Freedom Fiestas!

Hola Amigos!
Sorry for not posting a new blog update in a while. We have had some fun times over the past two weeks with our speaking partners, our neighbors next door, and with our friends here in Cordoba.

This past week, we celebrated the 4th of July before Ekklesia, our house church time, with hamburgers, cupcakes, and about 40 other people-most of had never come to Ekklesia before, which was a great ministry opportunity. We even had some fireworks playing in the background via youtube.com haha. We ended the party with a great time in worship, just praising the Lord for the freedom we have in Christ.Argentina's Independence was this past thursday, so of course, we had another big celebration! We made the traditional Nueve de Julio food including empanadas, humitos (kind of like tamales), and this great cake with oatmeal and chocolate. We spent most of the morning and afternoon preparing all the food and the rest of the day and night eating, playing games, and enjoying our friend's company. We were able to invite our neighbors from next door as well, who we have started to build good relationships with in hope of sharing the gospel with them. I had a great conversation with one of them...he spoke in English and I spoke in Spanish haha. Be praying for more opportunities to hang out with them.










The Lord has been giving us more and more opportunities to talk with the people here about what we believe and why we follow Christ. For example, we met a guy a few weeks ago in an alfajores shop (a place where they make and box up argentine cookies) and he wanted to meet up to practice his english with us sometime, so we got to have coffee with him this past week and have a good conversation about the Lord. Eventhough he seemed fairly unresponsive to what we said, we still were able to speak Christ's name and form a new relationship. The Lord is clearly at work in Argentina, whether we see fruit from our trip or not, I know that He has not brought us here in vain. Thank you for your continued prayers. With only 3 weeks left here in Cordoba, I am praying for us to be even more persistant in meeting with all the contacts we have thus far.

Praises and Sneezes

Well this past week, the Lord has answered some prayers and lifted my spirits knowing that many more praises are to come in the next 5 weeks! First of all, me and Timothy are no longer alone in our big house-we have 3 more roommates. All boys for now, but there is a possibility of one girl moving in the beginning of July, so keep praying for some females haha!One guy is an American who is actually engaged to an Argentine girl here, one knows English and Spanish, and one only knows Spanish, so we now have some diversity in the house and are able to practice our Spanish a lot more. We are supposed to get internet and tv this week, so our house will be really hoppin then!

Classes are going well and that's another praise! I am understanding more and more of the conversations around me, which is making everything a lot more enjoyable haha! We have been working hard and our teacher, Lucas, has been patient with us and our questions. I am now praying for more people to speak with that only know Spanish because it is easier for me to practice with them-I am more focused on using only Spanish.

This week and next are final exams for all the students, so we didn't get to meet with all of our speaking partners like usual. I did get to meet with the girl that I wrote about in my last post and we went to an art museum and talked there. She came to an asado we had with friends last night and I am supposed to meet up with her again today, so pray that we can have deep conversation and that she will see a difference in me and the people that in the church group here that we hang out with.

Apart from class and seeing more of Cordoba this week, I have had a serious case of the sniffles. I started off just sneezing a lot and that turned into a mild case of the flu. I was in bed most of the day Thursday but I am feeling much better now. A cough is still lingering a little, so pray that I will be fully healthy again soon.

Its hard to believe I have already been here a month! I have had lot of ups and downs, but am looking forward to the month ahead and feel confident that God has a lot more in store for us here in Argentina!

Speaking Partners

Apart from Spanish class every day, we meet with speaking partners as well! They are various students from the Facultad de Lenguas, the language school here, and are working on degrees in English and translation. We meet with different students each day and get to practice our Spanish and help them practice their English. The Lord has blessed us with a good amount of time every day to just hang out with them and try to have intentional converstations about our faith and what we believe. I can already tell that some good relationships are forming and we are getting to talk about more things with depth. I had a great conversation with one of them this past Wednesday and was about to talk about my faith in Christ and how He gives me a hope and peace. She said she admired people with that kind of faith and seemed interested in possibly coming to a local church meeting sometime. Please be praying for her heart to be softened, because she said that there had been some things in her past that have pushed her away from God and a relationship with Him. Times like those are encouraging to me, knowing that I am here for a purpose and that ultimately I am here to help share the gospel and the power it can have in one's life.

We also had the opportunity to help out with an English Talk, a conversational English time where anyone can come and just practice English, last night. It was great to meet new students and make some new connections. Be praying that we can follow up with a few of them to talk with again. I met one girl last night who was really into tango and said that I could go watch a tango competition with her one time or even attend a class! Haha I will come back in August as a Spanish speakin, tango dancin chica!

