gearing up part two

test driving it on our new living room/dining room walls

My baby, the projector, has been sitting all alone and forlorn in a corner since we unpacked our beautifully donated JESUS Film equipment back in November.

This has frustrated me to no end. I want to use it.

Yesterday. 

But we're on Latin time now. No one's in that great of a rush round these here parts. And we arrived at a "bad" time of year anyway- the beginning of summer. We were overwhelmed with simply getting healthy, beating 105 degree heat, and getting acclimated. Besides, starting up a ministry takes time.

If you were to ask me what it is I want to do here, it would be this: showing the Jesus Film, travelling around, and evangelizing by showing all these amazing movies we have been given, entrusted with. That is what I want to do.

Up until now Tony has done most of the evangelizing and ministry. That's fine for now, but I'm getting rather antsy. God called me, too. And I will not feel fulfilled if it's just to wash dishes and serve meals and raise my kids (although good and important things). I just won't. But that is me. I can do all that in the US. If all I wanted to do was wash dishes and serve meals and raise my kids (which are good things), I would have stayed nice and comfy at home in the US. But reaching the lost with the message of hope we have in Christ is what I really want to do. If you were to ask. Going to where the Good News has not reached, that is where I want to be. Whether that be here in the city, or six hours up in the mountains out in the middle of nowhere Patagonia, that's where I want to be. That is what I want to be doing.

In all my free time, of course. I have a lot of that, you know.

So lately I've been asking Tony when we are going to show some movies in the slums. His response? With winter coming, it is more important that the families we are working with build a house to live in so they don't freeze to death in the dropping temperatures, than seeing a movie.

Oh. Okay. Touché.

We took our projector on our first mission trip to Bariloche. We didn't end up showing any movies. The trip was a disaster in many ways (I never did get around to expounding on all that went wrong, but let's just say the trip didn't work out or look like I had imagined in my fantastically imaginative, incredibly creative, always dreamily positive visionary mind). We learned a lot on that trip. We plan to not repeat a lot of our mistakes. We're novices, you know. Never done this before. We're learning a los golpes as they say.

So, we're taking our projector again on this upcoming trip to Nowhere Patagonia. I'm serious. It's not even on the map. I checked Google Earth, trust me, it's not there. Let's just say remote. It's a pastor's conference/meeting thingy/visit some isolated families in the mountains type thing of all the pastors in Patagonia. I think. Planning and information are not posted on the church's website here. Because they don't have a website. And everyone is working and hard to get ahold of, including the pastor who has a day job. So all the information we have is that it's very primitive, it gets VERY cold at night, it's 40 km of gravel road once the paved road runs out, we may have to walk two hours to visit some of the families who live there, and yes bringing our projector is a good idea.

Therefore I pulled the projector out again, started connecting and disconnecting wires, and had a jolly good time of it I have to say. We later prayed mightily for open doors in our Bible study tonight, safety on the roads, health, and connections. Hook us up, Lord. We hope to show movies there, but I have to learn to stop saying, "We will do this, we will do that" because half of our plans don't seem to work out when or how we plan them to. But this is a beginning. And we all have to start somewhere.

Another great tidbit is that this will be our first contact with a Mapuche community. We will be staying in a school way up in a remote mountain village (thus the precarious and primitive conditions) in an area where most of the population are Mapuche. Or so they say. You have to ride your horse two hours to get to church, or something like that.

Okay, I'm rambling. It's late. We'll see how it goes...

:)

ministry pictures from Patagonia

I am really excited to share these photos with you! In a little over a month, we will be living and working here - the Patagonian province of Neuquén, Argentina. 

Here are some pictures of some of the ministry and missions that our friends and contacts are currently doing there. Soon, and Lord-willing, we will be doing it, too!

(all photos used by permission - gracias, Edgardo!) 

entering a remote mountain village that is not even on the map!



indigenous Mapuche church



learning from the Word of God

  

various Bible activities

 

Personal evangelism: sharing the gospel one-on-one



some believers in a little village called Cancha Huinganco,
200 miles up in the mountains from the city of Neuquén

oh, and remember that recent volcanco explosion? here's what it looked like on the road to Bariloche,
just 4 hours from our new home :)

We are beginning to see what Edgardo meant when he said that our mission mobile will be a tremendous blessing to have there... don't you think? And I just want to thank Chris N.! One of those many tents you gave us will come in pret-ty handy when we go to minister in these far, and I mean FAR off the beaten path places! I never thought I'd see the day my city-slicker husband CAMPED, but I do declare that God answers prayer and we may indeed camp after all. I can't imagine lodging is plentous, or even available, in these here parts.

