SANTIAGO, CHILE

One of the highlights of traveling to Santiago is the descent to the airport through the high snow-topped Andes mountains. They were a breathtaking sight on our arrival on Tuesday morning. Though foggy-headed after our night long flight (in some coach seats that didn’t want to recline), we were happy to see those mountains, and then be greeted so warmly by our Chile MSIA family (Maria Eugenia Ducci, Patricia and Lucio Castro, Jose Caraball) and our South American guardian angel – Any Pacheco. Vincent Dupont, Jesus Becerra-Flores, Celia Allen-Graham, Mario Morresi and myself and lots of luggage were quickly transported to our hotel which would serve as our home away from home in Santiago, as well as the center of all the activities — MSIA Services, ordinations, initiations and the Discourse Subscriber Seminar with John Morton.

We spent the day acclimating our bodies to the time zone and our minds to the Spanish language, and then we all went to dinner with some of the Chile MSIA ministers at La Cabana. Gabriela Mieri and Jose Caraball joined us all there with their sons, Jose Maria and Nicolas. Dinner was good, especially the blue cheese butter with bread sticks, which was a meal by itself, and we started to catch up with one another. It was hard to believe that it had been almost four years since some of us staff had been there.

The next day, Wednesday, we all did MSIA Services and capped the day with ordinations. We had a rare free night so we dined together — a sort of staff bonding time. I love these nights because the conversation is often very educational and moves from the funny to the profound. This evening we traversed from childhood favorite meals and celebrations into sharing experiences (or lack of) of self-esteem building as we grew up. Before we knew it, we were approaching midnight and we needed some sleep because the next day would bring, John Morton, the Traveler, to be with us — bright and early.

All things were ready when John arrived on Thursday. As he set about his day of acclimating, we continued with Services and fellowshipping with our old and new Chilean friends. On Friday, Vincent and Mario set up the sound and video for the seminar and Celia and I continued doing Services. The excitement was building as more and more MSIAers gathered throughout the day, flying or driving in from all parts of Chile to be with the Traveler. The seminar room looked lovely with roses on stage and on various tables. Little decorative angels were sprinkled around the room. Just before doors opened, John did a baby blessing with Catalina Castillo whose sweetness touched our hearts.

The seminar room quickly filled. Veronica Zarate and Sonia were the Mistresses of Ceremonies for the MSIA Seminar for Discourse Subscribers. They welcomed the group, calling us into the Light. Then Veronica read a poem with Sonia translating it into English, and Amparo Cerna sang with such sparkle that we all lit up. The group stood as John was introduced and welcomed John sweetly. And they received back a hundredfold and more, for John talked for an hour and then did questions and answers for another hour. The theme of this evening seemed to be “The Order of God” and this theme expanded into many levels, such as letting go of attachments in the world, completion, what does the Basic Self do, conditionings, how to love it all, what is our work versus our job, and much more. By the evening’s end we are full to overflowing. And it is time to pack, for tomorrow we head for Buenos Aires.

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires is a fun, beautiful, cosmopolitan city on the shore of El Rio Plata. This city reminds me of a mixture of Paris, Madrid and Rome. There are huge boulevards, lovely plazas, and outdoor cafes and the Recolleta. Dinner and the night life just seem to get going around 11pm at night. Elsa Valenzuela, the MSIA Rep in Buenos Aires, is a loving force to be reckoned with. She combines love and devotion to the Travelers, earthy enthusiasm and enjoyment of life, caring for her MSIA family, and a dash of Wagner’s Brunhilde in her organizing and overseeing of the logistics for all our MSIA Services and events. She was ably assisted by Any Pacheco, Julio, Lola, Irene Baumler, Roberto Brunilla, Eduardo Villa, and a host of others — all of whom brought their own special touch.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, and after a quick lunch with our Argentinian welcome crew, we launched right into Services, followed by ordinations and then a bite of dinner around the corner. MaryAnn Settembrino, from Philadelphia, also joined us this day. She and Any are learning to do Services. The next morning, Sunday, we break our fast with the MSIA Argentinian and Uruguayan ministers. John blesses us and the food, and we eat and fellowship at the top of our hotel looking out over the city. Then John opens up to take questions, and does an impromptu sharing about different aspects of the MSIA ministry for almost an hour. What a way to begin our day! Vincent and Mario go on to set up the audio/video equipment for the seminar and Celia and I are on to do Services. We all meet again for the Question and Answer Seminar with John. This evening Daniel Colombo is our Master of Ceremonies. And there is a baby blessing to open the program.

