Argentina 2008

Beep, beep. Beep, beep. Beep, beep.

It was a bittersweet sound that broke the stillness of the brisk morning air. On the one hand it heralded the arrival of another exciting day. But at the same time reality struck each one of us - it would be the last time we woke up in Argentina. The Argentina ‘08 trip was coming to a close… *sniff*

We began the morning with team devotions in Daniel’s room, where he shared some good wrap-up thoughts about the trip, what God had done, and about the awesome experiences we had been blessed to be a part of. He also talked about switching from trip mode to home ministry mode, and encouraged us to recognize that our ministry didn’t stop when we left Argentina, but simply changed.

I was reminded of this wise advice - “wherever you are, be all there.” Whether it’s ministering on an international trip, doing school work, or going to your “real” job, it all has purpose. Always live in today, and let yesterday’s memories spur you on in your faith, rather than clinging to yesterday’s memories wishing you could repeat the experience. Seize the day and glorify God in whatever He’s given you to do.

After team devotions, we all climbed on our bus for one last trip to Clamor en el Barrio. We had a great time of fellowship with the men there, praying for them, and encouraging them with a few final testimonies and scriptures the Lord had given different members of our team to share.

We happened to arrive while they were in the middle of laying brick for their new dining hall, and they asked several of the team guys to each lay a brick as a lasting sign of the friendships that had been built during our time there.

A batch of fresh, hot rolls, some Argentine wooden drum lessons, and lots of hugs completed the time there, and we reluctantly said good-bye to our friends.

The afternoon was busy with lunch (which takes a long time) and packing (which takes even longer ). Finally, ready or not, we started lugging our still-heavy suitcases out of the rooms toward the bus. It always amazes me that with all the craft and team supplies we bring and leave behind, that our bags are still weight-limit heavy when we leave! Go figure…

Dinner consisted of leftover pb’n'j on the bus. Unfortunately however, we didn’t have any plates or knives to make the sandwiches. Adrian acted as our top chef, using her long fingers to spread peanut butter and jelly on the slices of bread handed to her by David, while Tim held all the containers at particular angles. It was a humorous sight to watch, with the occasional “oh no, where’d that glob of jelly fall” and Pastor Roberto laughing at us from the front while being slightly disgusted by the weird ingredients we were eating (the process didn’t bother him at all ). Finally Elizabeth helped Adrian wash her hands by pouring water from a water bottle over them as she held them out the bus window. With our stomachs full of food, and our hearts bursting with happy memories, we arrived at the airport where we were sent off with lots of hugs and tears by Pastor Daniel’s youth group.

Nine hours later, and already short one team member (Josue had a direct flight to Mexico from Argentina), we arrived in Florida to begin another ministry trip - this time to our own families, churches, neighbors, and co-workers. “Seize the day” has become our team motto, reminding us to live every day for Jesus, glorifying Him, and spreading His light to all places of the world - north or south, hot or cold, big jobs or little.

Amy, for the team

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After being postponed for a day due to Laura’s overnight ordeal and the team’s need for some serious r&r, we set off for an adventure to Uruguay! This is a country none of us had ever experienced—an adventure also because none of our translators were able to accompany us. Pastor Salazar and his family stayed back to hold a prayer conference, and Josué needed rest to let his body recover.
Up at 6:30 (Daniel gave each room cheery wake-up calls, just to be sure), we boarded the bus just after 7am for the 45-minute trip to Tigre. Tigre is the market we shopped at previously, but it is also an important port. Luis, our bus driver, promised to get us there in time, in spite of arriving at Las Clavelinas 15 minutes late. Poor guy—I think our team ran him ragged this trip!

We arrived at the ferry station at 8am—30 minutes before the boat was scheduled to depart for Uruguay! We hurriedly filled out the necessary papers and marched through security (we each were wanded down. . .no concealed weapons with this bunch!) and boarded just in time.

The ferry was two stories tall with a restaurant and duty free shop on the lower deck. We chose the upper deck. The temperature was cozy, a welcome change from the frigid Argentine winter. This, plus the constant hum of the engine and gentle motion quickly lulled us into some much-needed sleep.

We awoke to the captain’s voice announcing our destination. Looking around to see trees lining the banks of a small river, we wondered, “Was this Uruguay?” It looked more like a rustic wilderness retreat.