SO. EXCITED.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." ~Matthew 25:40

Another very strange and quite unexpected turn of events

It all started on Sunday when we came home from church and noticed a phone message from an obviously (by the accent) Argentinian man we don't know. Tony, curious, called him back. It turns out that he is a friend of a friend who had been in Argentina a few years ago. Turns out this guy is a pastor. And from Patagonia. He was in our area for a week and called us up.

Now what are the chances that we would meet a pastor... from Patagonia? Around here??

So, since they were staying only an hour away from us, he, his wife, and son, came over Monday for mid-morning mate. (little cultural note: What really impressed me immediately was that they were on time. I couldn't believe it. I told Tony that that was only the second time in my 13 years of experience with Argentinians that they actually arrived at the time they said they would.).

We had a great time getting to know them. Edgardo [here's a picture] earns his living as a civil engineer, and his wife is an English teacher. Edgardo is also pastor and a missionary. They have three children and live in Neuquén, the largest city in Patagonia. So, of course, we immediately bombarded them with a million questions. Edgardo then proceeded to tell us the history of their 20-30 years or so of evangelism and church planting ventures in Argentina.

He, along with a group of three other pastors from (sort-of) nearby cities in northern Patagonia (distances in Patagonia are pretty far), had a vision 15 years ago to plant one church a year in Patagonia. To date they have planted 30 churches. They said 10 of the churches do not have anyone to lead them and most of the younger churches are still meeting in houses. So what they do is travel hundreds of kilometers several times a month to disciple these small groups of young believers that they have won to Christ through their own labors and evangelism.

This is a guy that has a full-time job during the week. And pastors a church. He does not receive a salary or live from the tithes of the church. He supports himself!

When I remarked how dedicated he was, his answer was simply, "The thing is, when you have a call, you can't ignore it."

I guess they're not watching much TV down there in Patagonia.

Tony and I then shared our story and our call to Patagonia. We were honest and said we don't have seminary, and we're not trained in church-planting - we're called more to evangelize and help people. That's what we want to do.

They said, "There is so much to do. We are looking for people who want to work. There is a lot of work, but the laborers are few."

I looked over at Tony, whose eyes had gotten noticeably wider and whose leg was bouncing up and down a million miles a minute and I thought, "Oh, no, this is it. Is this it??"

The conversation went on. We mentioned how we'd like to work with the Mapuche.

Edgardo said, "We work with the Mapuche," and then proceeded to tell us about the work they do.

Tony said, "Wow. But my heart is really in the north of Argentina. I would really love to go work in the north eventually."

Edgardo said, "Funny you mention that, we have been planning to expand into the north for a while now. We'd like to buy some land and build something like a missions center in the North, a place that would serve as a kind of a missions base for evangelism to the North."

I think Tony's eyes got even a little bit wider at this point.

We totally hit it off. I started to chat homeschooling with his wife, and Edgardo turned to Tony and had a conversation that went basically like this: "Listen, what do you want to work in? I know a lot of people, just tell me what you would like to do. I can help you get a job. Even if you come down and don't have a job or a place to live, we could help you with that. We've done that before for people in the church. As a matter of fact, we have a pastor who just relocated to another area of Patagonia and left his house and said if there was anyone that needed it, they could use it. And don't worry about expenses. We could help you out for 2 or 3 months until you find a job. We've paid people's rent before."

Uhhhhh..... okayyyyy.....

It was just one of those God moments. We're still amazed that God brought this pastor, from Patagonia (of all the places in the world), to our front door, and someone who works in exactly the same thing we want to do, who then offered to help us do it.

Just like that.

What are the chances?

We later exchanged information and said good-byes.

That night Tony kept asking me, "So... what are we doing?"

I couldn't answer. (Or maybe didn't want to)

All I could think of, looking around our house, was, "What are we doing to do with all this stuff??"
----------------------

The next day, a friend came over. I told her our new and interesting news. She remarked how, if it were her, she would go, and immediately offered to help us store some of our stuff in their barn. Since I know they have also been thrift shopping for some new used furniture to replace their old sofas and rickety tables and fill up their big farmhouse, I asked if they just wanted to babysit our furniture for a couple of years. It was a match made in heaven.

So, here we are, recently unemployed, praying for specific direction, and along comes this wide open door. And now our stuff is all taken care of, too....

What to do, what to do???

We talked for several days, prayed, read God's Word, and we seem to be hearing God say "Go". He's opened the door.

