Joventud Para Cristo/ Youth For Christ

I had been invited to help out with a retreat for the staff of Youth For Chirst, America. By "America", I mean all of the Americas. Being that most of the countries within the Americas are Spanish-speaking, most of the representatives spoke Spanish and only a couple were native English-speakers (pretty much just the few that came to represent the U.S. and Canada). I had been invited to help out with translating (yes, I can do that now) and being an extra hand for the whole week.

The first couple of days we stayed at a camp called Maximo Paz where we slept in cabins, ate camp food (which was pretty good), had worship, a speaker, and a selection of forums pertaining to leading youth each day. It was nice to be away from the business of the city, but no one appreciated the mosquitos that came with the wide open fields of tall grasses. After three nights in camp bunk-beds, everyone was excited to move back into the city for the rest of the week to stay in hotels. The daily events were hosted at a local church and we used their kitchen to make food for 100 people for the next 4 days. My work really began when we moved back to the city - I was in the kitchen for the majority of each day helping prepare the food (the head chef let me be in charge of the salad!), clean up, prepare the next meal, clean up, prepare the next meal, clean up... you get the picture.

Amongst all of this I was able to hang out with people from all over Central and South America and go on their excursions into the city with them. It was a fun but long week, and I am glad to have had the opportunity to meet such cool people! It was so exhilerating to worship with my Latin friends - they realy get into it! You should see how the Brazilians dance, haha!

This is a picture with someone from each Latin American country that came holding up their flage - a beautiful sight!

This is Vanessa and me - she is actually a student from the institute and was volunteering in the retreat too. This foto was taken the last night at the pizza party (we obviously are on dessert already).

I'm not sure who started it... I think it was the Columbians, but whenever anyone would take a picture everyone would rush over to get into it and start yelling (happily). It seemed like they thought the photo would capture their voices, and you know what? I think it did.

The Columbians taught me the lyrics to the Cucaracha song (which may or may not be the actual lyrics - all of the Argentine's I've asked about it claim that it is something else).

"La cucaracha, la cucaracha

ya no puede caminar,

porque no tiene

porque le falta

porque no tiene

una pata para caminar"

"The cockroach, the cockroach

now cannot walk

because it doesn't have

because it misses

because it doesn't have

a soul (as in bottom of your foot) with which to walk."

This is a cockroach that now cannot walk.