Okay, so here's a little of what I've been up to. I know I know... I'm actually blogging about my activities so far!Things are going well. The people here are absolutely amazing and the culture is very socially oriented (rather than time-oriented as we are in the US). My first meeting with a group here was with the Caballito youth group. We met, sang songs, and had a devotional (people also get excited here and speak even more quickly than usual, so I understood about 4% of what was said). After, we hung out and played ping-pong & table soccer until people got back with very tasty, inexpensive pizza (about 10:00PM). We then ate, fellowshiped and hung out more until we finally got home around 1:30AM. I like the evening culture... it also means we often get to sleep in a little bit. Que bueno! The youth are very diverse and are all very friendly and full of life. Though I could only communicate a little, I felt very welcome. I've also been able to attend a few other small groups in Spanish... and in English!
A better example of the social-orientation would be the church services. Anne Weaver told me about how services were significantly longer in Oxford and extended beyond the service itself. Here I've been able to experience that, as we had breakfast at the church building, services lasted quite a while, and we then commenced to talk and hang out until a group of us returned with groceries, cooked lunch, and continued to fellowship. I finally had to leave around 5:15PM to get to house church at Jared and Karina's house.
These are some of us from the lunch group. Pedro (left) is the youth leader of sorts from Chile. He went to the Baxter Institute in Honduras!The people here are brilliant. I've become friends with one young woman who is studying to be an ambassador. In one small group Bible study were a doctor, a magazine editor, an actor and an older youth who does many things and reads the dictionary for interest. Maria Laura and Marissa are studying to be an interpreter and a psychologist, respectively. They're a lot of fun. I have a great deal of respect for them, and for the work being done by the Valdez and Berryman families. However, the intellect and the spirit of the enlightenment which is so prevelant here can be a vice. Many think Christianity to be for the ignorant; "an opiate of the masses" (Marx), or an oppressive corrupt remnant of the crusades. Few know even an inkling of the truth and hardly any have ever actually read the Bible, even though most call themselves "catholic."
Jan Dyer and others have talked with me about how much we need Christian Psychologists in the states, and the need is even greater here. A lot of people are looking for answers and look to meditation, Buddhism and psychology for answers. I'm really glad Marissa is studying psych because I think she can do a great deal for the kingdom here through that. People will be looking to her for answers because of her title, and she will be able to serve them through her training, but she can also point them to the true answer; the good news of Jesus of Nazareth.
I enjoy intellectual people and discussing art and literature. I'm glad that this can be a means by which I can connect with some people. However, we diverge in some ways. I like talking about faith integration and seeing God in beauty and in people's hearts. Argentines often discuss politics (and if you don't know, I'm really not a huge fan of politics). However, "I become all things to all people... and that may mean talking politics... because
"saving some" is completely worth it! (1 Cor 9:19-23) Abel and I discussed at some length, the Spanish civil war through literature. He reminds me of a character in one of these: Soldiers of Salami. In it, the target character, Rafael Sánchez Mazas, is an enigma of life shrouded in mystery. To me, that's Abel for a bit. He's a grand presence and a seemingly good friend, but just a little shrouded in mystery. I may see if he'll take me to one of the art museums here on Monday.Unfortunately, getting together with small groups and with Let's Start Talking is getting a little difficult here. The swine flu is spreading quite a bit and group-gatherings of people is being discouraged. Our small groups have been canceled for the next 2 weeks. Fortunately for me, I am mostly working with individuals, so I can still get coffee or lunch with people well enough. No worries though, I'm pretty cautious about the flu and am taking every precaution I can. If you would though, be praying for Annie, Katie and Jennifer (The Lipscomb girls... we have many common friends; it's great!). They are here working with Let's Start Talking, which has proven quite effective here over the past couple of years (in fact, we had a baptism just last night!! Horay!!). They were scheduled to be here for another two weeks, and then visit Chile, but the Lets Start Talking organization and those through whom they came here are trying to send them to Chile today or tomorrow, to get away from the swine flu here. However, the flu is hitting Chile harder than it is Argentina, so they would quite possibly be worse off if they left now. Be praying for them and their travels if you would, and perhaps more-so for communication between the the girls and the organization. It's not been the easiest to get ahold of them.
I'm headed over to Jared's here in a little bit to do some praying and continue our discussions of missions, ministry and the Argentine culture.
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