Last Day of Work
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2007
1
8
Trip End
Jul 07, 2007
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Friday, July 6, 2007
Marcelo is building a soup kitchen in a place called Las Palomas. For most of the week, we've been finishing the construction there that Chuck Coleson's group started a few weeks ago. The area is full of Uruguay (Uruguayan?) immigrants who make a living off of rummaging through the garbage of other neighbors and reselling the metal or whatever. The man of the house we were near was welding a grill out of an old oil drum he found.
Stray dogs ran throughout the area and children played on heaps of garbage. It was a very sad place. If you've ever been to a city dump, you know the smell of the air that these people breath everyday. I can't wait to come back in a few years after Jesus Christ has swept through this street and hope is restored to these poor people as a result the work that was done here with the Soup Kitchen.
Mike and I spent a good portion of the day touring some of the more destitute areas of the city. Some of you may remember the community that lived underneath the interstate bridge. A fire ravaged their "village" last year and the government has provided temporary housing for them. These homes are much better than the shacks that they lived in, but Marcelo reports that the government is slowly forgetting about them, as school buses no longer pick up the children and crime is on the rise.
Their village was next to this "river" than ran through a very poor part of town, not far from La Mision. The river was about 10 car lanes wide. It was the city sewer system. It was completely open, running through neighborhoods, with garbage all around.
Mike and I were privileged enough to spend some time with Marcelo at his apartment to discuss his vision for B.A, micro-enterprise, La Mision's partnership with Redeemer Church, and his plans for the future. God is doing mighty things here through La Mision, Marcelo and his wife, Miriam. I feel very blessed to even be aware of it and can participate through prayer in the expansion of God's kingdom in this city of 13 million. I encourage you to do the same.
The university of B.A., in my opinion, is critical to the expansion of God's presence in this city. La Mision is located about 45 minutes from the University, but the church is planting small groups in the University area with hope to someday build a church. Please pray for this effort.
I feel that Marcelo's group is currently on the outside of the university looking in, with only a few university students attending La Mision. I believe we should pray for someone on the inside; perhaps an academic leader or a student at the University that is also a passionate about Jesus Christ and is willing to carry a large burden of the church building process.
What have I learned from this trip? I have learned that evangelism is relational. I could be wrong, but I don't believe that broadcasting church on a billboard is the most effective way to reach people for Jesus. I think building and maintaining relationships with people and showing the love of Christ is the best way to lead people to Christ. Showing people that you generally care and that there is something special about you (which is Christ in you) is the most effective way. That's the model they follow here.
This might blow your mind (as it did ours), but they build churches from small groups. Small groups are the foundation of the church plants. That is where they start. The building will come later; God builds his church with the body of believers.
They also use small groups to bring people in and make them feel comfortable before ever bringing them to church. Small groups are the most effective means of evangelism. My small group at home is a closed group. After spending a week here, I realize how absurd that is.
Probably the most emotional moment of the trip was when the group decided to put 250 pesos (about $85) together to give to one of the widows we were helping in Merlo. The lady's name was Anna and she was about 70 years old. We gave the money to Marcos, to give to her while we finished painting her kitchen and the tile work in the bathroom. She became overjoyed and hugged each one of our necks with tears streaming from her face. This $85 will probably last her a very long time. As she wept, she cried out in Spanish, Glory Jesus, thank you Lord, Praise God, Praise God. Little does she know that we were blessed much more than she was for having the opportunity to glorify God is such a way.
If any of you reading this blog ever have a chance to serve our Savior in any capacity, please please please don't hesitate. Your return will far exceed your price. Its always been that way for me. And I feel that my price was extraordinarily high this year. I miss my wife and son dearly. Jacks finally cut his first tooth this week while I was gone. I can't wait until Saturday to see their sweet faces again. But I know they understand. I look forward to the day I can bring them both back to B.A. and show them the amazing work our God has done and hope our God has brought to this the grand, yet sad city.
Tomorrow, we'll have some sight seeing and then its off to the airport around 6:00. We are scheduled to be in Memphis around 10: 00 (I think).
For some of us ,we can't wait to see our wives and for others, we can't wait to see our mommies (Brent & Bryars).
Travis
