Feliz Día de Independencia

Today was Argentine Independence Day. (Actually, there are two: Revolution Day on the 25th of May, and Independence Day on the 9th of July.) We celebrated by joining our friends who live in Zarate for a great day together. We were blessed to spend the day with Cinthia and Giovanni, our friends from church.

Tonight, I was working on our Hebrews booklet for our students who have finished all of the LST books, when I was struck with a thought: How amazing is it that we can celebrate our Independence every day? We are liberated from sin; we are free from guilt. Jesus took our sins upon himself, and gave us independence in God's Kingdom. How amazing is God?

Thanks be to God for his deliverance!

More tomorrow! God bless you!

The Beauty of God's Creation

On our second full day at Iguazu National Park, we were blessed by the opportunity to take a long walk to an obscure waterfall.

The Sendero Macuco is a 7 kilometer round-trip hike that starts close to the entrance of the Park. We were the first people to travel on the trail that day, and only encountered 10 people total on our way back to the entrance.

As we began, we hiked in the relative cool of the morning. We were surrounded by the calls of the birds, the sounds of nature, and (sadly) the buzzing of mosquitoes. (Thank goodness for OFF repellent!) We instantly fell in love with the forest and our surroundings.

The area is beautiful, and comprises a 7 kilometer, leisurely walk to a beautiful waterfall. The forest surrounds us throughout the whole journey, and we are amazed by the beauty of the simple scenery. We ran across a number of smaller animals on our trip and a number of beautiful birds. However, Daniel didn't get the opportunity to see a toucan. (Sigh)

If we had quickly walked the trail, we could have finished it in about one hour. However, we practiced "slowing," and spent over two hours enjoying the beauty, watching the waterfall, and taking pictures. We were inspired by the beauty of God's creation. We made friends with a couple of beautiful butterflies as well, who became slightly enamored with our waterbottle!

As we turned back from the beautiful waterfall, we encountered a troop of monkeys hanging out in the trees! Megan was awed, and we spent more than 20 minutes watching the monkeys jumping through the trees, eating, and playing. One even thought we got too close and started gnashing his teeth at Megan!

The beauty of God is all around us. We are amazed at the glory of his creation.

Los cielos cuentan la gloria de Dios,
    el firmamento proclama la obra de sus manos.  
Un día comparte al otro la noticia,
    una noche a la otra se lo hace saber.
Sin palabras, sin lenguaje,
    sin una voz perceptible,  
por toda la tierra resuena su eco,
    ¡sus palabras llegan hasta los confines del mundo!
    Dios ha plantado en los cielos
    un pabellón para el sol.
Y éste, como novio que sale de la cámara nupcial,
    se apresta, cual atleta, a recorrer el camino.
Sale de un extremo de los cielos
    y, en su recorrido, llega al otro extremo,
    sin que nada se libre de su calor.  

(Salmo 19)


The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they display knowledge.  
There is no speech or language
    where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.

In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
    which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course^.

 It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is hidden from its heat.

This is the video from the Sermon on Sunday. We talked about allowing God to fill us instead of filling our lives with the things of the world.

Let me know what you think!

Cómo vos querés

The boat ventured deeper into the waterfall, and I wondered, "Is this what it is like to be overwhelmed by the presence of God?"

One of my students, Gabriel, told me, "You have to take the boat trip at Iguazu! It's the best thing I ever did." We took him at his word, and we signed up as soon as we walked into the park. At 1.45, we gathered with our group for our excursion. We took a long ride through the rainforest as one of the guides gave us a lesson in plants, history, horticulture, and conservation. We arrived at a dock on the river and readied ourselves for the upcoming experience.

The guide told us there were two parts to the excursion. First, the boat would sit outside of both sets of waterfalls to allow us to take pictures. Next, the boats would enter the waterfalls, and we might get "a little wet." (That was the biggest understatement of the year!) As we approached the falls, we were overwhelmed by the sound of the roaring water and the "fog" rolling off of the falls. There was a different perspective from being on top just a few hours before to being underneath the falls now. One was a little more detached: we were awed by the beauty, but we stood at a distance. Now we were truly experiencing the rush, the awesome majesty, and the overpowering wonder of it all. As we entered into the waterfall, we were drenched with water. Megan and I were both wearing our raincoats, yet it made no difference... Regardless of our preparation, we were caught up in the deluge. The falls poured down on top of us, sweeping over the boat and the people within, catching us in their grip before continuing down the river. As we withdrew from the falls, a seeming eternity later (but more realistically only three or so minutes), we couldn't stop smiling and gushing about the experience we had just undertaken.

I wonder if heaven will be kind of like that: caught up in the overwhelming rush of the glory of God. When we stand at a distance from God, we can still be overwhelmed by the beauty and majesty of it all, but we haven't truly experienced God until we get into the midst of him. When we are drenched by his goodness, inundated by his love, swept away by his mercy. When we stand in the midst of God, I think an eternity will only feel like three or four minutes, and we won't be able to stop smiling or gushing about what we are experiencing.

How amazing will it be to stand (or more likely kneel) in the presence of God, overwhelmed by his presence? May we long for that day!

Saying goodbye...

I've never been good at it. I hate saying goodbye, ending a chapter and beginning the next one.

Today we began saying goodbye to our students. We are informing them that we will finish our reading sessions on July 13th. Although we will still be having times of coffee, fellowship, and relationship building, our official work with LST will be drawing to a close.
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Our goal is to end well, to build continuity between us and the other teams coming for our readers, and between our readers and the church. We want to leave a legacy of people who have drawn closer to God through their time in Bible study.

God has done some amazing things here, and we are sad to be leaving it behind. We want to build a sense of finality with our readers, yet also keeping the expectation of returning. We pray that God will allow us to remain involved in the lives and faith journeys of our friends here.

A few nights ago, I took a quick detour on the way home from work. All of my students actually canceled or didn't show up (which is incredibly rare), so I was able to head home around 6pm. I took a nice leisurely stroll from the church towards the house. I was able to stop in a bookstore for a few minutes, window shop, and walk slowly down the street...

One of my favorite buildings is on the way home. It is a BEAUTIFUL church building that stands on the corner two blocks away from the house. The church, Basilica Auxiliadora (Church of our Helper, aka Mary), is a beautiful masterpiece renowned in the city for its beauty.

I don't have any pictures of the church, because (a) it is rarely open, and (b) it is always filled with people praying, confessing, or worshiping. (I always feel bad taking pictures of people while they worship.)

The church is absolutely beautiful. The columns are beautifully painted in stripes. The confessionals and woodworking are beautifully crafted of walnut with a gorgeous finish. The holy water vessels are marble statues of angels proffering the libations in seashells. The chapels are tastefully done; not overpowering, like in many churches. And there is actually a statue of Jesus alive, not just the crucified Jesus on the cross, another Pieta, or the Jesus of the Sacred Heart.

As I stepped into the church, I was awed by the sense of grandeur that was there. (No, I have no desire to become Catholic.) Yet as I sat in the back row, taking in the scene around me, I realized that this church evoked the same feelings and energy that the Gothic cathedrals of Europe inspire. These basilicas were built to remind the worshiper of the majesty and mystery of God. The nave draws the worshiper's eyes up towards heaven. The columns reminde them of the stability of God. The echoes seemed to wait in eager anticipation for the sounds of worship. The congregants join with hundreds and thousands throughout the generations who had thronged together in those same halls for countless years.

As I drank in the scene before me, I was struck by the majesty of God. I watched as a dozen people (mostly older, but of all generations) entered and left the church. Some came for confession. Others came for prayer. Some stayed for hours, while others entered and left within the length of a "Hail Mary, full of gace, the Lord is with thee..." Yet each person comes for an encounter with God.

Often I find myself caught up in the monotonous cycle of life. I run from home to work, work to home, with class thrown in between, along with odd trips to the store, errands in the area, occasional soccer games, and coffees with compañeros. Yet I rarely take time out and just stop: stop to process, stop to pray, stop to encounter, stop to listen to a message from God.

I rarely feel overwhelmed by the majesty of God. Yet any time that I stop and process, I recognize the beautiful majesty and holiness of the God of the Heavens.

God is amazing; sometimes it takes long walks home and detours to beautiful basilicas to help me stop and recognize the mystery of God.

May we keep our eyes open for chance encounters with God! May we worship with all abandon. May we sit in silence or sing with all our hearts, praising the God who was, who is, and who is to come.

On the edge of the waterfall, in the midst of God's glory!

Nos quedan 31 días hasta regresaman a los EEUU. (31 days until we return to the US...)

This is a joy and a deep sadness. It carries deep significance for the two of us, for we are leaving behind wonderful friends, a beautiful family of Christ, a great church, and a lot of work to be done. God has done amazing things here in Buenos Aires. We are sad to be leaving such amazing people, but we are also glad to return to the US, start a new ministry, and look at starting life again in the US...

For the next 31 days I want to blog once per day. I might fail at this endeavor. I might blog twice a day! Who knows what will happen! However, God bless this endeavor, and I hope you enjoy reading about our adventures and what God is doing here in BsAs...

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God is good! As I stood on the edge of the precipice, looking into the edge of the roaring abyss, I couldn't help but be awed and humbled by the scene before me.

Two weeks ago, Megan and I traveled to Iguazu Falls. Recently named one of the New Wonders of the World, Iguazu Falls stands on the border of Brazil and Argentina. (In fact, the line of demarcation runs directly through the river and the falls, and Paraguay is just a stone's throw away...) We spent two days in the park. The first day we arrived INCREDIBLY early (around 8), and walked directly to la Garganta del Diablo.

For those of you who have been blessed to be there, it is the most poorly named feature anywhere. As we walked down the walkway, we walked above the rushing waters of the Rio Uruguay. We saw beautiful birds nesting in the trees. Turtles lazed in the sunshine. Swifts flew overhead. And the sound of the rushing waters grew larger as we got closer. As you step up to the waterfall, all I could think was, "WOW! Isn't God amazing!?!? This isn't the Devil's Throat (the meaning of Garganta del Diablo); this is the glory of an amazing God who creates beauty all around us. God is an artist whose sculptures, paintings, and masterpieces exist all around us.

Las obras de Dios... God's Masterpiece... THAT is a more appropriate description. God does amazing work!

Tomorrow we will share the experience of entering into the depths of the waterfalls and being overwhelmed by the rush of it all! God is good!