It Was Our Last

WOw! I am so sorry! I did not realize that this post did not post! Oh man!

It was our last.

Staying up every night in the hotel with the Uruguayos

The reality of it was crazy.

Our last week we spent a lot of time building up relationships we have made and continuously helping them to get involved in community with Vida Estudiantil.

It was frustrating knowing how hard it was to get in touch with students and how little time we had to do so. 
We spent every night at the hotel with Uruguayos until 2 A.M. talking and diving into each others lives.

It was our last...

time on faculties. We tried to get a hold of students we have already met to pour into them and strengthen our friendships. This did not stop us from meeting new people. We took our friends with us out to share The Gospel and to tell others about Vida Estudiantil. This way, the students can meet those that are in Uruguay year-round involved with the organization

Architecture

It was our last time at the Faculty I will miss the most. Architecture. It was so unique and the people I met there I will never forget. Many of our conversations took  place on the steps to the left of the photo. One girl I met there is a pretty well known pop-singer in Uruguay. It will be fun to keep tabs on how that is going!

Derecho

It was our last time feeling awkward at the Law Faculty. It is a small courtyard, making it awkward to walk around in circles looking for people to talk to. Although it was hard to be there at times, almost every conversation we had was great!

Tracy and Davie

During our last week, we did a special outreach. We went to the outskirts of Montevideo to a soup kitchen. We spent time with the young children living there. My heart melted for these kids. They were so happy with what they had and all of them were smiling!

Down by the Rambla

It was our last morning down by the Rambla. A few of us woke up before sunrise to walk down to the water and have our last "Quiet Time" in Uruguay. We sat against the wall, reading out Bibles and thanking God for the time we spent there. At that moment, it didn't matter how little of sleep we were on. It didn't matter how cold it was. It didn't matter that it was sprinkling outside. The only thing that mattered was that we came to Uruguay for a purpose- to plant seeds... and we left the Rambla knowing that is exactly what we did. It was probably one of the most peaceful mornings I have had in a really long time.

It was our last time walking the streets of Uruguay together..being goofy Americans. A goal while walking the streets was to act ..not American. It always failed. hahaha!

It was our last time seeing the "strikes" fill the street! The loud chants and horns as people blocked off the main road of Montevideo was so normal there.

It was our last time ..together as a team.

We did it. We survived together for six weeks all day, every day.

I will miss all of this, but knowing the impact we made and the amount of growth we have all had..I am okay with being home now. There is another chapter for each and every one of us. The most exciting part is to have faith that it is the perfect chapter for us. God has it all figured out!

It will be exciting to watch the growth in Uruguay from here.

It is my first time..

finishing a blog! It wasn't long, but it was fun. Thank you so much for reading and supporting me. I am so grateful!

Please check out my facebook (Kelsey Nocek) for more photos of the trip or (uruguay summer project) on facebook.

Until the next journey,
<3 Kelsey On

Getting used to this peaceful chaos!

Hello everyone!

I am sorry I haven´t updated for quite some time! I haven´t had the time to sit down and write!
 These past 2 weeks have been great! I love it here and have been learning so much during this short month.

My awesome team

We are finally starting to understand this chaotic life! We now have day to day routines, friends, a schedule, and so much more that will end in two weeks! TWO WEEKS!? Wow..! Time has flown! Some people are ready to leave and some people are not. I would say that I am not...but it will be the right time.

The first two weeks, I felt like this city was complete chaos! There was so much going on and I could tell I was not a city person. As the days go on, I am getting used to it! No longer do I feel like this specific city is chaotic. Every city, town, and village has its chaos..this chaos was just not something I was used to. I know how the city works. I know how things function and knowing the things that were unknown before is simply: peaceful.

Although I feel like I am not ready to leave, I know God only has me here for a certain amount of time for a reason. I am here to make an impact and that is exactly what I am doing! This past week I have been learning a lot about peace and love.

Now I don´t mean the ¨hippie¨ peace and love where I lounge out and smoke a doobie. I am talking about the, ¨I am content with where God has me in life and I am lovin´ it¨ ! I have been realizing how anxious I am about what´s next. I am already thinking about the next place I want to go in life..when really..how does that benefit me now? How can I focus on what I am doing here and the cool things I am seeing and learning here, when I am already focused on whats next!?!?! 

