Outing to "Tierra Santa"

On Sunday afternoon, Clayton, Laura, Marcos and I headed out to the religious theme park called "Tierra Santa" (Holy Land). It is billed as the first park of its kind in the world. We weren't prepared for the crowd who all had the same idea on such a beautiful day. We stood in a long line waiting to enter but, despite its length, it was not too long a wait in an orderly fashion. The park is full of stone statues of animals and people depicting the time around the time that Jesus walked on the earth. There were various "shows" depicting the creation, the birth of Jesus, the crucifixion, the ascension, etc. There was even some "entertainment" in the form of dancing men and women with an Arabic flair. We walked around looking at the various scenes - such as Jesus in the temple when he was twelve, the flight to Egypt, the stations of the cross, etc. Everything is well done and fairly authentic. Of course, the park also has stalls for selling typical souvenirs, a potter, coffee shops and even a grill. It was a fun afternoon and Marcos was perfect as he sat in his stroller and enjoyed the sights!

A couple of busy days

Wednesday morning we headed out for my appointment for a mammogram at the clinic about 40 minutes from our apartment. I was met by Teresa, the technician, who has been doing my mammograms for years. She apologized that there was a delay due to no x-ray film. She had just gotten back from vacation and the gal who was filling in for her didn't order the film. I had an almost 30 minute wait. Why didn't I take a book to read?! Once that was done, we realized we had over an hour before we were to meet others for lunch so I suggested we go to one of my favorite sweater shops to see the new arrivals. It was sort of on the way to the restaurant. I didn't find a sweater for me but there were some summer items on sale so I bought Laura a pretty sleeveless blue sweater.
We then headed to the restaurant "Kansas" where others were meeting for a farewell luncheon for the Balyeats who resigned and had come back to pack up their household stuff. There were 15 of us around the tables that had been pushed together to accomodate us. It was a fun, although sad, occasion to say "good-bye" to colleagues who had been here for almost ten years.
At three we all said our "good-bye" (Chau, chau!) Clayton and I headed for Wal-Mart to do our weekly grocery shopping. We got home around five. Traffic was heavy on the highway that encircles the federal capital so it took it a while to get home.
Laura stopped by for a visit between her classes. She is doing great and keeps busy with all her students.
At around seven we headed out to prayer meeting. Two of the older parishioners were waiting at the door when we arrived. Right now, Clayton has a key since he is helping out in some leadship capacities as we search for a pastor. There are others with keys but none of them showed up for the meeting. We gathered in a circle in the main worship area to read from the book of James. Then we prayed for various people and especially for the search for a pastor for the church.
We got home about 9:30 and had some work to finish up in the office before we went to bed. Clayton continues to work on volunteer strategy for the region so there are lots of emails to read and answer.
On Thursday we were up early to begin the day. We worked in the office in the morning. It is Julia's day to come and clean the apartment so she showed up around 9:30 and we chatted for a while. After lunch I headed to the laundromat to do the week's laundry. I wrote some letters as I waited for my clothes to wash and dry.
At four we went to pick up Marcos and Laura. We were going to baby-sit for a while. Laura had a class and Javier had some business to see to. We took Marcos with us as we headed back to the clinic. On the way, we stopped at the Whittalls' to drop off some letters to be mailed and visited with them for a while.
I had a follow-up appointment after all the x-rays and some treatments. Everything was okay. My blood pressure is down and I was happy. While I was with the doctor, Clayton watched Marcos play on the floor. The clinic has an area for children that is carpeted and has some toys. Clayton said that Marcos played without fussing for the waiting time. We decided to take him to McDonalds as it was getting late and time for his meal. He ate the hamburger patty, french fries, ice cream and drank his milk. He enjoyed the food and was quite happy to sit in the high chair. It was a fun outing. We got him home around 8:30.
Traffic congestion, long distances between our apartment and other places, and just waiting for events can be time consuming and take up a lot of our time. We are always so thankful to arrive home without having had an accident!

