I got back from our missions trip to Argentina last Thursday and what an amazing trip it was. We had two teams go down making a total of 18 people all together. We spent the first few days together in Buenos Aires getting briefed and prepped for the rest of the trip and getting acclimated to the Argentine culture which was very European feeling. It turns out that nearly 95% of the population are 2nd or 3rd generation European immigrants. Kissing is a big part of the culture there as well when you enter a room you greet everyone there (in social situations mostly) including people from both genders. In Beunos Aires you kiss only one cheek however in much of the rest of Argentina you kiss both, which can make things interesting when silly Americans like myself don't know which cheek the other person is going for!! Luckily, there were not any mishaps :).
We visited several churches in B.A. ranging in size from 5,000 - 25,000, Argentina and in particular Buenos Aires has been in what many people consider to be a revival since 1982, so getting to experience the churches there and meet some of the pastors which have been a part of what has been happening there was a great privilege and opportunity. God is definitely doing some great things there.
After about 3 days the two team split up and traveled to different towns in the provinces of Argentina. My team traveled to Mendoza and Steve's to Cordoba. It took us 14 hours on a bus to arrive to get to Mendoza. the busses we traveled on were very nice chartered busses with seats that practically turned into beds, meals, and movies to help pass the time. But despite that 14 hours on a bus is still 14 hours on a bus! As soon as we arrived our hosts picked us up at the bus station and took us to one of the churches we were going to be working with to feed us lunch and to let us know the plan for the week we would be there. Up to that point all i had really been told is that we would be helping to reestablish campus ministries at the universities there. Being the leader of the team I met with the pastors organizing the trip to get "the scoop" and I was quickly overwhelmed. Daniel one of the pastors asked me what my vision was for the trip. I told him to share about Christ with university students, share the vision of campus ministry with churches, and to help the churches in the area start something that will last long after we leave. He said" great i want you to preach every night you are here." i was originally told that i would not have to speak so i had nothing prepared and only 5 hours till the first church service with no free time in between. Its one of those situations that really helps you learn how to pray a little better:). one of the other pastors hands me a phone without any warning and tells me that I am live on the radio. By the way i don't speak any Spanish so I am doing this all through an interpreter. I was also told that we were going to meet with the government and be given the equivalent to the key of the city, as well as be interviewed on the local television station!
To say the least they kept us busy the next 3 days. Usually we would start the day at 8 or 9am and would not get back to our hotel till 1 or even 2am the next morning! During much of the days we would be taken from meeting to meeting at different high schools, university's, churches, or government officials with out really knowing what was next until 15 minutes before. this was particularly fun at the high schools and universities where we would talk about a topic like alcholism, drugs, family violence , or eating disorders and we would not know the topic until 30 or so minutes before we arrived there. Luckily God definitely had things figured out in advance because we always had someone who could speak on each subject competently. Also we were able to speak openly about god in the schools and a large number of high school and College students accepted Christ and/or asked for more information on the campus ministry that was starting and churches in the area.
one of the big high lights of the trip was getting to meet with governing council and president of the City of Maipu. They gave us each signed copies of legislation that they passed honoring our group for coming. They gave us free reign to go into the high schools and share on the subjects I talked about earlier and openly share about God. They also pinned each one of us with the official seal of the town, gave each of us a special bottle of wine (that area of Argentina is known for its wine), and gave me as well as Patricia (the Argentine Lady who was helping me lead the trip) a medal. At the end of the meeting I got to pray with and for the council. To say the least I and the rest of the team felt highly honored.
While we were definitely kept busy we were also treated many of us felt like royalty. Many times they would provide us with lunch, dinner and breakfast and we would not have to pay for anything. The food was absolutely amazing( one of the primary staples of Argentina is beef, and boy do they know how to prepare it!!) On our day off they took us white water rafting and gave us a tour of a winery. We also got to go into the Andes mountains and got to visit a large chocolate factory that supplies much of South America with very fine chocolates and candy. The people there were amazingly friendly and accepting and really opened their hearts and homes to us.
After a week in Mendoza we headed back to Buenos Aires to meat up with the other team debrief a bit and spend a little time exploring the city before taking off back to the U.S.
This trip was with out a doubt very challenging and stretching for me. Leading a team in a place where I do not know the language and having to do things on the fly. I learned a bunch about myself, and it really stretched and grew my faith. It will definitely be an experience that i will be "digesting" for a long time and one that i will definitely remember for the rest of my life.
