Happy 4th of July. It is the 4th of July here, so enjoy. As it is so late, please forgive if the blog is not too detailed.
It was another great day. Jader drove up all the way from La Plata just to help with the church in Chascomus. It was really a beautiful act.
To follow that, Lorena was so moved that she took the train from Buenos Aires after school with her best friend and spent the day with us.
Juliana also came with us. Juliana is David´s sister. She was an amazing worker. Quite frankly, she was a better tile layer than any of the rest of us after Jader left. Oh, and she is only 15 years old.
So, to follow all of this, we were truly blessed to have Piqui and Vanesa give us another couple of days as they also came.
We met some great people here at the church. They prepared an amazing meal on an open grill at the old church in Chascomus (which is out in the country). Rey leads services at this church once a month. This 150 year old church had had its doors closed for 32 years when Reinaldo preached his first sermon there. Now both that church and the one downtown are used for services in Chascomus. The barbeque was amazing, and Moises/Reinaldo led us in praise and prayer there.
Today, though a lot of work was done, was also a great day for building relationships. There were some good conversations with Lorena, Piqui, Vanesa, Giselle (the only youth member of the church in Chascomus) and Melissa today. We were able to share I Tim. 4:12 and Prov. 31:19-20 with Juliana.
Tonight Rey shared his powerful testimony with us. Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray for a safe journey home and good rest.
We are all looking forward to seeing you.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Wednesday, July 2
Currently, we don´t have a way to download pictures, but we have had a very exciting and full day.
In the morning, we formed 2 teams. Chuck and Frank went to work on Martin/Gloria´s workshop with Vanesa. Gray, Chad, Tyler and Richard began to work on Jader´s house with Piqui.
The work on Jader´s house went very quickly. During a quick debrief the night before, Tyler pointed out that Jader was probably doing more work than he needed to be doing. So, we pushed it today. If he said he was going to do something (i.e. create forms for concrete), we offered to do that for him. This enabled Jader to do other things that we couldn´t, such as buy materials. It was quite a productive day. After praying with Jader, he was very appreciative for the help and said that it would have taken 2-3 months to accomplish what was done in the last 2-3 days. He had been getting home from work (he is a mechanic) at 8:00 and working on his house until 11 or 12 at night. It is nice when the Lord encourages us for the work that he is doing.
On the other worksite, there was another great story. Martin is a very quiet, "close-to-the-vest" type of person. Reinaldo told us this before beginning the project, and, though he has been extremely nice, this was noticeable. This morning, he completely opened up to Frank. This was actually a direct answer to prayer for Frank. At one point, Martin said that he was very moved by us coming such a long distance to help. In the end, he said that the work was appreciated, but that the talk that he, Frank, Chuck and Vanesa had touched him so much more deeply than anything else. Your prayers are being answered. Praise God! And, please continue to pray for this family.
After the projects, we went to a prayer meeting where we were reminded that prayers of intercession are really need for our church leaders - not just ourselves. We were extremely touched when Lorena left us a letter saying that she was very moved and encouraged by the time that we had spent together this week.
We had a fun ride to Chascomus, and ate empanadas in the church at Chascomus. We ended in prayer and song. Moises, who has an amazing voice, chose "Open the Eyes of my Heart" so that the Argentineans and Americans could sing each in their own language.
Tomorrow we begin to paint the church and do a couple of other fix-ups. Please continue to pray for the Iron Bridge Community, Adrian/Diana, Jader/Andrea (Andrea is Moises´ sister), and Martin/Gloria. But, please also continue to pray that God is glorified through this trip.
Now, to the shower!
In the morning, we formed 2 teams. Chuck and Frank went to work on Martin/Gloria´s workshop with Vanesa. Gray, Chad, Tyler and Richard began to work on Jader´s house with Piqui.
The work on Jader´s house went very quickly. During a quick debrief the night before, Tyler pointed out that Jader was probably doing more work than he needed to be doing. So, we pushed it today. If he said he was going to do something (i.e. create forms for concrete), we offered to do that for him. This enabled Jader to do other things that we couldn´t, such as buy materials. It was quite a productive day. After praying with Jader, he was very appreciative for the help and said that it would have taken 2-3 months to accomplish what was done in the last 2-3 days. He had been getting home from work (he is a mechanic) at 8:00 and working on his house until 11 or 12 at night. It is nice when the Lord encourages us for the work that he is doing.
