And Uruguay........

LOSES in the World Cup! 

What a great time to be at an international conference with most of the countries in the semi-finals of the World Cup represented. I did actually watch the Uruguay vs. Ghana game. I will say that it was quite a celebration when Uruguay won. There was yelling and dancing in the streets, topped off with fireworks. We were stunned by how people everywhere were praising their team. It was exciting because it was a small representation of the great celebration on that last day, when believers from all over the world are praising our Lord together. 

So, we have been in Punte del Este, Uruguay for the International Christian Medical and Dental Association (ICMDA) conference since last Thursday, July 1. The conference was full of great speakers from the US, Australia, India, Nigeria, the UK, Canada and most South American countries. We were able to meet several students and physicians from around the world. 

One particular highlight was getting to eat lunch with several Peruvian physicians/pastors. Nathan did a wonderful job of speaking Spanish in our meeting. We were able to share our vision and call with them and were warmly received. There is great work for the gospel already happening with Peruvian physicians, but currently no focused outreach to medical students. It was exciting for us to all dream together about what medical student ministry could look like in Cusco. They also were very interested in helping us to integrate into the community of healthcare professionals in Lima and Cusco. We were greatly encouraged and look forward to working with these men over the coming years. 

Another highlight was getting to meet with a group of Brazilian students. There is currently no medical student ministry on their campus, and there are just a handful of Christians. They were gracious enough to allow us to share about our experiences with student ministry, and offer them encouragement. They have a few plans in place to begin an outreach at their school. It will be exciting to keep in touch to see what the Lord does through them. 

A memorable moment, and one that I can laugh about now, was our one evening in the town of Punte del Este for dinner. Nathan had decided that we should dress nice and go eat in town. I wore not-so- comfortable shoes and we walked the 2 kilometers (about 1 mile) into town. Once we sat down and started eating, the skies opened and rained harder than I have even seen. The problem was that we had walked. No taxis! No umbrella! We proceeded to walk back in the rain with cars zooming past splashing water all over us. I must say, Nathan sure knows how to treat me to a nice date :=)

So, we fly back to the States today and are going spend some time with Nathan's family on vacation. We do have the cutest niece and nephews, so it will be really fun to play at the beach with them. I am sure I will have some fun pictures to post. 

Here are some pics from the conference:

Dinner with medical students from Brazil

Sweet Brazilian medical student Marianna. Her English was excellente!

Mario, a medical student from Honduras. Greatly helpful in talking with us about medical student life in Latin America

Nathan speaking during our meeting with the Peruvian physicians/pastors

Our new Peruvian friends and colleagues

Chivitos (traditional Uruguayan sandwich: they don't leave anything out) 

Gluten free Chivito