Strange title? I think it is too. Faith Baptist Church is just four weeks old. In these four weeks we have seen many visitors and have already had a few families that are attending regularly (regularly for four weeks). We have started discipleship with a married couple and a also with another man. So, where do we go from here? We are trying to invite more people, and trying to use different promotions to encourage others to come. Our next big event will be a special lunch after the morning church service. We will have “choripan” for all who come to the service. It will be a chance to get to know those who are coming, an opportunity to use this special event to invite others, and an opportunity share the Gospel with many more people. Choripan is a sausage sandwich that is a very popular here. “Chori” is for “Chorizo” and “pan” means “bread”. So “choripan” is sausage-bread or a sausage sandwich. It usually comes with a spread of chimichurri (the most delicious sauce in the world). We are hoping that God will use this to encourage people to go to church.

We have other things coming up through the year. We are very excited to have these opportunities. Whether it is a sausage sandwich, a kids celebration, or a “old fashion” Sunday, we will use every opportunity to preach the truth of God’s Word to anyone who will listen.

This week has been a great week! We had a few new visitors on Thursday night at our midweek service. We started discipleship with a man and also with another couple. We Have completed a few more things at the church building. While there is always more to do, it is good to see the progress. For the first time in our 3 week-long history, we had a few people that acknowledged they are lost. They have not yet been saved, but the fact that they acknowledged they are lost is very important! We are praying for their salvation.

Tomorrow we are having a guest preacher in. My friend, mission board director, and former missionary in Argentina will be down for the week! I am very blessed to have this opportunity as he encourages our church as well as advises me on the different things we can change, improve, and do as we grow. I am praying God uses this week in our ministry!

We have lived in Argentina for just over 13 months now. We are still learning customs, how things work, and how to operate here. It doesn’t take long to realize that things are very different, not bad, just different. We see this in many different ways. We are in May, and for us it is autumn. Autumn in May sounds strange, but it is very beautiful. The leaves are turning yellow and falling from the trees. The weather is a little cooler (although, last week and this week it has been unseasonably hot), Autumn is my favorite time of year in the states and it is here too, just in a totally different part of the year! This is a very small example of how things are different.

Yesterday was Labor Day here. My family and I went out to go do a few things only to find everything was closed! Restaurants were closed, super markets were closed, bakeries and butcher shops were closed, we drove around and realized we were not going to be doing anything. This is an example of a large difference between Argentina and the States. In the states, businesses have “labor day sales” but here the city closes up! If you want milk, bread, fruits/vegetables, meat, etc. you must buy them on April 30, or you will be waiting until May o2 (labor day is always on May 01). Another great/yet not so great thing about holidays is that it is a time to have “asados” (think of a long grill out). It is great to walk outside and smell our neighbor’s parrillas (grills) cooking up meats, but it is not so great when you remember that all of the butcher shops are closed and you don’t have anything to grill! Some holidays are very big in the states and are not celebrated very much here while other holidays are celebrated widely here in Argentina that are not so much celebrated in the United States. This isn’t “bad”, it is just different, something we are learning.

Mosquitos. I don’t exactly know what happened. We battle with mosquitos here like many places around the world. But in the past week we have had more mosquitos than I have ever seen! It is not just me, it is a subject of conversation when talking to people, it is even a subject on the news! They are very bad right now. They swarm you as you walk outside. They were swarming everyone in the church during the service Sunday night. Apparently this is not normal. Mosquitos are normal but not this many! I have heard two reasons for this. A friend told me that the temperatures decreased in the south of Argentina to the point of freezing. Because of this, he said, the mosquitos all flew north and that is why we have so many. Although humorous, this does not seem plausible. Last Tuesday it rained for much of the day. It was more than just a “sprinkle”, it rained hard! Others have attributed our swarms of mosquitos to that storm. All I know is that they are out and hungry! The good news is, according to the radio, these mosquitos are a breed that does not carry any diseases. So that is good to know.

Autumn is beautiful, Labor Day is very much celebrated, and the mosquitos are out in unusually large numbers. In the midst of all this Faith Baptist Church is continuing! Discipleship with one man will start today. I will start discipleship with another man on Thursday. There is much to do and we are honored to be a part of it all!