Last Day in Argentina

Yesterday (May 29) we had an EARLY morning wake up call; most of us only getting about 5 hours of sleep! We had all packed our suitcases earlier in the day, so when we woke up, all we had to do was brush our teeth and head downstairs to pack the van and head to the bus station. Once again we got to ride one of our favorite double-decker buses, the ones with the "semi-cama" or as we would call it, "a really cool seat that reclined really far back and had an awesome foot rest". We were all packed up and headed off on our way back to Córdoba, but first we had one more stop to make on our Argentina adventure! We rode the bus from San Francisco for about two hours before we stopped in Río Primero to coach our final hockey clinic. Players were ranging  from ages 8 to 25, and we were able to teach a variety of skills. We were all quite tired by that point, but all had enough energy to really make the best of our final activity of the trip! After the clinic, some of us had the opportunity to play against some of the older/more advanced players of the clinic, as well as a local men's team. It wasn't quite as traditional of a scrimmage as we are used to, due to us playing on a dirt field in sneakers, with our shin guards taped onto our shins; but it was such a fun opportunity to play one last time in Argentina! After we were done, we took another bus the rest of the way to Córdoba, where we stopped at Hotel Viena again to all shower and get ready for dinner. We were all able to wind down, and made sure we had everything for the airport one final time. We then headed to dinner at a local restaurant, where we were able to have an Argentine favorite again, "asado" (aka lots and lots of meat). We finished dinner with an amazing dessert of chocolate and strawberry ice cream, and were all ready to head to the airport. We got to the airport at around 12:00, and there, we had to say our goodbyes to the amazing Herndon family (and Kelly & Cele). We only knew their family for 10 days, but I think I could speak for everyone in saying that it was one of the hardest goodbyes we've ever had (and a very tearful goodbye as well). We then boarded the plane, and started our journey back to the States (while flying through the stars) and trying to catch up on sleep during the 6 1/2 hour flight!
-Lindsay Bower

Soccer...not hockey?

We woke up this morning (May 28) to our first rain in Argentina! The hockey clinic we were supposed to teach at was cancelled which allowed us to have extra leisure time to pack and run to the store for some Argentine pastries. Since we didn't have anything else planned for the afternoon, Will and the Herndon family graciously welcomed us to their home. We shared a variety of empanadas and some of us helped to make delicious desserts for the group. We started out watching the men's USA field hockey team against Argentina while we waited for lunch to be ready and then transitioned in a watching soccer. You can assume that soccer (aka fútbol) is extremely popular here because of the games being aired on every other channel. The UEFA Champions league had their championship match against Real Madrid and Atletica Madrid... It was quite an experience! A handful of us played a card game of Phase 10 that lasted about 3 hours and we ended the time at the Herdon's watching penalty kicks (by the way Atletica Madrid won).
We stopped back at Hotel Menfis for a quick siesta (remember that means nap time) before we traveled to a local church for a young adult youth group. We began by playing a Bingo name game to meet and interact with the adults. Hannah and Taylor got to speak a little bit in front of the group about their experience on this trip! Will then shared a message in Spanish to the group and a band among the young adult group played traditional Argentine songs in honor of our group joining them. We finished the night by singing some of our well-known worship songs and pre-game songs. We left the church around 1:15am and headed back to the hotel to look forward to an early rise and travel to Río Primero for another hockey clinic!
-Kristin Donohue and Shelby Landes

English Students and Youth Group

Hello friends and family!

Sorry for the delayed post. Don't be alarmed, we are still alive.

Yesterday (May 27) we had the opportunity to join a  women's physical education class with second year and fourth year students who are studying to be a physical education teacher. Each of us partnered up with a student in the class. We began with a simple one vs. one drill and the teacher kept adding aspects until it became a 4 vs.  4 scenario. As you are very well aware, we are a field hockey team so our small games with the students did not look so pretty. However, we were able connect with the girls while playing and were even invited to stay and play softball during the next class.

And if they thought our soccer was bad.... Softball really wasn't pretty (I'm allowed to say that as I am one who struck out bad- Shayna). Luckily we had Coach Brooke's great hit and Mattie's catching abilities to save the day:).