Outing in Ramos Mejia

We met Laura, Javier and Marcos in Ramos Mejia where they live for an outing to have coffee and visit. Ramos Mejia is a township with a population of more than 200,000 people. It is one train stop or twenty blocks from Haedo where we live. The wide avenue called "Avenida de Mayo" (May Avenue) is the main street with lots of traffic constantly. Laura and family live in an apartment building on the street 6 blocks from the train station. Their apartment building has an ad for Wal-Mart painted on the side as you can see from the picture. Other pictures show different street scenes and our time together in the new coffee shop named "Ramos Boulevard". It was a fun outing and Marcos was in fine form. I'm including several pictures so you can get a feel for where they live.

Associational Pastors'/Wives' Meeting

The associational group met at the Ciudadela church this morning and on through lunch. Ciudadela is one of the big churches in the West Zone association and was started by one of the early missionaries. It has started several churches over the years with churches through the five generation from their beginnings. The pastor, Andres (Andrew) is a very missions minded pastor who believes in starting churches.
The group of pastors and their wives meet monthly. Not all the wives are able to attend due to different reasons but they are supportive of their husbands in the ministry. Clayton spoke to the "general assembly" and told about his call to missions and how much the missionary life has meant to him. He thanked the people for their support over the past 20+ years. After he spoke the group was divided into two groups with those who are ordained meeting together to elect new officers and take care of business and the other group listened to me talk about my life as a missionary. It was meaningful to me to be able to tell the group what living in Argentina was like for me and how much I have loved my life here. I also thanked them for their friendship and support.
We ate a wonderful lunch of baked chicken and salads and enjoyed fellowship around the table. Many stopped by to tell us how much they appreciated us and our ministry.

Lunch at Sofia's

Tuesday morning started out quite normally as we awoke to rain. We spent the morning in the office making calls, working on emails, and other reports for the work. We left home around 11:30 to run some errands before we picked up Dave and Barb to go to lunch at Sofia's.
Lunch at Sofia's (one of our favorite restaurants) is usually a leisurely affair. The menu features many selections all for one price. The restaurant is named in honor of the actress Sofia Loren, a famous Italian. It leans towards the Italian in flavor and atmosphere but hardly any restaurant here exists without the Argentine grill! We got shrimps crepes for the first dish and enjoyed that. There were many selections which we have tried but it seems we always come back to the crepe which has a wonderful white sauce with pimientos, green peppers, mushrooms and little shrimps. The bread is hot "pizza" crusts cut in triangles with parmesan cheese on top. I had the grilled pork chops and a nice salad for the main course. The others opted for the vegetable plate (spinach, peas, squash, carrot and potato) along with grilled meat. For dessert I chose the flan which is made in the restaurant and not "store bought" as some is. Of course, Dave, Barbara and I had coffee to finish the meal.
We took Barb and Dave home and then headed out to Plaza Oeste to do our grocery shopping at the big supermarket called JUMBO. We got home around five.

Outing with Laura and Marcos

This morning I got on the bus half a block from our apartment and rode the 20 blocks to Ramos Mejia to meet Laura and Marcos at "Palamos" coffee shop for coffee and a visit. Laura walked the six blocks from their apartment with Marcos in the stroller. We enjoyed coffee (me) and Laura and Marcos shared a banana milk shake. Marcos was passed back and forth between us in the booth and enjoyed sipping the shake and juice that his mommy had taken in a cup. He liked the toast and cookies as well and ate almost a whole coissant. He flirted with the women in the booth behind us and generally was quite agreeable. It was fun to take some time out of our day just to be together.

