On Wednesday we arrived at school to prepare all the last-minute things for the ministries and the guys spent the night at Professor DiTrolio's house while the ladies stayed at Pastor Mark Boucher's house. After "slaving away in the kitchen preparing our dinner," he reached into the oven and pulled out a large container of KFC. Best home-cooked meal ever! On Thursday morning, we gathered early to practice at the school and had an amazing lunch at the DiTrolio residence before heading off to the airport for our 10:00 flight. There's not too much to recap about the flight besides the fact that it was 10+ hours in the air with little much going on. Great food though! (Although the flight attendant did spill Professor DiTrolio's breakfast all over!)
We arrived in Buenos Aires a little past noon using our Speed the Light van and headed straight to our lodgings: Ronda de La Laguna Cabanas. (http://www.rondadelalaguna.com.ar/) There are dogs everywhere. After getting settled in, we went out for lunch with the pastor of the new church down here and his family. Oh yes, and that Speed the Light van... let's just say it needs a little push before it can get started. And since the ladies cannot be expected to push a van, the gentlemen have to muster up all their strength to get it started each time. It's quite a sight to behold!
Thank the Lord for siesta! A siesta is a short nap that the people here take in the early afternoon, usually after the lunch meal. Most of the stores around the area are closed for this time, and it was great to be able to get back, relax, and catch up on some sleep. Let's just say we're all pretty excited for our siestas!
We headed to our first church service at Iglesia Amistad Cristiana at 6:30 to prepare for the 7:30 service. We were surprised by the size of the church- it is only a small room with tiled floor and the total number in the congregation is three. We believe that God will increase this number and bless this church! It is a new plant, only two months old, and the Lord is already working.
We spent that hour setting up a few things and preparing ourselves spiritually and praying as a team. It really was such a beautiful time of prayer. We started the service out with some traditional Spanish worship and performed the human video for "Everything" by Lifehouse. Afterwards, Bess Harbison shared a powerful testimony about returning to our First Love. Following this, Pastor Mark spoke to us about finding true wisdom "when life just doesn't make sense" using Job 28:28 as a foundation. It was a powerful message and he shared an encouraging word with the pastor and his family. We ended the service with prayer for the people who attended for their needs and we fully trust God with all we brought before Him!
Pastor Robustiano, his wife Gissell Acosta, and their daughter Aricol, joined us for dinner around 10:00 and we all shared a wonderful time of fellowship around the table. We all thought it was great how Pastor Mark called their daughter Aerosol because that's how he remembers her name. Because there was such a downpour, the guys had to push the van back and forth in the street for a while before it started. Brute strength right there! Now we're off to bed.
We are praying that God brings more and more people to the church to hear the Word. Keep praying! God bless!
-The Argentina team.
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| This is where we are staying for the week. |
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| There are dogs everywhere! Sheesh! |
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| Come on, start! |
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| Pushing the van. It's a Mercedes-Benz. Ironic, huh? |
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| This is the entire church building at the moment. But God will make this church grow! |
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| Look! Pastor Mark is pushing the van all by himself!! |
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| Pastor Robustiano and his family! |