Robert Brunila offers a poem and Edda Diaz gives a riotous presentation on the Seven Deadly Sins. John then travels with our group far and wide — talking about initiations, working in relationships, and much more. Cate Kirby shares this poem of love with the Traveler which speaks for us all:

Serenity

Being part of you Is like being part of a serene river
Calm to contemplate yet moving and alive
A river that quietly laps against the shores of time, Feeding, nurturing those that come to it
Deep, profound, mysterious
Is Love, is Life
Carrying us forward In those still waters towards eternity
An eternity that is forever present.
In the serene and playful glance of a child, my child, your child
Moon, sun, stars, a universe that is ours.
To have and to hold.
I wake early, connected to the serenity of that one that is to come, my Beloved, upon whom I shall wait.
In quiet calm and serenity as the river that flows through and on.
– Cate Kirby

Ah, it seems that we just got here, and though we would love to stay and eat some more Churrasco, it is time to pack up, for tomorrow we go to Sao Paulo.

SAO PAULO, BRAZIL

After doing a few hours of Services this Monday morning in Buenos Aires we are shepherded through check-in by our dear, Any, and fly to Sao Paulo arriving there in the early evening. Zeni Peron, our contact person in Sao Paulo, meets us at the airport and guides us to our mini-bus for our ride into the city. Though we’ve flown into and out of Sao Paulo, this is the first time we have actually stayed in the city. Lana Barreira, our Brazil MSIA Rep, meets up with us at the hotel and the fun begins. The language in Brazil is mostly Portuguese, a most unusual sounding language with a lot of shushing and aow-ing. Luckily many of the Brazilians know some Spanish or some English so were able to communicate. Still, we have some interesting moments (that run the gamut from frustrating to outright hilarious) as we try to get on the Internet and get otherwise settled into our rooms before heading out for a late night dinner. Fun and a child-like sweetness are some of the qualities that our Brazilian MSIA family members share with us as we talk in English, then Spanish, then Portuguese and back again. Sometimes things seem a little chaotic, but always there’s the Divine in the midst and it becomes a Divine chaos with everything eventually working out.

Tuesday is a very full day with Services, initiations, ordinations and then into an early Question and Answer Seminar. Vincent and Mario working with all the Brazilian volunteers create a beautiful seminar room. Carol Passos and Gabriel Doynel welcome the group, and call us into the Light. We are serenaded by Roberta Vasconcellos and rocked by Fantini (who now is part of a Spice Girls type group with their own Videos/CD’s-famous in Brazil and Spain). How awesome is it that we have so much talent and richness in our own MSIA family! Our friend, Sergio, from Rio, is the translator for the evening and with occasional support from the audience, valiantly and effectively translates the questions and John’s responses into Portuguese.

John takes time with each of the questions brought to him and we are filled again to overflowing with a tangible loving pulsating in the room. After the seminar, we escort John to the airport as he heads back ahead of us to Los Angeles. The next day, Wednesday, we get to sleep in a little as we have the luxury of starting services at 12 noon. People who came from all over Brazil for the seminar — from Rio, Campinas and other areas — have stayed to get a Service. Paulo Fortes, Rinaldo, Roberta, Lana and others offer their services as translators. For dinner we go to a Churrascoria. The costumes of the servers are festive and the food, especially the meat is satisfyingly delicious. We had these little medallions at each of our places — one side was green, the other red. When we turn our medallion to the green side, the beef and food just keep on coming in waves. If we want a breather, we just turn the medallion to the red side. Hmm, we were happy basic selves with dinner and desserts nonstop, just as we wanted. Stopping just short of pigging-out-dom, we returned for one more night of catch-up sleep.

Thursday is our last day. Our morning is leisurely — we even have time to work out or just plain sleep. In the afternoon we do the final Services and pack up and head for the airport. It takes about three hours to get checked in and go through immigration, security and eat a leisurely dinner. Finally, it’s boarding time — no upgrades this time for the overnight flight. However, we’re blessed by a sleep that overcomes us and when we arrive in Miami, we’re amazingly refreshed and ready for our last flight home. Our trip has been smooth, graceful, fun and full of blessings — our seedings come true.

Thank you for holding us and all who we visited in the Light during our trip!