A moving moment for mom and dad!

Yesterday at church the kids participated during the worship time. "I" played the drums and "S" and A" sang with the rest of the children and the kids' band. We as parents were very moved and were so amazed to watch them up there. We thank God and the work of the music school for their dedication to teaching our children and the rest of the kids in our communities!

Retreat, reflect, reality

A leaders retreat! My mind quickly ran to picturing my weekend as I began to pack for our annual leaders' retreat with the church. In my mind there would be lots of talking, thinking and planning for 2012 of course, but also there would be lots of hanging out on a blanket having " mate" and just relaxing and enjoying nature. Ahhhhh! "A retreat, just what I need, " were my thoughts. I also was thirsting to meet with God with the other leadership and seek his face for 2012.

Well, although much of that did happen and I am thankful for the wonderful talks and discsussions, my retreat was much more of my reality following me to the retreat. What I mean by that is that long gone are the days of a retreat where you can disconnect and just breathe when your kids come along! Aha! K and I were finally together at a retreat but so were our three other participants of the Z clan. So the stress of bedtimes, meal times, entertaining them (although we had great childcare ) quickly intruded in my idea of a retreat! I would hear the pastor preaching on Psalm 23 and I just couldn't absorb it at the time. With the kiddos not sleeping, wet shoes from outside, settling sibling disputes, locating snacks, planning movie times, and fighting with DVD players.. I was zonked. I asked myself, Lord why am I here.. why a retreat if I can't "retreat" from my reality?

Well at 10 pm at night, on Sat after a great time of worship and prayer.. one of the youth gets a call from her dad frantic that her baby sister.. 18 months .. was hit by a stray bullet in her head. Information was scarce as the dad was running to the hospital. We quickly began to comfort and speak with the two older sisters and then we all gathered to pray. I thought, "man, talk about reality in the midst of a retreat.. a cruel reality." We had no idea if the baby would live or what the details were. K googled maps to get the girls to the hospital. Finally about an hour later.. the news came that the baby was fine, the bullet was lodged in her cheek and she would be fine. Praise God!! We all rejoiced!

Wow.. for me that was just such a picture of community and love and support. All we could do was cry out and pray and the Lord heard our cry. The baby is doing fine today and she is home.

But returning to Psalm 23... Our pastor ended the retreat time at church on Sunday and man the message hit home. The Lord met me in the midst of my reality, in the midst of a different type of retreat. I was reminded in a powerful way that He takes us by still waters, green pastures, guides us with his rod and staff. He is all we need for ministry, for life, for whatever our "reality" may hold. From an exhausted mom needing a break to a horrific random sudden tradegy.. He is our Shepherd, we shall not want!

Kyosko, one of our favorite Argentine bands

Kyosko, live at the youth gathering "El Superclásico."

El Superclásico

On Sept. 24th K with some youth and parents to the "Superclásico." "What is that?", you may be asking. Well it is a gathering of youth from all over Latin America that come to worship God together and hear His word. This year the gathering took place Fri and Sat. Some of our youth from church left Thurs and camped the two nights just to be able to get in since it was a free event. K headed their on Sat. and waited on line all day to get in. The wait was worth it. Over 60,000 youth filled the stadium and where impacted by the evening.

The stadium where the event was held in La Plata, Buenos Aires.

Two of our youth all the way in the front of the crowd. They camped two nights to get that spot!

Hanging out waiting for the event to start as the stadium fills.

And it begins!!

Children's day celebrations 2012

Celebrating Children's day in the Fatima Barrio.

The Doctors Return

Last week, we were visited once again by the medical mission team from Global Outreach International. They have been coming now for about five years. We love partnering with them. They enable us to provide a service to the communities that is unique and a change from dealing with the health care system at least for a week. Don't get me wrong health care here in Argentina is excellent, but for those that have less options it can be quite trying just to get into see a doctor at times.

We visited three communities that we are working in and provided Doctor visits and a free pharmacy that gave out what was needed prescribed by the doctors. This year we worked on adding a counseling center where people were also cared for spiritually and we were able to explain why we were there--- to share the love of Christ.

Over 200 people were seen and we praise God for a successful trip. It was a joy to work with them and we look forward to their return next year. Now we pray that the seeds that were planted will continue to grow!

"Kids like me don't go to university"

Universidad de Buenos Aires - Facultad de Derecho, a photo by BKM_BR on Flickr.

Over the past year or so of teaching I have come across many different people and have had many opportunities to speak to and learn from the people we serve here in Buenos Aires. This week was no different as we started a new semester of carpentry classes in the shantytowns.

