When I lived here before, I feel like I really didn’t get to know much of Santiago. I spent most of my time at school, home and church, being driven around by my parents and really not paying attention to the things around me. So now that I’m back, older and more independent, I’ve been able to see a new side of Santiago I never got to see before! I’ve begun learning how to use the metro (subway) and micro (buses)- thank you TranSantiago-, gone to a university in town, and learned to not be ashamed to ask random kiosko guys where the subway station is… yesterday I had to do that twice. It’s fun to get to know this city even more, and I have really enjoyed the time I’ve spent here so far!
Up the Cerro to the University
Yesterday was my first day going to the university. I was a little nervous at first, but God really helped me during the time there! Our goal at this university is to help a local Christian student at this university (John) begin a Bible study on campus by meeting people, building relationships with them and eventually encouraging them to attend this study.
We do this by approaching either one or two people sitting by themselves during the break in between classes and telling them we have some questions to ask them and if they didn’t mind spending some time talking to us. If they agree, we use a stack of 50 cards with pictures on them (I forgot the names of the cards), and tell them things like “Choose three cards to describe your life now”, “What cards would describe your perfect life?”, and asking them to elaborate on why they chose those cards. This really breaks the ice to help you get to know them better, find any commonalities y’all have and eventually lead to questions like “What cards would you chose to describe God?” or “How would you describe your relationship with God?” and so on. Through this you are not only able to get to know them, but show them you are interested in them and hopefully begin sharing your personal testimony through the conversation. Depending on how receptive or curious they seem, you can present the gospel to them or simply ask for their contact information so you can meet up with them again on campus.
I really like this method of “evangelism”, because it really encourages building relationships with the people and is not simply knocking on random doors, quickly sharing the gospel and pressuring them to “accept Christ”. I know God works differently in every person, and some people may be at the point of understanding His gift of salvation, but others aren’t. I feel like this method is a more genuine form of evangelism… At least for me it is. The other methods seem much more forced, and something I don’t enjoy doing. We will be going up to this university twice a week, meeting up with people we have already talked to and meeting new ones, so please keep them and us in your prayers as God beings to work in mighty ways here in Santiago!
I meant to take some pictures of the campus yesterday, but forgot, so tomorrow I hope to take some. It is really a beautiful part of town!
Los Dominicos
After going to the university, we went to an artisan’s market called Los Dominicos. I have always loved going there because of the beautiful things you can find, the weird things you come across and simply the memories it brings. We used to go there all the time with my grandparents when they visited! For lunch I had some fried empanadas de pino. They were delicious!!
The whole group eating lunch!
My empanadas were so good! I want to back and get some more.
Last night I went to a junta (get together) with some of my old friends from school. We had such a fun time laughing, talking and catching up! It was like old times again. I then spent the night at the Sexton’s. I have always loved the view from their apartment!
While I slept it rained, which washes all the smog away. The view of the city is always beautiful after a rainstorm!
It also snowed on the mountains, and I love seeing the pretty white peaks on the horizon. Farther into winter, the snow can reach all the way to the bottom!
[…] few times, getting to know people by using the Solarium Cards (you can read about how we use them here), building relationships with them and being genuine in our approach, my attitude towards sharing […]