Monday, October 22, 2007
Sunday, September 30, 2007
JULY- 2007
We have a lot of telling to do, as we’ve gotten a bit behind on our blog. July was a helter-skelter month for us as we had to prepare for our annual trip to the US, finish a friendscamp, and close out our bible-reading project.
LET'S START TALKING
Our Let’s Start Talking style program that went on for about six weeks ended in July. I have three readers I’d like to tell something about. Jacob is a dentist, a nice man who was born in Korea but grew up in Argentina. He is open to talking about God as he has a Christian friend who Jacobo said had “changed.” This friend made quite an impact on Jacobo, even more than his Catholic wife. Jacobo, Karina, and I went out for dinner together, first in a restaurant in our neighborhood, then in a Korean restaurant closer to his neighborhood. I ate raw strips of beef (although I must say they had been marinated in some type of sauce) in some kind of Korean plate. Jacobo and I have had some pretty intimate conversations about God.
Another reader is Silvia. She is Catholic/new age (another words, she doesn’t really know much about what she believes). Silvia is a sweet lady. She is a single woman in her forties and a lawyer. At this point, Karina and I have mostly just established a good friendship with her. She was open to talking about God, and she believes in the virgin birth and that there is a God. That’s a good start.
Our last reader, Jose, is little strange but he is a good guy. Jose is from Peru but was planning to study in Argentina. I could tell he was going through culture shock, and it’s his first time living away from home. Jose decided at the end of our time to go back to Peru, unfortunately (although he may return to Argentina). However, we had very intimate talks about his life, and he opened up about a lot of things. Jose seems to know that Jesus is the way, but he has some dark things in his life that hold him back from following Jesus (this is basically what he told me). These things are more attractive for him than Jesus is. Pray for Jose and these three if you get a chance.
Overall, our project got us a few good contacts that we’ll keep up with. May God use this to bring about his glory in these people’s lives.
FRIEND'S CAMP
Close to the end of our project in July, we had a friendscamp, which is a retreat for the people that participated in the bible-reading project above. We did this in conjunction with the Villa Urquiza congregation and the Caballito congregation. Fifty attended. I preached on Sunday about friendship (David and Jonathan). For some, it was the first time they heard the story of David and Goliath or Jonathan. The camp went well in all aspects and everyone enjoyed the time singing, listening to God’s stories, and escaping from the city life.
OUR FIRST BAPTISM
Vanesa was our first baptism here in Argentina. The first 'baby' out of our group. She is a wonderful woman that wanted to follow Jesus from the moment we met her. Vanesa was not originally one of our contacts. She had bounced around at different churches looking for Jesus, but always living in the emotional experience and never truly committing to a daily relationship with Jesus. She did this kind of thing for seven years. When we got her, though, she was ready and anxious to be baptized and take a first step of real commitment towards God. We are so thankful that we found someone with such an open heart to do God’s will. Vanesa loves God and is so ready to serve him with all that she has.
She was baptized right before we left for the US. What a blessing! In the picture you will see her with her aunt Martha, who has been praying for Vanesa's life for such a long time. God still answers prayers!
VISIT FROM THE US
Unfortunately, it was just for a couple of days, but Jessica, Kyle and Erin's visit to our house reminded us of all the good times with them. We really enjoyed having them. Thanks guy for stopping by! We love you!
SNOW AFTER ALMOST A 100 YEARS
Last but not least, we wanted to mention all the things that took place in this month of July. And certainly, the unexpected weather changes brought some snow, surprise and excitement among the 'portenos' (citizens of Buenos Aires) who had never seen snow in their lives in this city before. The last time was 1918.
Here there are some pictures for you to enjoy
LET'S START TALKING
Our Let’s Start Talking style program that went on for about six weeks ended in July. I have three readers I’d like to tell something about. Jacob is a dentist, a nice man who was born in Korea but grew up in Argentina. He is open to talking about God as he has a Christian friend who Jacobo said had “changed.” This friend made quite an impact on Jacobo, even more than his Catholic wife. Jacobo, Karina, and I went out for dinner together, first in a restaurant in our neighborhood, then in a Korean restaurant closer to his neighborhood. I ate raw strips of beef (although I must say they had been marinated in some type of sauce) in some kind of Korean plate. Jacobo and I have had some pretty intimate conversations about God.
Another reader is Silvia. She is Catholic/new age (another words, she doesn’t really know much about what she believes). Silvia is a sweet lady. She is a single woman in her forties and a lawyer. At this point, Karina and I have mostly just established a good friendship with her. She was open to talking about God, and she believes in the virgin birth and that there is a God. That’s a good start.
Our last reader, Jose, is little strange but he is a good guy. Jose is from Peru but was planning to study in Argentina. I could tell he was going through culture shock, and it’s his first time living away from home. Jose decided at the end of our time to go back to Peru, unfortunately (although he may return to Argentina). However, we had very intimate talks about his life, and he opened up about a lot of things. Jose seems to know that Jesus is the way, but he has some dark things in his life that hold him back from following Jesus (this is basically what he told me). These things are more attractive for him than Jesus is. Pray for Jose and these three if you get a chance.
