by Eugene Park

So we started the campaign on Tuesday in a community called Amalia, which is where the church is located. Our schedule during the campaign starts with us going around door to door in the morning and sharing the gospel. At times there are contacts that the church wants us to visit. Typically these contacts are parents who send their kids to church events, but do not come themselves. So when we get the opportunity to share the gospel, the conversations can quite often last for up to an hour or more. We typically try to involve them in the conversation when sharing the gospel with them.

After the morning session we meet back at church for lunch, which has been delicious. We have had pastel de papas, milanesa, etc. Then after lunch we will typically go back to the hotel and rest up during siesta. We could go out again but most people are sleeping so it wouldn’t be worth it.

After siesta we go out again and continue to go door to door. We also spend time inviting people out to the evening program. Most people are receptive to going to some sort of program that is held in the community. And for the evening program we try to make it part fun, but also instructive. This year the evening program changed depending on what was going on. For the skit we would either do our skit based on the four soils parable or the youth of the church would do a skit called “Salti“. After the skit I would sing the song “Jesus, Thank You” both in English and Spanish. But some nights there wasn’t a guitar so if that happened, someone would share their testimony instead (we had to exhibit a lot of flexibility). Then after that one of the guys would share the gospel with the crowd. Then after the gospel presentation we would go out into the crowd and start sharing the gospel again but in small groups or a one on one context.

Each day we did the same thing but in a different barrio. On Wednesday we went to 24 de Septiembre. On Thursday we went to San Pablo. And on Friday we went to SMATA. Each of these days gave us the opportunity to glorify God through the sharing of the gospel. And even though everyone didn’t accept the message, we knew that as messengers our role was to give the message as clearly and accurately as possible. Overall the team was really blessed this week as all of us had fruitful opportunities to share the gospel.

But even though the campaign is over, the missions trip is not. We still have the opportunity to encourage the church and support the leadership these last few days so hopefully we will make the most of our time.

The tradition of Cesar losing a foot race also continued. And as a result he had to shave. So just warning you that when we return he’s gonna look different. And the orange peel fight tradition lives on, even though I find myself participating less and less each year. Must be the maturity setting in.

On Saturday we took a trip to Tafi del Valle. It is a resort area that is about a three hour drive from the church. During the summer it’s jam-packed with people. But now that it’s winter down here, it was practically deserted because it gets seriously cold there. But when we got there we saw that it was a really nice place that was next to a big lake surrounded by mountains. It was definitely cold, but it was also very picturesque and so we spent the next hour taking pictures down by the lake. Then after the picture time people split off and did different things like play volleyball, soccer, or just hang and talk.

Lunch was pretty awesome as we got to enjoy asado, the traditional argentine grilled steak. Just watching the guys setup the grill and cut the raw meat to pieces made me feel manly.

After lunch we boarded the buses again and started the long drive home. And that’s where I am now, in the bus as it winds its way down the mountain. I had better stop before I lose my lunch. Hope to update you again at least one more time before we head back to the US of A!