Wally World

July 12, 2006

2006-07-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
As of yesterday, I am back in Texas and excited to be back. My last 10 days in Santiago were just fantastic. It was mostly filled with goodbyes and last minute souvenir shopping, but I ended my trip on an absolute high-note. On Sunday, the two guys that John and I studied with, Nicolas and Felipe, were baptized. They had wanted to do it for a while but had never been able to due to the mother having to work or some other reason. Finally, on my last Sunday, everything worked out just right and they committed their lives to Christ.
The flight back was less than pleasant. For some reason or another, my legs don’t do to well for 11 hours with a window seat. I didn’t sleep very well, but nevertheless, I made it back, and I’m happy to be here. I plan to do a PowerPoint summary of my time in Santiago, put it on CD, and then send it to everyone. I’m not sure exactly when I will get this done though. I will be traveling with my family the rest of this week, and after that, I should be able to start working on it. I do want it to be thorough and in-depth, so I want to take my time on it. Thank you so much for your thoughts and prayers.
Tyler Wall

June 30th, 2006

2006-06-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been really busy but great as well. A group from First Colony Church of Christ in Houston consisting of 17 recently graduated college freshman and 11 adult sponsors came down for a short campaign. During the first week they hosted several days of free English classes and an English retreat to finish the week. I wasn’t actually teaching the English classes. I was mainly there to translate. None of the First Colony Group spoke any Spanish. We had a really good response from the Chileans. I don’t know the exact number of people who came each day but I believe it was around 40. 22 went to the retreat. For the retreat, we went to a place about an hour outside Santiago and stayed over night. It was basically another opportunity for the Chileans to practice their English. Fortunately, many of the Americans were able to share their faith and plant a seed in the hearts and minds of the Chileans. I definitely excited about several of the contacts made through the First Colony group. I am specifically thinking of a guy named Marco. He is a regular in our Friday night English classes, and he came to nearly every session including the retreat that the First Colony group offered. One of the American guys spent a lot of time with him and was eventually able to share his faith with Marco. Last I heard, Marco had mentioned to one of the interns that he was interested in doing a Bible study. Andrea, a girl that I met through a university outreach program called Oasis, had told me that she was interested in coming to the English classes and was actually in need of a church home. She came to several of the English sessions, the retreat, and then showed up to church on Sunday. She definitely hit it off with a few of the Chileans in our group. As I hope you can see, the First Colony campaign was really good for our group. They just left yesterday so the effects of what they have done are still to be seen, but as you can see with Marco and Andrea, they strongly impacted our group.
The second week of the First Colony campaign was mostly tourist type things. We went to a beautiful beach for a day called Zapallar. It was extremely beautiful. In fact, I think I liked it more than the beaches in Thailand.
Including today, I have 11 more days in Santiago before I land in Houston on the 11th. My last days here will probably be spent saying goodbye and preparing to go back. Please pray for my last few days here that if there is anything left for me to do, I will seek it and do it.

I don't have a lot of pictures of the First Colony group right now but I'm trying to get more from the other interns, but the pictures above are from a banquet that the First Colony group hosted for the church. It had a Texas theme to it. They served BBQ type meal that was just fantastic. The two guys above playing the guitar provided entertainment. They sang several country songs including some from one of my favorites, Don Williams. It was a nice little taste of home.

More pictures...

2006-06-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

more pictures from the retreat....

