I want to pass on this letter written by one of our church planters working in an international team in Argentina. He says a lot of amazing things far better than I can. I’ll highlight some of my favorite lines…
7 July 2008
On July 10 we will celebrate 5 months in Corrientes, which seems an eternity because of the distance we feel from our families. But at the same time we are grateful for all that we are living. These have been months filled with many changes and perhaps of much pain, but months where we have seen the Lord at work in our lives.
After our trip with the team to Kyrgyzstan we began to pray that we would live not just within God’s will, but in the very center of his will, so as to do whatever he wants us to do. The answer – after 18 months – was Corrientes. Something I learned from God and that surprised me is that his roadmap is different from mine. To go to Corrientes first one has to go through Kyrgyzstan. Kind of crazy, isn’t it?
Why Corrientes? That’s the question that has most been occupying my mind in these past [months]…
As everyone I speak with recognizes immediately that I’m not from these parts – that is, when I say caye instead of calle, the first thing they say to me is – “You’re from Buenos Aires, right?” – (which by the way really offends my Santiagenian pride…).
With those we are getting to know, as we chat they ask me, “why Corrientes?” All of the young people go to Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba to find work. They see no future here because a good salary is only a little over $300 a month. One pastor told me that folks in his congregation earn $120 – $250 per month. One out of three families is on government subsidy.
My daughter is nine years old and goes to 4th grade, where she has classmates who are 12, 14 and 17 years old with learning disabilities brought on by infant malnutrition.
It is not uncommon to see in the daily newspaper and on TV attempted and successful child kidnappings. These aren’t just rumors or even cases where mothers have sold children they don’t want. In the entryway to our daughter’s kindergarten three men beat a woman so as to steal her baby – but couldn’t get the baby from her. That same day, two blocks away they kidnapped a 12 year old. Thank God that the police where able to rescue her.
I asked myself, so why Corrientes? It is obvious that darkness reigns, that there is much to do, that it is a different Argentina than the one I know and I am in a city of 500,000. Can you imagine what the nearby communities must be like?
So why Corrientes? First of all, because God brought us here – to tell the truth, without a lot of enthusiasm on our part, thinking a lot about what we left behind, wondering what we might of accomplished at home – but with the conviction that we were accomplishing his will.
And something started to change in our hearts. Perhaps we began to see with the Lord’s eyes and feel his compassion and see that the harvest is ripe. There is much to do. If God has surprised us with what he has done until now, I can’t imagine what is yet to come.
Pray for us that we have victory in the daily stuff of our marriage, with our kids, our teammates, friends, our testimony at work, etc. I think that to neglect these things will cause is to detour from the path. We don’t want to get outside his will for our lives nor to be in any other place except where God is at work. For God’s kingdom to come on earth he has to first rule in our lives. There must be no shades of gray and no lukewarmness – only black and white, hot and cold.
Brothers and sisters, let’s leave our comforts; let’s stop thinking about what we gain or lose, and pray for those who are perishing. A church without a mission has no right to call itself a church. We are in the world to demonstrate the love of God to our neighbor, our friend, our father, mother, grandmother and everyone else. But let’s keep the church’s mission simple and without complications by asking God – “What do you want ME to do?”
Thanks for your prayers and support for our family, because every phone call and e-mail makes us feel a bit closer to home. We are praying for you.
Gustavo and Cristina Gonzalez
Corrientes
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