Saturday, March 28, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
A Glimpse Into Buenos Aires
We were in a taxi going on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.
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Buenos Aires is so huge. It's hard to believe that in the stretch of city that could be seen in this video, not a single Independent Baptist Church could be found.
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Buenos Aires is so huge. It's hard to believe that in the stretch of city that could be seen in this video, not a single Independent Baptist Church could be found.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
we're home
we made it back into the States. we're very tired. we hope to post lts and lits of pictures and videos soon.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Update
wow, where do i begin...
sunday- went to service in la plata, took a taxi to the airport, met Mr & Mrs Self, drove to restaurant 'sigue la vaca" it was amazing, drove to their house, was there for about 30 minutes, left and saw 3 different services (at least part of them.) ate great pizza, went to bed!
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monday- got up, went to tigre bought some souvenirs, went out to a nice restaurant, got to ask a lot of q's and get advice from the Self's. went to a pastor's meeting and got great advice from national argentines, went to bed.
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tuesday- got up, mrs self drove us to the train station, took train to retiro, met 2 misionary couples, drove around some tourist sites, walked to the obelisk, ate at burger king, took subway back to where we parked, drove to boca, got some thing for our display, drove to see missionaries' church, left for bus station, took bus to la plata, took taxi to bush's house after 11:00 pm. long day! that;s right we took a train, car, subway, bus, and a taxi in one day. i wish i could have worked out trip by plane and boat to make it a really full day.
wednesday- tookvthings a little slower... passed out hundreds of tracts on busy street corners in la plata, helped a little with a garage sale type thing at the church, attended wed pm service.
i preach thursday in ezpeleta...i'll catch up the rest next time.
sunday- went to service in la plata, took a taxi to the airport, met Mr & Mrs Self, drove to restaurant 'sigue la vaca" it was amazing, drove to their house, was there for about 30 minutes, left and saw 3 different services (at least part of them.) ate great pizza, went to bed!
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monday- got up, went to tigre bought some souvenirs, went out to a nice restaurant, got to ask a lot of q's and get advice from the Self's. went to a pastor's meeting and got great advice from national argentines, went to bed.
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tuesday- got up, mrs self drove us to the train station, took train to retiro, met 2 misionary couples, drove around some tourist sites, walked to the obelisk, ate at burger king, took subway back to where we parked, drove to boca, got some thing for our display, drove to see missionaries' church, left for bus station, took bus to la plata, took taxi to bush's house after 11:00 pm. long day! that;s right we took a train, car, subway, bus, and a taxi in one day. i wish i could have worked out trip by plane and boat to make it a really full day.
wednesday- tookvthings a little slower... passed out hundreds of tracts on busy street corners in la plata, helped a little with a garage sale type thing at the church, attended wed pm service.
i preach thursday in ezpeleta...i'll catch up the rest next time.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Various Pictures 3
Joel was trying out a new hairdo in Argentina
Poor folks will go along and pick up recycleable things from the trash, and put it in one of these horse buggy things.
me, with a policeman
Random people in the Centro in La Plata
Poor folks will go along and pick up recycleable things from the trash, and put it in one of these horse buggy things.
me, with a policeman
Random people in the Centro in La Plata
Various Pictures 2
Joel was a big hit at Iglesia Bautista de Gracia in Ezpeleta (Quilmes) Everyone had to hold him, and have their picture taken with him.
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Train ride to Ezpeleta (Quilmes) Andri accompanied us. He is from Ukraine.
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Train ride to Ezpeleta (Quilmes) Andri accompanied us. He is from Ukraine.
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Various Pictures
Mauricio and Diana from Iglesia Bautista El Faro. They invited us over for lunch on Friday.
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Diana is from Peru, so we had Peruvian food in Argentina.
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Me, preaching.
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And you thought the Leaning Tower Of Piza was special! ;)
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Diana is from Peru, so we had Peruvian food in Argentina.
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Me, preaching.
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And you thought the Leaning Tower Of Piza was special! ;)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, Saturday, and Plans for Sunday
(Jenn) Friday, we babysat the girls during lunch, so Mindy could take Jeff out to eat for his birthday. I read a few books to them after we ate, then we put in a movie for them. Jeff and Mindy didn't take long.
