hermosura; La mujer que teme a Jehová, ésa será alabada. 31 Dadle del fruto de sus manos, Y alábenla en las puertas sus hechos."                                                      Proverbios 31:10, 28-31