4th Anniversary trip and "Encuentro Matrimonial"

We’re getting accustomed to some cooler temperatures here in Santiago as most of you are beginning to sweat out another Texas summer. Rain has finally begun falling here in Santiago, which brings relief from the smog and has dumped snow in the mountains east of town.

In mid-May we took off for a few days to the southern town of Pucon to celebrate our 4th anniversary. Pucon is next to Lago Villarica in the lakes region of Chile, a beautiful area of the country full of lakes (hence the name) and lots of volcanoes. We stayed in a cabin and spent our time exploring the small town of Pucon, which looked a lot like Aspen, Colorado. It rained the first three days in Pucon, which we really didn't mind, since it hadn't rained in Santiago since November. I'm not kidding. But on Thursday, the day of our anniversary, the skies were completely clear and we got our first view of the Volcano "Villarica" just a few kilometers outside Pucon! Praise God! We also took a whitewater rafting trip down class 4 rapids, but our guide, Rodrigo, kept us safe as no one in our group even fell out of the raft. We rented a car Thursday when the weather cleared and drove to a three different lakes in the area around Pucon and enjoyed an evening in a natural hot springs pool. It was great to take a break from everything for a few days and recharge the batteries. Enjoy the pictures below.














Vulcan Villarica on our anniversary, May 18th.


































Sunset on Lago Villarica, taken from the black sand beach in Pucon.




















This is called a "parrillada". Spanish for "ridiculous amount of red meat". It came with sausage, steak, pork chops, ribs, and bacon wrapped lamb leg. Amanda ate this and I had a salad. HA! Just kidding. We took home the lefovers and made soup that took us two more days to eat.

The weekend after returning home we participated in “Marriage Encounter,” a marriage enrichment retreat put on twice a year by the church here in Santiago. It was a weekend full of activity, with many testimonies and opportunities to talk with each other alone about the various topics. A weekend like this is very hard to describe, but we left very encouraged and affirmed in our relationship and equipped with tools to improve our communication. There were 17 couples that participated in the weekend, and it took the work of over 150 people working before and during the weekend in order to make it as incredible as it was. Each couple has a pair of “padrinos” or god-parents that sponsor their weekend. Our padrinos were Scott and Holly Emery, our intern coordinators on the mission team here. Each meal we had the opportunity to visit with two other couples participating in the weekend and we were served by members of the work team, who put in long hours all weekend long to make the retreat a memorable experience. Saturday evening we were even treated to a candlelight dinner which was topped off by a violin soloist! Que romantico! You’ll be hearing much more about Marriage Encounter, as we are going to be in the “Grupo de Apoyo,” or support group, to help coordinate the next marriage encounter weekend which will be at the end of October. This is an incredible ministry that helps to strengthen marriages here in Santiago, and has served to bring several couples to the church, and others that are currently studying the Bible after going through the weekend. We are looking forward to working in the support group, getting to know more couples from the church, and learning what it takes to put on a Marriage Encounter weekend.

June will be a busy month for us as we have a retreat this weekend for the university students at church, a group from First Colony in Houston coming to do Let's Start Talking, as well as a visit from Amanda's parents. We'll keep you posted! Thanks for checking out the blog, and for remembering us in your prayers. God Bless~
john and amanda