Overall, our project got us a few good contacts that we’ll keep up with. May God use this to bring about his glory in these people’s lives.
FRIEND'S CAMP
Close to the end of our project in July, we had a friendscamp, which is a retreat for the people that participated in the bible-reading project above. We did this in conjunction with the Villa Urquiza congregation and the Caballito congregation. Fifty attended. I preached on Sunday about friendship (David and Jonathan). For some, it was the first time they heard the story of David and Goliath or Jonathan. The camp went well in all aspects and everyone enjoyed the time singing, listening to God’s stories, and escaping from the city life.
OUR FIRST BAPTISM
Vanesa was our first baptism here in Argentina. The first 'baby' out of our group. She is a wonderful woman that wanted to follow Jesus from the moment we met her. Vanesa was not originally one of our contacts. She had bounced around at different churches looking for Jesus, but always living in the emotional experience and never truly committing to a daily relationship with Jesus. She did this kind of thing for seven years. When we got her, though, she was ready and anxious to be baptized and take a first step of real commitment towards God. We are so thankful that we found someone with such an open heart to do God’s will. Vanesa loves God and is so ready to serve him with all that she has.
She was baptized right before we left for the US. What a blessing! In the picture you will see her with her aunt Martha, who has been praying for Vanesa's life for such a long time. God still answers prayers!
VISIT FROM THE US
Unfortunately, it was just for a couple of days, but Jessica, Kyle and Erin's visit to our house reminded us of all the good times with them. We really enjoyed having them. Thanks guy for stopping by! We love you!
SNOW AFTER ALMOST A 100 YEARS
Last but not least, we wanted to mention all the things that took place in this month of July. And certainly, the unexpected weather changes brought some snow, surprise and excitement among the 'portenos' (citizens of Buenos Aires) who had never seen snow in their lives in this city before. The last time was 1918.
Here there are some pictures for you to enjoy
Monday, July 2, 2007
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4
Ecclesiastes 7:2-4 It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, because a sad face is good for the heart. The heart of the wise in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of pleasure.
Time after time, I have seen this piece of wisdom from Ecclesiastes proved true. When people are sad, mourning, or sick, they begin to turn to God for answers. This is perfectly natural. In our fast-paced world, we get caught up in unimportant subtleties that rule our day. When tragedy strikes us, though; we begin to look for answers. Why? Why me? Why would God, if there were one, treat me so cruelly? I think this is a complex question with many layers of answers, but I also know that sometimes God allows tragedy to strike us so that we will begin to realize there is more to our lives than what we will eat for lunch.
When we are in mourning or pain, the only place humanity knows to turn is to a higher being. Even many atheists who have been on their deathbeds have revisited their lives and their belief about God. The threat of death works powerfully in our lives to bring us closer to God, or at least think about him. As a proverb I learned in Spanish says: To get your attention, God whispers in your ear. If that doesn’t work, then he throws a brick at you.
Recently, I have seen this principle in action with our neighbor, Jorge. Jorge is a doctor who has seen much suffering. It is hard for him to put his faith in such a God who permits so many bad things to happen. Jorge has also recently contracted a deadly cancer that has spread from the top of his ear to his shoulder. The cancer has caused the left side of his face to swell up like a balloon. On top of it, Jorge was sanctioned recently for his practice as a Doctor. The courts accused him of practicing medicine in an unethical way, and it’s simply not true that he did it—it was a simple mistake. Everyday, Jorge saw corrupt practices in the medical world all around him, but he did what he could to oppose those practices and always maintained his dignity. Now, as he is retiring, they have stripped him even of his dignity.
Jorge is a charming, charismatic, well-liked man. Imagine the difficulty for him of being stripped completely of his dignity. His features are marred by the swelling in his face. Society has deemed that forty years of helping others in medicine was unethical. And on top of it all, he stands in the throes of death.
Jorge is a person who I would call a good friend. One day, he asked me over to give him an injection in his backside for his swelling (I learned how to do that back in the day in Guatemala. Isn’t it amazing how God uses simple stuff like that?). When we finished, we sat down at the kitchen table and began to talk. Jorge knows I’m a missionary, and of course, he knows I would love to convert him. He brought up Jesus’ name twice; I don’t remember why. I figured that he wanted to talk about Jesus. I figured that God had given me an opportunity.
So I started with the message of the gospel, God’s love, sin, suffering, redemption, everything. For about forty-five minutes straight, I kept talking. I’ve never seen anything like it. Most people, you can’t give them the gospel like that all at once. It’s too much. You have to start with a simple principle and plant seeds. But not this time. Jorge hung on every word and sincerely listened to every one with enthusiasm. What I said impacted him in a profound way, even though what I said was fairly simple. I’ve never seen someone listen to the gospel with such intensity. I’m sure if I was preaching in the U.S., half the audience would have fallen asleep after twenty five minutes. But Jorge listened, asked a few questions, but he listened.