We refueled our bodies with some chicken. Many of us were excited about that. Then we met back up with the University but this time with students studying to be english teachers or translators. As an icebreaker game, we first went around the circle and everyone introduced themselves and we had to say something that made us unique. We learned that Kaylor can make an Elmo voice and Coach Morley can make the sound of a baby. While Morley was demonstrating her talent, someone quickly barged in asking, "where's my baby?!!?" (.... Just kidding, no one came in but the baby cry was very convincing).

After introductions, we were able to use/introduce our field hockey skills by passing the ball to someone from a different country and ask a question we have and it went back and forth on until many questions were asked and answered. To finish, each of us partnered up with a student and had time to get to know them and ask and answer more questions about ourselves and countries.

Again, we were happy with food. Maybe I should just speak for myself but my stomach is happy here. For dinner, we had beef or chicken sandwiches with fries. We were a tad disappointed to not get dessert. But, the night was young and they didn't fail to feed us again. We had cake and more sandwiches at a youth group event at the Herndon's church.

The youth group meeting was for the high school and middle schoolers so there was lots of energy. The Herndon daughters introduced us to a lot of people and got us to play a ping pong game called chino (it's equivalent to round robin). We played a big group game in which we were split up into four and each team had to blindfold 5 people. The teams had to direct those in blindfolds to pop the balloons hanging above. Some balloons were filled with flour  so we had to be careful of what balloons to go for. This lead into worship and a message from one of the members of the church. We then were able to spend some more time with the teens. There was a group of us who were able to worship with some of the youth in which we sang in English while they sang in Spanish. It was awesome to see that we were all worshipping the same God regardless of the different language.

Bendiciones,
Sara Brooks and Shayna Landis

Antartida

So on this lovely day, we were able to wake up late and catch up on some sleep! We left the hotel and walked to the restaurant, while stopping at various sporting good shops along the way. We went to the same restaurant for lunch as we did yesterday. We ate our first meal of pasta on the trip, so that was a nice mix up compared to our normal huge slab of chicken or beef! It was during this time that we saw that our team had made its second debut in the local newspaper that featured some pictures and we assume it talked about the clinic we held yesterday, but it was all in Spanish so we can't be 100% sure. After lunch we celebrated some siesta with naps and just hanging out before meeting for a debrief and devo time. We were able to sing some worship songs that caught the attention of the elderly lady (who spoke no English) who helps run the hotel, so she came in and listened to our wonderful singing.  Our team then left around 5 to head to the government building in town. They held a press conference with the mayor of San Francisco for our team that was televised and helped spread the word of our team being town, and to draw attention to the clinic we will host this weekend. We were thankful for our translators especially during this time as Coach Brooke would probably have thrown out some German vocabulary when questioned in Spanish. We left and stopped at La Palma, which is a famous gelato place in town. It was delicious! We then changed quick into our uniforms and left for our late game, starting at 9pm. We visited the club we went to yesterday, CAAA. We played 3-30min halves. We shared the field, not only with our opponent, but also large cockroaches, and other large flying bugs, but our team crushed it and won 8-2 ! Everyone played awesome and contributed greatly to our win. Afterwards we ate some burgers and drank a lot of soda, as per usual in this country. Will gave his message and explained the importance of having a relationship with God in our lives, which led to great discussion between the teams afterwards. Their team gave each one of us a trophy and a t-shirt. They also gave coach a signed jersey from their club. We left pretty late and got back to the hotel after 1am, which explains why this post is coming so late! Overall we had another great day and are looking forward to working in the local schools tomorrow! Pray that we can connect and make an awesome impact to all those we will meet, and praise that that trip is going so well!
-Mattie Berger and Alyssa Sadorf

San Francisco! ...Argentina, not Cali

(May 25)
After leaving the hotel at 8am we traveled to the bus station in Córdoba  to board a double decker bus to San Francisco. The bus we traveled on wasn't like a coach bus at home, the seats were extra comfy and reclined the whole way, so naturally we all slept the whole 3 hours. When we got to San Fransisco, we went to lunch and had milenase, which was breaded steak with cheese on top and French fries on the side. After lunch, we headed back to the hotel to unpack and quickly debrief about our stories from the last couple days. It was really nice to hear what everyone had experienced and the different ways God had used us in such a short time, not only with field hockey but also at the University. We then headed to our clinic at Antartida Club. There, we set up various stations and drills that the players went through including hitting, goal keeping, passing, and 1v1s. It was interesting to see the various ages of the players. Some players were only around the age of 13 while others were 35. We all had a really great time helping teach various skills as well as learning from their style of play. At around 9:30 we headed to dinner at La Parrilla where we are asado, which is various meats served throughout the meal. We were in awe at how delicious the meal was (we're drooling thinking about it now).   Following dinner we were all wiped out from the day of traveling and we headed to bed. Thank you for your continued prayers!