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Later that afternoon, Josh and Joel and I took a taxi to a store called Carrefour, a French store that puts Walmart and Sam's Club to shame. It was huge! We walked up and down the aisles and wrote down prices of everything we would need to buy if we lived here (we are researching what our start-up fund will need to be). We got a little over half way through the store...in about three and a half hours. We had to stop then, not only because we were starving, but because we didn't want to be late for Jeff's surprise party that the church members were throwing him. ;)
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The people from the church suprised Jeff with an 'asado' (grilling out) at the house. We got to experience true Argentine Asado (grilled meat). Raul slow cooked some ribs to perfection, seasoning them with only salt. That meat had more flavor than most, if not all, the steaks I have ever eaten. It was awesome!
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Today, we went on visitation: me with Mindy, Josh with Alfredo and Mauricio. Josh and his group saw three souls saved! Mindy made a contact with a lady named Claudia, who she will be going back to visit with next week. We're hoping she will come to church tomorrow with her five children (ages 15 to 2). We also saw a rotweiller that, at first glance, I thought was a small horse. Mindy ran, I just stared. LoL, in hindsight, I probably should've run. The gate was only being held shut by a wire that looked like a twist tie, and that dog sounded hungry for human!
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The people here all have gated yards, and most use dogs for security. Purebreds are stolen quite often, but I doubt that Rot's owner will have any problems. :)
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Stray dogs are also a big problem here. I've seen at least 10-20 stray dogs every day that we've been here. They're mostly mixed breeds, but I have seen a couple of purebreds, including greyhounds. You all know me, but no, I'm not trying to smuggle one home. The strays tend to look better than some of the dogs with owners.
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Considering the dog problem, I guess it's not so odd that today was the first time I saw a stray cat. I only saw the one.
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The ladies meeting this evening went well. For those of you who don't know, I was able to give my testimony, as well as teach a short beauty class...all in English. Mindy translated. Mindy said it went over well, everyone seemed to enjoy it. I gave a few skin care tips, and taught them to make a fresh fruit facial mask, of which I was able to send home enough for one mask for each lady. We also had a short Q&A on haircare.
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After we picked up the girls from the babysitter's, we went home to Jeff and Josh, who were bragging about having gone out for steak without us. (They didn't, there were leftovers from the Asado all over the kitchen counters that they had eaten...just like a man to not think about the practical side of the lie. ;) They did, however, order ice cream. Yes, I said order. Here in La Plata, you can order ice cream and they bring it to your house. All ice cream is expensive, so it's not too different from going to the store for yourself. Josh said there is some leftover.
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Josh and I are going to meet Ron Self tomorrow after the morning service at Iglesia Bautista del Faro (where we're singing the special). We'll take another taxi back to the airport in Buenos Aires where Bro. Self is going to pick us up. Then, from what I understand, we'll be headed to northern Buenos Aires to spend 20 or 30 minutes in two different evening services before we settle for the duration at a third service. I think the point is to see some different services at different churches.
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Well, it's my turn for the shower, then I'm hoping Joel will feel like sleeping so I can go to bed before 1 AM. It's going to be a full day tomorrow! We'll post again soon.
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Later that afternoon, Josh and Joel and I took a taxi to a store called Carrefour, a French store that puts Walmart and Sam's Club to shame. It was huge! We walked up and down the aisles and wrote down prices of everything we would need to buy if we lived here (we are researching what our start-up fund will need to be). We got a little over half way through the store...in about three and a half hours. We had to stop then, not only because we were starving, but because we didn't want to be late for Jeff's surprise party that the church members were throwing him. ;)
-
The people from the church suprised Jeff with an 'asado' (grilling out) at the house. We got to experience true Argentine Asado (grilled meat). Raul slow cooked some ribs to perfection, seasoning them with only salt. That meat had more flavor than most, if not all, the steaks I have ever eaten. It was awesome!
-
Today, we went on visitation: me with Mindy, Josh with Alfredo and Mauricio. Josh and his group saw three souls saved! Mindy made a contact with a lady named Claudia, who she will be going back to visit with next week. We're hoping she will come to church tomorrow with her five children (ages 15 to 2). We also saw a rotweiller that, at first glance, I thought was a small horse. Mindy ran, I just stared. LoL, in hindsight, I probably should've run. The gate was only being held shut by a wire that looked like a twist tie, and that dog sounded hungry for human!