Assured that this was our stop, we woke the sound sleepers and left the ferry. The weather was overcast and grey, and there was a chill in the air, but nothing dampened our spirits.

We were excited to see what new experiences the next few hours would hold.

With fresh stamps in our passports, we set out walking the Uruguayan streets.

We noticed lots of horse drawn carts whizzing by, and we stopped often for pictures. A trip into a little shop named “Florida” proved successful as several of us purchased souvenirs. One of the locals gave us directions to the center of town, and a recommendation for lunch. On our way we stopped at a bank to exchange a little cash. The exchange rate for Uruguayan pesos to American dollars was around 20 to 1.

Our appetites brightened by the morning’s walk, we thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. Some of us sipped giant coffees, while others enjoyed pizza, or the house special, a gigantic sandwich with a fried egg! Delicious!

With still a few hours before our ferry departed for the return Argentina, we decided on a walk, as all the stores were closed for the afternoon. (Uruguayan culture mimics Argentine in this respect.) Photo ops galore!

Jamie even attempted one wide angle shot while hanging precariously over the edge of the dock—

Don’t let go, Timothy!

Our trip ended all to soon as we at last boarded the ferry for “home.”

Our last evening together in Argentina was an encouraging time of fellowship. We did some last-minute shopping just as stores were closing in Tigre, and stopped at Jumbo one last time for some dinner fixings. . . our new favorite PB&J. International travel messes with your taste buds sometimes. PB&J sounded heavenly for some strange reason! Hitting Munchi’s on the way home for some ice cream and coffee, we laughed so hard at John’s impressions that our tummies hurt! He has a knack for capturing people, and for mimicking their unique quirks and expressions.
After returning to Las Clavelinas, we all gathered in Daniel’s room for hot chocolate, tea and 4-on-a-couch until everyone was exhausted. After long weeks of intense ministry, it was so refreshing to enjoy just being together and having fun. It was a awesome day, and we went to bed that night with rejoicing, grateful hearts for all the Lord accomplished through us during the trip.

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Yesterday was the last night with the seminar, so today is our first “day of rest.’ We all had devos in Daniel’s room at 11:00 am.

We all looked “blah.” Wheeze, cough, hack, sniffle…”

A few of us have started packing. It has gone by fast, but it feels like years have gone by since the first day. We have become one big family. Lorianne was saying, “It’s funny how we call the hotel ‘home’ and the bus our ‘car.’” This has been home for the past few weeks, and having a family like this has been awesome. I don’t think it could have been any better. It was perfect.

In our bus that we call “home”.

I don’t think I realized until this trip how deep the love of God is. It has been so amazing seeing the love of God change people. But the cool thing is, He used us to show His love. Last night His love became evident through the testimonies that people shared. It is so totally awesome to be able to show others the love of God and see it direct their life.

One of the hardest things to do last night was to say goodbye. There is a group of teens that have become our friends. Talk about emotional! We were singing “A Passion for Thee” and holding back tears, but then I saw that some people in the crowd were crying. Then it hit me, “I am leaving, and they are not coming with me!” By then the tears were flowing all around and everybody hugged and kissed everybody. I think my family might get a little taste of Argentine cultural greetings when I get home.

I am going to miss Argentina and my second family. I love you guys!

Kaytra Copper, for the team

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“Peanut, Peanut Butter, AND JELLY!” I think American’s like their Peanut butter and Jelly. Since we have discovered that Argentine restaurants do not know the definitions of “fast” and “to-go” we decided (on Jamie’s suggestion) that we would make a quick bag lunch: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, Doritos (which have become the teams’ official food), and other random foods. This lunch was pretty American. Complete with the efficient assembly line to make the sandwiches. There were jelly people and peanut butter people and then someone would put the bread together and put it back in the bag. Marcello (our bus driver) was very confused about what we were doing. He sat there watching us with this weird and slightly disgusted look on his face. We offered him a piece, but I don’t think he took one ;-P
Today was a rather eclectic day, filled with many different activities. We probably had devotions that morning, but I can’t remember because I’m getting old and my memory is fading. After that, it was off to another market to do some shopping; something that we haven’t done much of since coming here. Our destination was the illegal Bolivian market. It was a very interesting place. Crowded booths packed together with blue tarps and other things forming awnings over some of the shops;
Tin roofs and lots of people walking around. There was this man who was selling these noise makers that sounded like angry cats. He walked around with this ‘cat’ in a bag (actually some sort of stick attached to a contraption in the bag) and walked around throwing it at people’s feet and making weird cat noises with his noisemakers. If one hadn’t been paying attention, one might think that there actually was a cat in the bag. I think he enjoyed making people jump. David bought one of those confounded things