Monday June 12, 2006

2006-06-12T13:00:00.000-07:00

Update…

Hola,
Last weekend was definitely the best few days I have had in Santiago. The 4 other interns and I traveled with 6 Chileans to the mountains right outside of Santiago for a short weekend retreat. After we arrived and got settled, we had a devotional lead by one of our guys named Claudio who talked about the importance of prayer in our lives. After we ate lunch and played some games, a guy named Sebastian came out and gave his testimony. Sebastian is just an absolutely fascinating person. He’s about 32 and has only been a Christian for about 5 months, but he is a person that truly understands the grace of God. I don’t know if he would appreciate it if I put his life story on the website so I’m not going to go into great detail, but he basically has lead a very destructive lifestyle and has suffered the consequences of those sins. In the past 6 months he has made a complete turnaround. It was really awesome to watch the reactions of the university students as Sebastian gave his testimony.
After this, we had dinner and then split up into two groups of guys and girls and had “gender time.” I don’t know what the girls did, but John and I (mostly John) talked about the idea of confessing your sins to one another and holding each other accountable. It really surprised me that the Chileans, even the Christians, had never thought of or had this idea presented to them, but they did respond to it very strongly and seemed to understand how important it is.
The next morning, Sunday, we ate breakfast, had a time of worship, and shared communion. Then we just spent some time hanging out and enjoying the view of the mountains, and then we headed home. I obviously wanted everyone to grow in their relationship with God, but what I hoped most for this weekend was that the Chileans would grow closer to each other. It’s so important that they have a strong connection to each other and not just to the interns. If they don’t, they will most likely not stick around once the intern that they felt closest to leaves. It was so awesome to be able to stand back and watch the Chileans grow close together. Over and over again, I heard people say that they barely knew someone before they came and now they felt a lot closer to that person. Like I said, it definitely was the best weekend I have had in Santiago.
Among other things, we have a group coming from First Colony Church of Christ on the 16th. The group mainly consists of seniors who have just graduated from high school. They are going to offer English classes and an “English retreat.” I don’t have all the details of what we are doing with them, but I am told that the two weeks they are here will be very busy. Please pray that they will be able to effectively help us meet new contacts for our university group. Also, the two kids that John and I studied with are supposed to get baptized in June, and there are only two Sundays left in June so hopefully it will be soon. I’m really excited for those two guys. They are just awesome kids and I have really enjoyed my time with them.

Monday May 22

2006-05-22T15:01:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,
Things are going really well here. It has been a while since I have updated, so I must apologize for that. This past Sunday was an exciting day for all of us here. One of the girls in our university group, Perla, was baptized! Perla is a really awesome story. About 6 months ago she was at some sort of dance hall, and there was a large disco type globe hanging from ceiling that somehow came loose, and actually fell on top of her. She broke her neck and was actually very lucky to survive. It was really sad, because when if first fell on top of her, no one stopped to help her. Fortunately, someone eventually called the emergency hotline and she was taken to the hospital. For about 6 months, Perla has been unable to attend school or take buses. She spent an incredible amount of time alone. About a week before our inaugural service, she just happened to be in the park in front of the church building, and someone gave her a flier and invited her to come to the inaugural. She came that following Sunday and has been coming ever since. She started a Bible study with one of the interns, Lindsey, and actually decided to be baptized about a month ago, but she had to wait until she could remove her neck brace. We are so excited about and for Perla. She has been a wonderful addition to our group with her energy and humor.
Among other things, John and I finished our Bible study with Nicolas and Felipe. I really enjoyed going out to their house every week, eating with their family, and studying the Bible. They are awesome kids. They both have expressed interest in being baptized, especially Nicolas, the older of the two. Unfortunately, Chileans tend to not feel rushed to do anything which can be good because they will take the time to make a decision, but actually following through with that decision can take months. So, it may be a while before either Nicolas or Felipe decides to take the next step in their relationship with Christ. This weekend the married couples in the church are having a retreat called “Marriage Encounter.” Nicolas and Felipe’s parents are going, so they asked me if I would stay at their house for the weekend. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity, but it strikes me as really odd that Chileans feel the need to have someone babysit their 12 and 16 year old children. I guess it’s just a difference in cultures. Nevertheless, I’m praying that the weekend will give me an opportunity to encourage them to make a commitment to Christ.
I have had two contacts added in the last couple of weeks. Two guys showed up to our English class on Friday nights, and later asked me if they could do private English lessons. I worked with one of the guys two weeks ago, but he has cancelled the last two weeks, so I’m not sure how that’s going to work out. I’m supposed to start with the other guy tomorrow. In these private English lessons, we have material called Let’s Start Talking which uses the Gospel of Luke to teach English. By doing LST, we hope that the lessons will cause some interest in learning more about Christ and will eventually lead to a Bible study. Here are some pictures of Perla's baptism and also a picture of my Spanish teacher, Valeska, and I.

2006-04-25T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a few pictures of us at our intern retreat.

