Bahia Blanca

I just walked in the door, getting back from a weekend trip with Miles.

Bahia Blanca is an eight hour bus ride south of Capitol Federal (it is still in the state of Buenos Aires). The missionary couple that was in Bahia Blanca has retired and gone home. UME (the local denomination who's name translates "Gospel Missionary Union") asked Miles and Bob, one of the other missionaries in this region, to go to Bahia Blanca and see how the church was doing and what their needs are.

What we saw when we got there was pretty awesome. The church had waited a while for another missionary to be sent, but one never was, and they decided that they needed to go on with their vision on their own. The church has outreaches for children in three different neighborhoods. On Saturday we were able to see one of these, there were about 20 kids there who sung songs, heard a Bible lesson and ate something (Most families are used to the school feeding the kids breakfast and lunch, so on the weekends the kids only get one meal per day). The pastor of the church was telling us that in some of these neighborhoods, at age thirteen, the girls either have to get married or become prostitutes. The church is also leading a couple of women's studies in different neighborhoods, and has church every 2 weeks in two different neighborhoods. In all, they are reaching about 200 people every week, 120 of them being children.

Last night I sat in the kitchen of Rene's house (Rene is the unofficial pastor of the church) and watched as Miles and Bob met with the elders and other leaders of the church. It was hard for me to tell what was going on, because three people were crying and others were laughing, and it was all in Spanish.

The people were asking Miles and Bob how they could do more. The crying that I saw was part of the reaction that they had when Bob and Miles told them that they were already doing more than any other church in the denomination. They went to Rene's house last night expecting some kind of gold nugget leadership (they all had their Bibles and paper out with a 'what do ya got for us' look on their face) and they were asked if they would help some of the other churches improve their outreach programs. It had to be a great encouragement to these people to come wanting to know why they weren't doing enough, and to find out that they are doing a great job. There were a few things that Miles and Bob suggested, the church has about 4 men in it because most of the outreach focuses on children, which draws women, but it just goes to show that even when we have no idea what we are doing, God will still build his church, and the power of the gospel won't ever die.

I'm going to go to sleep now (It's 7:30 in the morning but I haven't slept well all weekend), the rest of this week will consist of finishing the bathrooms at the church, painting the entryway of the house and probably scrubbing the tile floors (to get all of the paint off). Next week the kids start their winter break and there will be alot of activities with the youth, so I am trying to get most of my work done this week.