There were a lot of African people there. I really wasn’t looking for very much to buy that day, so I just went from one African’s stand to another’s talking to them. It was neat to be able to meet some of them and ask them where they were from. I met people from Nigeria, Ghana and two other countries. Some people found jackets that said “Argentina”; those were quite the hit.

We finally took team pictures.

We went to a Japanese botanical garden for the event. I think that the Argentine’s that were with us must have thought we were very vain – taking so many pictures of ourselves.
The only problem with the team pictures, it that it looks like we were on a missions trip to Asia, not South America

The rest of the day was spent resting, playing soccer, watching a movie that Daniel was in and getting ready for the last night of the family conference. We split up for the last time and went to our separate churches to wrap up four days of teaching.

I worked with the kids at Pastor Daniel’s church. My team – team #1 – was amazing. John, Kaytra, Adrian, Laura and Lorianne were a great team. They did pretty much everything, from telling stories, to teaching lessons, to doing crafts, to yelling at – I mean correcting – talking children. They all made it really easy to keep things moving! Thanks guys, you were SO great! We finished our time with the kids talking about Genuine love. We sang lots of songs with the kids. They were so cute, they would sing us Spanish songs and then we would sing them English songs. We ended with the story of the good Samaritan. I was the narrator, but I laughed right along with the kids, because the actors were hilarious. Daniel was the man and Amy and Adrian were pretty much everyone else. They kept on doing random funny things that would make me die of laughter – so much for keeping a straight face. It was a very challenging four days with the kids. I know that I was stretched, my whole team was stretched. We all learned to trust the Lord, more then our own abilities. It was great.
The Youth programs at both churches finished up. Both teams said that they thought that God really spoke to the hearts of some of the participants. The team from the other church then joined us and there was a final large assembly. Pastor Salazar had people give testimonies of things that they had learned. It was neat to be able to see Fathers get up with their wives and children and testify about what the Lord had done in their lives. The kids also sang and said their verses. They were pretty cute!

Daniel and Amy did a chalk talk – My Heart, Christ’s Home – for the last time.

They both did an excellent job!
We closed our time with the churches singing our team song for the first time, and sharing a little bit about how they had touched our lives. John spoke about when he had been feeling sick, how people had come up to him and offered him tea and a place to sleep. He was very touched by their kindness. It really was an honor and a privilege to work with these precious people over the past few weeks. We have grown to love them.

It took us a really long time to say goodbye to everyone. There were tears, laughter and lots of pictures. I hope that we can see each other again soon.
The night wasn’t over yet. We went to a steak place for dinner. We’ve eaten a lot of steak here. Dinner and the family conference would have been exciting enough. But, alas, a missions trip is not complete without at least one medical emergency, complements of Laura. I will spare you the details, but suffice it to say Laura almost died Sunday night, or Monday morning. She had somehow contracted this lung disease that was very potentially fatal. Daniel and Elizabeth rushed her to the emergency room, while the rest of us prayed that everything would be ok. Praise the Lord, she was fine. Later we found out that how our leaders responded to her condition was exactly how one should respond to a condition like Laura had. They didn’t get back from the hospital until 5-6 in the morning. They did learn one thing that night, though, Pastor Daniel can drive really, really fast!
God has been good to us. He has preserved us and given us stamina over the past three weeks just when we needed it. Our team has really bonded together and become a family. I am so glad that I was a part of this team! We’re here in Argentina for three more days, who knows what will happen next!

