Chris's First Blog Post

Two days ago, I was laying in Johnny’s bed with him and saying a blessing on him. When I was finished, he looked at me and said, “That was a nerdy prayer, Dad.”

Being here in Argentina for almost two months has been a big adjustment for us all. There have been challenges, but also some good laughs and the beloved visits to Grido, the local heladería (ice cream shop). Here are some themes that I have been thinking about:

PATIENCE

Things just take longer to do here since things move slower, and we are also still in the process of learning the language. We have had many tests of our patience. We are learning to slow down a bit and not be so expectant that we are going to be able to get done what we need to do quickly and easily. I am adapting, but I am still more uptight than Krista. She has to regularly remind me to “chill”.

HUMILITY

One area that has required humility has been being so dependent on people here for help for simple things. We have been so used to being self-sufficient and living in that way.

We couldn’t just rent a house on our own. One of our new friends here had to put our rental in his name since we do not have our DNI yet. Another couple from the church who own their own small home had to be co-signers on our rental agreement. Since we did not (and still do not) have a car, someone from the church had to drive us around to look at houses that were available to rent. We are borrowing the pastor’s old cell phone (probably from 1990). My friend Diego had to talk to the owner of the house we are renting to explain why the fuse box needed to be updated. He also had to make the call for me to order cable and WiFi for our house. The list goes on and on. It’s sometimes easier to be the giver than the one receiving assistance, but I believe it is a hidden form of pride for me not to be willing to ask for and accept help from others.

FAITH AND DEPENDENCE ON GOD

The whole process of being more open to the possibility of leaving our great life in Santa Barbara, deciding to go and then preparing to leave was itself a learning process in our spiritual lives. It was exciting, scary and invigorating all at the same time. In our lives here in Argentina, we have had to learn to depend on God (by necessity) more fully. We have had (and still have) much more uncertainty about the days ahead than we have ever had in our lives. This has forced us to keep coming to God to ask for His help, assistance, patience, etc. We want to take full advantage of our situation here to learn to depend on Him more. And, not just to depend on Him like the big Santa Clause in the sky who we bring our requests to. We are trying to allow Him to mold us more into the kind of disciples He wants us to be.

GOD'S FAMILY

I met a man named Ramón and another man named Marcelo while we were waiting to pick up the kids at school one day. I had a nice conversation with them. They go to a local Pentecostal church here. Two days later, I saw Ramón again and greeted him (which includes a kiss on the cheek here, even for men). Ramón said that when he was doing his devotional that day, he was thinking of our family and he was praying for me. He informed me that he was going to continue to pray for me every day. I feel like I get a better view of God by getting to know His followers in other parts of the world. From an external perspective, I have little in common with Ramón. But, we love the same God and we are both trying to follow Him faithfully in our lives. We both have wives and children who we love and we are trying to be good husbands and fathers.

The other day I was having a hard day. I was missing my family and friends back home, and I was feeling uncertainty of what God has for us here. Then, I received an e-mail from our Spanish teacher’s husband (his name is German) to Krista and me telling us how thankful he is for our friendship. He affirmed that God has a purpose for us here that is bigger than we realize. German is my closest friend here so far and to receive this message from him just when I needed it, was an encouragement. German is taking leadership in Cristo para La Ciudad (Christ for the City) in Argentina.

SPANISH

The other night before dinner, I prayed in Spanish. It felt good. There is something awesome about being able to communicate with God in another language. When I do pray in Spanish, I also feel a bond with believers here.

Krista spent about 3 hours yesterday with the pastor’s wife fellowshipping and practicing her Spanish. It’s good for her to practice her Spanish without me there. I’m quick to start speaking with whoever I can in Spanish and feel like making mistakes is part of the learning process. Krista has been more careful in her Spanish and more timid to speak.

I read 3 chapters from the Bible each morning in Spanish out loud. I have really enjoyed that. When we are at church (almost a 3 hour service), Krista and I both usually understand a lot since we are familiar with scripture. As we sing songs in Spanish in the church, I think about our friends back home who are singing some of the same songs in English. The services are like a rock concert in some ways. People worship God with such enthusiasm. We enjoy joining them in this. They are full of passion to praise God and to live in a way that honors Him. They have a deep faith that God will provide for them and bring healing into their lives when they need it. The other Sunday when I took out a piece of paper to take notes on the pastor’s sermon (my notes were in English – I hope I can take notes in Spanish in a couple months), there were notes from Steve and Reed Jolley’s sermons on three of the 4 flaps. The blank space that I used to take notes on Rubén’s sermon symbolized to me that God has more to teach me here as part of this new journey.

The kids are progressing well in their Spanish. Now that they are in school each day where everything is in Spanish, they are going to learn more quickly. David and Krista have been working on David’s homework for about an hour so far. Andrew just finished reading a Bible story to Johnny in Spanish. I think his accent is better than ours. While the kids are at school each day, Krista and I have Spanish lessons for three hours with our friend Karina. We work on “homework” in the afternoons/nights, have times in our houses of speaking only in Spanish, watch television/movies in Spanish and try to practice with people as much as we can. We are getting better each day, but it is a humbling process. When people tell us we are doing great, we cannot help but wonder if they are being honest or just being nice (out of a sense of pity!).

I have had a hard time trying to figure out how we are going to communicate all that we are experiencing and learning with our friends back home. So…I figured that I just need to start the process with this blog entry. However, now I need to go. We are off to the 7 pm church service. ¡Vamos a la casa de Dios para alabar Su Nombre!