Riverbank Soccer at Low Tide

At the beginning of May, I had the chance to go camping with another volunteer from the orphanage, Martin, and six of the boys who made the short trip with us. As we got the tent set up and started drinking mate, I could tell it was going to be a special time together. We were camping next to the widest river in the world (over 100 miles wide), El Rio de La Plata, which rises and falls with the Atlantic’s tide. At low tide, it is a perfect time to play soccer on the beach, and we took advantage of the opportunity with seagulls flying overhead. The night before, I got to share about God’s amazing forgiveness and His interest in each one of us. We talked for hours around the campfire about what it is like to have a Heavenly Father and I challenged the boys to place their trust in Jesus’ words. Since this camping trip, I have noticed a marked change in Gustavo, one of the older boys who is interested in becoming a carpenter. Please pray for him, and the rest of these boys who have suffered through a tough childhood.

Winter in La Plata Bring Summer Visitors from the U.S.

Between May 25th and June 3rd, we had the joy of hosting a summer team from FEFC, our home church in Austin. Matt, their college pastor, led the team with David, Keith, Joyce, Kathleen, Susan & Julie. They helped us to build a basketball court, paint a church building that is just getting off the ground, teach my English class with professors at the university and encourage some of the students in our ministry. Before they headed home, we got to see the beautiful Iguazu Falls together, which was like icing on the cake.

Gluing Apples on a Mesquite Tree

So I’m hanging out with Ezekiel playing basketball with his friends and I pick up a smell coming off of his shirt. “No doubt about it… that’s pot”, I think to myself. Now you need to understand that I smell pot just about everyday around students, but the difference is that this is a kid I’m starting to care a lot about. We’ve been getting together every week to talk about having a personal relationship with Jesus and I’m starting to get concerned about the negative influences in his life. His dad split when he was very young and he is beginning to trust me as a role model.

I spent a lot of mental energy trying to think of a cool way to bring up the subject with him. Before we had a chance to talk, God opened my eyes through His word to something my momentary concerns were blinding me from seeing. The solution I was about to offer him was a focus on his behavior, and God wanted to remind me that He cares far more about the heart issues. If I place an emphasis on outward behavior, I’ll be setting him up for legalism and failure. If I share my personal experience with the gospel - repentance, forgiveness, faith and dependence upon God’s life changing power - I will be setting him up for freedom and success in the Christian faith. It’s like the difference between gluing apples on a mesquite tree and planting an apple seed that grows into a fruit producing tree. The former might bring quicker results, but it definitely won’t last.

It ends up that Ezekiel was only hanging out with friends who were smoking pot, but I am thankful that God impressed the simple truths of the gospel on my heart in a way that I can better serve the students we spend time with, and eventually our children.

Guys Bible Study...

Each one of the guys in our Gospel Transformations Bible Study is excited to re-look at the central truths of what Jesus taught and see if we are truly living them out. Koky, a psychology major, is the leading the study with myself, Alex, Daniel, Alejo and Mauro.

How you can be praying for us…

My dad’s recovery from back surgery and Flor’s mom’s cancer treatments
2) Communication and intimacy as Flor & I work through adjustments we need to make in life and ministry
3) Single men for our Mid-term team that is starting to form for later this year

Thank you so much for your prayers and financial support! We couldn't be here serving the students of La Plata without you. Please let us know how you are doing and how we can be praying for you.

Noah's Ark and a Slip 'N Slide

Noah’s Ark and a Slip ‘N Slide…

I was sitting in the aeronautical engineering building on campus and it was raining so hard that I couldn’t hear myself think. Little did I know that in a few hours the neighborhood down the street from our home would have over five feet of water in the homes. The next morning, my friend Vini and I ventured out to see how we could help, and we found German and Alcira (who is 8 months pregnant) trying to clean up the disaster. German had to swim against a strong current for over six blocks to get home the previous night and they were exhausted! We converted our guest bedroom into Noah’s Ark until the waters receded. Having them at our home blessed us in so many ways and they left saying, “We feel like children of The King.”

Slip ‘N Slide

It took a while to convince the kids at the orphanage that you could run and slide along a long, slippery piece of plastic. I had to show them how to do it twice before a couple of brave young souls took the plunge. I have to admit that it was more fun at 10 than it is at 32, but their reluctance quickly melted into wet smiles as they took advantage of a sunny break in the clouds. The college students who came out with us were excited about the opportunity to come back.

On campus...

We passed out nearly 1,000 Student Guides to incoming freshman from the interior provinces in February! Their expressions of thanks were heart-felt and opened the door for some great conversations.

This week Chris will start taking a class on metallic and wood structures at the university. He’s excited to get to know the professor and the students in the class. We will also be kicking off a student bible study in a couple of weeks.

Praise God! Flor’s mom is doing well back at home and will start her first round of cancer treatment in the next couple of weeks. My father is also doing much better as he awaits his back surgery and cancer treatments. We can’t thank you enough for your prayers…God’s strength has been so real to us.

How you can be praying for us…

1) For Suzuky (Flor’s mom) and Robert (Chris’ dad) as they seek healing and recovery

2) Clear vision and creativity as we step out into the next semester on campus

3) Wisdom and discernment as we plan for a group of singles to join us next year

Learning While Playing With Orphans

The last few months have given us the opportunity to re-connect with an orphange that is about 5 minutes down the road from our house - Hogar Infantil Bethel. Now that we've been there on a consistant basis, the kids know who we are, know we'll be back, and greet us with warm hugs as they see us pulling into the parking area.

There is one little guy who normally beats all the other kids to wrap around my leg when I get out of the car - his name is Ezequiel. He's the one on the upper left with the grey shirt and blue shorts. These kids are starving for love and attention, so we do our best to look them in the eyes when they speak to us, introduce them to new games, and show them that they each are valuable in our eyes. These little guys are pretty easy to please.

In contrast, the teenagers living at the orphanage keep their distance a little longer. You can see them starting to wonder about their identity outside the orphanage - wondering where they will go when they reach 18 and need to move out. In an effort to better connect with a few of these guys, we invited four of them over to eat pizza and play ping-pong. Their names are Gerardo (a.k.a. Chero), Gustavo, Marcelo, & Carlitos (who now wants us to call him by his second name - Neuwell).

When I went to pick them up, they were super excited. We had lots of fun smacking the ping-pong ball around the garage, while listening to them make fun of each other reminded me of high school. As we sat down for dinner in the kitchen, we were able to hear each one of their reluctant stories. Gerardo ran away from his physically abusive parents at age six and hasn't seen them since. He lived at the train station until an elderly woman took him to the orphanage. Gustavo and his nine brothers and sisters were taken from their parents when they were found unable to care for them by a judge. They were split up between three orphanages. Marcelo and Carlitos are brothers. They lived with their mom until she became a drug adict, living on the streets. Marcelo was split from his brother and moved into the orphange around age ten. One year later, Carlitos joined him after their mom died of an overdose.

Each of these guys has overcome so much, and they still have a long way to go. We want them to know that they have an "aunt" and "uncle" nearby who believe in them and desire for them to grow in their relationship with God and break the cycles that have trapped their parents.

Spending time with these kids challenges us in many ways and lets us step into a world that most of the students at the university would benefit from entering into. As Jesus modelled, we want to help meet the needs of the multitudes while training a few that will come along beside us.

We'd love to hear any similar experiences you have had and what you are learning about serving others.

Here is the first picture of our new house! Flor is showing off her belly behind the "practicuna" that Flor's parents gave us for Valentina's room. The practicuna starts out as a crib and is later transformed into a child's bed by taking out the drawers. Can you see the Winnie the Pooh border on the wall?

Well we've got about four weeks before Vale makes her entrance, and it's been fun to get to know the other couples in our "pre parto" classes. The first half is hard to make it through without falling asleep to the relaxation music. If giving birth is that calm and easy, than why do all the movies show screaming women? I guess we'll figure that one out for ourselves :)

It has been so much fun to re-connect with the students and friends we haven't seen for so long. We had a party on Friday night and about fifteen of them were able to make it. Alex, our teammate, fired up the "parrilla" or grill for the first time to make some hamburgers. You might be asking, why didn't you do it, Chris, since you love grilling out? Good question, I'd say. It all started when I travelled to Buenos Aires in the morning to process my DNI (similar to our Social Security Number). When I got to the national proccessing center, I found out that the translator I used for all of my documents for the Argentine Consulate in Houston were no longer valid. I would have to use one of the translators registered with the Argentine government. To my surprise, I was able to get it translated AND notorized in less than three hours. As I took the subway back to the processing center, I couldn't keep from smiling, until I arrived and found out that the line had shut down for me to set up an appointment. I would have to come back that evening. Frustrated, I decided to walk around Buenos Aires for about six hours until the line opened back up. After a good coffee and reading a few chapters of "The Case for Faith", I made my way back to the processing center. When I walked in, nobody was there - except for a handful of workers drinking mate. They informed me that the computer systems were down and that I would have to come back the following week. By this time I could only laugh as I made my way back to the train station. After the train delays, I made it back home late enough to find my faithful teammate with the fire already going.

Argentina Christmas

Here we are in Argentina for Christmas. I've been workig on the self-photo skills and they are starting to pay off. It always helps to have a good looking lady in the picture :)