By Pastor Patrick Cho

One of the greatest joys for me personally when I visit Tucuman is simply sitting with Pastor Jorge and talking with him about ministry. I suppose it’s easy to adopt a mentality that we are going to Argentina to teach the Argentines about ministry and the Bible. But when I sit with Pastor Jorge, I realize that I am in the company of someone who has years of experience in a ministry environment that is arguably much more difficult. Every time I have visited Tucuman I have gained a wealth of wisdom listening to his “war stories.” Besides the value of the insights that I receive, I am grateful for the camaraderie and fellowship we enjoy in the Lord. One year, we sat out on the church patio together with a guitar and took turns singing songs of praise. Neither of us knew what the other was singing, but it didn’t matter because we were singing to the Lord.

This year, our team was invited to Pastor Jorge and Norma’s house for lunch. This has become somewhat of an annual tradition to go over and enjoy a hearty beef rib BBQ out on his front lawn. The food is great but the company is better. It is such a blessing to spend a day with the Ahualles, to see them interact as a family and to benefit from their warm hospitality. Even through an afternoon of relaxation and hanging out, I am challenged by their example of hospitality and love.

One of the goals our team has on our summer trips is to be a blessing to the church leaders in Tucuman. Pastor Jorge and the leadership team of IBM Tucuman work tirelessly to minister to their church family and the surrounding barrios. The community where they reside is riddled with drug use, physical abuse and violence, drunkenness, and even murder. Meeting with people to address issues of the heart is constantly exhausting and the leaders there have to carry the burdens of the people with them. I’m sure at times it is easy to become discouraged. Pastor Jorge has shared on a number of occasions that it is particularly difficult when church members seek to hurt and attack. I’ll never forget his helpful illustration – It’s always more bearable to suffer the bite of a wolf because you know that the wolf is out to hurt you, but the bite of a sheep is especially painful because you never expect one of your sheep to bite you.

It isn’t even just with Pastor Jorge but with the other leaders as well. Beto Barrionuevo has become a dear friend over the years, and I have really come to appreciate the conversations we have had about ministry as well. I’m struck by his humility as he asks me for advice about certain ministry issues. Like Pastor Jorge, he is older than I am with many more years of experience. But he is eager to grow and learn. He loves the church and wants it to be as strong as possible, but also confesses that at times it is extremely difficult.

When we go to Argentina, we make it a point to encourage these leaders in any way we can. We support them financially, provide books and resources, and bring them gifts for their family. We want them to know that there is a church on the opposite hemisphere who cares and is praying for them. I know how difficult and disheartening ministry can be and how much these men can sometimes feel like they are on an island to fend for themselves. The relationships we have built over the years have been a tremendous blessing and joy, and the trust that has developed between us has been equally strong.

This year, when we left Tucuman and arrived in Buenos Aires, we were taken to the pastoral training center that was established by Eduardo and Matias Buldain. The center is actually located at their home in San Justo, about a half hour drive outside the city center. About six young men were there to take an exam and Eduardo asked if I would be willing to share a devotional with them in the morning. Understanding how these men were being invested in and the kind of training they were receiving really encouraged me. I was thrilled to hear that one of the classes they would be taking was on expository preaching because there is such a dearth of good preaching in Argentina.

It was a huge privilege to address these men and encourage them from the Word. What was especially neat was that one of them was a member from the church in Tucuman studying to enter pastoral ministry. All this reminded me of one of the major reasons for our return each summer. This nation is starving for the gospel and solid biblical truth and there are a handful of faithful men seeking to minister to the people there. We have such an awesome opportunity to be a part of it even in a small way. We can encourage these leaders to press on in the work and to be faithful to their calling. Praise God for this wonderful opportunity!

Editor’s note: This is a continuation of a series of articles being provided by the 2013 Argentina short-term missions team announced here.

By Josh Liu

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them (Romans 12:4-6a)

If you have been at Lighthouse Bible Church for any length of time, you might have heard missions described as “‘doing church’ somewhere else.” To briefly explain, the believer’s mission is to make disciples of Christ through the vehicle of the local church because of love for God and love for people (cf. Matt. 16:18; 22:37-40; 28:18-20; Acts 1:8); this mission ought to be the focal point for all believers everywhere. Thus, what we seek to accomplish here in San Diego we seek to accomplish on our missions trips – “doing church” somewhere else. Indeed, it truly is a special opportunity and an amazing experience for a church to send its members to meet a church in another hemisphere for the sake of the Kingdom of God. Still, overseas disciple making presents some unique obstacles; one in particular is the language barrier.

