Okay, this has been something I’ve been thinking about writing for the past several days. I haven’t really wanted to because it’s kinda personal. But I think I’m just gonna go ahead and do it.
You see, this group of bloggers went to India recently. I had been following a couple of the members blogs, so I continued to follow along while they were blogging from India. (I’ll come back and leave you the info of where to find their blogs)
Anyway, this reminded me of the trip I took a couple years ago. I went to Argentina. This was a trip that was lead through my middle school/high school youth group. Many friends of mine went on a trip to Brazil the year before. They had all come back so changed through what they had experienced, changed for the good. I really wanted to experience something like that. So after much prayer and what I felt was God telling me to go, I decided to go on the trip.
It was not at all what I expected it to be. And I can’t say I mean that in a good way.
Our group arrived in Buenos Aires after a 9 hour flight (before that we had a 5 hour layover, in which I decided I wanted to board a plane to Rome while walking by the ticket counter. Well, it was 5 hours…). We boarded a small bus/large van and headed to our destination an hour and a half away. We drove onto the highway and slowly exited the city. Out on the highway maybe 30 to 40 minutes out of BA the city was gone and shacks dominated the side of the highway. I never could get a good picture of it but it was sad. Sad to see that kind of poverty.
About an hour later, we arrived in La Plata, where we would be staying. Overall, the city was a nice city. It was build up and only on the outskirts was it more poor.
Ultimately, looking back, I wonder what we were doing there. I wish we had done more. I almost feel we were there for more of a vacation or tour then we were missions. Which is sad because it was a missions trip. The leader of the trip, the youth pastor, also wanted it to be a trip to teach us leadership for when we came back home.
I’ve learned my share of info on leadership in the past two years. I learned some on that trip. I don’t think it was what he wanted me to learn. As a leader, he was not a good example. I saw that. Others did not. Or maybe they just ignored it, looking for the best. From him, I learned how not to be a leader. How not to lead.
Where I learned how to be a leader was from other places. From my Mom for one. (: Recently, I have learned how to be a leader by my job as a mod at EC. Not an easy job some days. I have to make tough decisions some days. But I wouldn’t give it up for what’s its taught me. I love keeping y’all in line. 
(Yes, even you two, Michael and Theresa)
On the trip to Argentina, I learned lessons on how to be a leader from one Argentine man. He came to our group and kinda led us. He met up with us at our hotel every morning. All of our group loved him. He was funny and joking around with all of us. But at the same time, when we were out in the city or in different situations, we would all listen to him. That’s how I want to be.
I remember our last night in Argentina. He walked our group to the home where we would have our last dinner. He told us that night that we’d made such a difference in his life. That we would never know how much we’d helped him during our time there. I suppose if there was one simple reason why God allowed us to take this trip, maybe it was to help him.
Anyway, that’s my rambles for now. Tomorrow, I think I’ll have more Argentine rambles.
Well, sometimes this journey of ours takes us on pathways that don’t quite make sense. God leads us to places that don’t seem like the right ones. 
