April 2023 Report

Packages, the mail, flat tire, sharing the gospel and doctor visits


Packages and the Argentine mail


Card and church bulletin that we received from White Oak Baptist Church in Nancy, KY

Thank you for your prayers!

Mail in Argentina is a crazy thing!  Some items will come through with no problems while other things get stuck in customs or some other unknown place.  During the month we received a card and church bulletin from White Oak in Nancy, KY.  Words can not express what this meant to me.  The card was great, but it was the inclusion of the church bulletin that really affected my heart!  Someone thought to include us by adding the bulletin.  It is hard to explain in words what it meant to me personally.  Thank you for sharing your Sunday service with us!    

On another occasion we received a package for my wife from the “Missionary Wives Assistance Corps” head up by sister Toni Shockey.  Even though it took my wife about 5 trips to be able to pick up the package, it was a great blessing to get the package in the mail.       

There is still another package downtown that we have not been able to retrieve.  After we received a notice under our door, I took a trip down to the center the next day to try to retrieve it, when they told me to come back as the delivery man still had it.  I came back again the next day with the same advice given to me.  A few days later I came back and was told that I needed to declare the total value of the contents and pay the customs.  As I had no clue as to the contents or the sender, the agent apparently made up a number and told me to create an online account, fill out the information and pay the fee online. (“There is no option now to pay the fee in cash”, he said in Spanish.)  In the post office I created an account on my phone, filled in the information and tried to pay, and then tried to pay again, and again.  He could not explain why the payment just said that it was in transit, but told me that when it was paid, then the package would be released for pickup.  A few days later we tried again from the computer with different browsers but with the same errors.  Not sure where we will go next on that process.     

My wife will share on the next page another package experience that involved even more!  
We are very thankful for everything that has been sent but please contact us before sending a package especially something that is valuable or irreplaceable!

Flat tire and sharing the gospel


We took a trip one weekend to a neighboring town to meet people, change the scenery and pass out gospel booklets in that town.  While we were there we had a flat tire that we had to have repaired.  Due to the need for repairing the tire, it required two special trips to get the tire fixed.  On both occasions, God gave me an opportunity to share the gospel with lost sinners in need of salvation that is only in Christ Jesus!


Several doctor visits


Hannah scared us one day when she wasn’t feeling well. It started with her having an upset stomach and then her hands and arms cramped followed by a slight cramping in her legs. It took a good bit for the cramping to loosen up. She’s fainted in the past when she was dehydrated or overheated but this time was different so we took her immediately to the hospital. The doctors ran quite a few tests and found her healthy but recommended she see a couple of specialists. The general consensus is that she probably went too long between meals and needs to be careful to eat and drink enough. She’s been doing a lot better since she’s been taking better care of herself. We will update in our next report on the outcome of her visits with the specialists.

Please continue to pray that God would provide in His time, the perfect place to meet!

Thank you for your prayers and support!


~Thoughts from Stacie~


Troubles with Customs


Way back before Scott had his short trip to the States, I ordered some tea and a few other items from a reputable company that said it delivered to Argentina. I realized shipping would be expensive and I would most likely have to pay customs on the items since but I thought since I was using a delivery company it would at least arrive in my town and I could deal with customs here. I watched the tracking and saw it arrived at the delivery company in Buenos Aires but got stuck in customs. So they cannot deliver it to Cordoba. I could either abandon the package or go to Buenos Aires directly. Well, I’m a little too stubborn to just abandon the package that easily.


Trip to Buenos Aires


We had too much going on with our schedule for a family trip so I decided this would make a nice opportunity to go on a mother/daughter trip with Hannah. This will probably be Hannah’s last year here in Argentina and I thought we could make it a bit of a sight seeing adventure while also getting my package. We found a good price for two way plane tickets to BA and I made a 2 night reservation at the hotel there. We tried to get the package but there seems to be some kind of process the delivery company has to go through and I have to pay the customs fee all because I bought “too much” tea. If it had been a non-food item it would have been a simpler thing. Even though we weren’t able to bring home the package, we had fun sightseeing and it was nice having a stress free plane ride.


Easter Shopping


We have a tradition of buying new dress clothes to wear for Easter Sunday. After Hannah and I got back to Cordoba from our short trip, we decided to divide and conquer. Scott took the boys suit shopping and I took the girls dress shopping. We had to go to different stores because there really isn’t one store that sells it all. We found Hannah’s skirt and blouse at one store, and then Joanna’s and Elisabeth’s dresses at another store.

Scott found the boys suits and him a new suit coat at another store. Then finally I went out and found myself a new black dress. We would normally do more pastels for Easter but since Easter is in the fall here we went for more fall/winter colors since we’re going into winter.


Hannah’s Scare


The day after we went shopping Hannah woke up with her stomach feeling funny. The evening before we had soup for supper. She didn’t feel well so she was afraid to eat but she drank quite a bit of water because she has had problems passing out from not drinking enough and standing up too fast. She threw up a little but hadn’t eaten breakfast so we thought she should try some crackers and see if that would help her stomach.

As she went to pick up a cracker her hand started cramping followed by the other hand. Then the cramping progressed up her arm. We weren’t sure what was going on but decided it was best to get her to the private hospital in our neighborhood. Scott went and got the car from the garage while I tried to calm her down. She was conscious the whole time so the doctors don’t believe it was a seizure. All of the tests they ran on her heart and all came back normal so they think this happened because she went too long without eating. They are probably right but to be on the safe side we decided to go ahead and make the appointments with the specialist and other doctors. We’ll update next month on how those tests go. 


Easter Sunday


Easter Sunday we attended the services of Templo Bautista. It was nice having new clothes to wear to church. We don’t buy dress clothes often but this time of year is a good time to do so. The venders understand a little better when you’re shopping is “extravagant” for a special occasion.


Weekend Get-a-way


We feel a lot of stress sometimes as missionaries. I think Scott and I feel it more than the children. There are certain “symptoms” that come on us emotionally that we have to catch. When the signs of stress start showing Scott and I talk about where we need to go and start planning a weekend away from our norm to reset. Only a couple of nights away somehow puts us back into a better state of mind and encourages us as we move forward with what God has for us here. It also gives us opportunities to meet people outside of town and share the gospel with them. There is always the possibility that the Lord could open more doors outside our normal city life.


The Phone Call


While we were in another town we received a call from Malvinas Argentinas. Someone had an accident and they were needing money. Another problem we have as Americans is people seeing us as the solution to all their financial problems. The call greatly confused us as we still care about them however they had made it clear before that they had no desire to communicate with us at all. But thankfully we were out of town when they called so they would have to wait for us to get home the next day. That gave us time to think about how to handle the situation. They managed to resolve their financial problem within the family and we didn’t have to have the hard conversation that it looked like we were about to have.


Bonus Pictures


One of the normal strange sights that you will see in Cordoba, Argentina!

Thankful to be able to be a blessing to a sister here in Argentina by repairing and recovering her worn out hymnal!

A hymnal is something that is not easily replaceable as most hymnals in Argentina are spiral bound with only the words. They are not normally available for sale with the music included. To have her book brought to a better than new condition was something that she did not know was possible.

Enjoyed getting to preach to the men’s fellowship in Colombia by Zoom!



April 2023 Report PDF