-
The people here all have gated yards, and most use dogs for security. Purebreds are stolen quite often, but I doubt that Rot's owner will have any problems. :)
-
Stray dogs are also a big problem here. I've seen at least 10-20 stray dogs every day that we've been here. They're mostly mixed breeds, but I have seen a couple of purebreds, including greyhounds. You all know me, but no, I'm not trying to smuggle one home. The strays tend to look better than some of the dogs with owners.
-
Considering the dog problem, I guess it's not so odd that today was the first time I saw a stray cat. I only saw the one.
-
The ladies meeting this evening went well. For those of you who don't know, I was able to give my testimony, as well as teach a short beauty class...all in English. Mindy translated. Mindy said it went over well, everyone seemed to enjoy it. I gave a few skin care tips, and taught them to make a fresh fruit facial mask, of which I was able to send home enough for one mask for each lady. We also had a short Q&A on haircare.
-
After we picked up the girls from the babysitter's, we went home to Jeff and Josh, who were bragging about having gone out for steak without us. (They didn't, there were leftovers from the Asado all over the kitchen counters that they had eaten...just like a man to not think about the practical side of the lie. ;) They did, however, order ice cream. Yes, I said order. Here in La Plata, you can order ice cream and they bring it to your house. All ice cream is expensive, so it's not too different from going to the store for yourself. Josh said there is some leftover.
-
Josh and I are going to meet Ron Self tomorrow after the morning service at Iglesia Bautista del Faro (where we're singing the special). We'll take another taxi back to the airport in Buenos Aires where Bro. Self is going to pick us up. Then, from what I understand, we'll be headed to northern Buenos Aires to spend 20 or 30 minutes in two different evening services before we settle for the duration at a third service. I think the point is to see some different services at different churches.
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Well, it's my turn for the shower, then I'm hoping Joel will feel like sleeping so I can go to bed before 1 AM. It's going to be a full day tomorrow! We'll post again soon.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
map of the area
View Larger Map
to give you an idea, from La Plata (bottom right corner) to northern Buenos Aires, (top) they say takes a good two hours to travel. The place is huge.
Another busy day, and more to come
This afternoon we were invited to eat lunch at the house of a family from the church here in La Plata. The wife, Diana is actually from Peru, so lunch was a Peruvian dish. It was delicious! Mauricio had a lot to say about personal evangelism.
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Later we took a train to Ezpeleta (don't worry Moms, we were with another man from the church) to go to a Thursday night service. It was about 45 minutes by train. The man we went with (Andri) is from the Ukraine. All the Ukranians I know (2) are characters. At the church service, Pastor Matias asked us to give our testimonies and sing a song. The people are so friendly here.
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For those that don't know, it's tradition in all of South America for guys and ladies to greet one another with a kiss on the cheek. When I went to Peru, so I (Josh) was already used to that custom. Well, here in Argentina, they take it a step further...the guys kiss the guys on the cheeks! A kiss hello, and a kiss goodbye for virtually everyone you meet. Talk about culture shock! Actually, I knew that was the custom before we came. For Americans, it's weird, but it's practiced in other parts of the world. It was practiced in Bible days. The Bible does say "greet one another with a holy kiss."
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Our schedule at this point is:
Friday- run some errands in the morning, and babysit in the evening to give Jeff and Mindy an evening out on Jeff's birthday.
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Saturday- visitation in the morning, possibly go to Buenos Aires, Jennifer is conducting a beauty class at the ladies meeting in the evening.
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Sunday- Sunday morning service in La Plata, give testimony and sing, get on bus to the airport, meet missionary Ron Self, go north of Buenos Aires, see the beginning of 3 services in the area, then stay for full service in Don Torcuato, stay the night with them...
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Monday- do some souvenir shoppping, or just rest in the morning, I'll go to a pastor's meeting starting at six, there should be 9 or 10 pastors/ missionaries there, we'll stay the night again...
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Tuesday-get up and meet Gonzalo Hauman, a local pastor in North Buenos Aires, spend most of the day with him, and go back to la plata.
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Wednesday-
not sure about the morning, at night, the service in La Plata
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Thursday-
not sure about the morning, preach/sing in Ezpeleta (Southern Buenos Aires, but north of La Plata)
That's all I know for now. Oh, for those who might be wondering, the time difference is three hours from Eastern Time. 12:00 pm in Knoxville is 3:00 pm here.
Well, that's all for now. chau!