In the end, Jorge got to listen to a full gospel presentation. He knows what life is. He knows what death is. He knows what the consequences for each choice is.
I don’t know what Jorge will choose in the end, or if God will decide to let Jorge keep living. But I know that God has thrown a brick at Jorge. God wanted me to show Jorge the gospel in its fullness in that moment. He set everything up, called Jorge’s attention to him, and put his words in my mouth.
Pray for Jorge. Pray that he sees that his life has been a failure, and that God is reaching desperately for him with love. Pray that his eyes are opened, and the lies that our enemy has fed him for a lifetime begin to fade away. Pray that he can understand life and death.
Pray that God will reach for Jorge’s heart with all his might.
MAY
May was a busy month for Karina and I as we started up our project to expand our group and involve more people in it. We advertised English classes with natives around our neighborhood and in the newspaper, Let’s Start Talking style. For those of you who don’t know what LST is, it’s a program that uses certain passages from the Bible in simplified English to have conversation classes that last one hour. We are doing something similar to this program but slightly modified. I’ve already begun to read with several people in our neighborhood, and the people that I’ve met are extremely nice. A couple seem very open to the gospel and may actually integrate into our group in Spanish. At the end of this month, we will hold a special event and invite these new people to it. From there we will invite these new people to become involved in the life of our small group.
Our group continues to commit to growth. We have really prayed about everything as a group, each person taking turns and praying about every detail in their lives. God has put many contacts in all of our lives and people that need to hear the gospel. A few weeks ago, Karina began to spend time with Vanesa. She is a 33 year-old woman studying to be an accountant. Vanesa wants to be baptized and to give her life completely to God.(see picture)
Pray for Vanesa.
In May also, Chris and Alessandra Kelly moved away to do mission work in Brazil. They have been working in the Villa Urquiza congregation, and they will be missed. We also know that God will use them in mighty ways to grow his church in Brazil. Karina spent quite a bit of time helping them get their apartment and bags packed and do a garage sale. Moving to a new country is quite an endeavor! May God bless them in their new church plant.
Glen and Kathy Henton, the last missionaries in Villa Urquiza, are also selling their apartment and will leave as soon as they sell it. With Glen and Kathy gone, this church will have no more people from the US and will not be spiritually depend on missionaries. May God bless the congregation in Villa Urquiza in this time of transition. Within two years, three couples have left/are leaving the congregation, the church unified with two other congregations and then split back into two branches. These are a lot of changes! Despite all these changes, it is our prayer that God will use this congregation to reach out to its own neighborhood.
We also attended a weekend retreat here in the capital on church planting. It was a wonderful experience and made me feel pumped up about what we are doing. The speaker talked about church planting (He is from Thailand)and methods of reaching the lost. It was a wonderful experience. It is good to hear what God is doing everywhere!
TRIP TO THE US
We have set a date for our travel to the US July 29th (arriving on the 30th) to September 3rd (departure date). During this time, we’ll be visiting all our supporters raising support as well. We still are looking for a couple/single to come work with us in Argentina. If anyone who reads this blog knows someone who is interested in doing mission work in Argentina, please let us know. We will upload our specific itinerary with dates to the blog for everyone when our travel plans in the US are completely finalized.
Prayer Requests
Loida, Sandra, Ricardo, Vanesa, Norma, Jorge, Marta, Carolina and her twins
(Anna Belen and Santiago are their names)(In the picture, Jared is holding Anna, and in the other Carolina's dad is holding Santi. They're beautiful!)
, 
and Carolina's dad , Paula, Hernan, Enrique, Maria Margarita, Yasuo, Julieta (seven-year-old with throat cancer), Jose, Estela, Silvia, Jacobo and his family, for all the other contacts we have, Glen and Kathy Henton, Chris and Alessandra Kelley,
Pray for Argentina as the presidential elections are this year and it could be a scary moment of transition for this nation. Recently, the new mayor of Buenos Aires was elected and a lot of changes could happen here as well. Pray for this city and its people.
Pray for the vision and our small group. Pray that God will give us more opportunities to reach out; both with those we already have a strong relationship with and that God will open more doors for us with new people. Pray for that we can go stronger in Jesus during this time that we are learning so much.
Time after time, I have seen this piece of wisdom from Ecclesiastes proved true. When people are sad, mourning, or sick, they begin to turn to God for answers. This is perfectly natural. In our fast-paced world, we get caught up in unimportant subtleties that rule our day. When tragedy strikes us, though; we begin to look for answers. Why? Why me? Why would God, if there were one, treat me so cruelly? I think this is a complex question with many layers of answers, but I also know that sometimes God allows tragedy to strike us so that we will begin to realize there is more to our lives than what we will eat for lunch.