Monday April 24

2006-04-24T08:21:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about what God is doing here in Santiago, Chile. I’m not always great with words, but I hope that you can feel the joy and excitement that I feel. Our university group is growing and expanding. We have so desperately needed a Chilean who can lead our group that is mature in faith and in life. God has answered our call. For the last month we have had a guy named Claudio who has been coming to most everything we do. He was already a Christian. Originally, he was just coming to our Wednesday night Bible study and then on Sunday, he would go to a different church. I talked to him last Sunday about our mission and goal here to eventually build a group that can be sustained without the presence of American interns. He then told me that he had decided to make more of a commitment to the group. I was elated when he said this. He’s such a leader. In fact, I feel like I’m learning from him. Last Sunday we went to a hospital again to visit patients, and I went from room to room with Claudio. I was just amazed by the compassion and tenderness with which he talked and prayed for the patients. There was one elderly woman who had stomach cancer that while we were talking to her threw up several times. When this happened, Claudio would take a napkin, hold her head up, and wipe her mouth off. Sometimes, when we are reaching out to people, we are hesitant to physically touch the person, yet it is often a simple touch or an embrace that makes the difference. Words can be powerful or comforting, but a touch is often the best thing we can do. I praise God for Claudio.
Among all the interns, we currently have 5 university students in Bible studies, and 2 with high school students. 4 of those are with girls which is awesome because a few months ago, we didn’t have any girls in the group. One of the girls decided to be baptized, but she physically can’t right now. She broke her neck a several months ago and is still wearing a headset to prevent her neck from moving. In fact, even after she removes the headset, she will have to wear a brace for several more months. She’s been a great addition to our group. She has such a wonderful personality and brings so much energy wherever she goes. I personally am involved in the Bible study with the 2 high school students. I’ve been praying so hard for them. They are such great kids. They seem to grasp what it means to be a Christian that it’s not just a name we wear but a life that we live.
I’ve made two more contacts in the last few weeks. One of them is my Spanish teacher, Valeska. She’s 24 years old. Rather than actually study Spanish by expanding my vocabulary or learning rules, we often just sit and talk about life in general. The other day we were talking about God and she said that she had never felt the presence of God in her life! What a statement! She has no theological objections to Christianity. She doesn’t believe in God because she has never seen or felt the presence of God. This just blew me away. A lot of non-Christians say that they often feel like there is at least some greater being out there in the abyss or that they sometimes feel like there is more to life than what the world offers, but Valeska feels nothing! Never has she been provoked by God to seek Him or seen in someone else the presence of God. I pray so hard everyday that God will touch her heart, and that she will recognize Him when He does. Please pray that God will give me the words and the actions that will show her that the Spirit is inside of me.
Every Saturday and Sunday I play basketball at a park nearby. The same people are always there. I’ve actually been surprised that there are some really good players. Basketball is not really a big sport here. I’ve made a connection with one of the guys, Rodrigo. He often asks me how everything is going with the church. I was really excited yesterday after we played. We had been talking a while, and I got up to leave. The exciting thing was how he said goodbye. There is a distinct manner in which Chileans say goodbye to people they consider friends. I believe I’ve told ya’ll before, but Chileans do not consider very many people their “friends.” It often takes months of talking with a person and hanging out with him or her before you are considered a “friend.” When you have finally reached the status of friend, they will greet and say goodbye to you with a handshake, hug, and then another handshake. So when I got up to leave, Rodrigo initiated the handshake, hug, and then another handshake. I finally made it in! Haha! I know that probably seems like an insignificant thing but it’s such a huge deal in this culture. Please pray for me that God will guide me when I interact with Rodrigo.

Game night

2006-04-03T16:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures of John and I playing cards with a couple of guys, Claudio and Francisco. Francisco, who started a Bible study last week is the guy on the far right.

Thursday, 30th of March

2006-03-30T09:32:00.000-08:00

It's really starting to cool down here. Mornings and evenings are getting pretty cold. Unfortunately, I'm more inclined to be cold than hot so the winter here, without central heating, will probably be pretty rough. I just wanted to give a quick update on some of the new contacts we have made. Last Wednesday, in an effort to be more organized and structured, we, the interns, made a contact list. As of right now, we have 17 contacts, 4 of which have shown interest in Bible studies, 3 girls and 1 guy. Since my primary focus is on males, I have had more contact with the one guy, Francisco. He's supposed to be starting a Bible study this week with one of the Chileans and John. Orgininally, the Chilean asked me if I would do the Bible study with Francisco, but after talking to John, we decided it would be best if John did it. This is primarily due to the fact that John has a closer relationship with Francisco than I do. We are very excited about the growth that we are experiencing. When I first arrived here, we typically had about 8 Chileans at our Bible studies, and now we have around 13 or so, sometimes more.