Cheers!
Amanda Forman

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This morning God provided rain. Rain is an amazing thing that I only recently have come to appreciate. Now, I know you are thinking, “Dear, you live the northwest. Rain is a fact of life”. And well, it is. But just because I live in a rainy place doesn’t mean that I always appreciate rain . . . ..
We all got up very excited because for the first time all trip, we were going to do some serious site seeing and shopping!!! Yeah! Bus time was 9am. So we grabbed bags of croissants from the restaurant and took seats on the bus. ‘Is Pastor Salazar going with us?’ ‘I think he is inside having breakfast with his team’. Soon our bus driver got off and went inside. 30 min later Pastor comes on the bus. “There is no gas.” What is THAT supposed to mean? “With the economic crisis here in Argentina, the government is withhold gas from the gas stations and we cannot get gas in Buenos Aires.” Can we get gas here and then to go Buenos Aires? Do we have enough gas to travel to all the churches and everything tonight? Do we have enough gas to take Laura to the airport Monday night? What about Wednesday night when we all need to leave? All these questions are running through peoples’ heads and being asked. “You do not need to worry, you need to pray,” says Pastor as he heads off the bus. Ok, well, let’s pray. So we all prayed. And sat on the bus. You see, I think we were all so sleep deprived this trip that we would just sit on the bus whenever there was a time to wait. We must really really love our bus.
Waiting on the bus for another 45 min, Pastor again comes on the bus and says, “Let’s go.” Go where? What’s the deal? Well, in any foreign country, if you know the right people and have enough money, you can get whatever you want. The owner of the bus had some contact at the gas station and we filled up and were on our way . . . . at 11.
We arrived in Buenos Aires to very wet and cold weather. Something us people from the NW are quite adapted to, however, the Floridians are not quite used to such cold. Umbrellas were purchased, hoods put up, and heads went down and we attempted to site-see. Rather hard with your head down I may say. We walked and walked until I was quite turned around. Saw “The Pink House” (their version of the White House where their President stays. Their President is a woman so I guess a “pink house” makes sense.)

The Pink House

Outside the Pink House. Because of the political situation many protesters had trashed the square.

We also saw the widest street in the world. 10 lanes going one direction!

Nathaniel and Amanda at the monument downtown.

Lorianne and Tiffany

Group Picture

By then we were all quite famished. There was a restaurant having a nice special and room for all of us so in we tromped, after knocking over one of their statutes (ask David ☺).
A McDonalds with a McCafe inside was spotted and the group split after lunch. Some to get coffee and others to shop in a market type place. We were stopped by a friendly looking man who promptly told us that girls should keep their purses close, as there are many thieves about who would rob us blind. Also, this market was not the best place to shop as everything was overpriced. We thanked him for his advice, but due to lack of time, we had to settle for overpriced items. ☹ I got coffee so automatically my day brightened up. ☺
We were all supposed to meet at Florida St. at 4:30. Everyone finally arrived at 5. We all rushed to the bus, as there might have been a slight problem because we were late. However, the bus arrived just as we were crossing the street and we were able to jump right on. The Lord is good to us! We got to the hotel in just enough time to change for the evening and get back on the bus to go to our respective churches.
Our story for the children’s program was the “watermelon” story. Laura and I were assigned to go to JUMBO for laundry and melons. Retrieving laundry for 14 people can be quite the job. So we decided to get our other items first. Let me tell you, don’t let girls shop while they are hungry. We saw peanut butter and jelly . . .. . It just sounded SO AMAZING!!! So we got some. ☺ The way things are organized in foreign stores is very odd. We had the hardest time finding the bread . . .. Oh, of course. It’s in the center of the ice cream aisle. We should have known! Arriving in the produce section we discovered that JUMBO does not carry watermelon in the dead of winter . . . . What should we use? .. . A gourd? No, too hard to dig out. An apple? I don’t think it would handle being dug very well. An eggplant? Uh, no. Maybe a grapefruit. That might work. Sounds good, let’s do it. So we picked out the 4 best and biggest looking grapefruit and also some oranges and apples for the team. Then we had a thought ‘how are we going to spread our peanut butter and jelly without utensils?’ so then we commenced operation plastic knives. We never found them ☹. So we decided to improvise for later.
I stood in line while Laura went to get the laundry. The cart was quite full. Our bus driver, by now used to us crazy Americans, helped us load the clothes, peanut butter, jelly, Doritos, bread, apples, oranges, and grapefruits. In my broken Spanish I explained that we now needed to go to the first church and drop Laura off then to my church, the second one. Our bus driver is a very patient man.