When we are in mourning or pain, the only place humanity knows to turn is to a higher being. Even many atheists who have been on their deathbeds have revisited their lives and their belief about God. The threat of death works powerfully in our lives to bring us closer to God, or at least think about him. As a proverb I learned in Spanish says: To get your attention, God whispers in your ear. If that doesn’t work, then he throws a brick at you.
Recently, I have seen this principle in action with our neighbor, Jorge. Jorge is a doctor who has seen much suffering. It is hard for him to put his faith in such a God who permits so many bad things to happen. Jorge has also recently contracted a deadly cancer that has spread from the top of his ear to his shoulder. The cancer has caused the left side of his face to swell up like a balloon. On top of it, Jorge was sanctioned recently for his practice as a Doctor. The courts accused him of practicing medicine in an unethical way, and it’s simply not true that he did it—it was a simple mistake. Everyday, Jorge saw corrupt practices in the medical world all around him, but he did what he could to oppose those practices and always maintained his dignity. Now, as he is retiring, they have stripped him even of his dignity.
Jorge is a charming, charismatic, well-liked man. Imagine the difficulty for him of being stripped completely of his dignity. His features are marred by the swelling in his face. Society has deemed that forty years of helping others in medicine was unethical. And on top of it all, he stands in the throes of death.
Jorge is a person who I would call a good friend. One day, he asked me over to give him an injection in his backside for his swelling (I learned how to do that back in the day in Guatemala. Isn’t it amazing how God uses simple stuff like that?). When we finished, we sat down at the kitchen table and began to talk. Jorge knows I’m a missionary, and of course, he knows I would love to convert him. He brought up Jesus’ name twice; I don’t remember why. I figured that he wanted to talk about Jesus. I figured that God had given me an opportunity.
So I started with the message of the gospel, God’s love, sin, suffering, redemption, everything. For about forty-five minutes straight, I kept talking. I’ve never seen anything like it. Most people, you can’t give them the gospel like that all at once. It’s too much. You have to start with a simple principle and plant seeds. But not this time. Jorge hung on every word and sincerely listened to every one with enthusiasm. What I said impacted him in a profound way, even though what I said was fairly simple. I’ve never seen someone listen to the gospel with such intensity. I’m sure if I was preaching in the U.S., half the audience would have fallen asleep after twenty five minutes. But Jorge listened, asked a few questions, but he listened.
In the end, Jorge got to listen to a full gospel presentation. He knows what life is. He knows what death is. He knows what the consequences for each choice is.
I don’t know what Jorge will choose in the end, or if God will decide to let Jorge keep living. But I know that God has thrown a brick at Jorge. God wanted me to show Jorge the gospel in its fullness in that moment. He set everything up, called Jorge’s attention to him, and put his words in my mouth.
Pray for Jorge. Pray that he sees that his life has been a failure, and that God is reaching desperately for him with love. Pray that his eyes are opened, and the lies that our enemy has fed him for a lifetime begin to fade away. Pray that he can understand life and death.
Pray that God will reach for Jorge’s heart with all his might.
MAY
May was a busy month for Karina and I as we started up our project to expand our group and involve more people in it. We advertised English classes with natives around our neighborhood and in the newspaper, Let’s Start Talking style. For those of you who don’t know what LST is, it’s a program that uses certain passages from the Bible in simplified English to have conversation classes that last one hour. We are doing something similar to this program but slightly modified. I’ve already begun to read with several people in our neighborhood, and the people that I’ve met are extremely nice. A couple seem very open to the gospel and may actually integrate into our group in Spanish. At the end of this month, we will hold a special event and invite these new people to it. From there we will invite these new people to become involved in the life of our small group.
Our group continues to commit to growth. We have really prayed about everything as a group, each person taking turns and praying about every detail in their lives. God has put many contacts in all of our lives and people that need to hear the gospel. A few weeks ago, Karina began to spend time with Vanesa. She is a 33 year-old woman studying to be an accountant. Vanesa wants to be baptized and to give her life completely to God.(see picture)
Pray for Vanesa.
In May also, Chris and Alessandra Kelly moved away to do mission work in Brazil. They have been working in the Villa Urquiza congregation, and they will be missed. We also know that God will use them in mighty ways to grow his church in Brazil. Karina spent quite a bit of time helping them get their apartment and bags packed and do a garage sale. Moving to a new country is quite an endeavor! May God bless them in their new church plant.
Glen and Kathy Henton, the last missionaries in Villa Urquiza, are also selling their apartment and will leave as soon as they sell it. With Glen and Kathy gone, this church will have no more people from the US and will not be spiritually depend on missionaries. May God bless the congregation in Villa Urquiza in this time of transition. Within two years, three couples have left/are leaving the congregation, the church unified with two other congregations and then split back into two branches. These are a lot of changes! Despite all these changes, it is our prayer that God will use this congregation to reach out to its own neighborhood.
We also attended a weekend retreat here in the capital on church planting. It was a wonderful experience and made me feel pumped up about what we are doing. The speaker talked about church planting (He is from Thailand)and methods of reaching the lost. It was a wonderful experience. It is good to hear what God is doing everywhere!