2006-03-23T14:04:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday, the 19th of March, was our inaugural service for the new building. We've already been in the building for nearly two months, but have yet to have an "official" inaugural service. A lot of preparation and hard work went into the service in hopes that we would have lots of visitors. We really felt like the service was a success. About 350 people came compared to a normal crowd of about 70. Afterwards we had a meal and a concert by a Spanish acappella group called Voces. Numerous people said that they were overwhelmed by the service and the friendliness of all the actual church members. I've included a couple of pictures of the service.
The last two weeks, John and I have been doing a Bible study with two guys named Nicoli and Felipe, age 16 and 12. The study is actually one of those 7 step programs. To be honest, I'm usually not a big fan of the "step programs" for various reasons, but it does provide us with some sort of format to teach people that practically know nothing of the Bible. Nicoli and Felipe have really shown an avid interest in learning more about Christ. There parents are also doing a Bible study with one of the missionaries. I believe that they used to be agnostics, but have shown so much interest themselves that they actually sought out John and I to do the study with their children. I've also included some pictures of them.

Also, in the interest of meeting more university students and trying to form some sort of basis on a campus, I have been going to a campus to eat lunch on Tuesday and Thursday. It's a little daunting to randomly walk up to someone and eat lunch with them and try to form some sort of relationship. 99% of the time when a Chilean asks me what I'm doing here and I answer that I'm working with a church, they automatically assume that I'm Morman. They don't answer, "So are you Mormon?" but rather, "So you're a Mormon." So my answer is always, "I work with a church, and I'm not Mormon." If they think I'm a Mormon, they automatically are turned off and won't try to carry a conversation with me. I think that if I'm consistent with eating lunch on a campus, then eventually I'll be able to form relationships. My goal is not to get people to come to church, but rather to help them take a step closer to Christ.

Sunday, 12th of March

2006-03-13T07:41:00.000-08:00

Here's a few pictures of this past weekend. We had three baptisms. For some reason I couldn't get the pictures of the other baptisms to upload. Anyway, it's really awesome to see this church growing. Although I don't have a close relationship with any of the three baptized, I wanted to share with you the growth that is occurring here. The picture of the group was also taken this past Sunday. We had just finished visiting people in a hospital and eating lunch. A couple of the people in the picture are a couple of former Aggies visiting one of the interns. The last three Sundays we have gone to the hospitals going from room to room to visit patients. The idea to do the visits was actually thought of by one of the Chilean (the Chilean guy farthest to the right) which is really exciting because we are trying to instill in them a sense of charity to those less fortunate. One of the girls (5th from the left in the black shirt) is someone we met through English class and has come to church the last two Sundays. We were all really excited because she remarked to one of the interns that she really saw God at the hospital in what we were doing and the way we treated the patients. Please pray for her specifically. Her name is Raquel.

2006-03-11T07:32:00.000-08:00

Things are really starting to pick up around here. School has started so the students have come back. On Tuesday, we are planning to go to several universities and pass out fliers for English class. We have decided to not only have group English classes but one-on-one classes. In the one-on-one classes we will be using a program called Let’s Start Talking that teaches English using the gospel of Luke. Also, John (another intern) and I are starting a Bible study next Tuesday with a couple of teenagers. The opportunity arose because one of the missionaries is doing a Bible study with a couple who also want their children to learn more of the Bible as well. The kids are twelve and sixteen years old. I apologize, there are no pictures on this post, but I'm trying to get better about taking pictures. So, pictures are coming soon. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers.

2006-02-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not giving more frequent updates. The last two to three weeks has been fairly slow. Most of the students are not here at the moment, but we have managed to meet a few people through English class and sports. We offer free English classes on Friday nights. We have different classes for the different levels of students. The classes are mostly designed to reinforce what the students have already learned and expand their vocabulary. The Chileans want to learn English, and the fact that we offer them for free is an added incentive to come.
Also, John and I have also started a sports day. Every Thursday we go to the same park to play basketball or soccer. We’ve met several people. In fact, one came to English class the other night.
I am very excited because the students start school next week. Tomorrow we are having a meeting to plan our approach towards the different local universities. Please pray for us and what we are doing. I feel it is very important to have a strong presence on the different campuses at the beginning of the school year.
Last Wednesday on the 22nd, Lauren (one of the interns) and I traveled to Pucon with a group of students from Furman College in South Carolina. We had met them in Starbucks one day, and because our schedules were so lax, we decided to take the opportunity to see parts of Chile. I had a wonderful time there. I know I said I would never climb another mountain, but I figured a volcano would be an exception. It was really cool. Unfortunately, it was too smoky on top to see the magma, but it was still awesome. We also went to a waterfall and swam in hot natural springs. The trip was great, but I am definitely ready to have a busy schedule in Santiago.

los practicantes

2006-02-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of all of us interns (practicantes)...left to right...me, jenni, john, amanda, and lindsey

first big challenge

2006-02-07T12:10:00.000-08:00

I had my first big challenge as an intern yesterday. All the other interns were either out of town or out of the country, so I was the only available intern. The missionaries here were having a meeting last night, and I was elected to babysit two of the families’ kids. Yes, that’s right. Me, babysitting. There were four kids from the age of 2 to 7, and I had to feed them, get them ready for bed, and put them to bed. I was a little scared at first, because I really did not want to have to change any diapers. Praise the Lord, I did not have to. Actually, it really wasn’t that bad. One of the little girls, the one in the princess outfit, cried the first thirty minutes I was there because she wanted her mom. Nevertheless, despite all the obstacles, I managed to survive, and the kids survived as well.