The “Melon” story

I have never had so much fun telling a story in my life!! The grapefruits worked perfectly and the kids had NO CLUE!! It was hilarious!!

It is full of DIRT!!!
God was able to give me an idea of how to really work it in with the message we were trying to teach that night about truthfulness. What you are on the outside needs to match what’s on the inside. Jesus needs to be on the inside. We serve an amazing God.

Tired and now with clean clothes we all ate dinner and headed to bed. Sleep, sweet sleep. It is definitely a blessing from the Lord to be able to sleep.

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Wednesday, June 18

Imagine starting the day with a massage and ending it by watching a soccer game. Pretty incredible, right? This morning, several of the girls received massages from a professional masseuse who came to the hotel to serve and bless our team. If only every day could start that way! Not only that, the day ended as splendidly as it started, with soccer (but more on that later).

Following massages and devotions, the next thing on the agenda was teaching in a school. We split into small groups and taught truthfulness in a total of six different classrooms. Testimonies, stories and skits filled our time with the children.

In the evening, our team divided and went to our prospective churches to teach the final night of family conference number one and two. The team which I was on was working at an outdoor church. Our small group of about 30 children gathered in a shed to sing songs, learn Bible verses and hear more of Jesus and what it means to live for Him. More than anything, the children seemed to respond and open up to us through the love we showed them in the hugs and smiles we gave. Meanwhile, outside our little kid’s classroom and around a campfire, Tim, Dena and Brandy spoke with the youth of the King of kings. During brief moments between teaching the children, I would catch a glimpse of my friends ministering to these youth. The fragrance of Jesus permeated through them and it was obvious that the Lord was bringing about beautiful change in lives to the glory of His great name. The children, the youth, the men and the women there at the family conference all came with baggage, problems and hurts, but as we left them, we saw greater joy and freedom displayed on their faces. It was hard to leave, because we all loved them so dearly and they us. Hugs and Argentine kisses went all around. As our bus drove away, they sang to us their gratefulness and love. Their voices were the last memory experienced on that treasured evening. I will never forget it.

Finally, last of all, over a late Argentine meal, our team—along with new friends made in the country—gathered to watch a soccer game between Argentina and Brazil. It was intense and exciting, the cheers loud and heartfelt, and the game thrilling and competitive! In the end, it was a tie—0-0. Still, it was a great game to watch and a wonderful finish to an amazing day!

Tiffany, for the team

A crazy skit in one of the classrooms… Hockenstock strikes again!

Amanda, John, and Kaytra teaching a class.

Young people from Clamor in el Barrio with Tim, Dena, Brandy, and Carolina.

Crystal helping one of the little girls make a sock puppet.

And at the other church… Amy did her chalk drawing again…

…while Daniel preached the message on “My Heart, Christ’s Home.”

The teens at that church had such receptive hearts and hunger for the things of the Lord. Oh, and can you tell Daniel is recovering from pink eye? We forgot to take a picture when his eye was almost swollen shut. Bummer!

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Tuesday, June 17

Wow, what a time it’s been! As I sit here pondering over everything that has happened, I am in awe at what the Lord has done. Our time has been full of divine opportunities and appointments that could only have been arranged by an omniscient God. Though we are weak, He is strong, and He is showing Himself in a mighty way to the people here and to the team as well.

Tuesday morning we woke early and went to visit a nearby Christian school where we did a large assembly for the older kids. It went so well! The kids were very responsive to the message on truthfulness, and we got a lot of interaction during the time there. At one point Elizabeth asked the group how many had ever cheated on a test, and I think every single hand went up. She got serious with them, and was able to explain how the Lord views dishonesty and lying by using some personal examples from her own life. Josue also shared a testimony, which although it was absolutely hilarious to listen to, had great practical application. After a few more short testimonies from other teammates, we finished with our old standby, the Hockenstock skit, much to the delight of both the older kids in the assembly, and the little ones peeking through the windows.