TRIP TO THE US
We have set a date for our travel to the US July 29th (arriving on the 30th) to September 3rd (departure date). During this time, we’ll be visiting all our supporters raising support as well. We still are looking for a couple/single to come work with us in Argentina. If anyone who reads this blog knows someone who is interested in doing mission work in Argentina, please let us know. We will upload our specific itinerary with dates to the blog for everyone when our travel plans in the US are completely finalized.
Prayer Requests
Loida, Sandra, Ricardo, Vanesa, Norma, Jorge, Marta, Carolina and her twins
(Anna Belen and Santiago are their names)(In the picture, Jared is holding Anna, and in the other Carolina's dad is holding Santi. They're beautiful!)
, 
and Carolina's dad , Paula, Hernan, Enrique, Maria Margarita, Yasuo, Julieta (seven-year-old with throat cancer), Jose, Estela, Silvia, Jacobo and his family, for all the other contacts we have, Glen and Kathy Henton, Chris and Alessandra Kelley, Pray for Argentina as the presidential elections are this year and it could be a scary moment of transition for this nation. Recently, the new mayor of Buenos Aires was elected and a lot of changes could happen here as well. Pray for this city and its people.
Pray for the vision and our small group. Pray that God will give us more opportunities to reach out; both with those we already have a strong relationship with and that God will open more doors for us with new people. Pray for that we can go stronger in Jesus during this time that we are learning so much.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
March: Happy new year! April: Time for decisions
MARCH: Happy new year!
You are probably wondering… excuse me! I am confused! The New Year begins the first day of January, right? Well, don’t get me wrong; Argentines do not have their own personal calendar, like Chinese people, but even though it seems they do. Officially, the year begins in January, but off the record, the real New Year begins in March. Little by little, people start showing up again back in the city by the end of February. March is the month when everything starts for real. Kids go back to School, others go back to College, courts open, everything! The city is noisy again (We didn’t miss that part) and there is a sense of energy and renewed enthusiasm in people after their long and precious vacations.
During these couple of months, like I mentioned before, we went through the ‘rotation’ effect. ( I wonder: Does it happen in the US as well?) Some came one week, and the next one didn’t, but there were others to replace those first ones. And so on. In the meantime, during this rotation cycle Jared and I got to spend time with new contacts. God was opening ways for us to meet new people and we were excited to get very close with some of them.
Paula, a girl that I met at the gym last November, drew really close to us as her family lives far from Buenos Aires. One day, after working out (Yes, God works at the Gym too!), we started talking and I invited her home and told her that we were Christians. We became really good friends and we realized that she was seeking Jesus. She got really stuck to us! We invited her to hang out with our Christian friends and she also spent Christmas with us. We started sharing our experiences of living for Jesus, and she said that one had ever talked to her like that. We gave her a bible as a present and also ‘The purpose driven life’. She said that she had not touched a bible since she was a little kid. She was thirsty for more of Jesus. Paula has just moved to the States, maybe temporarily, because she had a job offer from the Argentine consulate in Washington DC. For this reason, we couldn’t study about baptism and Christian living yet as she was involved in all the craziness that means to move to another country. But, we know that God and other brothers and sisters over in DC will continue the work that has begun in her heart here.
Carolina, a girl that I met last year through a temporary job of one week, has also become VERY open to listening about Jesus. Jared and I have spent lot of time with her. She has just had twins and she is a single mom. She is a brave 32 year-old woman who does not count on much help from her family. We realize how many people are all alone in this huge city, but find it hard to trust people because usually nobody cares about others. Carolina is now very concerned about her babies (a baby girl and a baby boy) and their spiritual future. The same night she began labor, we laid hands on her belly and we prayed for the twins. Carolina had these beautiful babies that night and she said that she felt God by her side. Carolina is now living with her dad, as her parents are divorced, and her dad is such a nice man who is also very open to sharing about Jesus. In the very near future, they both agreed on letting us go over their house and study the bible together. We are very excited about this!
We can also mention names like Marcelo, Omar and Yasuo, new contacts that God let us know during these last times.
Despite this good news, we have also faced very hard times.
We knew that we were going to go through that part sooner or later. After spending a whole year together, two people in our group decided to step away. On one hand, we always mentioned Hernan, an agnostic guy who was very close to us. Hernan was becoming more and more disrespectful when he spoke about his belief in front of the other people in the group. He did not only criticize, but also hurt some of the people when he expressed his opinion. We kept on showing our love but, finally, Jared wrote a letter in which he asked Hernan to be considerate to others and that all those things he spoke against Jesus will have consequences, whether he likes it or not. Our love for him would remain the same whether he wanted to accept Jesus or not. After that, Jared tried to contact him several times but he just refuses to talk to us.