Today, I had the opportunity to share a little of my journey in life with one of my classes that is composed of entirely youth. As I was speaking to them sharing a little of the hope I have for them and asking what their dreams are, one of the kids (Alan, 12 years old) put words to what I have been seeing over the past two years through my studies and experience of the neighborhoods. I asked Alan if he had the opportunity to go to study in the University of Buenos Aires, what would he study, and he told me that that would never happen because he is from Fatima, one of the shantytowns. I asked why and he continued to say, "people like me, we don't go to university because we have to work and therefore have no time or money for such things". By this he was telling me indirectly that he wasn't good enough nor could he afford the time wasted or the money spent to better his condition. I was also told that it is unusual for the kids of these "barrios" to even finish high school and that many drop out in middle school to work with their families or take care of their siblings. Many are just left to their own devises raised on the streets.

Though this wasn't news to me, his answer impacted me. I had never heard it from someone's mouth that was directly affected by this way of thinking. To see this type of mindset instilled in a child so young was for me, offensive. His words just sunk in deep and reinforced my desire to break this cycle or mentality of poverty. But where to start? How do you change this type of pervading cultural mindset? The scary thing is part of what he said is true, these kids are not sufficiently prepared academically to handle college as well as they are a needed commodity for the future survival of their families. Who else will help carry the workload or watch the younger kids so that their parents can work to put food on the table? There is no one else. Their roles are type casted and they have no choices. Our resolve is to help create a holistic ministry that truly speaks into the entire human condition including this cyclical mentality of poverty. Something must be done.

Camp time

A few weeks ago the older youth put together the first junior high camp in a long time! The youth worked during their summer break (don't forget that Dec- Mar is summer here) to put together a Jr. high camp. For us it was thrilling to see the team of youth we worked with all year come together and organize this event. It was so amazing to see the fruit of a year of disciplship, training and prayer. God is good!

The camp went well. The kids had a lot of fun and were able to for a weekend get away from the city and the shanty towns and enjoy nature, each other and learn more about God and themselves. The focus of the weekend was Identity. The jr. highers heard they were created in the image of God and all that that implicates in their lives. The camp ended powerfully with a time of prayer for each youth as they embraced their identity as children of God made in His image. We praise God for this camp and all that occurred. We continue to pray as the older youth will continue to lead the jr. highers in small groups and monthly meetings. K and I will continue to walk with the older youth through meetings, Bible study and one on one discipleship. We are thrilled to see the different layers of this ministry grow and develop!

The sleeping quarters! Nicely set up!

Pool time!

Worship,sharing of the word and prayer.

Summer- Winter- Summer

We are back in Buenos Aires after a whirlwind trip the the USA. We went from a humid hot December 7th to a frigid greeting on December 8th in NYC. It was our first time back in the USA since we left two and a half years ago. There definitely was a bit of culture shock and adjustment. Our girls barely speak English so it was hard on them at first. By the end of the two months they were pros. So to make a long blog entry into a short entertaining and summarized version .. here are the top 10 things we take away from our time in the States:

10-- Learned to watch for bears when driving in PA (Yes we hit a bear on the way down to TN)

9-- Never tell and show your son what the GPS means by a "sharp turn..," when there is snow on the ground (Car turned and got stuck on the side of a hill)

8-- Chick-Fil-A has the best shakes! (Enjoyed meeting with people while kids played!)

7-- The drive from Nashville to Western PA is breathtaking! Highly recommend it!

6-- Memories made celebrating our kids birthdays from Jump houses to Chuck e Cheese.

5-- Our daughters walk into McDonalds and exclaim.. "They have one of these here too?"

4-- Never take your 3yr old daughter into the American Girl Store in NYC during the Christmas shopping frenzy if you are not planning on buying one right there and then (Mental Picture: my daughter screaming in Spanish, "I want my doll.." sprawled on the floor!!)

3-- Our kids bonded with everyones pets! They still talk about each pet they were able to play with along our visit! (Ellie, Max, Dexter, Bandit, Luna, Lucy, Burren Leo, and Kate.. and the list goes on..)

2-- True highlight of the trip was seeing one of our pastor friends act as a ballerina for a church talent night! Truely priceless! (Even if it meant having to watch the Jets play the Steelers in Pittsburgh!)

1-- All joking aside, the best thing about our time was spending it with many of YOU! We have the most incredible supporting partners, friends and churches a missionary could ask for. We left encouraged and renewed! Thank you! (If we didn't get to see you specifically, hopefully next trip!)

Here is a glance at our trip. From visiting dear friends to hanging out in the snow and celebrating birthdays, we thank God for a wonderful time! (click to view bigger)