On the other worksite, there was another great story. Martin is a very quiet, "close-to-the-vest" type of person. Reinaldo told us this before beginning the project, and, though he has been extremely nice, this was noticeable. This morning, he completely opened up to Frank. This was actually a direct answer to prayer for Frank. At one point, Martin said that he was very moved by us coming such a long distance to help. In the end, he said that the work was appreciated, but that the talk that he, Frank, Chuck and Vanesa had touched him so much more deeply than anything else. Your prayers are being answered. Praise God! And, please continue to pray for this family.
After the projects, we went to a prayer meeting where we were reminded that prayers of intercession are really need for our church leaders - not just ourselves. We were extremely touched when Lorena left us a letter saying that she was very moved and encouraged by the time that we had spent together this week.
We had a fun ride to Chascomus, and ate empanadas in the church at Chascomus. We ended in prayer and song. Moises, who has an amazing voice, chose "Open the Eyes of my Heart" so that the Argentineans and Americans could sing each in their own language.
Tomorrow we begin to paint the church and do a couple of other fix-ups. Please continue to pray for the Iron Bridge Community, Adrian/Diana, Jader/Andrea (Andrea is Moises´ sister), and Martin/Gloria. But, please also continue to pray that God is glorified through this trip.
Now, to the shower!
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Monday and Tuesday Additional Pictures Link
We are trying hard to post pictures! Let's see if the following link helps. Sorry for the extra click!
Tuesday, July 1
Today was a little bit more low key, but we still made good progress. Chad, Tyler and Gray worked on one team and Richard, Francisco and Chuck worked on another. Piqui and Vanesa each stayed at one location all day.
The teams worked on separate locations in the morning and then switched with eachother in the afternoon.
The two locations were Jader´s house (with Piqui) and Gloria/Martin´s house (with Vanesa). There was some great progress on both. We completed a wall, plastered, scraped paint, and closed off the ceiling so that rain will not get into Gloria/Martin's house.
The rebarb was completed and cement poured on Jader´s house. It was nice to be able to talk more with Jader and Martin today. Martin is passionate about geography and history. He not only knew where Tennessee was, but also that we were off of the Mississippi River. He also wants to participate with the church on its new soccer team that is being formed with the jerseys!
Jader has been married about one year, and has a son, Aaron, that is 6 months old.
In the evening, the portion of the team that did not hear David´s testimony last night was able to. The family was very welcoming and appreciative of our presence even though we were the ones blessed to hear such a great testimony of how the Lord works in people´s lives.
Tomorrow we go to Chascomus (another Argentine city) and do not know whether we will have internet connection or not. Please continue to pray for the families that we are working with, that the Lord blesses them. Also, please pray that he is glorified through this trip and the work of La Mision Betesda.
The teams worked on separate locations in the morning and then switched with eachother in the afternoon.
The two locations were Jader´s house (with Piqui) and Gloria/Martin´s house (with Vanesa). There was some great progress on both. We completed a wall, plastered, scraped paint, and closed off the ceiling so that rain will not get into Gloria/Martin's house.
The rebarb was completed and cement poured on Jader´s house. It was nice to be able to talk more with Jader and Martin today. Martin is passionate about geography and history. He not only knew where Tennessee was, but also that we were off of the Mississippi River. He also wants to participate with the church on its new soccer team that is being formed with the jerseys!
Jader has been married about one year, and has a son, Aaron, that is 6 months old.
In the evening, the portion of the team that did not hear David´s testimony last night was able to. The family was very welcoming and appreciative of our presence even though we were the ones blessed to hear such a great testimony of how the Lord works in people´s lives.
Tomorrow we go to Chascomus (another Argentine city) and do not know whether we will have internet connection or not. Please continue to pray for the families that we are working with, that the Lord blesses them. Also, please pray that he is glorified through this trip and the work of La Mision Betesda.
Monday Pics
Chuck's back was sore today!
Richard and Tyler's backs were sore today!
Jader's house before work began.