Wide.

We've decided to put missions organizations on hold and think that this might be God's specific leading. Tony has already begun looking for work in Neuquen. The TV station he used to work for in Argentina has a satellite station there. Maybe he can get a job. Maybe we'll still try to raise some funds. Ultimately the only thing left to do is trust God for the finances.

Scary. And exciting!

:)

Tony's First Post

In just one more week it will be exactly a year since we started this blog.

And Tony is finally making his first post! He's been so good to not leave me here alone in cyberspace.

But, from a man that still asks me, 12 years later, "So how do you attach a file to an email again?" - his idea of blogging is to tell me, "You have to post this verse and this video to the blog."

That's men for you. Straight and to the point.

So, here it is....



Tony's First Post:

"But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?" ~1 John 3:17

[the two verses before and after this one are great, too...]

[and here is a recent video we received from our CCC friends in Argentina and their

recent mission to the Mapuche of Patagonia]



More on the Mapuche of Northern Patagonia

Did I ever mention how God has hooked us up with some really amazing people?

When we lived in Argentina, 10 years ago now, I began reading the Bible, surrendered my life to Christ, and started going to a little tiny church tucked away on the second floor of a building in busy, congested downtown Buenos Aires.

A friend of a friend of a friend who had been on stint (CCC lingo for short-term missions) in BA hooked me up. The pastor of this tiny gathering of believers turned out to be the Director of Campus Crusade for Christ for all of Argentina and Latin America. He was so humble I didn't even know who he was at first.

Later he told me his testimony: he had been a street kid, someone shared the gospel with him, and he got saved in a fire-and-brimstone kind of way when he was 18 years old. Long story short, he is now heading up an amazing ministry to college-aged kids and minorities in his country. He is also bilingual English/Spanish, a grandad with his lovely psychologist wife, and is reaching not just the college students, but the less-reached minorities of his country (including the Mapuche) through short-term mission trips.

As I write this, they are in Patagonia at this very moment on a mission trip. We also received the Facebook invite to go - wish we could've!. I am so jealous. Wish we were there.

Here is some information about the Mapuche I gleaned from their Mission Site (en español).

It is amazing to me to think how the Mapuche live. And to think how I live. And to think of going there to be with them, to help them. Dare we think it?


"The Mapuche (people of the land) are basically spread out over three provinces: Neuquén, Río Negro and Chubut [northern Patagonia]. Some live in the cities, but the great majority live in very isolated communities. In some cases, some communities can only be reached by four-wheel drive or by horse. Poverty is the common denominator in these parts. Although in some communities the government has provided housing, they still remain poor. The majority make a living by raising animals or vegetable gardens.

In Neuquen Province there are 46 Mapuche communities, only 18 of which have electricity, and only one, running water. They have neither medical nor dental attention, and have only a small health outpost with one nurse for 50 families which are spread out over 320km² (124mi²). Winter temperatures can reach -26°C (-15°F), which kills many animals, and consequently leave less possibilities for food. The entire situation of these people is very difficult, but it's nothing compared to the spiritual drought. In Neuquen Province there are only two communities that have a local church."


Incidentally, we've been communicating with one of YWAM's Patagonia offices, the one located nearest the Mapuche. They gave us some very helpful information about the region, as well as offered to pray for us as we prepare to leave. So sweet. Part of their calling, they said, is to reach the Mapuche.

:)

Pueblos Originarios de la Argentina//Native Peoples of Argentina - Part I

For those who speak or study Spanish, this is a great seven part YouTube series on several of the native people groups of Argentina.

Even if you don't understand Spanish, just the scenery and their way of life alone is amazing to watch. Makes me want to go!

Here is Part One (well, not technically, but I like this one, so I'm posting it first). I'll be posting one each day for the next week.

Enjoy - I did! :)

Patagonia: the Mapuche


:)

Mapuche Map

I found another map. I love maps.

:)

Pictures of Indigenous Mapuche of NW Patagonia

We just found out about yet another missions opportunity in Patagonia.

This is SO AMAZING, I'm really just in awe how we keep getting hooked up with these people. These are national Argentines (from what I can gather from their site) who went in August of 2007 (their winter) to deliver food and clothing to the many needy and isolated Mapuche communties in NW Patagonia.

They are leaving again TOMORROW to go on their second trip! So wish we were there... *sigh*.

Click HERE to view the pictures.

