Resurrection

Recoletta Cemetery is a beautiful landmark in Buenos Aires. Considered the most expensive (and exclusive) real estate in the city, it is a monument to life and death. The other day, my family was walking around the cemetery, when we saw this sight. What a great reminder that death isn't final, that there is a resurrection.

No parking!

1 Corinthians 15

"I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

Good friends

Hemos sido bendecidos con muchos amigos...

We have been blessed with many friends. When we talk about what we most love about Buenos Aires, it isn't the city, the museums, the food, or the atmosphere. It's the people: our readers, our friends, and our brothers and sisters in Christ.

One of the things that gives us the most satisfaction is inviting people over too our home. Last night one of my (Daniel's) good friends came over for dinner and stayed until after midnight. We are constantly invited to spend time with our friends here in BsAs at their homes, out to dinner, or in the park. One of our favorite activities is tomando un café, taking coffee with a friend. There are confiterías on every corner, and every neighborhood has their own favorite places to stop in for a coffee. We practice our Spanish, talk about ideas, and share faith over a coffee (or tea, soda, licuado, etc.)

We are truly blessed by the friendships we have made here. We are surprised at how close you can grow to people in the course of 6 months. We already have students telling us that they are going to miss us when we leave (which is 6 more months away!)

It brings to mind the passage that Paul writes to the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 2:8 -- "Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the Gospel of God but our lives as well." It is great to be in a wonderful place with amazing people... In fact, it is the people that make this place so wonderful!

Thanks for your continued prayers and support!

Daniel's First Paragraph in Spanish

Hey guys, I hope you are doing well! I am attaching my first paragraph in Spanish to this blog. I was asked by Jonathan Hanegan to write a paragraph so he could check my Spanish. I also sent it to my friend Jonathan Teel, who grew up in Buenos Aires. Here is the paragraph I wrote, and then there will be an edited paragraph below it.

Hola, mi amigo! Como esta usted? (Sorry, I only know the formal side of Spanish to this point.) Estamos bien; cansado, pero bien. Estamos entusiasmados llegar en Buenos Aires. Vamos a salir en el ocho de augosto, y vamos a llegar en el nueve. Llegamos en sesenta y seis dias! Esperamos que ustedes estan bien, y que Dios esta bendiciendo ustedes en muchas cosas. (Cuando llegamos queremos a ir a un asado!)

Sorry there are no accents, but this computer isn't set up with a Spanish language option. (Using the work computer.) Here is the edited version:

Hola, mi amigo! Como esta usted? Estamos bien; cansados, pero bien. Estamos entusiasmados para llegar a Buenos Aires. Vamos a salir en el ocho de augosto, y vamos a llegar en el nueve. Llegamos en sesenta y seis dias! Esperamos que ustedes estan bien, y que Dios esta bendiciendo ustedes en muchas cosas. (Cuando llegamos queremos ir a un asado!)

I feel this is a huge milestone for me. Granted, I've been able to do this in two other languages previously (Latin and Greek), but for me this seems like a huge step. I love learning Spanish, and I am excited to be able to use it and be surrounded with it when we arrive in Argentina.

Keep our language learning in your prayers. We want to be able to communicate in the "heart language" of the people of Argentina, and we believe that God will reward our efforts. Pray that we won't grow too frustrated and that we can make the right linguistic connections.

God bless you guys! Thanks for your prayers!

Update 1/20/11

Hey guys, thanks for signing up for our updates! We are blessed to have so many good friends and supporters.

Here is how things are shaping up for us right now.
- Fundraising continues. We have approximately $9,000-10,000 pledged, so we are a quarter of the way there. Keep that in your prayers continuously.
- We might have found a supporting church. We won't know "officially" for a few more weeks, although everything sounds promising, but we'll let you know as soon as we know.
- We are continuing our Spanish language learning, which is a blessing. I am really enjoying my time with the language.
- We are still working on our LST training. Keep that in your prayers, because between our two full-time jobs, my CPE class, and everything else, life gets really hectic.

Here are a few things to pray for:
1. Pray that God will continue to bless us in the fundraising. It is hard for me (Daniel) to give it all over to God, but I am learning to relinquish control (albeit slowly).
2. Pray for our training, that God will continue to teach us the things that we need to know.
3. Pray for our spiritual development, that we will continue to be drawn closer to the Father. Pray that God will allow us to dig deeper into our relationship with Him and desire Him more.
4. Pray for those in BA that we will be working with, that God will lead us to the right people and prepare their hearts even now.
5. Pray for the church leaders at Caballito, and the whole congregation. Pray that God will use them to be a blessing to their community.

Thanks again for all of your prayers and support. We love each of you!

Fundraising Efforts To Date

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your generous contributions! We are blessed to have approximately $1,400 thus far of our $44,000. We are blessed, but we also have a LONG way to go.

We have sent approximately 180 letters so far, and we have over 100 more to send out. We have also sent our information packet to 8 churches, and 6 have given favorable responses. We have asked a church to be our supporting congregation, and we are waiting to hear back from them. (Should be any day now...)

Again, thanks for your support and prayers. Here are our prayer requests for the week:
1. Fundraising: Continue praying that God will bring in the money that we need for our work.

2. New baptisms: The Caballito church has had four baptisms in the last month or so. Of those, 3 were at least a partial result of LST efforts.

3. Training: Megan and I are in the midst of training for this experience.
- We are doing LST training, from the DVD training series to book reviews of various pertinent books. (We are currently reading Paul Hiebert's Anthropological Insights for Missionaries, and we recently finished Celebration of Discipline and Pilgrim's Heart).
- We are also both studying Spanish using the Fluenz software. We are both progressing along nicely, but still have a LONG way to go before we would feel comfortable in the language. Please pray for these efforts.
- All of this is on top of the work we are already doing, Daniel in his campus ministry and Megan in her work. We both work full-time, and then also do training on the side. On top of that, Daniel will begin a CPE training class next week in order to study hospital chaplaincy more in depth in order to possibly begin a CPE residency when we return. Pray for our sanity, as much of our time is filled!

4. Buenos Aires: Pray for the people of Buenos Aires.
- If you are a fan of international news, you have probably seen that there has been some civil unrest in BA in the past few weeks. There is an energy shortage due to the huge rise in oil prices. This is coming during the holiday season (also their summer break), and temperatures are at record highs. The people are angry that their air conditioning systems aren't working because the power is off. Pray for peace and an end to their frustrations.
- Pray for the people that we will be working with. We don't know their names yet, but God does. They are all his children, and God will lead us to the people that he needs us to influence. Pray for those we have yet to meet.
- Pray also for the Caballito church, that God will continue to make them passionate for him. Pray for the missionaries and ministers as well, that God will continue to fill them with the Holy Spirit and empower them for Good Works.

Thanks again for all of your prayer and support. God bless you in all you are doing!

In Christ,
Daniel and Megan