Enrique, another man who has always kept on coming to our group every week has stopped coming. Enrique is a very opinionated man who is very interested in Jesus teachings, although he welcomes to other ‘religions’ as well. We have always made clear that being a Christian does not only mean agreeing with the bible says but to live according to it. He has recently broken up with his wife. We talked to her as well as she had begun to come to group. Enrique is unwilling to compromise with his wife or reconcile with her, even though his wife is willing to. Jared asked Glen Henton, another missionary in Argentina, to help him to talk to him about what Jesus says about divorce and about stubbornness. Despite all what it was said and done, Enrique was and is not willing to change his position. We keep praying for Enrique and for God to keep working in his heart. We were sad to see him rejecting God’s word. He likes to interpret it in his own way.
Although it was sad, we were convinced in our hearts that we were not going to change his word just to please people’s needs. I was particularly encouraged by 2nd Corinthians 2:14-17. We don’t be workers, we want to be servants. Like Paul mentioned in 1st Cor.3:6-7 “ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe…I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow…” Isn’t this beautiful? We can rest that He does the work!!
WHAT´S NEXT
We started advertising this week free lessons of English. The idea is not to promote English as a language but to get news contact by reading the bible together in English. Pray for us for God to draw people who are really seeking him!
PARTNERS IN THE GOSPEL
Again, we are already thankful for your support but please keep praying for us! It is not over yet, but just started! You are partners in the work here in Argentina! It is NOT our work! And we need your prayers! We are looking for workers full or part-time to come and work here with us. If you have time to come down and visit, and what you have is some time off, give some of your time to reach out in Buenos Aires, we will most delighted with your visit!
You are probably wondering… excuse me! I am confused! The New Year begins the first day of January, right? Well, don’t get me wrong; Argentines do not have their own personal calendar, like Chinese people, but even though it seems they do. Officially, the year begins in January, but off the record, the real New Year begins in March. Little by little, people start showing up again back in the city by the end of February. March is the month when everything starts for real. Kids go back to School, others go back to College, courts open, everything! The city is noisy again (We didn’t miss that part) and there is a sense of energy and renewed enthusiasm in people after their long and precious vacations.
During these couple of months, like I mentioned before, we went through the ‘rotation’ effect. ( I wonder: Does it happen in the US as well?) Some came one week, and the next one didn’t, but there were others to replace those first ones. And so on. In the meantime, during this rotation cycle Jared and I got to spend time with new contacts. God was opening ways for us to meet new people and we were excited to get very close with some of them.
Paula, a girl that I met at the gym last November, drew really close to us as her family lives far from Buenos Aires. One day, after working out (Yes, God works at the Gym too!), we started talking and I invited her home and told her that we were Christians. We became really good friends and we realized that she was seeking Jesus. She got really stuck to us! We invited her to hang out with our Christian friends and she also spent Christmas with us. We started sharing our experiences of living for Jesus, and she said that one had ever talked to her like that. We gave her a bible as a present and also ‘The purpose driven life’. She said that she had not touched a bible since she was a little kid. She was thirsty for more of Jesus. Paula has just moved to the States, maybe temporarily, because she had a job offer from the Argentine consulate in Washington DC. For this reason, we couldn’t study about baptism and Christian living yet as she was involved in all the craziness that means to move to another country. But, we know that God and other brothers and sisters over in DC will continue the work that has begun in her heart here.
Carolina, a girl that I met last year through a temporary job of one week, has also become VERY open to listening about Jesus. Jared and I have spent lot of time with her. She has just had twins and she is a single mom. She is a brave 32 year-old woman who does not count on much help from her family. We realize how many people are all alone in this huge city, but find it hard to trust people because usually nobody cares about others. Carolina is now very concerned about her babies (a baby girl and a baby boy) and their spiritual future. The same night she began labor, we laid hands on her belly and we prayed for the twins. Carolina had these beautiful babies that night and she said that she felt God by her side. Carolina is now living with her dad, as her parents are divorced, and her dad is such a nice man who is also very open to sharing about Jesus. In the very near future, they both agreed on letting us go over their house and study the bible together. We are very excited about this!
We can also mention names like Marcelo, Omar and Yasuo, new contacts that God let us know during these last times.
Despite this good news, we have also faced very hard times.
We knew that we were going to go through that part sooner or later. After spending a whole year together, two people in our group decided to step away. On one hand, we always mentioned Hernan, an agnostic guy who was very close to us. Hernan was becoming more and more disrespectful when he spoke about his belief in front of the other people in the group. He did not only criticize, but also hurt some of the people when he expressed his opinion. We kept on showing our love but, finally, Jared wrote a letter in which he asked Hernan to be considerate to others and that all those things he spoke against Jesus will have consequences, whether he likes it or not. Our love for him would remain the same whether he wanted to accept Jesus or not. After that, Jared tried to contact him several times but he just refuses to talk to us.