For many southern Californians, proficient fluency in a second or third language may be uncommon. While many of my peers (myself included) studied Spanish in high school, their language skills have since then deteriorated. For our missions trips to Tucuman, Argentina, a portion of our financial support goes toward translators’ transportation, meals, and so on. In previous trips, there was need for a 1:1 missionary to translator ratio in conducting an evangelism campaign with Iglesia Biblica Misionera (Missionary Bible Church, or IBM) in Tucuman. This year, the team focused on encouraging and teaching the members of IBM, which required fewer translators. Nevertheless, the translators were an integral part of our ministry to and relationship with IBM. Here are the main translators for the 2013 Argentina missions team:

Left to right: Martín, Pablo, me, Wanda, Florencia

Daniela

I had the privilege of getting to know new translators and catching up with old ones; some are part of the church (i.e. Pablo), some returned to visit and made themselves available to us (i.e. Wanda); and some were completely new to IBM (i.e. Martín, Florencia, Daniela). These translators volunteered and graciously served us. They each have different backgrounds, different experiences, different gifts, but all supported our team’s goal of encouraging, discipling, and serving IBM. Translating is incredibly difficult and draining! Martín and Pablo translated our main messages–between Pastor Patrick, Roger, and me, we preached 10 times. Pablo and Daniela helped me with a children’s program; Martín, Florencia, and Wanda helped me in my personal interactions and conversations with church members. I was thoroughly encouraged by their servant’s attitude. Praise God for how He brings together different members of the body of Christ to further His Kingdom!

While my focus and ministry were aimed at IBM, I had the opportunity to encourage and serve some of our translators. Knowing my background in TESOL and experiences with international students, Pablo, Daniela, and I talked about English language education in Argentina and how it can be a means of ministry both inside and outside the church. Perhaps the highlight of my time with the translators is exchanging testimonies of how God graciously saved us.

The testimony of God’s saving grace to Florencia (shared with permission): her brother, Martín was saved first from her family at a Christian camp. Over time, their whole family eventually began going to church. Florencia remembers attending church since she was nine years old. However, she shared that she was saved when she was 14 years old, two years ago. She was walking to school early one morning when a van suddenly pulled up to her. She was pushed into the van and kidnapped! Her kidnappers began asking her a series of questions and eventually learned that they kidnapped the wrong person. During that time, Florencia thought, “If I were to die, what would happen to me?” She prayed to God and trusted Him with her life. Shockingly, the kidnappers let her go. She found the church that she used to attend nearby and was taken to school where she met with school officials, her parents, and the police. Her attitude towards life now has completely changed. She shares that despite any circumstances, even life threatening events, she always has hope in Christ’s death and resurrection. Now, she seeks to love Christ more and serve Him in everything she does.

It is incredible to witness God’s work in another person’s life and to be blessed by the fruit that is bore.  It is a privilege to serve alongside another member of Christ’s body for the furthering of His Kingdom purposes. It is a blessing to encourage and edify other parts of the body, even unexpected parts not usually connected to the local body of IBM. Let us pray for these translators–for their faith and ministry–who helped us “do church” somewhere else.

Editor’s note: This is a continuation of a series of articles being provided by the 2013 Argentina short-term missions team announced here.

by Eugene Park

Throughout the years I’ve gone to Argentina, my role has changed. Some years I just go as a team member. Other years I go as the team leader. But one role that has never changed is being the music guy. Each year I try to bring down new music that they can learn and continue to sing even after we leave. What the members of the Tucuman church learn through the teaching time is extremely important. But what is often overlooked is the learning that can also happen through the singing of biblically centered songs that sing the truths of the gospel. This is why I take my role as the music guy seriously, both at home and abroad. Lyrics in music have the opportunity to teach biblical truth. That’s why I’m so thankful for ministries like Sovereign Grace Music that seeks to produce gospel centered songs that the church can sing. In recent years they have produced albums in Spanish. These songs have been a mix of translated songs from English that we sing at LBC and songs written in Spanish. These albums have been a tremendous help to me as I’ve been able to take these songs down to Argentina and share them with the church. Sovereign Grace also puts the music sheets online for free download.

When we arrived in Tucuman, a handful of people kept coming up to me and asking if I had new songs for them. I don’t remember this happening in previous years. But that encouraged me because it showed that they have been enjoying the songs that I’ve been bringing and they wanted more of the same. And during the singing times led by Beto (music leader at the Tucuman church), they would often sing songs that we had taught them in previous years.

I feel a special kinship with Beto as we’re both the music leaders of our churches. Each year we spend time together talking about music, going through songs, and helping each other with our respective ministries. I really appreciate the faithfulness he’s shown over the years. We have seen leaders come and go from the church in Tucuman but he’s been there from the very beginning.

During the teaching sessions throughout the week, we would start out with some singing time led by Beto and someone else. Then they would call me up to sing and teach them a couple of songs. This year I prepared the songs La Gloria de la Cruz (The Glories of the Cross), Gracias Cristo (Jesus, Thank You), Mi Vida es Cristo (All I Have is Christ), Venga Tu Reino (Let Your Kingdom Come), and Contempla A Dios (Behold Our God). All these songs came from the Sovereign Grace album Eres Dios. The church in Tucuman loves to sing so they learned these songs quickly and were soon belting them out. One of the blessings of being up in front is that everyone is facing me and so I get to hear (and sometimes feel) the full brunt of everyone singing.

Equipping them for ministry has always been a priority and it’s no different with the music. This year we left them with a few Eres Dios CD’s as well as the songsheets for all the songs. We give them all the songsheets in case there are other songs on the CD they want to sing.

While I didn’t do any “official” teaching in Tucuman, I know that people were still taught Scripture through the music. I hope they will continue to learn and be shaped by the gospel through the music. Now I gotta figure out what to sing next year!

Editor’s note: This is the first of a series of articles being provided by the 2013 Argentina short-term missions team announced here.