During these past weeks we have been going to our campuses and we continue to share and talk with students. It has been so great! The relationships we are building are wonderful and I am soo grateful for them. The last two weekends my team and I have gotten the opportunity to travel a little bit. We got out of the city! WOOHOO!

Two weekends ago we went to Salto. Salto is six hours north of Montevideo, right on the border of Argentina. It was SO GOOD! How relaxing that was! It was much needed and such a great break from the city life. We went to the Thermas (hot springs) and had a lot of bonding time with our team. We also went down to the river and saw Argentina! It was relaxing. It was peaceful!
 

Argentina

This past weekend my team split up and went to two different places. Some of the team went to Piriapolis and some went to Punta Del Este.
I went to Punta Del Este. It was wonderful! We were able to see the coast, much of the dead city (due to winter), feed wild sea lions, and go to a famous museum -Casa Pueblo. It felt like we had the city to ourselves. After a long day, we watched the sunset on the ocean from Casa Pueblo. During the sunset I felt at peace with where I was in that moment. I feel like in life we are always on the go. In that moment, I felt like I needed to be nowhere but there, it was peaceful.The best feeling!

Coast of Punta Del Este

Casa Pueblo

Our time here is fantastic. Many students are coming to know the Lord each week. The relationships we are building will be relationships for life. I am learning so much about myself and about the value of people. I am experiencing the culture as a whole- futbol games (soccer games), Mate (tea), speaking spanish...and much more. 
I am honestly blessed to be here and to have experienced everything I have on this trip. There is noway I could sum the amount of growth and learning that has been happening in my life. 

Thank you so much for your support and your prayers.

 TWO MORE WEEKS!   

My wonderful friend Heidy and I drinking Mate

Uruguay vs. France Soccer game!

 Until next time,
peace and love

Vida en Uruguay!

 My team and I have been here for 1 week now! Crazy! Time flies!

This is the view from the guys apartment!

                               

Before telling you what I have been experiencing here, I want to give you a picture of the city of Montevideo, Uruguay!

It is one busy city! There is a lot of traffic and the driving is crazy! When the light across the street from you turns yellow, you better make sure you are off that road or you will be run down!

The city is like old and new mixed together. Some buildings, shopping centers, churches, and buses seem fairly new. The streets, houses (Every door to a house is different!), most cars, and other buildings look quite old! Things are ran down but they still function well!

A bunch of doors I collaged together! 

There is graffiti everywhere, but it makes the city an art and gives it a contrast. There are garbage bins on almost every block but it never seems to make it there. Speaking of garbage bins! There are men from the outer city/country that come in to the city on horses and a buggy to dig through the trash bins and see what they are able to find for themselves and their families. There are a lot of strikes that happen, but we never really know what they are for!

Most walls in the city

Just like any other city, there are the homeless on the streets. Many of them are mentally ill so it would not be safe to talk to them.









La Rambla is the coastline. It is by the ocean and is a beautiful, peaceful place. There is a park nearby that is a relaxing place and has beautiful trees. We have only been there once so far, but it will probably be where most Saturdays are spent!

The Park

Enough about what the city looks like! The people are wonderful! The culture here is very warm. They greet each other with "besos", which is like a kiss on the cheek. Everyone is friendly and is very social. When in a social situation, usually "Mate" is being drank. "Mate" is like a tea. Most Uruguayans carry around a thermos and a gourd with their Mate.

Uruguayans love Fútbol. They joke that it is the national religion of Uruguay. There are two main teams- Nacional and Peñarol. I am not sure who I like yet. We are going to a Nacional vs. France game next Wednesday!



This past week and a half has been crazy, but super good. Each day we go to a faculty (university) and get to know students. We start conversations usually with an "encuesta" or a survey. It has five questions asking about their life in general and their spiritual life. It is really fun getting to know each student on a deeper level right from the get-go. Our main goal is to share the gospel.

This is the group of people I go to faculties with.

Here in Uruguay, it is a financially and spiritually dark place. A lot of strikes are for wanting fair wages. We can look at the amount they make working and say that it would be average pay in the United States, but because it is very expensive here..it is hard for them to even get by.