Buenos Aires Strategy Group Meets

The BA Strategy Group met this morning for its montly planning and prayer meeting. The group focuses on people in the city of Buenos Aires and works with national Christians in planting churches and discipling new believers. The pictures show Clayton and Youngje looking at the map of the city detailing areas where there are no Baptist churches. Other pictures depict the group around the table. Some of the members were not present this morning. The group welcomed new missionaries Younje and Mihwa. Bruce and Nancy introduced their five-month old grandson, Luke, who is visiting them along with his parents. We prayed for two couples and a single man who are studying Spanish in Costa Rica and will be joining the group by the end of the year. After the meeting the group assembled at a local restaurant to celebrated strategy coordinator, Randy's, birthday which is tomorrow. Buenos Aires is a huge city with more than 13 million people and less than 10% of them claim to be evangelical Christians.

Tuesday Morning

Just wanted to share this little picture of Marcos (Mark Xavier). It is a typical pose. His favorite book this week is Dr. Seuss' ABC's. He is enjoying playing in his little tent, a gift from one of his friends. He likes to "talk" on the phone to his grandparents. What a joy to our lives!

Church in formation at Spegazzini

Spegazzini is a township located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires in the area around the international airport. About 1500 people live in the area reached by the church. The mother church, Nueva Vida (New Life) of which we are members bought the property in early 2005. It has a small storage building plus the shell of a house on it with quite a bit of open area. Right now decisions are being made about finishing the house - to roof it with an additional two rooms planned. The floor of the house is dirt right now so there will have to be concrete poured for a floor plus the windows and doors. The 14 members are ambitious in their plans to get the house ready by the time that winter comes. Right now the meetings are held outside under the tree with people sitting on benches. There is no electricity yet to the property and the water source is a well that requires a hand pump which Carlos puts on and takes off at each meeting since the possibility of its being stolen is very high since the property is left unattended. The street in front of the property is unpaved so after the heavy rain on Friday there were lots of ruts in it.
Clayton and I went out to Spegazzini yesterday for the afternoon service. It was Lord's Supper Sunday so they like to have a "pastor" lead the worship. A little more than 20 people gathered to worship and study the Bible. Two people have recently made professions of faith and are preparing to be baptized. A young Christian couple who live in the neighborhood has been visiting and are discussing joining the congregation formally. If that couple joins and the two are baptized the official membership would reach 18. PTL!
Meeting outside has its challenges as the sun shifts so do the benches. The noise from the planes overhead and the distant train can interrupt the prayers. Just as Clayton began the part of the service with the Lord's Supper, the neighborhood across the street turned on the folk music very loudly. Clayton said he didn't notice it!
The couple who lead the work there - Carlos and Beatriz - moved to that area a couple of years ago and could not find a Baptist church in which to worship so they began a Bible study in their home with the hope that some day it would grow to be a church. With the support of Nueva Vida where they are members, they began looking at different properties in the neighborhood and found the one that was eventually bought.
Carlos and Beatriz are very typical of people who begin new churches in that they are willing to do what it takes to grow the church. We are so glad to be a part of something this good.

Julia comes on Thursdays

Julia has been working for me for almost 20 years. She was trained by one of the missionary women over 35 years ago and has worked for many of us over the years. Julia lives about an hour's bus ride from us but still in the outskirts of Buenos Aires southeast of us. She is originally from the northern province of Chaco and worked in the cotton fields as a young girl. She and her husband, Jorge have five children, one of whom was electrocuted in an accident about 10 years ago. Julia is a faithful worker. She is so honest that we can allow her to have the keys to our apartment so she can come to clean even on days when we are not here. Julia cannot read nor write but can recognize time, numbers of the bus and a few other things. Over the years several have tried to teach her to read but that has not been successful. She is very hard working and goes about her work in a methodical way. I rarely ever have to ask her to do anything as she knows how to do the job. Her favorite job is working in the kitchen and doing the dishes. I have had her cook for us sometimes and the food is always delicious. She keeps telling me that she is really going to miss us when we leave and dreads the day when we leave. She has said "good-bye" to many over the years. She is well remembered by the families she has worked for and often receives letters from them. She is always thrilled to hear from them and has a grand-daughter read her the letters. I will miss Julia when we leave as well. She has been a good employee but most of all a good and caring friend.