The AFCSA Chronicles:

It has been a while since our team has had a campaign group in Porto Alegre. This year we welcomed a group of 18 Aggies (Aggies For Christ South America) to work along side us for several days. The campaign has them traveling to 6 cities in about as many weeks. The particular project that this group worked on in Porto Alegre was quite special. We had them out at the Chácara Rehabilitation Center building a new dormitory for the men that live there. The dormitory will have 5 bedrooms and a bathroom. It will house 20 men (4 per room). The following is a day to day chronicle of the Aggies' time in Porto Alegre (photos included).

The Aggies For Christ South America team

Day 1 (Wednesday, May 30th):

The Aggies arrived at the bus station downtown at 8:30am. We picked them up and took them to our house for a pancake breakfast and an orientation. After the orientation they walked to the nearby mall with Jennifer for lunch at the food court. In the afternoon we went out to the Chácara to take a look around. After they got the full tour of the Chácara we brought them back to our house where they were picked up by their host families.

Day 2 (Thursday, May 31st):

We started each day bright and early. Since the Aggies were spread out all over the city with their host families we made it a part of our routine to meet at a local shopping center each morning. Once we all arrived we would have a little "pow-wow" and get loaded up to go to the Chácara. This morning in particular was really cold. The day before was the coldest day in Porto Alegre since 1919! We made it out to the work site and got started right away. The men that live there had already laid the foundation, so brick laying was our main task. One group began the process of mixing fresh concrete while the other began laying bricks. Work began around 10am. We broke for an hour lunch and then continued working until 5pm. The Aggies needed the morning to get the feel of it, but once they figured everything out there was no stopping them!

Day 3 (Friday, June 1st):

Rained out!

It began raining really early in the morning. I made the decision to cancel our plans of working on the dormitory because you really can't work with cement in such conditions. So, we pulled an audible and took the Aggies to the Emmanuel Society for women. This is a place where women can go to stay if they are homeless and/or ill and have no where else to go. It was my first time to go there, so I didn't really have a whole lot of knowledge about what we were doing. BenayBlume suggested we go and it turned out being a great blessing. We spent about 2 and a half hours singing to and with the ladies there. We prayed with them and hugged on them. Benay brought a bunch of candy that we handed out to them. The highlight for me was taking socks that Jennifer had wanted to give them and actually putting several pair on feet. It is good to have experiences like that to humble us and grow us. I'm glad that the physical work plans got rained out so that we could go do some spiritual work.

The afternoon was much needed down time for the Aggies, who had already been to 2 cities in South America. They hung out at a mall and did their best to stay out of trouble. Although, I will have to say that not everyone was so lucky. Poor Garrett (one of the leaders) tried to lean on a table in the food court that only was supported by one centered leg. The round table top broke off the leg, tipped over, and started to roll away! It was quite a site! I wish I had my camera for that one. Everyone looked to see what was going on and a few people clapped! Everything ended up being alright. The mall staff weren't upset about it. They just wanted to make sure that no one was injured.

Day 4 (Saturday, June 2nd):

Excursion to Gramado!

We had planned a little trip to the mountain town of Gramado for this day. There are lots of little touristy things to do in this town. It is usually a pretty fun trip with visitors. We went around the Lago Negro (Black Lake) together, ate fondue (at least some of us did), and walked around a bit. It was a real quick trip because we needed to be back to Porto Alegre in time for the Aggies to meet the Blume family and their house church for dinner at a Pizza joint. All in all it was a fun day that was full of laughs and lots of food!


Day 5 (Sunday, June 3rd):

We all met out at the Chácara at 10am for worship. Most of our church members, the Aggies, and all the men who live at the Chácara were there. We probably had between 70 and 80 people out there. I never had the opportunity to count, but I think that is pretty accurate.

We had our worship service together, which included testimonies from one of the Aggies (Garrett); one of the missionaries; and one of the men of the Chácara. It was neat to get the different perspectives on the work that we were doing.

We ate a meal together and then those who could stay worked on the dormitory. It was really awesome! We had kids and adults alike out their mixing concrete and passing bricks. It was such an encouragement to see such involvement! I will never forget seeing how everyone worked together on this particular day.


Day 6 (Monday, June 4th):

Monday was our last full day of work. We really got a lot done. I meant to mention earlier that the men who live out at the Chácara were helping us. They are work horses! All together we had about 35 people working on this project. When we left the work site around 4pm on Monday we had completed about 60% of the dormitory. That is pretty good after just 2.5 days of work!


Day 7 (Tuesday, June 5th):

Moving on... to Buenos Aires.

Jennifer, Elisa and me with our "kids", Frank, Sam & Amanda.

You might be saying, "why would there need to be an entry on the day they leave?" "Nothing excited ever happens at the airport!"

Well, let me share with you an awful truth. The adventure usually doesn't end at the airport. That is where it usually begins!

Everyone got to the airport around noon to catch their 2pm flight. As the Aggies were gathering and preparing to check-in, one of them noticed that her passport was missing! She looked through everything. Other people looked through everything. No luck. It was lost. We started brainstorming what to do while the rest of the group started to go through the check-in line. This young lady who lost her passport was one of the Aggies who had been staying in our house. We felt like one of our daughters was in trouble! It was hard to know what should be done. Well, we called the US Consulate and they told us that if we couldn't find the passport she would have to go to São Paulo to get a new one. São Paulo! This was not the option we wanted. We went back home and looked around the house. No luck again. We called to find out what all she would need to get a new passport. With an upcoming holiday on Thursday we knew that this could take a week at minimum, maybe longer.

Well, to make a really long story short, the passport was found this morning in a bag that had been looked through several times by several people. It just plopped out on the floor when it was hopelessly being searched for one last time. I think everyone (even the lady at the US Consulate office) had the same reaction: "Praise God!"

We spent a couple of hours at the airport today getting her plane tickets squared away. She should join the rest of the group in Buenos Aires tonight. It really couldn't have turned out better.

The AFCSA team with some of the men of the Chácara.

The men of the Chácara were incredibly blessed by the AFCSA team. They had been praying for this dormitory for a long time. Before too long we will be able to put the roof on and they can move in.

I would like to say that I was very impressed by the work ethic of the Aggies and their amazing attitudes. They are great examples and definitely left their mark in Porto Alegre! Thanks guys!