Lunch, as usual, took awhile. The poor restaurants here do their best to feed a mob of hungry American youth, but it’s not an easy job! We’re quite the sight to see, especially as we flip flop between being dog-tired half the time, to being wound up from Quatro and Coca Cola. Then you add in enormous amounts of coughing, laughing, and more coughing, and yep, you’re starting to get the picture. Oh, and did I mention that getting us all moving in the same direction, make that the right direction, at the same time is like herding turtles? Maybe we really didn’t need to visit the zoo last week after all!

Some people were able to squeeze in a quick cat nap before heading out to continue the family conferences at the two churches. We had a good time of prayer before leaving, and it was a blessing all gathering together to pray for the churches, the work being done, and for the Lord to fill us with His spirit. We so desperately need Him, and Him alone, to work through us and to make us vessels of His truth and love. It’s not us doing the ministry here, but Him working through us and giving us grace for each moment.

What a blessing it was for me personally to be on the team that worked at the tent church. The people there are so humble, hungry, and responsive to the Lord. It touched my heart to see how wholeheartedly they embraced the messages and teaching from God’s Word, and opened themselves up to receive us each night. Tim and I had the opportunity of doing a chalk drawing on surrender for the opening family session, and the response was unbelievable. Although the drawing was rather precariously set up, and it took quite awhile to get my lighting equipment to work with their electricity, God was at work in a mighty way. Tim gave an excellent message about our heart being Christ’s home, and about total surrender of every area of our lives. When the blacklight picture of someone holding up their heart as an offering to the Lord came up, the entire audience broke out in cheering and clapping for a full two minutes. It was such a precious time watching the people respond to the message and be so obviously touched and convicted. Afterward a man named Walter came up to me and gave me a pen and paper drawing which was an exact duplicate of the one I had drawn. It was such a special gift, and a demonstration of the humbleness of spirit that pervades the atmosphere.

The breakout sessions went great too, and the children were opening up even more to the lessons, games, and crafts. They are so precious, and each one so desperately needy for love, security, and friendship. Many of the children are bussed in from the surrounding neighborhood, so hopefully the church can continue to reach out to them long after we’ve left. One girl, Camilia, clung to me the entire night, so obviously starving for loving arms wrapped tightly around her. I can only imagine her home situation, and the situations of the other children. Jamie and Nathaniel did an excellent job heading up the evening.

Meanwhile at the Baptist church, the Lord was at work just as mightily. The teens poured out their hearts to Daniel and Elizabeth, and asked many deep, thoughtful questions. The Lord was faithful to provide answers for every single one, and much encouragement and admonition was passed along to the youth. The kids, ladies, and men’s sessions all saw the blessing of the Lord poured out on the evening as well.

We ended the night exhausted, but with spirits rejoicing in what had happened. What an amazing thing it is that we have the opportunity to travel from America to Argentina to touch and invest in lives on an individual basis! I am reminded of the words of the song “Show Thyself strong, and the gates of hell shall never more prevail. For not one word of Thy dear promises can fail…” God is indeed strong, and is with us even on the other side of the equator, where some of us really do walk around on our heads sometimes.

Amy, for the team

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Monday, June 16

Well, first of all you have to know that Marcelo is the coolest Argentine guy ever! He was our wonderful bus driver for the first week of our trip. He would always come in to church with us and go out to eat with us. He loved to joke around and be our friend. One particular night we were eating dinner together at one of our favorite pizza stops. John was acting wild and crazy and someone said, “ We need to take out his batteries.” After translating this to Marcelo he explained that we just needed to tie up his hands and plug his mouth. I said, “ That would kill him!” “ No, no to tie his hands. He’d be fine. It’s closing his mouth that he would die!” He’s a hilarious guy and we all love him!

Another night Marcelo sat with Josue, Jamie and Dena. Josue asked the girls, “If there was one thing you could change about yourself or your life/your past what would it be?” After answering, he let Marcelo respond. Which started a very interesting, God-led conversation between Marcelo and Josue.

“The things I did wrong that ruined my marriage.” Then he tried to cover it up and say that he was good man now by doing the right thing (turned over a “new leaf”).
“There is one thing that you are missing in your life in order for you to start being a good man.”
“What is it?”
“Are you really curious?”
“Yes, yes.”
“Sure?”
“Yes, tell me.”
“I’ll tell you at the end. “
“No, please …tell me now. “
“I’ll tell you on the last day before we leave.”
“No… Okay, okay. My heart is pumping hard right now but I’ll wait.”
Before their table ate Josue prayed over the food and for Marcelo’s salvation (in English).