:)

Patagonia

Patagonia is the area we feel God is calling us to. That could change, I suppose, but that's what we are looking at right now as a home base for missions. I had mentioned before that it is where the largest concentration of indigenous Mapuche, Tehuelche, and Ona peoples are in Argentina. Most, including 90 plus percent of the rest of the poplulation, have never clearly heard the Gospel, and many leaders of the indigenous churches that do exist do not even know how to read enough to read their Bibles. 

Here's a map I found today:

And an interesting blog resource: http://bloggersinargentina.blogspot.com/

Gotta love the internet. I'm kind of wondering what we are actually leaving behind... missions is not necessarily the austere sacrifice it used to be.

:)

The (Mapuche) People

So, I said I would post video of the people... here's Part I of a seven part movie we are watching on YouTube. It's about the Mapuche people of Chile and Argentina.

Üxüf Xipay - El Despojo (Pueblo Mapuche) 1/7

Only thing, it's in Spanish. They all seem to be. Worth the view, nonetheless.
Still looking for something in English...

The history in this video series is amazing. The Mapuche use to own 30 million acres of Patagonia. In the early 1900s the President of Argentina had many killed, pushed the rest off their fertile land to the peripheries of the arid desert, and many fled into Chile. That's why there are only 200,000 in Argentina, but 1 million in Chile. The Mapuche now only own 300,000 hectares of the 30 million. Sounds like American history.

Research, Research, Research!

Doing more of what I love to do: research :D

This is a video I found on YouTube showing pictures mainly of southern Patagonia set to Mapuche music  (don't forget to turn off bloggy ambiance music on right :)):





Need to post some of the people next... Stay tuned.
:)

Earthquakes and Ideas

Another earthquake today, this time an 8.8 in Chile.

I've been in three earthquakes in my life. I'm still here. I'm assuming for a reason. Why not go? If I'm supposed to die in an earthquake, I will. If not, I won't. God knows what He is doing with me.

So while at the gym this morning beating this almost middle-aged body into submission, all I could think of was what I read the other day on this missionary family's website. There is a family from Oregon with seven children living north of Bariloche (northern Patagonia) maybe two hours. They are planting self-propagating churches in the native Mapuche communities. They wrote on their blog that there are 11 communities out of 40 or so that already have churches. What struck me most is this: most of the leaders of the indigenous churches CAN NOT READ.

So... how can they know how to follow God if they can not read His Word??

Is anyone teaching them to read? My guess is not. And certainly not for free. Why couldn't we teach them to read?

I mentioned it to Tony. He said he was thinking the same thing. (Big smile :))

I just love that God taught me Spanish... 20 years ago now. Hubs is a native speaker. Why couldn't we just go and teach them to READ? All Mapuche speak Spanish, but many can not read it.

I taught my kids how to read. I didn't find it to be rocket science. As a matter of fact, most people would be shocked to find out how very little I did to get my kids to read. Yes, it's true, I did almost nothing. I admit it to all you homeschoolers with your pre-packaged curricula. I confess it to all you public and private schoolers who believe it takes years of professional instruction. It's true, I did very little. It was extremely painless. I gave my kids a couple of books. I took them to the library. I encouraged them to "read" (ie, look at) the books that interested them, answered their questions about how to say this or how to pronounce that, I read to them a LOT.... I don't know... I really didn't do that much. I just winged it. I truly believe all people are smart in their own way - if you take the time to get to know them and find the key to unlock them then - whamo!

How hard could it be to teach someone to read in Spanish? I don't think that hard. I taught some English-speaking teens and pre-teens to read Spanish. It wasn't hard. Spanish is easy. Infinitely easier than English with its "more exceptions than rules".

I can totally see my husband teaching an illiterate leader of a church to read. He could then read his Bible. Then he could teach his congregation to read... they could teach their kids....


Just another idea.
:D

The JESUS Film Project

The people at the JESUS Film Project are so nice! They helped me add a banner and link to their site (see above). Isn't it awesome? I still don't know what an HTML is... but at least it works!

We definately are going to show the film in Argentina.... ooooo, the possibilities!

I thought it was really cool in Mapudungun, the language of the Mapuche people of Patagonia. Check it out!
:)

To Whom?

Over the years when we have discussed the possibility of moving back to South America as missionaries, Tony has always said he would go to where the poor are. That has always been his conviction. Now, not all of South America is poor. There is a wealthy, thriving, upper class in every country that, like our middle class in the U.S., seem to have no apparent need for much of anything.