Mi Casa es Tu Casa

For all of you who have been wondering where I am living, here are some pictures of the bilingual house that has been our school, paint project, and home away from home.
This is the front of our house, which I think will be a shade of green at some point, and the other picture is a view of the main hallway inside. The house has some great windows!


We have a well in a patio area on the left side of the house, which I seem to be ready to get inside of haha. In the back, we have a small backyard and a room called a quincho where we had our first asado (bbq).




This little heater has been my saving grace on the cold winter days here! The other pic is one of the seven rooms in the house-este es mi habitacion.


This is the view from my window...basically the tops of other houses. The other is a picture of the street that we live off of; its in front of some train tracks and really close to the Facultad de Lengua, where we meet many of our speaking partners to practice Spanish. We are also really close to some soccer fields and a track, where we play ultimate frisbee and I go for a run sometimes. I feel like these pictures don't really do this place justice or maybe my photo skills are just lacking haha. Either way, Cordoba is a great city with tons of things to see, so I will do my best to try and document whats around me!

A Whole New World

Well, I just survived my first week in Argentina! It was filled with lots of new experiences, new words, and new people. To the left is the view from the plane window; beautiful and symbolic of the beginning of my time in a new mission field.

My first thought after coming off the plane into Buenos Aires for our connecting flight to Cordoba...tengo frio! I can kiss the beachwear good-bye, because it will be all scarves and mittens from here on out haha! Thank the Lord that I packed lots of layers. Its supposed to get colder throughout the time I am here; kind of comparable to going from December to February in the states, so pray that I can bear the cooler temperatures and be thankful for the small heaters we have throughout our house here.

Since being in Cordoba, we have done a lot of work on the house that me and my teammate, Timothy, are staying. Its going to be a bilingual house where local Argentine students and other short-term missionaries coming from the states can live and have community in a safe place. We took a tour of the city this past Friday by foot and in a McDonald's city tour bus. We defninitely played the part of a typical tourist that day, just shy of a fanny pack and matching hats. There is beautiful architecture here built by monks way back in the day. We walked through one cathedral and I was in awe of how much detail was put into all the lavish decorations and wall design in the church. Going on the tour helped me understand more of the city layout and where things were located. It defnitely has the big city feel with so many people and cars buzzing around.

Saturday, some people from the church came to the house to paint and help get the place looking put together. Later that afternoon, we played some serious Ultimate Frisbee! I loved getting to run around and have fun with some of the university students that are also involved with the church. I am going to be a pro-frisbee player when I return with all this practice! That night we had an asado ( an Argentine bbq) and a time of worship and a message. You can really tell that this little church is a family and is growing greatly. It was a blessing to be apart of that time, eventhough I could only pick up a few words here and there haha. Me and Timothy went out with some of those people for ice cream afterwards and didn't get into bed till like 4am and that is very typical of weekend nights. The time in which they do dinner, 9 or 10 at night, has taken some getting used to for sure. Merienda time is usually from 4-6pm and that is when people will drink mate (kind of a herbal tea hot drink) and have cookies or crackers; this has been a blessing so I don't starve by the time dinner rolls around.

We start Spanish classes on Monday and will have a fairly busy schedule set up for the week, including time with conversation partners and various other meetings. Things are starting to pick up here and I am excited to see the Lord form some great relationships with the people here. It has been a hard transition these first few days into this new culture, but I am starting to feel more and more comfortable as time goes on. Thanks for all the prayers and I will try to keep everyone as up to date as possible over the next 7 weeks!

Pre-flight Prayers

Before I set out for what is sure to be a great adventure in Argentina, I have some prayer requests for myself, my team, and for those who I haven't met just yet. Anytime that my name, the country of Argentina, missions, or even the Spanish language come to your mind, I hope that you would take a few minutes and pray for the following:

*Abundant opportunities to share Christ with the people of Córdoba, Argentina.
*Patience and perseverance with learning a new language.
*Eager hearts and open minds of those whom my team may come in contact with.
*Courage, wisdom, and strength in following the Lord's will.
*Peace and prosperity for the country of Argentina.
*Praise Him for providing great financial support.
*Full faith in the Lord alone and for any fears or anxious thoughts to be cleared away.
*Blessings upon my family and friends back home.

With only a few days left before my flight, I am continually being encouraged and prepared by the Lord and His Word. A verse that I keep going back to is Matthew 9:37-38, "Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." From talking with the missionaries that I will meet in Argentina, this is the exact situation down there right now. They are in need of workers because the harvest is plentiful and ripe! People are ready to hear the truth of the gospel and I am eager and feel so blessed to be able to tell them of Christ's redeeming and abundant grace. If any verses or words of encouragement come to you, please send them my way-I am sure I will need those messages in the coming weeks. I will hopefully update this blog before I peace out Monday, so until then, keep praying!