Jason and Ashley King (and their three children) arrive today. In fact, in just 2 hours from now they will be on Argentine soil! They were supposed to arrive on Tuesday, but their flight was cancelled due to hurricane Irma. We are very happy to have the Kings with us. I have known Jason and Ashley for many years now. We are from the same church. We have served together in several different ministries together. I have seen Jason and Ashley serve others selflessly. I am very thankful that God has led them here. They will be starting language school in the next two weeks. Please pray for Jason and Ashley as they arrive today, start their paperwork for residency, and begin learning the language.

Last week I went on a very quick (one full day) survey trip to Argentina’s second largest city, Córdoba. The reason behind the trip was that we had missionaries Raleigh and Cassie Hill here on their survey trip. They wanted to see a few different cities. The original plan was for them to see Buenos Aires, La Plata, Córdoba, and Mar Del Plata. Unfortunately, their trip was cut short due to Hurricane Irma, so we were not able to make it to Mar Del Plata, but we did see Córdoba.

Before arriving, I knew one thing about Córdoba. Anyone I have ever spoken to about Argentina’s many cities, everyone agrees that Córdoba is beautiful! This is includes friends, taxi drivers, folks in Faith Baptist Church, everyone agrees, it is a very beautiful area. So I knew that we were in for a treat.

Córdoba is 8 hours away from our home. The landscape is very different from Buenos Aires. It felt much more like America’s southwestern states (Arizona and New Mexico come to mind). It also includes beautiful sierra mountains to the west of the city. Although it is a very big city, an estimated 1.5 million people live in Córdoba and surrounding areas, it still seemed to have a bit of a small feel, especially considering our church is in greater Buenos Aires. It didn’t take long to get from the city’s center to the outskirts.

We met with veteran Missionary Ernie Mason and learned a little about the city. Here are a few things we learned…

• There are 6 Independent Baptist Churches in the city.
• South of the river/canal that does through the city, their is only one Independent Baptist Church in the city limits.
• There are two primary areas that we drove through that do not have a Baptist church (that we could find or that missionary Mason knows about), the southwest portion of the city and the northeast portion of the city.

Córdoba is in need of more Gospel-preaching churches. Pray for this needy city and the many other cities and towns in Argentina!

This week has been different than most any other. We have had the Hills with us for their survey trip. We have taken them to a few different cities to see the opportunities for church planting. The furthest being Córdoba (about 8 hours from our house). We had plans to survey another city today. Unfortunately, due to the hurricane that is on its way to Miami, Raleigh and Cassie had to change their tickets to an earlier flight to avoid what looks to be a possible disaster. Their car was in Miami. We had to say good-bye to them yesterday (Thursday) morning. It was a joy to have them with us. Please pray for the Hill family as they complete their deputation.

We are thrilled that the King family will be arriving as missionaries here in Argentina on this Tuesday! Jason and Ashley are long-time friends. We served together in different ministries of our home church. Please pray for the Kings as they will be starting language school this month! I believe God will use this family greatly as they plant churches, disciple believers, and train men.

I am in the midst of a series on cultural adjustments, but I break from it because I am in Córdoba, Argentina. This is about 8 hours from where we live. I am with Raleigh and Cassie Hill. They are missionaries currently on deputation who are on their survey trip to Argentina. They were very interested in knowing about Córdoba and thus the reason for me being here. Córdoba is the second largest city in Argentina with 1.5 million people in the city and metro area. We arrived last nights so I do not have much to go on, but I am looking forward to meeting with a missionary who is currently here and learning about the city, the areas where the city is growing, what parts of the city already have churches, etc. We will be meeting in just a few hours. I am sure we will learn that the opportunities here abound for church planting. Next week I will post about what we have learned while being here in Córdoba and hopefully better present what God is already doing here as well as opportunities to advance the Gospel further. As I look out the window of the room place we are staying it is clearly a large city with many people. Stay tuned for more in the coming week…

The next few weeks will include special posts about several different topics as well as our return to our current series. Coming up…

• A review of Córdoba
• The Summit New England (I am looking forward to this one!!!)
• The Summit South East (This is another great event we have coming up)
• The King Family (A new family serving in Argentina as missionaries)
• and of course, more “adjustments”