Enrique, another man who has always kept on coming to our group every week has stopped coming. Enrique is a very opinionated man who is very interested in Jesus teachings, although he welcomes to other ‘religions’ as well. We have always made clear that being a Christian does not only mean agreeing with the bible says but to live according to it. He has recently broken up with his wife. We talked to her as well as she had begun to come to group. Enrique is unwilling to compromise with his wife or reconcile with her, even though his wife is willing to. Jared asked Glen Henton, another missionary in Argentina, to help him to talk to him about what Jesus says about divorce and about stubbornness. Despite all what it was said and done, Enrique was and is not willing to change his position. We keep praying for Enrique and for God to keep working in his heart. We were sad to see him rejecting God’s word. He likes to interpret it in his own way.
Although it was sad, we were convinced in our hearts that we were not going to change his word just to please people’s needs. I was particularly encouraged by 2nd Corinthians 2:14-17. We don’t be workers, we want to be servants. Like Paul mentioned in 1st Cor.3:6-7 “ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe…I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow…” Isn’t this beautiful? We can rest that He does the work!!
WHAT´S NEXT
We started advertising this week free lessons of English. The idea is not to promote English as a language but to get news contact by reading the bible together in English. Pray for us for God to draw people who are really seeking him!
PARTNERS IN THE GOSPEL
Again, we are already thankful for your support but please keep praying for us! It is not over yet, but just started! You are partners in the work here in Argentina! It is NOT our work! And we need your prayers! We are looking for workers full or part-time to come and work here with us. If you have time to come down and visit, and what you have is some time off, give some of your time to reach out in Buenos Aires, we will most delighted with your visit!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
January-February... Where is everybody???
While December was a mess of people moving like crazy, going to get everything done before January..Finally January comes and peace settles on the city... Nice! but.. wait a minute? Where is everybody? It is just incredible the transition from, hot, noisy, crowded places to empty, silent, almost heavenly... It seems weird that in such a huge city almost everything is put 'on hold' till March, when kids go back to school. There is this urge in people to run away, no matter what, probably trying to leave behind in their minds the year that has recently passed.
However, we decided to keep on getting together every week. And that is when we suddenly realized that all these events did not stop us from starting one small group at home, one wednesday night in the middle of January of 2006. So, why should we stop this year? We knew that our main guest, Jesus, was definitely going to be with us before we started our time together as a church, I guess because he is not the main guest, but the one who calls the meeting right? Some of the people in our group even took a whole month of vacation (yes, believe it or not), and some of them less than that. The point is this: Have you ever been to a volleyball match? or Do you know the rules of volleyball? Well, for those who don't know it, there are six people in a team and sometimes seven, and depending on whether the team scored or not, they keep on moving and rotating positions. That is pretty much the explanation that I can give about how it felt our group was like during January and February. One week, we have two or three coming, but the next one, those three wouldn't come but 'no worries'!! there were some replacement! Back up to fill out those positions. Sometimes it was Jared and myself only! To be honest with you, we know that this situation repeats in almost every single church here in Buenos Aires. While someone is coming in, someone is leaving and takes turns, rotates and so on and on. It is sad to say that the church is also affected by this society's habit of leaving and taking a light commitment to meet with brothers and sisters on vacation times. We were told and advised by other missionaries here as well to not get discouraged about this situation. Therefore, during this time we tried to get more personal with those who stayed around us and are trying to deepen our relationship with them as friends. To learn to live in a community takes time. And we used these times to ask more personal questions on which point each one was standing at.
Added to all this, God also let us know more people and increased the good relationships that we've been having with our new contacts. Jared mentioned that not long time ago we made a new friend. Her name is Paula. Paula and I got to talk and I asked her if she would be willing to follow Jesus, to which she answered Yes! So, we were encouraged to see that God is getting us closer to these new contacts.
We are learning a lot. Please, pray for us! There are times that are not easy! We get tired, but then we pray for God to keep the fire in our hearts. And God is faithful! Our beautiful father has never left our hearts abandoned, although there are times that we get anxious looking for more answers from Above.. But he takes his times. And we are learning that we can not solve people's problems and we are not the ones that can draw them close to Jesus. Jesus, the almighty and powerful is the one and only answer to everybody! It is not going to be for our eloquence,enchanting words or charming personality (no way!), but because of his abundant love that people will come to him. The will be drawn to him! We keep on praying for Jesus personal revelation to each one of the people that we meet.
Unfortunaly, there were times of decisions. Hernan, one of the guys that Jared mentioned many many times, has stopped coming to group. Jared wrote a lovely and friendly letter to him, to let him know that no matter what they will continue being friends, but more than their friendship, Jesus was eager to be his friend. So, he asked Hernan to give this oportunity to Jesus to be his friend and lord. After that, Jared has been trying to contact him lots of times, but there has been no answer. This kind of situations can be sad. Not because we are taking this personal, but because that there is nothing that hurts more that when someone rejects Jesus plainly.
However, our hearts overflow with more love than before for our Jesus and for others who are willing to know about him. But, keep on praying for us! We want to stay firm and be called good servants at all times!