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Later we took a train to Ezpeleta (don't worry Moms, we were with another man from the church) to go to a Thursday night service. It was about 45 minutes by train. The man we went with (Andri) is from the Ukraine. All the Ukranians I know (2) are characters. At the church service, Pastor Matias asked us to give our testimonies and sing a song. The people are so friendly here.
-
For those that don't know, it's tradition in all of South America for guys and ladies to greet one another with a kiss on the cheek. When I went to Peru, so I (Josh) was already used to that custom. Well, here in Argentina, they take it a step further...the guys kiss the guys on the cheeks! A kiss hello, and a kiss goodbye for virtually everyone you meet. Talk about culture shock! Actually, I knew that was the custom before we came. For Americans, it's weird, but it's practiced in other parts of the world. It was practiced in Bible days. The Bible does say "greet one another with a holy kiss."
-
Our schedule at this point is:
Friday- run some errands in the morning, and babysit in the evening to give Jeff and Mindy an evening out on Jeff's birthday.
-
Saturday- visitation in the morning, possibly go to Buenos Aires, Jennifer is conducting a beauty class at the ladies meeting in the evening.
-
Sunday- Sunday morning service in La Plata, give testimony and sing, get on bus to the airport, meet missionary Ron Self, go north of Buenos Aires, see the beginning of 3 services in the area, then stay for full service in Don Torcuato, stay the night with them...
-
Monday- do some souvenir shoppping, or just rest in the morning, I'll go to a pastor's meeting starting at six, there should be 9 or 10 pastors/ missionaries there, we'll stay the night again...
-
Tuesday-get up and meet Gonzalo Hauman, a local pastor in North Buenos Aires, spend most of the day with him, and go back to la plata.
-
Wednesday-
not sure about the morning, at night, the service in La Plata
-
Thursday-
not sure about the morning, preach/sing in Ezpeleta (Southern Buenos Aires, but north of La Plata)
That's all I know for now. Oh, for those who might be wondering, the time difference is three hours from Eastern Time. 12:00 pm in Knoxville is 3:00 pm here.
Well, that's all for now. chau!
i can;t believe i'm posting at 3:30 am!
preaching went great
preahed out of John 15 "Abide in me"
our schedule is filling up nicely, an answer to prayer.
God is challenging us, he is increasing, stretching, our faith in Him.
hopefully this link works to see some pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018529&l=8d752&id=1370643959
preahed out of John 15 "Abide in me"
our schedule is filling up nicely, an answer to prayer.
God is challenging us, he is increasing, stretching, our faith in Him.
hopefully this link works to see some pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2018529&l=8d752&id=1370643959
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Preaching Tonight!
(Josh)
Jeff has asked me to preach tonight! Pray that the Lord will use me to speak to the people.
It has been raining a lot last night and today.
It was sure good to sleep in a bed last night.
I'm going to go prepare to preach, I'll try post tonight afterwards and tell you how it goes, and if they kick us out and send us back home. ;)
Jeff has asked me to preach tonight! Pray that the Lord will use me to speak to the people.
It has been raining a lot last night and today.
It was sure good to sleep in a bed last night.
I'm going to go prepare to preach, I'll try post tonight afterwards and tell you how it goes, and if they kick us out and send us back home. ;)
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
We're In Argentina!!!
(Jennifer) - We arrived this morning in Buenos Aires around 8:45. Thankfully, we had no problem with customs or immigration, and all of our luggage arrived with us. Also, and I almost can't believe this, we were given the 'green light' through the airports, and none of our baggage was searched! I was afraid that some, or all, of the food we were bringing to the missionaries would be confiscated, and none of it was! They did have to test the liquids in Joel's bottles, but even that only took a couple of minutes. I worried needlessly, as usual. God took care of us!
Another answered prayer, Joel did wonderfully! He took his bottle all of the times that we needed him to, when the plane was either ascending or descending, so his ears didn't hurt him. There were others babies on the plane that cried, some who cried a lot, but Joel only had one little fit. When I went to the bathroom when he was asleep, he woke up and couldn't see me. It didn't last long, and other passengers commented at the end of the flight about how well he did. :)
Jeff and Matias (the pastor of Iglesia Bautista Gracia) met us at the airport. The traffic here is crazy! I don't think they have any traffic laws.
So we are here now, at the Bush's house in La Plata. Josh and I got showers, I got a nap, Joel made a few new friends. He is still doing well. I'm so grateful he travels well!
We went to Walmart tonight for diapers for Joel, and a few groceries for the Bush's.
I am amazed at how this country feels so comfortable. I thought there would be a different feeling here, like I'm a stranger. And while I did get a few weird looks in Walmart for my English, this place still feels familiar. It's a little odd to see the palm trees on the side of the road, and all the air conditioning window units in the apartment buildings. AC isn't really common here. Still, it feels like home. :) Don't worry, Mom, we will still be coming home in a couple of weeks. ;)
We can't answer our cell phones here, or even check out messages. If anyone needs to get ahold of us, you can either message us on facebook or email us. We'll try to check those daily. Thank you everyone for your prayers, keep them coming! We'll post again soon.
Another answered prayer, Joel did wonderfully! He took his bottle all of the times that we needed him to, when the plane was either ascending or descending, so his ears didn't hurt him. There were others babies on the plane that cried, some who cried a lot, but Joel only had one little fit. When I went to the bathroom when he was asleep, he woke up and couldn't see me. It didn't last long, and other passengers commented at the end of the flight about how well he did. :)
Jeff and Matias (the pastor of Iglesia Bautista Gracia) met us at the airport. The traffic here is crazy! I don't think they have any traffic laws.
So we are here now, at the Bush's house in La Plata. Josh and I got showers, I got a nap, Joel made a few new friends. He is still doing well. I'm so grateful he travels well!
We went to Walmart tonight for diapers for Joel, and a few groceries for the Bush's.
I am amazed at how this country feels so comfortable. I thought there would be a different feeling here, like I'm a stranger. And while I did get a few weird looks in Walmart for my English, this place still feels familiar. It's a little odd to see the palm trees on the side of the road, and all the air conditioning window units in the apartment buildings. AC isn't really common here. Still, it feels like home. :) Don't worry, Mom, we will still be coming home in a couple of weeks. ;)
We can't answer our cell phones here, or even check out messages. If anyone needs to get ahold of us, you can either message us on facebook or email us. We'll try to check those daily. Thank you everyone for your prayers, keep them coming! We'll post again soon.
Monday, March 2, 2009
driving to atlanta
change of plans...we're leaving now (about 1:30 AM) we're used to staying up late. we're driving as far as we can and getting a hotel.
we'll try to update when we get there.
Josh
we'll try to update when we get there.
Josh
Sunday, March 1, 2009
95% Packed
We are 95% packed, just need the other 5% from now till Monday at 8:00 in the morning when we leave. We are so excited! I believe the Lord is going to do so much with this trip. Buenos Aires is such a huge, diverse place. (around 15 million population in the area) I believe God has a place for us there. We are seeking His guidance. Pray about it if you would.
-Josh
Here's our itinerary:
American Airlines 1761 ATLANTA MON 02MAR
2:20 PM MIAMI INTERNTNL 4:15 PM Q
American Airlines 909 MIAMI INTERNTNL MON 02MAR
8:30 PM BUENOS AIRES EZE 8:15 AM Q
American Airlines 908 BUENOS AIRES EZE MON 16MAR
10:55 PM MIAMI INTERNTNL 6:40 AM Q
American Airlines 1664 MIAMI INTERNTNL TUE 17MAR
9:40 AM ATLANTA 11:40 AM N
-Josh
Here's our itinerary:
American Airlines 1761 ATLANTA MON 02MAR
2:20 PM MIAMI INTERNTNL 4:15 PM Q
American Airlines 909 MIAMI INTERNTNL MON 02MAR
8:30 PM BUENOS AIRES EZE 8:15 AM Q
American Airlines 908 BUENOS AIRES EZE MON 16MAR
10:55 PM MIAMI INTERNTNL 6:40 AM Q
American Airlines 1664 MIAMI INTERNTNL TUE 17MAR
9:40 AM ATLANTA 11:40 AM N
Joel Sound Effects
Joel was making all kinds of new sounds. Jenn says he was preaching, I say he was riding a motorcycle. What do YOU think?
I am sure he was driving...something. Maybe a motorcycle, maybe a sports car, or maybe a big truck. Whatever he was doing, it was cute.
I am sure he was driving...something. Maybe a motorcycle, maybe a sports car, or maybe a big truck. Whatever he was doing, it was cute.
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