This morning we visited a winery called Concha y Toro. A beautiful vineyard, just at the end of their harvest. There is a part of the vineyard that they have specifically for tourists like us to come through and pick grapes off the vines. I've never done that before, and because it is a late harvest, the grapes were sweeter than normal. Our group came out of that place with boxes upon boxes of wine. We all are wondering how we are getting these bottles home without them breaking.
We met up with Alejandro and Dulce again today as well; they came with us to the winery and then back to El Faro. They came back yesterday from a visit to Brazil, but are here in Santiago working at El Faro for a year. They arrived in October, just at the start of summer, and now it is their fall, and the winter is coming. I loved hearing about Alejandro's testimony about God calling him into mission work 10 years ago, but he kept telling God,"Sorry, I think you got the wrong number." And this went on until he met his now wiife, Dulce. Together, they decided to go, and they saved for a year and came to Chile. What stuck with me is Alejandro saying that we have the freedom to make our choices, and if it is not God' will, He will shut the door until you find the right one. In a way it is a relief, because I don't have to search for God's will, waiting and waiting until He shows up. I have to show up, and make (wise and prayed over) decisions, and see where God will walk with me. We finished up all our projects at El Faro, including painting an office, and finishing up cleaing all the debris and garbage outside. It's such a different to walk into a place that is pretty -- it is much more welcoming, especially when it is such a contrast to the rest of the neighborhood. I learned that it is illegal to have a gun in Chile, but probably most of the people that live around El Faro have one, and not to mention the heavy drug abuse that occurs throughout the neighborhood. But amidst all that, I never felt unsafe, and felt the guardians of the Lord standing guard over us, and this place.
During the night we went to Coffee Culture, founded and run by Jacob. He and his wife started it as a place for people to come and have community -- it spoke straight to my heart. He has a passion for the muslim world, and they planned to go to Egypt, but God had other plans, and they are here to stay in Santiago for a little while. I don't know what it will look like, but I want to be involved in whatever he is doing with his coffee shop, even if from all the way in LA. He buys fair trade beans, visits the sites where they are grown to be sure the workers there are treated fairly, he roasts them on his own, and he has a passion about coffee -- I want to learn from this guy! The shop is in a neighboor accessible to the community to have meetings and just hang out -- basically what you will find in LA. But most of his clientle are those who would never step foot in a church, and it is an out-of-the-box ministry that is not heavy handed in its gospel message. The message is love and acceptance, and it is beautiful. St. Francis says to preach the gospel at all times, and when necessary use words. We went when a Brazilian jazz band was playing. Sometimes there is poetry readings (...ya!). It made me revive my dream about starting my own coffee shop, with this same purpose - to invite those that have the same common denomination of caffeine addiction, live music, maybe some poetry mixed in. As I listened to the band playing, I loved seeing how enamoured everyone was in the shop, and I thought how cool was the power of music -- it speaks in the same language in our soul, and it brings people together. Throw in a love for coffee (or wine...this place serves wine too!) and you got a good little thing going, I think.
It was a great day - began with wine, I got to work with a shovel and get up in the dirt, and the day ended with a specially brewed cup of coffee. All in a different country. Kind of perfect, really.