However, we decided to keep on getting together every week. And that is when we suddenly realized that all these events did not stop us from starting one small group at home, one wednesday night in the middle of January of 2006. So, why should we stop this year? We knew that our main guest, Jesus, was definitely going to be with us before we started our time together as a church, I guess because he is not the main guest, but the one who calls the meeting right? Some of the people in our group even took a whole month of vacation (yes, believe it or not), and some of them less than that. The point is this: Have you ever been to a volleyball match? or Do you know the rules of volleyball? Well, for those who don't know it, there are six people in a team and sometimes seven, and depending on whether the team scored or not, they keep on moving and rotating positions. That is pretty much the explanation that I can give about how it felt our group was like during January and February. One week, we have two or three coming, but the next one, those three wouldn't come but 'no worries'!! there were some replacement! Back up to fill out those positions. Sometimes it was Jared and myself only! To be honest with you, we know that this situation repeats in almost every single church here in Buenos Aires. While someone is coming in, someone is leaving and takes turns, rotates and so on and on. It is sad to say that the church is also affected by this society's habit of leaving and taking a light commitment to meet with brothers and sisters on vacation times. We were told and advised by other missionaries here as well to not get discouraged about this situation. Therefore, during this time we tried to get more personal with those who stayed around us and are trying to deepen our relationship with them as friends. To learn to live in a community takes time. And we used these times to ask more personal questions on which point each one was standing at.
Added to all this, God also let us know more people and increased the good relationships that we've been having with our new contacts. Jared mentioned that not long time ago we made a new friend. Her name is Paula. Paula and I got to talk and I asked her if she would be willing to follow Jesus, to which she answered Yes! So, we were encouraged to see that God is getting us closer to these new contacts.
We are learning a lot. Please, pray for us! There are times that are not easy! We get tired, but then we pray for God to keep the fire in our hearts. And God is faithful! Our beautiful father has never left our hearts abandoned, although there are times that we get anxious looking for more answers from Above.. But he takes his times. And we are learning that we can not solve people's problems and we are not the ones that can draw them close to Jesus. Jesus, the almighty and powerful is the one and only answer to everybody! It is not going to be for our eloquence,enchanting words or charming personality (no way!), but because of his abundant love that people will come to him. The will be drawn to him! We keep on praying for Jesus personal revelation to each one of the people that we meet.
Unfortunaly, there were times of decisions. Hernan, one of the guys that Jared mentioned many many times, has stopped coming to group. Jared wrote a lovely and friendly letter to him, to let him know that no matter what they will continue being friends, but more than their friendship, Jesus was eager to be his friend. So, he asked Hernan to give this oportunity to Jesus to be his friend and lord. After that, Jared has been trying to contact him lots of times, but there has been no answer. This kind of situations can be sad. Not because we are taking this personal, but because that there is nothing that hurts more that when someone rejects Jesus plainly.
However, our hearts overflow with more love than before for our Jesus and for others who are willing to know about him. But, keep on praying for us! We want to stay firm and be called good servants at all times!
Monday, March 19, 2007
Our Christmas
Hot. Noisy. Lots of firework and food. Just a few words to describe briefly what our christmas in Buenos Aires was like. This was probably one of the hottest christmas' in Argentina in the last few years. We had a lovely time with family and friends. In the pictures, you will also see The Carim family. Gabriel, Jazmin and their mom decided that they wanted to share this Christmas with us, as they didn't want to stay at their house. They lost their dad not long time ago and they thought that staying at their house was not going to be a good idea. Good for them! We were delighted to have them with us! Jesus is what join us as family and we were happy to celebrate his bringing of our lives together!
Thursday, March 8, 2007
A year together
Last December 9th, Jared and I celebrated our first year together. This is nothing compared to the 46 years that my parents have been together, however we are very proud of our 1st anniversary. It's been an exciting year, full of beautiful moments. As a couple, we learned not to think only as an individual, but we deepened our love for each other through different experiences (Who washes the dishes? Who takes out the trash? Who makes dinner tonight? etc, etc). Second, as servants of God, we enjoyed opening our house to welcome everyone!! That is when our house turned into our 'home,' not only because of the things and decorations that we put in it, but because of all the times and moments shared which made our home a pleasant place. We could feel God's blessing on us all year long. In our first year walking as 'one,' we can not help but be grateful for all the help God has given us.
Why a blog?
I guess some changes are good after a while. We thought this would be a much easier way for people to read periodically about what it is going on with us here in this faraway city called Buenos Aires, in the southernmost country of Latin America called Argentina. We also noticed that some of you really enjoyed seeing pictures and were asking for more, but we were unable to please you because on attaching them it made our email too big for some of you to receive it. Also, blogs have a space for comments. And we love hearing from you! So, please, let us know your comments, opinions, ideas, suggestions, and advice. They are always welcome! Hope you enjoy our 'Buenos Aires para Cristo' blog (Buenos Aires for Christ) by Jared and Karina. We love you!
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