September 18th was the equivalent to our 4th of July celebration.  It is one of my favorite times in Chile. Some of the pictures above are from our “Fonda” en El Oasis.  We celebrated the 18th with all of the students.  The event raised funds to help send student Camila Arias to Thailand.  In the photo Israel was being thrown up into the air in what is called a  “malteo.”  It was his birthday so they threw grabbed him by the wrists and ankles and threw him up 22 times in the air.  Sort of like our spankings for the number of years.  My good friend Eddie and my brother were also able to come visit during this past week which made it even that much better.  Sunday we experimented with Iglesia El Oasis.  One of our struggles is connecting students that come to know learn about God and Christian community with a local church.  We held a church service in El Oasis this past Sunday to help try and bridge this gap.  We aren’t exactly sure where this is headed yet.  One of our dreams would be to form a church made up of former students from El Oasis and their families.