Tonight was a first for me. It will make this day special, but this day is special to me for another reason. 20 years ago tonight I sat in a room with a group of people I did not know. My sister tricked me into going on a “Christian retreat”. I had no desire to be there, didn’t know anyone, and wanted to go home. That being said, on April 04, 1997, I was sitting there waiting for the night to be over when a young man spoke about Luke 15, the prodigal son. I did not know it was Luke 15, nor did I know what the “prodigal son” was. I didn’t know what was going on. The young man (perhaps 3-4 years older than I was) gave his testimony on how he was saved. I don’t remember much about it. I remember he was a Muslim from a Muslim family who heard the Gospel and believed on Jesus some time later. His family believed on Jesus as well at a later date. I was bothered over my sins. I believed on Jesus that night. That was 20 years ago tonight.

20 years later I stood up in a former car repair shop turned Baptist Church (or soon to be new Baptist Church), teaching a group of 21 people English. This is an attempt to invite them to the church. We all enjoyed our time together. The group was diverse, with the youngest being 11 (he was there with his mother) and the oldest being over 60. Both men and women were present. We talked through the lesson, laughing all throughout. Everybody seem to enjoy the time and seemed to be open with the idea of coming to our first service.

20 years ago, I did not understand what a Baptist was (I was not saved in a Baptist Church nor was I raised Baptist), nor did I know what a missionary was. If someone would have told me that 20 years from the night I was saved that I would spend the evening teaching English to Argentines in a church building in which we will be starting a church in less than two weeks, I would have ran the other way! I would have been totally against this. 20 years later, there is literally nothing else I would rather do with my life. My salvation is complete in Christ and I have the privilege of serving Him each day. Sanctification is a process in which I am still growing. I am grateful to Jesus for how He has molded me through these 20 years. I guess the best way to conclude this post is to sum up these past 20 years with this thought, “It is all about Jesus!”

The word “Boca” means mouth. It is the name of a well-known neighborhood inside Buenos Aires and is just over 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from Faith Baptist Church. La Boca is known for it’s colorful buildings and is a popular destination for people visiting Buenos Aires. “El Caminito” (a road at the river) is the central area for tourists with shop after shop lining the infamous road full of every trinket one could imagine. The neighborhood is right at the “mouth” of the river (hence the name “la boca”). The city is also home to one of the largest soccer teams in all of Argentina (named “Boca Juniors”). The city is home to over 46,000 people and many thousands more in surrounding neighborhoods.

Outside of the tourist area, the neighborhood totally changes. I recently read an article about the neighborhood…

“Today La Boca remains a rough, working class and downbeat neighborhood, despites the hordes of tourists who descend upon its attractions every weekend and most weekdays too…La Boca is a bit of an odd fish. It’s fiercely and unreservedly working class and down-at-heel, yet it has a couple of very, very popular tourist attractions. It’s not a place where expats are going to want to live (the chances of being robbed after dark are just too great), but it still has some tempting restaurants, a great art museum, and an interesting history to boot.” (source). 

This neighborhood sparks my interest and not for the touristy spots. I met a family that lives in La Boca. They are just normal, working class people. They were very kind. We spent a few hours together. We talked about their neighborhood. They were very proud to live there. It may not be the desired neighborhood of Buenos Aires, but the people are just normal people in need of salvation through Jesus! I dropped this family off at their house. As I left their home, I could not help but think about the need of a Gospel preaching church in this neighborhood. Pray with me for “La Boca”. 

Adrogué is a city a good 13 kilometers (8 miles) from Lanús, where we will be starting Faith Baptist Church. This city is way too far for us to have any sort of reach for the Gospel. Even so, there is a great need in Adrogué just like there is in each city we have highlighted in this  series of posts about Southern Buenos Aires. Adrogué is much more tranquil, or so I am told. There are songs written about this quaint town. With over 30,000 people living there, I guess Adrogué is larger than a quaint town. The city is known for it’s many cobblestone streets, trees with branches that stretch over the roads, country-style houses, and somewhat of a more laid back lifestyle (in comparison to life in Buenos Aires). Jorge Borges, a famous Argentine writer, wrote about his fond memories of this town…

“Wherever in the world I might sense the smell of Eucalyptus trees, I feel as if I had been taken back to Adrogué. And that is exactly what Adrogué was: a large and quiet maze of streets surrounded by lush trees and country houses, a maze of many peaceful nights that my parents liked to traverse.”

I have never been to Adrogué. Most people I am around don’t speak of the area much. The few that I have heard speak about the city tell me of it’s beauty (with only a few exceptions). Like any city, it also has it’s “bad side of town”. It is not “the place to get away” for the people in Buenos Aires. It is just far enough away from the city to not be disturbed. But with all of this beauty, what could possibly be lacking? Gospel preaching churches, that is what is lacking! Under the lush green trees that hug the city’s streets, behind the doors of country houses, there are people who are in need of the Gospel, and yet a Gospel preaching Baptist church is not located in this city, none that anyone knows about at least. The beauty is only “skin deep”. The need runs much deeper. Pray for Adrogué.