Argentina

I honestly don't even know where to begin. This trip was by far the most life changing trip for the entire group! Even members who have been in the band for years said that they have never experienced something like this before.

Well our flight was delayed over 6 hours on the way there so our first open air was canceled..and they overbooked the flight so they had to offer money and hotel accommodations to 10 people (luckily none of us). And in the process of taking the ten peoples luggage off they took Chris's Soprano. So he didn't get that till like two days into the trip.



Literally as soon as we got there, after we were greeted by the Nuesch's, we went straight to the BA Central Corps to do a concert..we were all dead tired and smelly lol but the concert went well. We were two hours late to it but everyone was so appreciative. After that we had a dinner at the hotel..still smelly and gross but the meal was delicious. It's all steaks down there. After all that we were finally aloud to take showers and go to sleep! We stayed in a nice hotel. And it was right across the street from the biggest mall in Argentina :)


Umm I can't really remember the next day specifically..we played a lot of open airs that were ridiculously hottt!!! But we got good crowds. We played in a building in Buenos Aires that actually doesn't allow religious groups to use but they let us..and the owner of the building came up to one of us and asked us to pray with her because she wanted to accept Jesus as her savior! It was amazing. Every concert we had people coming up to us asking us to pray for them. So powerful!



Most of us got really sick though. Like stomach issues. it was kinda funny how much going to the bathroom was talked about! Some people hadn't gone for days like Doug, Vic, and others and some couldn't stop going like Stephen, Chris, Felix, Ryan...It was funny with Doug though because he hadn't gone in like 6 days and when he finally did (on a three hour bus ride!) We were all cheering for him! hahaha..

Katherine joined us half way through the trip. Her grandma died like the day before we left and she was very close with her. She was really upset because she knew that she couldn't afford to change her ticket and then at the end of the funeral major Klemanski went up to her with a ticket and said if you are feeling up to it we got you a ticket. We were all so happy that she
came. She gave her testimony about it one night and she made me cry. She talked about her grandma and everything and then started talking about all her friends in the band and how loving we all were toward her and how we prayed for her and she started crying and she made us all cry! I love her.



Two days during the trip we went to the camp there. They have abandoned this camp for like 15 years. It was nasty!!!! but we were all put into work groups and assigned work to do in the camp. It was so amazing seeing everyone so willing to work so hard and in such nasty places too. It was awesome. There was an officers family who just got moved into the camp there and they had no beds for their children. So we as in the band and chorus not the leaders decided to collect money for their family. We presented it to them and they were so grateful. She started talking about all the work that we had done at the camp and all the money we gave her and she said "This is the Salvation Army" once again we were all brought to tears. I will never forget that moment...I'm crying right now just thinking about it.











We took a tour all around Buenos Aires even through the bad cities. It was so devastating to see the places that so many of the people there live in. Literally little shacks, some just made out of cardboard! It definitely made us all realize how much we have and how blessed we are.



As if all that wasn't emotional and life changing enough we had a little debriefing meeting with the Nueschs. There was an 18 year old named Lucas who helped us the whole week. He was so sweet. But he has some kind of cancer that the doctors can't really figure out. It keeps coming back and he keeps having to get surgery done to remove it. Anyway there is like no medical insurance or anything in Argentina so he's struggling to pay for them all. He's gotten a scholarship to go to TMI (territorial Music Institute) in the South but he didn't have money to pay for his next treatment so he thought he wasn't going to be
able to go.. So we, once again the band and chorus members not the leaders decided to collect money for him so that he could get his next treatment. We Presented him with about 4 thousand Pesos (his surgery is 5 thousand). Lucas couldn't even speak he was crying so much and major couldn't speak either. A silence came over the room and everyone started crying..I'm not talking like one tear I'm talking like full blown sobbing. It was so amazing. There was not a dry eye in the room.

Then we watched a video about the "Hidden City." It is probably the poorest and most dangerous city in Argentina and maybe the world! We were told a story about an officer who was working there. She goes a couple days a week to deliver food to the children. Well in this neighborhood, past 8 oclock you can't cross this certain road because you will get shot or stabbed but this lady had one bag of food left that she had to deliver to this child so she crossed it. She was immediately surrounded by a group of men and a gun was put to her head. They recognized the uniform and most of them ran off but the one with the gun was still there. She began telling him about Jesus and how much he loves him and that she loves him too and she wants to help him. The kid was scared and he shot her in the arm and stole the bag of food. She began running after him telling him that she isn't mad that he shot her and that she still has more to tell him about Jesus. She kept running for a while but then
became too weak from the loss of blood. She then went to the police station. Since it was past 8 the doors were all chained up. She kept ringing the bell to get them to open the gate for her and they didn't believe her. Finally they let her in and she told them that she was shot. The policeman said to her "This is why we should just kill them all..all they do is cause trouble." the officer got so mad that she got up, got into the ambulance and left. To this day she still delivers food to children in the Hidden city and she still searches for the boy who shot her. After the shooting the boy went into rehab. She tried to contact
him but they wouldn't let her. She wrote a letter to him and got it published in their war cry. The boy got hold of it and wanted to meet with her in rehab but couldn't. The letter she wrote basically said that she forgives him for shooting her and wants to help him and tell him about Jesus. To this very day she is still searching for the boy. Amazing right. That is true love..that is love like Jesus's love. Wow.
We then had a prayer time that ended up being like an hour long. We were praying for everything. For the Army there, for the "hidden city", for the band and chorus. It was awesome!

So it was a life changing experience. It makes me realize how much I have and how blessed I am. Well I think the devil was trying to steal my joy because I lost my digital camera on the plane. At first I was upset and then I realized that it isn't that big of a deal. I still have a roof over my head and food on the table. This trip has really put everything into perspective for me.


I experienced the true joy of giving to people in need and it changed my life!