This Sunday there are elections in Argentina. On election days, everyone is required to vote. Because of this all gatherings (including night clubs, etc.) are suspended for the day. We had elections a few months back and had a special 9:00 AM service. This Sunday Faith Baptist Church will have a special 6:00 PM service. We are hoping for a wonderful day! As we continue our short furlough, we will be in Vidalia, GA this Sunday.

It has been a while since we have posted anything from the series “adjustments” but we are back at it with this one. Cultural adjustments must be made by missionaries. The culture of a country is beautiful but can be quite difficult to understand. As I work on this post, we have a new missionary family in Argentina. They are going through language school and are doing a great job. They have been in country for over 5 weeks now. We communicate by phone often. It is humorous at times to hear his frustrations or lack of understandings, or sometimes confusion because I was having those same feelings not so long ago. Please don’t get me wrong, he is not having these times very often, but every once and again something takes place and he doesn’t quite understand. That is exactly why we must make these adjustments.

Holidays. Don’t you love holidays? I do! I remember being in school and looking forward to the holidays that would come up so that we could have the day off. Holidays are special. As I got older, I began to understand the purpose behind each holiday. As a child I didn’t care, as an adult I have grown to understand and appreciate each holiday. We arrived in Argentina and found that there were a whole new list of holidays! Not knowing the language made this difficult, because we would wake up, go about our day only to find out that some stores were closed because of the “feriado” (holiday). “What holiday?” I would ask. Most of the time people would know, there were a few times the Argentines I spoke to did not know exactly which holiday it was. On the other side, the day before a holiday brings long crowded lines at stores. I went into a large supermarket the day before “Kid’s Day” to buy one item and found lines 30+ people deep waiting to check out! The most frustrating time for me was when we tried to go to a store and found every single store closed. It was not Christmas. I believe it was September. All of the stores were closed! We were trying to buy milk, bread, and a few other things but we could not find anywhere that was open and it blew my mind! I was so aggravated! After some time, we learned that this holiday was the “holiday of the commercial worker”. What?!?!? What is that? We don’t have that in the States? (that statement is one of the worst you can make on the mission field).

If we are not careful, we see these holidays more has hindrances than celebrations. This is another cultural adjustment that must be made.

We are on a quick furlough but the church continues on! This Sunday is Mother’s Day in Argentina. I have already been in contact with a few key families in the church. They are anticipating a great Sunday! We are praying for it to be a special day at Faith Baptist Church. Each mother present in one of our services will receive a gift and of course the Bible will be preached! Please pray with us that God will work in each person for His glory!

“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.” Psalm 19:1

I recently had the opportunity to watch the sunset over ocean with my family. I was excited for them to see it because it is not something we commonly get to see. I was explaining how God made the sunset and how we can see how beautiful God’s creation is! We were at the beach and the sun started to become more orange than yellow. Things were beginning to happen. Leslie and I tried to call attention to it but none of our girls were interested. Two were in the ocean, enamored at jumping the waves. One was playing in sand, enamored at how many shells she was finding just below the sand’s surface. Our 3 month old baby was sucking on her hands. None of them were interested in this beautiful event that God created. They were missing all of the natural colors in the sky. We had oranges, reds, pinks, grays, yellows, and even purples. It was gorgeous but no one seemed that interested in it other than Leslie and I. Then I realized something. Sunsets over the ocean are not the only part of God’s creation that “declares His glory”. The truth is my two daughters jumping waves could see the glory of God in His creation with each passing wave. My younger daughter could easily see the glory of God in His creation with each and every tiny shell she found as she dug in the sand. Our 3 month old could even see the glory of God in His creation as she tried to put both of her hands in her mouth. The truth is I don’t know that they were (especially the baby), but I think they should have, we all should! We get so used to the normal we miss God’s glory in it all! If you are ever at the beach and dig just a little in the sand, you will find very small shells. They are everywhere. My daughter found a hand full in just one spot! They are everywhere. The waves are beautiful as they crash onto the shore. One after the other, after the other, after the other. It is never ending. This so amazing, man has made machines to replicate this sound. How do we get so unimpressed with our own hands!?!? God gave us hands. I am glad God didn’t just make the end of our arms “stumps” or feet or something. God made hands, and they are perfect!

The point I am making is that you can see God in all of His creation. It doesn’t take a majestic sunset over the ocean (although they are amazing), the glory of God is found in all of His creation!