Bariloche, an area we are looking at, if you don't know, is sometimes called the Switzerland of South America. For its mountains, for its skiing, for its posh Hotel Llao Llao (you've probably even seen it in a movie at some point). My flesh loves to be comfortable, just like the next person. Who wouldn't love to just camp out at Hotel Llao Llao and enjoy life? I would. Pick me! Pick me!

But outside of this small, wealthy, inner-circle of elite vacationers, there are people that make $500, $300, $50 a month on which to live. Or less. There are also at least one or two slums in Bariloche that I am aware of. What's more, the northern three provinces of Patagonia are home to hundreds of small, indigenous communities of Mapuche Indians. There is so much more to life than skiing there.

kids from one of the less than fortunate areas of Bariloche

house in Bariloche

We just watched a YouTube video the other night about a small, 25-family community of Mapuche that used to travel "only" 20 km round trip to the next town. Four years ago their bridge, and only link to civilization, was washed out in a storm. It is now a 200 km commute. They have no access to schools, medical attention, running water, or electricity. They said that no one will help them, and the government has forgotten about them.

We could spend years driving around Patagonia, from village to village, and never meet everyone or run out of things to do.

Mapuche community

entering Mapuche land

rural school kids

In the end, we all need salvation. We all need forgiveness. We all need to hear about Christ: the rich, the poor, the Mapuche, the American, the Argentinian, everyone. We all deserve the opportunity to accept or deny God's free gift in Christ. I am so thankful someone had the courage to put themselves aside and tell me about Him. Why wouldn't I want to do the same?

Where To Go, Part II

Location, location, location, as they say.

Well, we've narrowed things down a bit. We are now looking at an area between Bariloche (in the province of Rio Negro) and Esquel (in province of Chubut), northeastern Patagonia. I remember someone saying once that God gives you common sense, and He wants you to use it. So, why here?

1) There are people.

2) It's close to the largest city in Patagonia (food, doctors, banks, supplies, internet access, etc.)

3) It's centrally located to all the surrounding Mapuche communities (see map).

Perfect.

Bariloche is the largest town in the entire northern region of Patagonia, at 100,000 or so. Esquel is about 3 hours south in the Province of Chubut. The largest town (Andes side) in the Province of Chubut is Esquel, population 28,000. It dwindles from there south until you get to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, southern-most inhabited city in the world. Tony's brother actually lives there. I don't necessarily feel like I want to.

Now, I don't mind getting away from the Rat Race and all, but Esquel is a little further than I had originally anticipated. But we are trusting God to make that clear to us as well.

"Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path."  ~Psalm 119:105

Where To Go?

This weekend we were talking a lot about where we should go.

We both agree Patagonia.

We are thinking northern, as opposed to southern, Patagonia. The town of Bariloche is located in northern Patagonia. Luckily for us, Tony has been there twice, both for work during his former life as a television cameraman. It's a "little town with nothing to do" he said (well, to someone from a city of 11 million, I guess so). From what I gather, that is not true. Not true at all. It's the only "major" city in northern Patagonia, with a population of 100,000-150,000 (I've read conflicting things), that is located in the Andes mountains. It might work well as a home base for several reasons:

1) There is access to good medical care (important when you're 40-ish and have 3 kids)
2) Access to good banks
3) Internet access (uh, need I say more?)
4) Access to resources we may need for the kids' schooling, supplies for life, and missions
5) It's a good central location to all the indigenous communities of the native Mapuche people of northern Patagonia
6) And it has whatever else a civilzed person may need, except probably peanut butter
7) Oh, and word has it they are building a Wal-mart soon! How happy am I?

It's a match made in Heaven.

There are many other reasons, all good, we thought of that we could also list here. But mostly, it just makes sense. It's a starting point, anyway. We'll see how things develop!

What To Do, What To Do?

So what would we do if we moved to Argentina?

There are a thousand things to do.

Here in the States it is just the opposite. And even if you do want to do something, there are a million forms to fill out before you are allowed to. And you may even have to shell out some money for a permit. Not in South America. Definately not in Argentina. You just go and do it.

Here is a map I found this week showing the indigenous communities in Argentina. This is just ONE idea. You could go a million places from here (click to enlarge):

Want to visit those in prison? Well, just go. Want to feed some hungry people? Just hand them some food. Want to preach the Gospel? Just stand in a town square, preferably with blond hair on your head and a soccer ball in your hand, and do your best in the language. You will guaranteed attract a crowd. Then hand out some tracts, some Bibles, balloons for the kids, whatever.

There are a million things to do. You just have to want to do them. "Faltan ganas", as they say in Spanish. You just need the desire and will to do it. Following Christ is sometimes so simple. We make it so complicated.