2006-02-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

the picture of the guys that does not include me goes from left to right (renso, koni, camilo, and john (who is an intern))

the image above here is definitely not clouds, but the famous smog of santiago. fantastic huh?

2006-02-01T13:24:00.000-08:00

2006-02-01T13:13:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
I hope everyone is doing well. Things here have been a little crazy. We had our first service in the new building. Everything went well. We had sort of a ceremonial type of thing. The culture here has been greatly influenced by Catholicism. Thus, it’s important to have a nice building to attract people. We are all very excited about the new building.
Sunday evening John (another intern) and I along with three of the university students (Kani, Camilo, and Renso) set out to climb Punta de Damas, which is about a 10,000 feet high. To be honest, the only reason I wanted to go was to get to know the university guys, not to climb the mountain. Renso is a Christian, but Camilo and Kani are not. This mountain was not the hardest thing I have ever done, but it was pretty rough. Sunday evening we climbed about 4 ½ hours to a half-way point. The next morning we set off for the summit and climbed about 5 ½ hours. The majority of the path was very slippery, which made it difficult to climb. Imagine climbing through a field of thorn bushes and that’s about what it was like. At one point we got a little lost and had to climb through what literally looked like a jungle of thorn bushes and thorn covered vines. We all received a good share of cuts and scrapes. It took us about 7 to 8 hours to climb down. It shouldn’t have taken that long, but John was having a lot of cramps. Also, Camilo’s dog went with us. Of course we fed him and gave him plenty of water, but he got extremely dehydrated and I’m pretty sure he was about to die. So, Camilo gave his backpack to Renzo and he picked up his dog and carried him the rest of the way down. Overall, it was a pretty rough trip for all of us, especially John and I. I’m definitely glad that I got to spend time getting to know the guys, and I’m sure that I will be glad that I climbed the mountain after all my blisters and the soreness fade. I’ve now climbed to mountain in my life, and I think two is enough. I’m not trying to sound negative. For me, it’s one of those things that is terrible when you’re going through it, but afterwards you can appreciate it and even laugh about it. Like I said though, the climb really gave me an opportunity to get to know those guys better.
I started Spanish lessons this week. I think the lady I am using is going to be awesome. I like her, and she definitely pushes me. Spanish here is really difficult. Not only do they speak really fast, but they also speak terrible Spanish. They don’t follow the same rules as proper Spanish does, so needless to say, I’m having a difficult time with it. I can communicate most things that I want to say, but understanding them is a totally different story. I am sure that it will get easier and easier the more I am here.
I hope everyone is doing well. Please continue to include me in your prayers. I need them. Take care and God bless.

First Few Days

2006-01-24T13:58:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone,
Everything is going fine here. The flight and my arrival to Santiago went smoothly. Right now I am staying with one of the missionary families. I really like them. They have two kids, 2 and 5. I spent my first evening in Chile playing hide and seek and watching dumbo, if you can imagine that. The last few days here I have spent orienting myself with the city and getting situated. I should move into my own apartment probably next week. Until I become familiar with the city, it's best for me to stay with someone else. I got a cell phone. It's really small. Reminds me of Derrick Zoolander. We are preparing to move into a new building this coming Sunday. There is still a lot of work to be done like painting, putting in carpet, and various other things. In fact, I spent about 7 to 8 hours painting and sanding today. The church here has about 70 to 100 members. January and February are vacation months in Chile. It's not uncommon for people to leave Santiago for more than a month. Thus, attendance is down right now, especially with university students. My goal right now is to become more oriented with the city and attempt to be a blessing to the missionaries here. They often do not receive spiritual nourishment for various reasons, and I hope I can provide some. As soon as I get my own apartment and can hook my computer to the internet, I will post some pictures.

Technologically Ignorant

2006-01-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Well, here is my attempt to create a blog so that others can view what I'm doing while in Chile. Unfortunately, I'm technologically ignorant. Nevertheless, we'll see how it goes.