Hello from Argentina
Hello from Argentina!
We made it to Argentina last night after more than 24 hours of traveling. Once we (finally) made it through customs, Sam and Carita met us along with Sasha (the youth/college minister) and Scott (and independent missionary working with Sasha). We went straight to the church and got settled in.
While some of the team began to set up, others went to get dinner from “the chicken guy.” Think of the best grilled chicken you’ve had, and then make it better. Needless to say, we chowed down.
Before dinner Sasha gave us an orientation talk and a run down of what will be happening this week. We will be spending a good deal of time getting to know the people and youth of Centro Crecer as we continue to find ways for our churches to partner together.
This morning, we began the day with a joint devotional (our team and the musical leadership of the youth). It was very cool to the see the youth of Centro Crecer devoted to worshiping God, not only through music, but with their lives. We shared verses about worship that guided the way we do so, and then spent some time praying with each other, both in Spanish and English.
The rest of the morning and part of the afternoon, Jason, Sarah and I spoke with the leadership of the church on how we plan services, worship and small groups. They had many questions, from media to volunteers to social networking, and more.
Tonight we celebrated Andy’s, aka Tony’s (ask him later), birthday! He turned 21 today, and we got him a mate (pronounced ma-te, a traditional Argentine tea) set, which we promptly convinced him to use. In a few minutes, we will be joining the jovenes (college age group) for a bible study and dinner (at midnight!). Dinner is a traditional Argentine dish called milanesa, which is worth waiting until midnight for.
We are excited to see how God is going to grow us this week, and use the trip to teach others about the Gospel. He already began to do to before we left, with Sarah and her hair stylist. Here is her story.
“After I scheduled a very last minute trim for Thursday morning, my favorite hair girl asked me what I was doing this weekend. It’s not very often that I get to say “Going to Argentina!” As we chatted about the purpose of the trip, I was finally able to talk about what God means for my life and how that influences my involvement at LifeConnection. This conversation naturally led me to asking “So, what’s your experience with church and stuff?”. I’ve been praying for three years that I would have a natural opportunity to talk to her about God. For the rest of my time in her chair (minus when she used the blow dryer) we talked about where she and her husband find themselves in relation to God. I invited her to come check out LifeConnection and now I pray that she will connect to Jesus. How cool is it that God began using our time in Argentina before we even boarded the plane!?!“
We will miss worshiping with our LifeCo family in the morning, but are looking forward to worshiping with the members of Centro Crecer tomorrow night!
Paul
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