A volcano, the olimpic flame, flooding and more...

Hmm… It’s always hard to start. How to try to summarize lots of things that we lived in a short paragraph? Impossible. So here it goes, just as it comes out of my mind (I’m sorry if you were expecting to see a short report). The truth is that Jared can do better reports, but I can just try to share my vision and feeling of the last events. On the one hand, I would like to tell you that even though Argentina is going through a 6 year period of continuous financial growth, the ghost of the terrible crisis this country faced in 2001 is still in the air. Terribly high inflation is making people hesitate about our supposedly healthy and steady economy. On the other hand, there were floods in the city and ashes that blocked the sun from a volcano in Chilean territory. (These ashes spread so much that the locals in Chile had to evacuate the city and even the inhabitants of BA on the other side of South America could see our sky turning gray on sunny days). We also experienced, before that, a non pleasant smell from a fire which angry farmers set off in the country that lasted for several weeks, not to mention those same farmers’ blockade that did not permit trucks to enter into the capital with foodstuffs for several weeks before that (no beef for three weeks)… Anything else? Yes! People’s attention was also drawn to the Olympic flame that was brought to Buenos Aires to promote the Olympics in China… and Jared and I got to see it ourselves too by accident (we were passing by chance!) It seems that there is always something going on this city that never sleeps (though we are not New Yorkers). There is always something to make people talk about or pay attention to. However, all these ‘distractions’ do not make people’s needs and anxiety to solve their problems as quickly as possible and to make the deeper pain inside their lives to go away disappear. The truth is, that deep down inside everybody is crying out for Jesus. Some of them might acknowledge it, some might ignore it, but everybody knows that when things are completely out of our hands and control, we have to turn to that ‘superior being’ for help. And that’s when we Christians come to bring light among so much confusion and darkness. It is a challenging and wonderful blessing to be part of this process of transformation. What a wonderful cross! People wonder how we can be positive among all of the turmoil. (Argentine’s biggest flaw is negativity) It is SO good to share all the happiness and peace we can have despite any circumstances. I´m sure this has happened to you, too, but it is hard for people who do not know Jesus yet. How can you find peace in the middle of a storm?

ABOUT US

We’ve had quite an interesting busy time. And God has been so good to us! My pregnancy has been wonderful after the first trimester, and Jared and I decided to put our apartment (yes, the one we had bought and moved to into October 2007) on sale. It may sound crazy but we felt this place didn’t agree on with our vision of planting a church in our home neither with raising a child. We prayed for God’s direction on what to do and we said “let’s give it a try”. If it didn’t sell at least 2 months before the baby arrived, then we were not going to sell it. To our big surprise, the apartment got sold in 1 month and 10 days in April and we have just bought a new one which is going to be more comfortable and complies with our needs. Although moving can be pretty stressful, we have learned to be better and faster at packing up. In the middle of all that, my dad was seriously hit by a car. The car lifted him up and his head was nearly cut in half as a result of hitting the windshield and then the ground. Blood transfusions helped him to feel stronger after losing a lot of blood and there was not severe internal damage. The doctors continue to check him regularly, and, thank God, he is doing better and his recovery is amazing. It is a real miracle that he is alive. As some of you were aware of this, I wanted to thank you on his behalf for your concern and praying for him and my family.
We have a name for the baby!
As I mentioned before, my pregnancy has been very good and totally normal. I could feel God’s protection on us in every single way and my health has never been better. Jared and I finally agreed on the name for our baby, so Kaylah Alexis were the chosen ones. I am due around June 12th. We are very excited and grateful for this baby and we are looking forward to her arrival. (not to mention Kayla’s grandparents in the US and in Argentina!) I just want you to pray for me for and the baby to do well in the labor and for a fast delivery and also for our new roles as parents. Here there are some pics: Kayla’s preview in my womb ( 4d ultrasound) and me and my belly. (some of you have already seen it, so sorry, here it goes again)

NEW HORIZONS and NEW CONTACTS.

We are moving to a new neighborhood called Caballito. This neighborhood is right in the center of the city and will enable us to keep in touch with our contacts in the Belgrano area (our old neighborhood) that is located in the north part of the city and also will enable us to make new ones. But God started working already before us and brought new opportunities to share the gospel in this new neighborhood. Recently, I had a phone call from an ex co-worker who invited me to go visit her at her house. I hadn’t seen her in many years, but while I worked for the Jockey Club of Argentina for 6 years, I had talked to her about Jesus on many occasions. It is encouraging to see that what I said to her such a long time ago, made effect 5 years later! (Psalms 126:5-6) As we talked and caught up with lots of things to tell, I didn’t know that she had invited me with the intention of telling me all the pain and struggles she’s been through in the last 10 years. She is in her thirties and married now, and I haven’t seen a person so young with so many fears. She started sobbing and she cried for a long time. She has a loving husband, but she can’t have peace because she is afraid of absolutely everything. So, she asked me.. Please, tell me.. What do I need to do? Well, I said that I was just going to repeat the same words I spoke to her long time ago, but that have the same powerful effect: You need to turn to Jesus! So, I am about to start studying the bible together and she is willing to open her heart to let God work in her life. Jared also got to meet her husband who is very nice. So, I ask you to pray for this couple. Their names are Jessica and Cesar.
With the selling of our place, I got in contact with a nice real state lady whose name is Edith. One day on the phone she started telling me her life story and she said to me “I don’t know you so I don’t know why I am telling you all this.” To make a long story short, a relationship came up with Edith and she invited us for dinner with her family. She is a widow and she has to two daughters in their twenties. Their boyfriends were there, too, and we got to share a wonderful time together and share our testimonies as Christians. They seemed very open and receptive. Please, pray for Edith, Maria Laura and Barbara. I can continue with more names and stories of people who we have recently met that we shared the gospel with. Also, pray for a girl who I just met from Ecuador who is living in Buenos Aires. Her name is Veronica and I started a relationship with her. Also pray for Marta, Rodrigo, Abel, Paula, Carolina, Jacobo, Karen and Federico, Loida, Vanesa and Norma (who is studying the bible on a weekly basis. She’s struggling with her husband’s death Jorge). And please continue to pray for us. We pray that God continues to fill us with his love to bless people’s lives and that we can be brave enough to bring not only words of love but of repentance.

Also, continue to pray for Jackie Mitchell and the church in Alto Alberdi, Cordoba. Jackie asked us to support this new church spiritually. We are praying about it as we might try to visit them every 2 or 3 months in the future to encourage them. This church is about an 8 hours drive from Buenos Aires city.
Just to finish, once again thank you for your love, prayers and support! While I’m writing Kayla is moving like crazy inside of me so maybe that’s her way of trying to say hi to everybody also? Maybe ….:-) We love you very much!!

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!

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.