Jader, Tayler (aka Tyler), Gray, Rey, Moises, Vanesa.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday, June 30
It is so late that I doubt that pictures will make it to the blog tonight, but it has been another good day. I imagine that we will all sleep well since the construction began today.
We worked on two different homes this morning. Jader is building a home in his mom´s back yard so that he can better focus on his family and the ministry that the church provides to families. We cleared a floor of dirt to be able to pour cement tomorrow. Also, Tyler learned the joys of creating re-barb forms to help form the columns and foundations of a home.
Many of you know Adrian and Diana. Diana leads the children´s ministry and Adrian helps lead worship when possible. He is a police officer and she is studying graphic design. Sebastien They have two children (Sebastien - 4 years old and Mauricio - 2 (incorrectly named "Daniel" in yesterday´s blog)), and the entire family sleeps in one bedroom. We are also working on their home.
Finally, in the afternoon, we began working on Martin, Gloria and Saul´s (son 6 years old) home. They are using an area of their home in order to start a micro-enterprise of weaving for adult clothes as well as some small items for children such as booties. The interesting opportunity with this is that Martin has only seen the church through negative eyes. He is a great person, but annoyed with God for what he has allowed happen to Gloria over the years.
Gloria is a believer, and Martin will walk her to church, but will not step in for service. This week is a real opportunity to see that God is a god of mercy and grace. Please pray that he comes to know the Lord.
Tonight, Frank, Tyler, Piqui and Vanesa went to "David´s" home. David, came to know the Lord in prison, and has been removed from the jail, but is still under house arrest. His life is changed now, and his family - that was there tonight - really helps out a lot in the church. It was a very powerful time for everyone that was there.
The rest of us drank hot chocolate (well, Chad didn´t drink the hot chocolate), and sang praise songs in Spanish and English with Moises and got to know his mother (Andrea) better. Richard and Moises played dueling guitars. That was fun too.
Afterwards, Piqui and Vanesa shared a fun pizza place with us, we dined and then had ice cream. It´s great to have them back with us. It is always a big, important part of our trip. Well, it´s been a long day, and it is time for bed - more heavy construction tomorrow. We will try to post pictures in the morning, if possible.
Doug, we miss you and everyone is asking about you/praying for you here. Families, we all miss you tons as well.
In Christ,
We worked on two different homes this morning. Jader is building a home in his mom´s back yard so that he can better focus on his family and the ministry that the church provides to families. We cleared a floor of dirt to be able to pour cement tomorrow. Also, Tyler learned the joys of creating re-barb forms to help form the columns and foundations of a home.
Many of you know Adrian and Diana. Diana leads the children´s ministry and Adrian helps lead worship when possible. He is a police officer and she is studying graphic design. Sebastien They have two children (Sebastien - 4 years old and Mauricio - 2 (incorrectly named "Daniel" in yesterday´s blog)), and the entire family sleeps in one bedroom. We are also working on their home.
Finally, in the afternoon, we began working on Martin, Gloria and Saul´s (son 6 years old) home. They are using an area of their home in order to start a micro-enterprise of weaving for adult clothes as well as some small items for children such as booties. The interesting opportunity with this is that Martin has only seen the church through negative eyes. He is a great person, but annoyed with God for what he has allowed happen to Gloria over the years.
Gloria is a believer, and Martin will walk her to church, but will not step in for service. This week is a real opportunity to see that God is a god of mercy and grace. Please pray that he comes to know the Lord.
Tonight, Frank, Tyler, Piqui and Vanesa went to "David´s" home. David, came to know the Lord in prison, and has been removed from the jail, but is still under house arrest. His life is changed now, and his family - that was there tonight - really helps out a lot in the church. It was a very powerful time for everyone that was there.
The rest of us drank hot chocolate (well, Chad didn´t drink the hot chocolate), and sang praise songs in Spanish and English with Moises and got to know his mother (Andrea) better. Richard and Moises played dueling guitars. That was fun too.
Afterwards, Piqui and Vanesa shared a fun pizza place with us, we dined and then had ice cream. It´s great to have them back with us. It is always a big, important part of our trip. Well, it´s been a long day, and it is time for bed - more heavy construction tomorrow. We will try to post pictures in the morning, if possible.
Doug, we miss you and everyone is asking about you/praying for you here. Families, we all miss you tons as well.
In Christ,
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