Argentina...

Over the past 4 years, God has been opening our eyes to the poverty around the world and in our own neighborhood. Our thinking about this has been shaped by three trips we have taken as a family. Four summers ago we went to Guatemala with some high school students from our church. When we were there, we spent most of our time in a rural village of 2,000 people.

Two summers ago we spent 2 months in Oaxaca, Mexico attempting to grasp the Spanish language (you can read all about that trip in prior posts). We were also able to visit 2 children – Luis & Juan – who we pray for and sponsor through Compassion International. They both live in very rural parts of Southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas.

After returning from Mexico, we resolved to be more intentional with what we got involved in and became much more open to a different direction for our future. We began researching organizations and reading books that had to do with poverty and service in Latin America. We became open to the possibility that we – as a family – might leave Santa Barbara.

It was a long process, but in our research, we found a remarkable organization with whom we will partner: Latin America Mission. We spent 2 weeks at an intensive orientation and became even more impressed and excited about this opportunity. Besides having a rich 88-year history in Latin America, we love their approach to service:

• Biblical – share a common statement of faith
• Holistic – focusing on service to every aspect of a person’s life [This is unique for ministry in Latin America. 95% of the ministries focus solely on church planting. We hope to share Christ’s love with people by helping to meet their basic human needs.]
• Empowering – equipping the church, training leaders and empowering the poor
• Innovative – valuing creativity and abeing willing to take risks when necessary
• Partnership oriented – working alongside and partnering with national associate ministries
• Committed to excellence – in all aspects of service

Through the trips we mentioned, our years of being discipled at Santa Barbara Community Church and our involvement with a local bilingual church, our heart for Latin America and our love for the Latino people has continued to grow. So much so, we are considering moving to Cordoba, Argentina in August of 2010.

We would work with a church called La Gracia de Jesus (Jesus’ Grace) which is is pastored by Ruben Ricca and his wife Graciela. The church is practically demonstrating the love of Christ in the community and the surrounding area in numerous ways. We plan assist the church in running and expanding their microcredit program.

So, Chris and I are off to Cordoba on Thursday, October 8th to check it out for our family. We'll be gone for one week. We're going to check out their current microcredit program, participate in the elderly care ministry, visit the church, meet with other ex-pat families, visit schools, tour the city, enjoy some hikes in the surrounding moutains, and of course watch the 2 qualifiying Argentine World Cup soccer matches. We hope to share updates along the way....