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JUNE 2011 JUNE 2011

JM IN BA
My Contact Info:
Email: jmskinner87@gmail.com Maling Address: Rio De Janeiro 840, Dept. 4A Capital Federal 1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina Blog: http:// johnmarkonstint.blogspot.com

Christmas in June
Seeing as not the entire STINT team was here in December (two were raising support for their second year and one had not yet joined us), we decided to celebrate Christmas again on the 25th of June because it is winter here and it is exactly six months from December 25th. We got together in the morning and exchanged gifts and ate breakfast together. We then spent the rest of the day in our pajamas preparing for Christmas dinner and watching Christmas movies. It was very special to be able to do this with the whole team, and it honestly felt more like Christmas than it did in December because this time the temperature wasnt in the nineties! To the right you can see my gift that I received from fellow STINTer Cari, who drew my name in Secret Santa. I loved it! She also gave me a pair of earplugs seeing as I am a light Putting my gift to good use sleeper and one of my roommates tends to snore a bit. It was a great ending to the month and a due reward for all the hard work we did with Summer Project. Above: My gingerbread man ornament Below: A little Christmas nap for Ben

Summer Project...Happened So Fast


Summer Project left on June 24th after six weeks of much appreciated labor for the Lord. I cannot describe how quickly it seemed like these six weeks went by. We were blessed to see a lot of fruit while they were here as 28 people accepted Christ during this six week span! I had the wonderful opportunity to experience one of these conversions personally (Marco) with two summer project guys, David and Clifton. This happened the second week they were here and since then I have been able to meet up with Marco weekly and help him grow in his newfound relationship with Christ. He has so far been a very faithful disciple and his interest in the word and desire to learn has been substantial. I am hoping he can go to the North with us this winter for the Calchaques Valleys Project.

desire to learn has been substantial. I am hoping he can go to the North with us this winter for the Calchaques Valleys Project.

El Proyecto Valles Calchaques (or the Calchaques Valleys Project) is a social project that Vida Estudiantil Argentina puts on every winter in the north of the country. In this project teams of 8-10 people are sent out to very remote, mountain communities in the province of Salta. These teams bring donated food, clothing, and supplies that we have been collecting all through the year to the communities and then stay there for 1 to 3 weeks. While in these communities teams go door to door handing out donations, getting to know the people and their needs, helping the community with whatever it may need, providing medical attention, and most importantly, sharing the Gospel. In 2002 the Valles Project was started and it was realized that the people of this area have many physical, material, and spiritual needs. There are many addictions to drugs and alcohol which in turn lead to much violence in the home and people who feel like they have no purpose in life. Since 2002 fruit has been seen in these communities and the Gospel has been received well in a lot of places. The main thing these people lack is follow up. This year we will be in communities in three different zones of Salta. I will be with most of the same group that I was with in January and February on the Mapuche Project, and we will be in a pueblo called Luracatao. This particular place has been dubbed as the most remote, rustic area and arguably the most difficult to be in. This makes me more excited than nervous I think and I am definitely looking forward to the challenge. I will be there two weeks and then one week I will be in another pueblo that is yet to be determined. I will leave on July the 6th to help set up things for the project (the actual project starts on the 9th) and will unreachable (unless there is an emergency of course) from the 9th until the 30th.

As you can imagine, with a project like this there are a lot of specific things that need praying for so Id like to challenge each of you to make a note of the following things and please pray for them throughout the month of July: Safety- There will be a lot of travel involved during this trip, it will be extremely cold, and we will be in very remote areas so safety during the trip for all teams is definitely an authorized concern. Attitudes- Pray that each person on the project would remain filled with the Holy Spirit. There is a big difference in attitude in someone who is cold and hungry but filled with the Holy Spirit and someone who is cold, hungry, and not. Wisdom- I will be co-leading a team for a week or two and wisdom in decision making and leading in general is a necessity. Finances- There are students who want and need to go on this project with us that dont have the finances to do so. We are able to give partial scholarships to some of them but a lot of them still lack a substantial amount of money. Please pray that finances would not be an issue for anyone who truly wants to go. I am elated to go on this project for both the aspects of helping people with need and to get out of the city and into nature for a while. Please keep this project and all the people and things involved in your prayers during the month of July. Thanks you all for your continued support!

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