Living in Argentina is wonderful, we love it here! The past 6 1/2 months have been incredible to us. We are certainly not experts, but we are learning more every day. This post is a continuation on the series “Living in Argentina”. Some things we share are light-hearted, some things are perhaps strange from the reader’s perspective. Today’s post is much more serious. I cannot speak for all of Argentina, but if you are in Southern Greater Buenos Aires, you will see red flags, images, and the name “Gaucho Gil” (pronounced “Hil”). I was in a city called “Lanús” last week and saw a “pasa calle” (a banner across the road) that said “Gracias Gaucho Gil”. I have been in markets where that name is displayed on cups. I see red ribbons tied on various cars. I passed by an enclosed display on the side of the road with candles around it with red flags on the sides. Inside the display is an image. All of these things have to do with “Gaucho Gil”.

So, who is Gaucho Gil? Very plainly, Gaucho Gil is an idol. It is prayed to and worshipped. There is nothing biblical about this “legendary cowboy”. There is a whole story behind the legend, but it really is not important. The thing I want to point out is that this is a stronghold that blinds people from the truth. I have heard stories of people denying the Gospel of Jesus, because they have Gaucho Gil who answers their prayers. The images of Gaucho Gil on the sides of the road are to worship. The red ribbons on cars signify Gaucho Gil’s protection over the person(s) in the car. It doesn’t take long to see signs of this idol here.

I understand that all people need Jesus. In other words, if a man prays to Gaucho Gil or not, he still is a sinner and needs salvation in Jesus! I do believe this to be a manifestation of the lack of the Gospel. We are in a country in great need of the Gospel. This idol, Gaucho Gil, certainly illustrates that. Please pray for Argentina, that the Gospel will shine to every soul!

We have just returned from Arequipa. We were in a Pastor’s conference. There were national pastors and missionaries from Argentina, Peru, Chile, Bolivia. Ecuador, and a group from the United States. I received so much from this week! The keynote speaker is the man who came down to Arequipa in 1989 as a missionary. He started churches and trained men to start dozens and dozens of churches. I watched this man love on these Pastors with a fatherly love. There were many things covered. He spoke to the churches about taking care of their pastors. He spoke to the pastors about training strong men to be deacons in he church. He spoke to the pastors about training young men and starting new churches. My heart was stirred by all this, but all of this wasn’t the best part for me.

I had the opportunity to be with many friends who are serving Jesus in different countries. We talked, ate, laughed, recalled times in the past. I truly have some of the best friends in the world, I love them all very much! I am so blessed and challenged by each of them! Some of them I will probably not see again for many, many years because of the way our furloughs will work out. I won’t see any of them for at least a year. My wife and I said good bye to them all of them on Sunday night. This was such a great part of our time there, but it wasn’t the best part for me either.

I was with a few teenagers that I have known for many years. These are friends who desire greatly to serve the Lord and are looking at where they are now and how they are going to take the next steps in serving Jesus. I hope I was an encouragement to them. We talked about the future and options they have. We talked about what they can be doing now. I am very excited about each of them. This was very special to me. As we said our goodbyes, we were “bear-hugged”, and I wondered when I would see them again. Can it get better than this? It can, and it did.

For me, the highlight of this week was spending time with my mentor. Brother Gardner challenged me in many ways this week. I asked him many questions and he patiently worked through each of them with me. We spent hours together, along with others, talking about where we are, where I am personally, and what to do next. We worked out a step by step plan for the coming weeks and months. He explained to me that I am much further ahead than I thought, and while I still have a long way to go, we are at the point to start working toward starting the first church. There are many preliminaries that must be worked through before we launch, and it will take months to accomplish all of this (all the while growing in the language). All of this and more was covered in our time together.

There is a great work to be done for Jesus, and we are thrilled to be a part of it! We are praying even now for God to give us young men to lead to salvation and to train as warriors to send out to conquer the world in the power and name of Jesus! Would you please pray this way with us?

We are continuing the series on living in Argentina. I love it here, in fact I was thanking God this morning for allowing our family to be here. If you ever visit Argentina, you are going to notice that there are phrases that are very commonly used. For this blog, we are going to look at the phrase, “Que bárbaro!”. So what does it mean? “Bárbaro” literally is translated as “barbaric”, but that is not really what the phrase means. It can mean many different things. I was in a local butcher shop where I practice my Spanish in the mornings. I asked the couple who run the shop what “Que bárbaro” means. I found out that context is very important, because depending on the context, “Que bárbaro” can mean, “cool”, “how sad”, “that’s great”, “that’s horrible”, “wow!”, and many other meanings. For example…

• A family was hit by a truck on the road yesterday (this was actually a conversation we had last week). In response, “Que bárbaro!”
• We had 10 visitors at church on Sunday. Again you can respond, “Que bárbaro!”
• I lost my job this morning. “Que bárbaro!”
• We are going to visit my grandparents in Jujuy. “Que bárbaro!”
• The asado will be on Saturday afternoon. “Que bárbaro!”

I could go on, but I think you get the point. It is an all-purpose phrase. So maybe the next time you are talking with someone, you might throw in a “Que bárbaro!” for good measure. If you are in Argentina, you will fit right in, if not it will make for an interesting conversation. So what do I say to the idea of training men and planting churches in Argentina? “Que bárbaro!”

Preaching Two Times!

September was a special month for us. I was given the opportunity to preach twice. Two full messages, one at the beginning of the month and one at the end of the month. I have preached and taught 2-3 minute offering devotions 25-30 times now. This was the first real time I have ever  preached a full message in Spanish. Both times I made a lot of grammatical errors. Even so the Bible was expounded upon and applied to to our lives. I believe God was glorified! This is not the “finish line” of language learning, but it is a huge mile marker! At the end of November, I am scheduled to teach a 3-4 week class at the Bible College that is here at the church (I am very appreciative to the leadership of the college for allowing me an opportunity). There is still much work to be done in my language learning. I am very blessed to be in a place that is allowing me to serve while learning!

Spring Has Finally Sprung!

We have been in Argentina for six months now. Winter was very cold, but now we have started Spring and the weather is warming up! This Spring is filled with more practice in the language as we continue to grow closer to fluency! Thank you for your faithful prayers!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry