Buenos Aires, Argentina -- Summer/Winter 2007

Bilingual Camp and more!

2007-07-11T14:00:00.000-03:00

Hey everyone!

Since the last time I wrote, we've been really busy! We had the Bilingual Friends Camp outside of the capital in a place called Maximo Paz. It was a joint effort between the three congregations in BsAs (Caballito, Villa Urquiza and Parque Centenario) and there were about 40 people all who went. We had classes where Brian, one of the missionaries and I gave a talk about different themes from the Bible and then we would split up into groups and discuss the passages and questions that were attached. We also got to play soccer (fútbol!), tenis and just enjoy the trees and grass...something that people who lives in BsAs don't get to see very often!

This is a picture of the entire group in front of our retreat center.

Here are the guys and girls who played FÚTBOL!

Sunset on the last day...do you see what is underneath the sun?

Here are some of our tables on Saturday at lunchtime.

We had some great discussions and made some friends that will hopefully continue coming to church!

Right after that, I took my Mom to Montevideo to see where I studied this past semester and to met my friends!

This is our boat...the Buquebus that took us from BsAs to the port of Montevideo!

Here we are in Pocitos neighborhood by the beach.

Here is my mom and me with several friends in Montevideo!

Other than that, things are going well. It snowed in BsAs on Monday afternoon for several hours. It was the first time a significant snowfall has occurred in the Capital in about 80 or 90 years! So we got to live history! In the Capital the snow did not stick, but out by the international airport the pastures were covered and cars were stopping all along the highway to take pictures and play in the snow! I took my mom to the airport on Monday night because she was supposed to go home. So I dropped her off and she went into the secure area and everything. Then I came back home and ate dinner with a friend. As soon as I got into the house and I was taking off my jacket wet from the snowfall, my cell phone rang and it was mom calling to let me know that all flights were canceled and that I needed to come back and get her! So I called the taxi service (Remis) and there was an hour and a half wait for any car! So I ended up having to go and barter with a normal taxi to take me to the airport. The first one I saw gave me a good price and said he was going to turn off the price clock and said that he was counting on my word. That struck me as weird because there aren't too many people here who will trust in a stranger to follow through with their word. We started talking and he asked me why I was in Argentina and he said that he also was a Christian and went to an Evangelical church just a few blocks from my house. He let me listen to a song by an Australian group Hillson that sings in English and Spanish and we talked about how God works in awesome ways...even when you're 5 307 miles (8 541km) away from home!

He definitely saved me from having to spend a fortune with another driver AND help me out in a somewhat desperate situation. ISN'T GOD GREAT?!

This Sunday, the young people at Caballito church are leading the service. Brian is preaching and I am maybe leading the songs but for sure teaching the youth group class afterwards. We are really excited about getting involved and really taking advantage of the opportunity!

God Bless!

p.s. don't be shy...leave a message!!

It's Been A While!

2007-06-29T14:46:00.000-03:00

Sorry its been so long since we've written! We've been in and out of internet connection here in the house and we've been busy!

I'll try to catch y'all up. Last weekend there was a conference in Villa Urquiza church in Buenos Aire over what it means to be the body of Christ and how we can become more of the Christian family God wants us to be. The Teel family came and the father and son gave the classes that were Thursday through Saturday. They used the book of Mark to teach. We met some people who were new and I was able to talk to them a little while. In the class we were talking about how Jesus was looked down upon by even his family at times for his teaching and lifestyle and I was talking to a girl who was really touched by that. Right now she's trying to make a lot of changes in her lifestyle and pray and read the bible more and her own sisters are discouraging her from doing that. There are many first-generation Christians here in BsAs and so family discrimination is a common thing here I believe. When a person becomes a Christian and tries to change their way of acting, their family (many times) interprets the situation as though the new Christian is looking down on the rest of their family because they choose not to participate in certain activities.

We have finished making rough recordings of all of 45 children's songs in Spanish and now we're meeting 2x a week with a group of jovenes from the Caballito church (our church) here to practice the songs and learn them to be able to record.

We are also sitting in on bible studies as well as spending lots of time with Silvio who lives outside of Capital Federal. He is studying Revelation with a missionary here and is learning and asking a lot of questions. He works on the weekend and plus he lives 2 hours (on bus, train, and subway) from the Caballito church. After the studies, we go with him to the subway to see his favorite band play in the subway station for about 30 or 45 minutes before he has to go to his classes.

If you can take just a second and say a little prayer for Eva and Silvio I know God will provide the will and way for them to continue growing in their faith and become His children some day!

Last Sunday afternoon, we went as a church to a park that is about 10 blocks away and passed out invitations to the church, talked to people about God and sung in the park. Usually people don't pay much attention to the Church and prefer other lifestyles without rules. We did, however, have several people that seemed interested in coming so that was really exciting! As much as I would like to say it was my cool sunglasses, I have to give God the glory for those people talking to us in the park! (see picture below...)

(This is my friend Nati...and p.s. the glasses are hers!)

On a lighter note, my MOM got here today! I went and picked her up from the airport early this morning and we ate lunch downtown! She is here to see what Argentina is like and why in the world I like South America so much! Later this afternoon we are headed out with the 3 churches in BsAs to a weekend camp in the country. We are going to have bible studies in English and Spanish and have a chance for the people of BsAs to practice their English while studying the Bible! We're using curriculum developed by Let's Start Talking. Brian and I are really excited about the camp this weekend and hopefully, God will send us a lot of people with open hearts and minds!

On Monday, I am taking my Mom to Montevideo, Uruguay. I want her to get to see the place I studied abroad for 4 months! She's getting to meet all my friends and see everything I love about the city!

Well, don't be shy now...leave some comments! And I'll try to keep posting more frequently.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. And I hope y'all are enjoying the Summer weather up there in the Northern Hemisphere...

God bless!

Spencer

La Reunión de Jovenes

2007-06-13T18:00:00.000-03:00

Hola hermanos y amigos!

Well, we finished the weekend youth group gatherings. Friday and Saturday night we had the Aggies here helping and really encouraging people and things went really well. Sunday there were fewer young people at the meeting but we still had a good night. We had English and Spanish choruses, dramas and more. God sent a couple of other Americans that we've gotten to know very well and they are working with us as well. Here is a picture of the Spanish chorus:

From left to right we are Marisa (Osvaldo's daughter), Jennifer (from Nebraska), Alejandro (from Quito, Ecuador who now lives here) Brian and finally me.

Well, up until now things have been a little slower than I was expecting. The church at Caballito already had a couple of things planned such as this weekend youth group get together as well as a singing and puppet presentation for this coming weekend. We've spent a lot of time getting to know people in the youth group, participating in Tuesday and Saturday youth meetings and cell groups on Wednesday nights. Today, however we began two projects that are going to
take a lot of preparation.

The first one is what Brian already briefly mentioned. We are learning children's songs to help record a CD to be used by church teachers. The goal was to get 50 songs and they have 46 right now! That's plenty to keep Brian and me very busy learning the songs! We are going to get together with the chorus we had from this weekend and learn and improve the songs and eventually go to a recording studio and make a CD. So if you want you can just ask me for my signature right now. It'll be worth something someday! ..... Just kidding.

The other project is to do a bilingual youth camp. Let's Start Talking has a follow-up program called Friends Speak. We are having classes and using LST material to continue attracting young people to the church. We just started talking about how we can help and it's going to be a great camp it looks like.

This things are great because we have been praying that God would use us here and open doors for us to reach people and he definitely is doing it!

Hope y'all are enjoying the Summer. There's supposed to be a "polar wave" coming towards this weekend so it should be getting really cold! Right now its about 50 or 55 usually. Thanks for the prayers and pray for the jovenes we will be working with!

Blessings

Aggie Visit

2007-06-09T01:23:00.000-03:00

Howdy everybody! This is Brian and Spencer catchin´y´all up on some stuff. (Brian is typing) We met with Osvaldo (overseeing missionary) to discuss our plans and received some projects to start on. Apparently, Christian music isn´t very big down here, so we might be making a CD of some Spanish Christian music. We´ll see. Other than that, our ministry opportunities are increasing. I am teaching a class at church this Sunday and we are making contacts with the youth group and some of the people on the fringes of the church.

The Aggies came this last Tuesday and they have been great. This weekend, we´re having a small evangelistic youth meeting and we´ve been advertising for it for awhile now, passing out flyers on Wednesday and today (Friday). It was an added surprise to see some of our friends among the group as well, though I regret having to speak so much English! The Aggie group as well as the youth group have been a pleasure to work with and I pray that our meeting will be fruitful. The evangelists here work so hard. I hope we are an encouragement to them!

On a lighter note, I tried to cook today with some strange ingredients. It turned out ok... The chicken was pretty good though! Pictures are coming soon (not of the chicken) so be patient with us. Please continue to pray for us as our passion is turned into action here in Buenos Aires. We may have many more ministry opportunities as we settle into a more regular schedule and we are ready to serve in whatever way possible. Until next time, Chao!
Brian and Spencer

We're Here

2007-06-03T18:17:00.001-03:00

After months of planning and raising funds, we're finally here! We got here on a COLD, wet morning this past Thursday. We are staying with a missionary named Joel in the Caballito neighborhood of Buenos Aires (BA). We got to meet some of the youth group, the jovenes of three different churches in BA on Saturday night. (There are 3 churches in BA: Caballito, Parque Centenario and Villa Urquiza.) Youth group is a very loose term for what they have here...basically starting at about age 15 you are in the youth group until you get married. So there are people in their 20s and 30s in the youth group. (Youth group = jovenes). So we met with the jovenes on Saturday night in Parque church and sang, had a bible study and ate birthday cake and drank coffee. Afterward we went with about 12 of the jovenes and a couple adults (including an older missionary) to play soccer at an indoor field. Brian and I realized that we're probably going to get into much better shape by the end of these 2 months!

Sunday, we went early and had breakfast at the church building and got to meet many of the members and have a chance to talk for a while before the service started. Brian went to a Let's Start Talking Class (a English-teaching program that they have going year-round) and I went to the jovenes class.

This is a picture of Brian and me on the plane. Brian opted out on the Tylenol PM. Bad idea. I slept just fine!

This is the living room of our great house! I'm using that white laptop computer right now...

This is 25 de Mayo, the widest street in the world! (or at least is used to be). It's 9 lanes wide on each side. We met an American family there from Houston!