Did a month go by already?
Preparing for group coming to visit us!
We are excited about having a couple of members from Victory MBC in Russelville, AR come to visit us at the end of June. Their church made an initiative to send their members to visit all of the mission points that they support. What a great way to personally take part in the great commission for a local New Testament church!
Goodbye to Gluttony
About a month ago, my wife and I radically tried something new on our diet to try to take better control of our health to fix current challenges and prevent future problems. For over a month we have cut out almost all carbs and changed our meal times to two meals per day: one meal around noon and another about 7:00 PM. (The kids are still eating normal food and normal mealtimes.) So far we have been feeling amazing and have really enjoyed the results. Health is not everything that the world thinks that it is. This world worships the body and health as did the ancient Greeks, but God would have us to maintain the bodies that he gave us so that we can work better for Him! This paragraph is not a judgment upon anybody else’s food struggles we are just sharing some of our own.
Renewing our Visa
We have begun the long process again of getting our yearly immigrations requirements finished. There was an Argentine pastor that just took his yearly trip to Buenos Aires to handle his and told us how much faster it is to go in person. With that in mind I took my son, Jonathan, and we determined that we would get a cheap ticket to BA and back and try to get it finished. We were impressed with the giant building where the “Minister of the Cults” had his office. The secretary told us however that we were in the wrong place.
She said that the office for “non Catholic” churches was across the street. We found the little tiny worn out office and was told that we could only do the renewal process online. They were friendly at least! That same day we tried to recover my wife’s package that we talked about last month. We were unsuccessful even though we spent half the day trying. The trip wasn’t a complete loss however as we had brought a suitcase full of gospel booklets and came back empty after talking with several individuals. I also had a great time with my son at the same time. We have filed our papers and are waiting to get a reply back from the minister of the cults… Update: As we were preparing this report we got our signed letter back! On to the next step!
(I think that the other pastor could renew in person because he was Argentine and not doing it for visa renewal.) All is in God’s hands and we are thankful for the many people that we were able to talk to during our couple days there!
Lizard People?
While sharing the gospel in Buenos Aires, I found a very talkative gentleman that had lots of questions about the Bible. In Argentina as in the US there are several people that watch too many Youtube conspiracy videos and read the books that they put out. In his view, all of the world rulers were Jewish, Illuminati Lizard people. Reading books is good and I read very wide, but make sure that you don’t put more weight in man’s books than in “The Book”!
“The pope used to pass by here.”
As we were in Buenos Aires, we stopped into a barber shop to get my hair cut. (Long overdue as my normal barber quit.) Barber shops are great places to share the gospel (even if they do have a strait razor to your throat) and soon we were in a great conversation about Jesus. He had asked me at one point what I thought of the current Pope Francis. I told him that I had never met the man personally. He told me that before he was pope, he used to pass by his barbershop, walking, but then added that he never did get a haircut from him.The pope used to pass by here.”
“I read the whole book.”
There is a young man that is a member of Templo Bautista that recently surrendered to the ministry. He told me the other day that he read our gospel booklet cover to cover and listened to several of the messages that the QR codes go to. In the gospel books there are resources on two main themes: Salvation and Christian obligation (what to do after you’re saved) Our gospel booklet covers all of our doctrinal statements! Pray for this young man in his ministry.
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~
What do the Kids think about our new diet?
Since Scott already talked about how we’ve changed our way of eating for our health’s sake, I thought I would just share how this affects the rest of the family. The children are still eating basically the same although we have included more vegetables in their diet as well. For instance if we have a salad for a meal we make sure to prepare enough for them to have some as a side dish to whatever they are eating.
Several times they mentioned how much easier it has been for them to figure out what to eat since whatever has bread or rice in or on it is theirs. They also don’t have to worry about saving food for us as we fix our own separate meal each day before they fix their lunch. The kids are happy and have been learning more about health and fitness. Our eating better actually helps them make better choices as well. We also started providing more fruits and vegetables for the kids and save the ice cream and cookies for special occasions.
Hannah’s Doctors Visits
Hannah had a couple of doctor visits this month. The medical doctor we went to told us that some people are more sensitive to certain changes like standing up too fast or overheating. He said all of her lab work and everything else looks normal but she needs to make sure she doesn’t skip meals and to not stand up too fast from a sitting position. There are a couple of more tests on her heart that we are going to have done just to be completely sure but it looks like she’s fine and just needs to watch out for the activities that trigger these spells she’s had. The doctor also gave her a letter of health saying she was able to participate in any athletic activities at the gym. She and Jonathan are both wanting to start exercising more. I plan to go with them when they do start going to the gym to make sure they don’t overdo and hurt themselves.
Mother’s Day
Here in Argentina Mother’s Day is celebrated in October. But since we are from the United States we celebrate both the U.S. Mother’s Day and Argentine. I had a good day. We spent the day at home listening to the Mother’s Day sermons online. I also took Scott and Jonathan to the airport that morning which is why I decided we would stay home instead of our normal Sunday morning routine.
Scott and Jonathan Travel to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is such a big, busy place. If you read our report from last month you will see that Hannah and I went to Buenos Aires the previous month to try to get a package that was stuck there in customs. Scott talks about his experience there on his page. I haven’t completely given up on that package. It’s not going anywhere I just need to keep bugging them to get it out of customs.
Fall Concerts and Recitals
We have come to the end of fall and we enjoyed getting to hear the kids perform in fall concerts. Jonathan had his concert towards the beginning of May. Hannah and Elijah had a recital in the middle of the month. Then Elisabeth and Joanna ended the month with their violin concert. They are all doing so well at their instruments. It’s fun to watch them grow and learn.
Joanna’s First Lost Tooth
Our youngest daughter Joanna had her first loose tooth. Here in Argentina instead of a tooth fairy they have a mouse called “Raton Perez” that comes and takes the teeth from under pillows. However I found it much easier to just skip the middle fairy (or mouse) and just give my kids their money immediately. I know it’s not traditional but it saves me from forgetting about it.
Homeschool Co-op Field Trip
The last Friday of each month we get together with other Homeschool families. The parents take turns teaching classes for the children and then afterwards we eat lunch together and sometimes we go on a field trip together. This year we went to an outdoor park that used to be a zoo. When it was a zoo it was sadly run down and the animals weren’t well cared for. The government had the location completely renovated. We visited it with the other homeschool families in the co-op. It was set up like a zoo but without the animals just pictures and videos. The kids did enjoy spending time with their friends at least.
Elisabeth’s Birthday
Elisabeth turned 11 years old this past month. She had a great day filled with eating out, playing games at an arcade, and ice cream. We also went to a nearby town to watch Hannah’s clarinet teacher perform in a concert at a museum. When we arrived back home Elisabeth opened her presents and we watched a movie. She seemed to really enjoy her day.
Bonus Pictures
This store in the neighborhood where we live advertises that they sell idols that don’t break! At the bottom it says that they are ideal so that your kids can know who Jesus is.
As you can see there is a lot of work to do here and the challenges are great! Pray that we might reach the people where they are and help them to know that you don’t connect to Jesus through an image!
In front of the “casa rosada”, the equivalent of our “white house”, some people have built a shack in protest demanding an audience with the president!
The sign says that they have been there for two years and three months!
Joanna made a life size “Elsa” out of a “Frozen” popcorn bucket. Something like this standing in the living room can really startle a person in the morning!
