Hola!

Howdy! Welcome to Mate Mondays (pronounced mah-tay - yerba mate is a tea-like beverage much beloved in South America), the official blog of my adventures in South America. I'll be spending the year between August 2007 and August 2008 in Argentina/Uruguay, doing work through the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America's Young Adults in Global Mission program (conveniently called the ELCA and YAGM from this point on, respectively). I don't yet have the details of my placement, yet - check back in about a month and I should be able to tell you what exactly I'll be doing.

The purpose of this entry is extremely simple - if there are going to be further entries, then I'm going to need to raise the necessary $3500 to be a program participant. You, no doubt, are saying to yourself by now, "how can I help?" Well, I'll tell you. There are four ways that you can give me a hand:

1. PRAY FOR ME. This is a biggie. I might need money, but I REALLY need prayer support - moving to another continent for a year isn't exactly a casual vacation, and doing so to work on behalf of the church REALLY isn't a vacation!
2. Donate. If you're interested in throwing some money my way, I can tell you how - email me at kpbaker@gmail.com for the details! I'll love you forever if you do!
3. Get your church to pray/donate. Again, I can tell you how to do this via email, and I'd be glad to visit your church either before or after my time abroad to share with everyone my call and experiences!
4. Buy my books. As a student and professional bookworm, I've got a bunch of books that are taking over my room, and they need to find new homes and owners. The next entry will be the list of books that are up for sale. Go through the list, pick out what you want, and leave a reader comment with your email address and book selections, or just email me at kpbaker@gmail.com.

So, that's how you can keep the good times rolling for a whole year here at Mate Mondays - after all, I can't be a roving reporter without the support I need to rove! Thanks for your help and taking the time to read this. God willing, I'll be leaving for Buenos Aires on August 27th, and then the fun'll REALLY begin!