- Logan Ryan and Morgan Vasiliu

Telleras

Querida familias y amigos (that means "dear families and friends" for all you non-Spanish speakers),
Today began just like any other day in Argentina. We woke up and enjoyed a very nutritious breakfast of bread with a side of...bread and to finish it all off, some more bread. We then had some time for personal devotions before we began our day.
Once it was time to leave we piled 15 people into a 9 passenger van (don't worry parents, this is perfectly normal and safe). We traveled back to UNC (Universitario Naciónal de Córdoba) to continue helping with the college ministry, ABUA. We walked around campus and handed out 2,000 Christian newspapers filled with testimonies of famous Christians including Steph Curry and Lecrae.
The next adventure of the day was going back to some of the tourist shops to make some final purchases in Córdoba. Some of us bought an Argentinian flag the size of Texas (disclaimer: that was a bit of an exaggeration).
After a nice long siesta (that's a nap for all you currently residing in North America), we traveled to Talleras to face our third opponent. We played 4, 20 minute quarters. We won 2 and lost two in a very hard fought battle. Since this team was in playoffs we played a different type of game. We weren't allowed to have a backswing on any pass or shot and instead of playing out corners we did 1v1s when there should've been a corner. Afterwards we were able to enjoy a meal together. We came back to the hotel after and had to pack for an early morning tomorrow where we will travel to San Fransisco (not California for those of you who may currently be confused)
That's all folks, until tomorrow...

-Kaylor Rosenberry
-Emily Rubright
-Carissa Gehman

Universitario

This morning, we traveled to La Ciudad Universitario (UNC) to do college ministry. There we met up with Martin and Amy, who are originally from Australia, to work with their group called ABUA. Their group focused on college students in Córdoba and allowed these students to discuss certain topics related to the Christian faith. Some of the members described the group as a 'family' because most of the students are away from their biological families and they are all there to support and encourage each other. After breaking up into small groups and eating homemade empanadas, we broke out and went in groups to hand out flyers to spread awareness for their group, ABUA.  Then, we went back to the hotel to rest and prepare for our game against Universitario. We all also had the opportunity to try matte (ma-tay), which is a tea-like drink that is native to Argentina. They drink it out of special cups, and it acts as a community cup when in groups (Coach is holding it in one of the pictures). Most of our facial expressions were very funny to the rest of the group as we each tried the matte!
Once we arrived to the field, we were told we would play three thirty minute periods and then have dinner with the team. Universitario had close to thirty-five girls and we mentally prepared ourselves to play our best because we knew that they would also play their best. We were a little disappointed that our Messiah fan-bass didn't show up to our game today ;) Their level of skill gave us high competition and we ended up tying each period. After the game we headed off the field and went to eat dinner with the girls. During this time, we had fellowship with the team, exchanging some of our Messiah gear for theirs. Will gave a message on the relationship between playing field hockey and having a relationship with Christ, and afterwards had conversation individually with some of the girls talking about the message, sharing our faith, and encouraging them to do the same. We were all encouraged by our fellowship with the other team and thank you all for your prayers' We ask that you continue to pray that the Holy Spirit will be present in every conversation we have with others.
-Emily Schillinger

The City of Cordoba

This morning we stayed with a time of reflection on all that happened so far on our trip. We recognized the value of our common ground among us and the other team we played (field hockey). Hockey was our gateway to make conversation with them and that blossomed into a lot of interaction among both teams. During this time we were also able to spend a few minutes in worship led by Coach Morely. After we debriefed we set out to tour the beautiful city of Córdoba. We were able to hear a lot about Córdoba's history along with getting to walk through the very first cathedral, and seeing the very first government building. Next we spent time in the mall eating Argentine pizzas and empanadas and again testing our Spanish skills. From there we took a bus tour of some of the city. We were able to sit on the top deck of the double decker bus, which gave us views we will never forget. Because Córdoba is the second largest city in Argentina, the tour lasted about an hour and a half. The tie not only showed us through the streets of Córdoba, it also took us to a massive park on the outskirts of the city that overlooked the skyline. It was breathtaking! Next we spent a few hours in a beautiful mall. It's crazy to window shop and see an article of clothing that has a price tag of $1,500 (pesos) but in reality it $100 (US dollars). Around 9:00, as soon as restaurants were finally opening for dinner, we went out for some more Argentine pizza. For dessert we enjoyed delicious pastel (cake) in celebration of Shayna's 19th birthday. Now we rest up and get ready to share the gospel with local college students early tomorrow morning. Thank you for your continued prayers!
-Casie Steif

First Day in Córdoba!

Bienvenidos de Argentina! After a five hour and a seven hour flight we landed in Córdoba around 1am, (midnight eastern time) met up with Will Herndon, our missionary host, and arrived to our hotel at 2:30. After a short five hour rest we were up and at breakfast in order to leave for our first game of the week against a club called Instituto. Our field for this game consisted of a small filled-turf field which was a little smaller than half of our hockey field. Instituto hockey was only established two years ago so a lot of their player were new to the game. We split our team into two teams and played 7v7 against their two teams. During the games, Coach BK used her awesome Spanish skills to get the conversation going between our two teams! We finished our day with a 9v9 game, and afterwards Will presented a gospel message to the whole group! Since Instituto is not associated with a single school, the girls (and two guys!) ranged in ages from 16 to 26! After the game, we all ate hamburgers together for lunch and were able to talk to Instituto in a mix of Spanish and English. They loved taking Snapchat selfies with us and taking videos of us trying to speak in Spanish. :) We were able to sing songs for them and they sang songs for us, and it was an amazing time of fellowship and bonding with these girls and guys! When we returned to the hotel from Instituto we took full advantage of Seista (nap time!) At six we met back up and did some shopping in the flea market close to our hotel. So we knocked out gift shopping out very early in the week! I know I had a lot of fun speaking to the vendors in Spanish and helping the other girls translate! The exchange rate is about 15 Pesos to 1 American dollar, so it felt strange exchanging a 100 Peso bill for a small gift. Also, in Argentina it's very common to eat dinner at 11 pm, so while we were eating around 9 the restaurant was dead. However, when we left around 10:30, the restaurant was beginning to fill up! Now we're back at the hotel, and tomorrow is sight-seeing in Córdoba! Thanks for reading the blog, please keep praying that we have saftey and are great ambassadors of Christ and for field hockey! Buenos noches! :)

-Taylor Holt 

Next Stop...Argentina!!

Today was a busy and exciting day with final preparations. It began bright and early (7am) with a Cross Run. A Cross Run is a team activity where a team has three (heavy) wooden crosses to carry on a run throughout campus. There are four pitstops, lots of hills, and a creek to cross. At these pitstops we reflected on different Scripture passages, and prepared our hearts for our time abroad. It wasn't an easy activity as it was both physically and mentally challenging. It opened our eyes to see that the only way to carry our own crosses in our lives is through Jesus, and that because of Him we don't have to carry those burdens. We concluded the run with a small breakfast and headed off to practice one last time before playing in Argentina.

In the afternoon we had opportunity to write our testimonies, define short term missions, and pray for our trip. We identified challenges that we may face as we travel and interact with others, and we prayed that the Lord would work through us. At the end of our training session we were able to share our testimonies that we had written with small groups. This gave us a chance to start preparing to share the gospel and to grow even deeper as teammates and sisters in Christ.

This evening we had the opportunity to come alongside the three other AROMA teams that will be leaving tomorrow as well. During this time we celebrated the fact that God has called us all to partner with AROMA and take the gospel with us to wherever we are going. We also prayed with the other groups for their trips, and that God would work through them and bless their time in the countries they are traveling to. As the night concluded we are all nervous, but also excited and anxious to leave early tomorrow morning!

Thank you for your continued prayer and support, and pray for safe travels and calm nerves.

Together Again!

Hello to all!

After a week (or so) at home MCFH is all back on campus together! We have two days of training, both physically and spiritually, before we travel to Argentina! Today we had the opportunity to brush up our skills on the field at practice. Later, we had a time where we were able to worship our Lord with our teammates and allow God to meet us where we are in preparation for our mission trip. We are enjoying the times where we can grow as a team, such as half-price appetizers at Applebee's! Continue praying that God would prepare our hearts and minds as we travel to another part of the world, and that He would prepare the hearts of those we come in contact with throughout our trip to be open to all that we have to say as we look for opportunities to share the gospel!

Thank you!