Spiritually- A majority of the people dislike the church very much. The Catholic church here is known to make people pay for things such as: forgiveness, miracles, and even entry. Because of this, many students haven't even taken time to think about their beliefs. We have had great conversations because of this.


The hot topic here  is the legalization of gay marriage and abortion. It seems like everyone already thinks that it is normal and right. It is very accepted across a lot of the people we encounter.

Other than going to the faculties, we have outreach programs such as: Vida Estudiantil large group on Mondays, and Vida Estudiantil soccer on Fridays.

Vida Estudiantil is the organization here in Uruguay for helping students in all aspects of their lives (financially, emotionally, spiritually, physically) This is the organization we are here with.

We also got to go to church for the first time on Sunday. It was quite an interesting experience. The church was very small, my team took up a majority of it. It was really cool to listen and learn how they did things there.

That is a little bit about what is going on here. God is doing great things and I can't even believe how much I have learned already.
We are already making an impact on these students and it is only the second week.

I am excited to build relationships and try to take them out of the dark place they are in or experiencing.


Thank you so much for the support! I am unbelievably grateful to be here!

The Unknown

2 1/2 days until I leave for Uruguay!

How crazy! Time has been flying! The day I applied for this trip seems like yesterday and now the day I leave is approaching so fast. 

To be completely honest, these past few months have been difficult in regards to preparing my heart for Uruguay. It has been such a roller coaster. I couldn't tell if this is what the Lord really had in store for me or if it was some selfish reason of my wanting to be in a different country. I went back an forth from being excited to serve the Lord to feeling drained and empty, with thoughts of confusion, doubt, and fear of the unknown.

Coming into college there was a lot of the unknown. I spent the beginning 

wondering who I would spend most of my time with, 

wondering if I would fall back into old ways, 

wondering if I would like college,

wondering what I would major in,

wondering way to much about what the world wanted of me!

After some of the unknown became known, there was just a whole bunch more of the unknown. It frightened me. I didn't know what was next, and that scared the living kajeebies out of me. 

All of a sudden I am applying for this trip because it was something I felt God set on my heart. I then got to sit and wait to see if I got accepted. I figured if I did, it was something I was suppose to do. Sure enough, I got accepted!

God has been so faithful through it all...but me, I kept doubting. I kept fearing the unknown. 

Support raising is a difficult process. Satan tries to tell us that people don't want to help and that God won't provide. Support raising in the past was not as difficult as it has been for this trip. It hasn't been awful, but it hasn't been the best. Having doubt that God would provide builds up another unknown: will I receive enough financially to go on this trip?

Kingdom Called was a conference my team, and many other teams went to- to meet the teams, learn more about where we are going, and pump each other up!

I learned a lot there, I was excited to meet everyone, but I wasn't as excited as everyone else. 

This scared me. I wanted to have a heart filled with joy and excitement. 

A lot of things are happening in the beginning of this summer such as:

my aunt and my sisters birthday 

my two friends coming back from a 9 month mission trip

my friend finally staying home for a summer

my brothers birthday

two weddings

and the fear of coming back and not finding a job in the middle of summer

I'd say looking at the list, they are legit reasons to be upset about. 

BUT WHATTTTTT?!??!

Hello! I am going to Uruguay! I have this amazing opportunity to serve Jesus and pour into these college students and I am worried.

Weird. straight up!

Yesterday and today were so good.

When I say "so good"... I mean SOOOOO GOOOD!

My two best friends came back from their nine month mission trip. I was so nervous to see both of them. Nervous of the unknown.. nervous of change.. nervous of how little I felt I knew about them. 

HA! it was all so awesome. I got to spend time with both of them and yeah, there was change. But not bad change... just GROWTH! Both have them have grown so much in so many ways, but especially with the Lord. They are still themselves but they are filled with something so much better, so much bigger. 

Today, God really confirmed why he was sending me to Uruguay. 

I have grown so much over this past year and everything I have learned, God wants me to put into action. He wants me to step out in faith and be a leader. Share the good news! The EXCITING good news. 

Now THAT.. that makes me excited. 

All of the things I was upset about leaving, they will all be here when I get back. 

There will always be an unknown. We won't know! 

BUT -God will reveal it to us in incredible ways!

(: