July 2020 – The Maness Family

Today is Day 133 of Quarantine

By the title of this report, you would think that it came from a Science fiction book. Here in Argentina we had just begun the 12 phase reopening process. Most people don’t actually know what phase we are actually in. I believe that we are somewhere between phase 3 and 4 but now several places in the country have returned back to phase 1 and they are discussing it here in our city.

Independence Day

Here in Argentina, their Independence Day is the 9th of July. On the fourth I baked a US flag cake with a full 50 piles of coconut sprinkles for the stars! I sent out the pictures of our cake and family celebration with my daily audio message.

We had a very good reaction from the Argentine people. They really appreciated us sharing some of our culture with them. They were really excited when I made an Argentina flag cake on the 9th and sent the pictures with my sermon. I used an egg for the sun in the middle of the flag. Please pray for us as we continue to build relationships even during lockdown.

Don’t go near the grass!

Last weekend, we took the kids out for a walk hoping to let them have some time to run around a little bit. We walked 8 blocks (the furthest that we had walked from the house in over 4 months!) to a grassy area. When we arrived, there were police guarding the grassy, vacant, open area and playground. The area was deemed off limits by the authorities.

Live Streaming and Increasing the Quality of the Videos going out

Before last month we were sending out a daily audio message and at least two prerecorded videos. This last month we began live streaming and using a green screen. Recording videos and audios have never felt like a natural thing for us to do.

It has been said that to become a master at any given thing, that it takes about 10,000 hours of practise. We are well on our way with over 800 hours of “Practice” over the last 4 months. We have put a lot of work this last month into learning to put together good quality videos. Please continue to pray for us that we are able to streamline the whole process as we plan to continue putting out audios and videos after the quarantine lifts and that we are able to have in-person meetings as well.

We are praying for you all!

Our hearts are saddend whenever we hear about friends in the US who are struggling hard with infection. We are continuing to keep you all in prayer and are so thankful for your love and prayers for us and for the work being done in Argentina.