Cultural Tidbit: The Kiss Hello

February 25, 2015 by Patrick Leave a Comment

In the United States, we usually greet people with a handshake, a nod and a smile, or in the case of a close relationship a hug. When there are many people in a room, we may not even do any of this, but a simple “hello” or a “wave”. Greetings are not like this in Argentina. For one, when you enter a room, you greet everyone! To not do so would be rude. If you do not know someone, than a simple handshake will suffice. If you are greetings friends, older people, or friends of friends, you greet them with a “kiss on the cheek”. This “kiss” is the greeting of two men, two women, or a man and a woman. The kiss is not actually a kiss. The kiss is putting cheek to cheek and making a “kiss” sound. The lips never touch each other or even the cheek of the friend. It is only cheek to cheek.

I love Latin American Culture! I love how they are so loving and personal. Each country is different. To my knowledge, Argentina is one of the only countries where not only women and men and women greet each other with a kiss, but men greet each other with a kiss. I am reminded of 2 Corinthians 13:12, “Greet one another with an holy kiss.” (Romans 16:16, 1 Peter 5:14 also say the same sort of thing). This kiss is beautiful, warm, and even biblical.

Cultural Tidbit: The Sun of May

February 10, 2015 by Patrick Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen Argentina’s flag? It is a beautiful flag with three bands. The outer two bands are light blue and the inside band is white. Inside the white stripe is a sun with a face on it. This sun is known as “the Sun of May”. The Sun of May can also be found on Uruguay’s flag and was on the Peru’s flag during a portion of the 1800’s.

So what is the “Sun of May” all about?

The Sun of May is named after Argentina’s May revolution in 1810, which led to Argentina’s independence from Spain. The flag is best displayed in the city of Rosario, where the flag was first raised in 1812. The national flag memorial is also located in Rosario.

Argentina can be recognized by the SUN of May on the Argentine flag. May they one day be recognized for their love and devotion to the SON of God!

Cultural Tidbit: Jug on a Car

February 3, 2015 by Patrick Leave a Comment

I think culture is a beautiful thing. I was in one country where for the birthday of a loved one, instead of him or her blowing out the candles, the friends would shove his face in the cake! I was speaking with a woman from Nigeria a few months back. We were talking about her country and she was telling me about some of the things they do there. During a wedding, the bride walks around with a horn of juice and tries to find her husband as he hides. The bride will be asked by different men, “Is it me?” and she will say, “No.” Finally she sees her husband and gives him the horn to drink from. What a beautiful thing!

Argentina, like everywhere else in the world, has a unique culture. Here is something unique we saw…

While we were on our survey trip in Argentina we noticed something out of the ordinary. We were riding down the road and saw jugs (of water) on top of cars. The first one we passed by seemed strange, but I thought that somebody must have forgotten to take it off the car when they were cleaning it out. Then we passed another one, and another one. We got out of the car and were walking around a plaza and there was another one. This was strange. The jugs were not all the same. Some colored, some clear, they were not uniform in size, most did not have label on it. I could not figure it out. Finally my friend (who was a missionary there for 10 years) explained to me what was going on.

Why are there jugs on various cars?

It means that the car is for sale. Wow! That would be easy to spot! Instead of only putting a sign in the window that says “For Sale” (like we do), they put a large, used jug on the car. People can see that from a ways off. That could get someone’s attention.

February 2015 Missions Letter

February 1, 2015 by Patrick Leave a Comment

Blessings

What a great month! We started January out in Pigeon Forge, TN where we held our annual Our Generation Summit! We had over 300 people in attendance with several who surrendered their lives to the cause of world evangelism! We have been in 11 states this month! God has blessed us with safety and great advances toward leaving for the mission field. We have had three churches partner with us this month. I have been challenged by good men of God that are serving Him around this country! We are praying that God will continue to raise our support.

February is another completely full month of scheduled meetings in nine different states! Please continue praying for our safety, that God uses us to bless and challenge every church we are in, and that God will continue to build our support. Our desire is to be in Argentina, until then we will continue to do all we can to get there!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

What’s Going On In Argentina?

I posted an article on our blog (patrickjhenry.net) a few weeks ago about a specific city in Argentina. I have posted about a few cities in Argentina in the past. For this post, I highlighted Rosario. Rosario is the third largest city in Argentina with a population growing toward 1.4 million people! It is located on the Paraná River. I knew the need was great. I had a missionary from Buenos Aires write me and tell me that of the almost 1.4 million people, that he knew of only two baptist churches! The field is white to harvest, but the laborers really are few. Please pray for Rosario, that God would raise up men to reach that needy city and the world!