The very next day we found out that he was let go from his job, he would no longer be our beloved bus driver! Waaaaahhh!! “ No, not Marcelo!” we all cried! We lived in pain and agony for more than a week, praying and not knowing when we would ever see him again.

Monday, we all loaded up for a day of shopping in Tigre. We invited the youth from the church to go with us, so we had to take another vehicle. The problem was that they didn’t have any more drivers. Josue rode in the other vehicle. But none of us knew until lunchtime that it was MARCELO that drove him! “What? Marcelo? Where?” Afterwards we all met him outside covering him with hugs and pictures, laughter and smiles (and our broken Castellano phrases).
Later, Josue filled us in on the details. Marcelo had told him that that night in the restaurant he already knew he was going to be let go but after Josue prayed for him God gave him a new job the very next day. He got to see how God answers prayer.

As we were arriving at the hotel Pastor Salazar and Josue prayed for everyone and specifically Marcelo’s salvation. Right when they finished praying Josue got a text message from his friend that said, “Psalm 19 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight. I’m praying for you that you would be a clean channel for Him.” We unloaded the bus, I told Marcelo I was praying for him, and then everyone scattered off to their rooms…except Josue. He wasn’t even on planning on talking to Marcelo, but when God leads…well, things happen. Josue asked him what he saw in us that was different.
“Purity.”
I think that’s so interesting how he could see that in us.
“Marcelo, do you remember what we talked about that night when I said there is one thing you need to be a good man.”
“Yes, of course.”
“Do you have any idea of what that thing is?’
“Umm… I need to be taller?” he said jokingly (he’s like 5’4”)
“Do you remember what we prayed for?”
“Yea, you prayed for me.”
“Do you know what prayer is?”
“It’s asking for someone to be better or feel better.”
“Ask who?”
“I don’t know. Who?”
“It’s asking God.”
“When you said your heart was pumping that was God telling you, “Marcelo, surrender yourself’.”

He still felt that he was fine, no problems. Josue questioned him on his relationships with his ex-wife, girlfriend, and two children. He told him to consider what life would be like in the future. How his decisions affect the lives of his children, how hard it will be to keep their respect when they have split parents with conflicting answers. What will keep them from getting into alcohol and drugs?

“You have a load on your hands. I don’t think it’s just a coincidence, Marcelo, that I came all the way from Mexico and I’m standing in a parking lot, talking with you and sharing this with you tonight.”

Tears welled up in Marcelo’s eyes. “I know how much you all love me. There is something different about you. I want it.” He had to go but he promised Josue another conversation before we leave. “You guys are so easy to love.” Marcelo said and closed the bus door.

To be continued….

… and Marcelo can be as crazy as the Americans!

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Sunday, June 15, 2008

Today began with walking out of a restaurant after waiting for over an hour for food that never came. For some reason we had a suspicion that we were being discriminated against, especially since everyone around us had been receiving prompt service (a little Argentine pride). So we decided to drive through our faithful, fail-proof restaurant: McDonalds. It was very entertaining to watch Daniel and Elizabeth order a dozen hamburgers while walking through the drive-through line without a car (we all waited in the bus). We finally got to eat dinner at about 1:30am.

Laura Frahm was on a flight from Miami to Buenos Aires and someone was going to have to go to the airport at 4am to pick her up. You must understand that the majority of the team is sick and all of us are struggling to keep good health. Any rest at any time is important and necessary.

At 9:30am, we went to the church of the “outside tent.” This church is a ministry to men seeking to be free from drugs and alcohol. There are 90 men on the property, many have already graduated the program and are serving the Lord by ministering to their weaker brothers. Everything on the property is handmade by the men; they cook their own food, build their own buildings, and make their own furniture out of pallet boards. Many of the men live on the streets and are taken in by the “band of brothers.” They are discipled in Christ and held accountable for 30 months. The ministry very much reminds me of Teen Challenge. They all sleep in one large tent. It is so good to hear them sing of how Jesus has redeemed their lives and how His blood gives them power to conquer all addictions.

This is the same church that gave us the warm welcome with drums and singing. Since it was Father’s Day and Sunday, whole families were there to celebrate. (By the way, Happy Father’s Day to all our dads). After sharing with songs and testimonies we began the family conference. Everyone was divided up into four groups: men, women, youth, and children. The purpose of this seminar is to strengthen the family at the heart level – to turn the hearts of children to their fathers and of fathers to their children. Our team was assigned to work with the youth and children. For some reason, there seemed to be a spiritual wall – a barrier in communication that was more then just the language. Please pray for these young people, that the Lord would allow us to build relationships with them and be able to share the life of Christ with them. We will be returning there tomorrow.

Then we went to another church where we presented some of the things we will be doing in the family conference. We gave some short testimonies and Dena played her violin (everyone here really likes it when she plays). After the service we stayed a while and talked with the people there. Today the focus was inviting people to come to the family conference that will be taking place this next week.

I thank the Lord Jesus. I got barely any sleep today and yet, it didn’t bother me at all. I was able to get about a two hour night’s sleep before I woke up to go pick up Laura at the airport – but it felt like a full eight hours of sleep. And the whole rest of the day I was fine. I am learning that the weaker I am, the stronger Jesus is. In our inability, Christ is able. Jesus is giving us all that we need. Everyday we are learning new ways in trusting God.

Throughout this whole trip we have been pushed beyond all that we had ever expected. We have been in circumstances that have stretched us to know Jesus in newer and greater ways. Jesus is mighty, and we have complete fullness in Him.

Gracia,

Tim for the team

Inside the tent church

Playing a game with the teens at the tent church

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Saturday June 14^th, 2008

The hour was early, the air brisk, as the team embarked upon the final day of our first week-long children’s program. With a chorus of coughs, all 16 team members crawled on the bus with hot tea, supplies, and Bibles in hand. It was to be a long day: 9am-5pm, with kids containing more energy than thought possible in a single being. More team members than not were sick in some form. You name it and we had it!

The day began with group devotions on the bus rife with a humorous balancing act of hot tea and bibles. It wasn’t long before Dena generously shared some of her tea into my lap. Thankfully, I was wearing a color that complemented tea stains well. At last we arrived at the church bundled in layers of clothes and ready to go. The grace of God was seen all the more precious on this day. We had absolutely no strength in self, but much strength through Christ! I personally was not well, and my group was already short one teacher: Adrian, due to illness. I told myself, “I must persevere!” Being bright and energetic with loud children is challenging when you feel as though your head could pop at any moment. But I have found that “…when I am weak, than I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10). God supplied just enough grace to finish the race before us, but not so much that we forget where our strength is found.

The day was filled with fun things: cute little boxes, hand puppets (that we had to re-glue the eyes on every 5 minutes), a volcano (made of coke), wild games and fun stories. In the first large group Daniel told the story of a little girl who contracts a deadly disease called the “Gimey Hands.” *gasp* Every time this young girl won’t share, or is selfish, a colorful spot in a hand shape appears on her body. Dena played the leading role beautifully complete with braids. David was the surprise of the afternoon as “Dad” with a pot belly. The last story of the day was the musical chairs skit where the winner is the loser and the loser the winner. We will just say that there were some rather unusual characters that appeared in this skit. The entire week God’s faithfulness was seen evident in the children’s program: supplies multiplied, prayers answered, and most of all hearts changed. The first night of the CI some of the children cried for their parents, the last night there wasn’t a tear in sight. In fact, we had a hard time getting them to leave.

At last the tired team boarded the bus. Of course, the day couldn’t be done till the team made an appearance at a youth meeting. At this point some of the team members were getting a little worn on the edges, so four sickos were bound to the bus (Nathaniel, David, Kaytra and me) to try and rest. The key word is “try.” We could hear the whole worship service perfectly from the bus. Meanwhile inside Tim shared a compelling message that brought almost everyone to tears. The team climbed on the bus with wet eyes and soggy noses. Finally, we were headed for dinner, but not until we have done our “sound off”. [Definition of sound off: each team member has an assigned number which he/she calls out in numerical order]. “1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10…11…12…13…14…15… 16…17…we’re all here!” [to be continued in Tim’s blog post]

Buenos noches!

By His grace alone,

Lorianne

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