It’s still hard to believe that we were almost done in by corn meal in the highway, unbelievable.  As I’ve been going around getting estimates from mechanics I’ve been looking for surprised reactions when I’d describe what happened.  I wasn’t getting them, until finally after retelling the story to one guy I said, “How strange, no?” And he responded, “What? That? No, not here, that kind of stuff happens all the time.” Wow.

Now we are without a car and Tara is 2-3 weeks away from giving birth.  We are a bit stressed, to put it mildly. We’re hoping that the insurance company deems the car totaled, if not, it looks like we won’t get any sort of payment for the damage.  We don’t have the information for the truck that dropped it’s corn, and it’s their insurance that is supposed to pay out, so ours won’t.  If it’s totaled, they will apparently.  Also, there is a 24 hour cab service right around the corner from us, so if Tara does go into labor we’ll have an emergency option if there isn’t a vehicle available to us to drive.

Here are the pictures I took with my phone.  The highway is already mostly cleaned up at this point in the photos, but you’ll be able to get the picture.  After the backhoe picked up all the mushed corn the firemen cleaned the highway down with their hoses.  It happened at about 10:40 am.  I didn’t get home until about 6:00pm with the tow-truck.

Over the course of the last year, God has been prompting Jil and I to consider whether or not Argentina is the best place for us to be.  Obviously, with anything like this, there are numerous factors (too many to get into in an email like this), but at the heart of all of them, was an ever-increasing realization that Argentina was simply not where the Lord was continuing to lead us.  So, after much prayer, meditation on scripture, counsel, worship, journaling and many, many late night conversations, we’ve decided not to return for another term, as we’d originally planned.

We do not know yet exactly what is next, but we are excited, and eager to see how our great God continues to direct us.  We are in discussions with GBIM about possible ministry opportunities in the U.S., and will update all of you as soon as we have more definitive plans, maybe even with the next few weeks.

In the meantime, please don’t stop praying.  Tonight Jil and I head down to Argentina to wrap things up there.  Please, please pray that we will have good, Spirit-led interactions, even as we say many hard-to-say goodbyes.  Please also be praying that we will have success in selling our car and furniture, and closing up all loose ends.  And finally, please also be praying for our girls, Emerson and Greta.  They won’t be accompanying us on the trip.

Early on in our time in La Plata, Jil and I began to realize that we would never be able to give those we were working with more than we would end up receiving (either directly or indirectly) from them.  I recently heard someone say that “you just can’t out-give God”.  And he was right.  No matter how much we gave (and believe me when I say that we gave all that we had or knew to give), it always seemed that we ended up on the receiving end, blessed sometimes with wonderful friendships, other times with enriching cross-cultural interactions, and yet other times with deeper intimacy with our amazing God.  And in all of this, I can honestly say that it was an absolute honor and joy for us to have the privilege of building relationships with wonderful people half-way across the planet.

Thank you for your part in this.  We love you all.

A few weeks ago, our teammates Rich and Jil Elledge informed us that they wouldn’t be coming back to Argentina. The rigors and instability of cross-cultural over-seas ministry pose special challenges, and they’ve decided that the lifestyle isn’t right for their family. It’s obviously a difficult and painful decision, but one that anyone who has ever tried it can understand and support. Not all ministries are right for all people, and not every phase of life is conducive to the unique stresses posed by this life. The Gorniks and we are united in our support for Rich and Jil, and are glad they are making the best choice for their family right now.

Because of the kind of team we have and ministry we do, that decision has significant consequences for the Gorniks and us. We’ve spent the last month trying to explore options that would allow us to stay in La Plata and continue the church plant here. Unfortunately, none of those options for adding additional teammates fully panned out. Ultimately, we have been faced with the reality that given the impending birth of the Gorniks’ fourth child and a completely unavoidable 5-6 month absence already scheduled for us later this year, that there is simply no way to effectively continue church planting here in La Plata. We have explored all options for staying, but to perfectly frank, we felt that projecting one year into the future, the ministry would be no further along than it is now, and may well even regress.

As you all know, our calling has never been to La Plata specifically, but to work with the Spanish-speaking urban poor. La Plata was chosen for strictly strategic reasons. We now believe there is no viable way to advance the work here in the near future without extracting and impossible toll on us and our families. Because of that, we have collectively decided to leave Argentina.

To describe this process as devastating and traumatic would be an understatement. It is not something we have done lightly or without considering all the possible options. It breaks our hearts, but we are convinced it is the best way to continue pursuing our long term goals and calling. Understand that this was not the ‘easy’ choice. This was the hard choice, but the one we see as unquestionably correct.

Functionally, this decision means that the Dunlevy family will be leaving the country in two months. The Gorniks will stay a few months more as they have to secure paper work for their new baby. After that…well, that’s the big question.

We are still exploring options with GBIM for future ministry with the mission. It is not our desire to resign from GBIM, though that might become a necessary intermediate step in the future.

We have been seeking guidance from the mission, from the elders at Community of Hope (the sending church for us and the Elledges), and from our community who was part of the original Madison House vision. Now, we are asking for your prayers as well.

The Gorniks and we have committed to taking this next step together. We have affirmed our commitment to all of our base principles and practices, and are now seeking wisdom as to how to most effectively pursue our long-term goals of planting churches and preaching the gospel among the Spanish-speaking, urban poor.

In summary, this is a change of venue (and possibly a change of vocation), but not a change in the trajectory of our lives. We are about the same things we have always been about, and will continue to be about those things no matter where we live.

More coming later…

We remain steadfast in our burden to reach the urban poor with the Gospel and will continue to pursue that as we return to the United States.  Right now we don’t know what our future holds, we are continuing to discuss ministry opportunities with GBIM.  For the immediate future we will continue the basic ministries here in La Plata and prepare the people here for our permanent departure.  There are many administrative details as well that need to come to a close over the next few months before we leave.  We will not be able to leave the country until we have all the necessary paperwork for our new-born, as soon as we have the paperwork in hand we will return.

You can read Nate and Deb’s message on the website as well, Click Here to Read it.

You can read Rich and Jil’s message here as well.

Please pray for us as often as you remember us.  With a new born coming (very) soon and this new transition in our lives, we need all the prayer support you can give.

Thank you all who have prayed for us over the last six months. Over the last few years I’ve learned to understand the goodness of God in many different ways. My faith has matured, understanding that despite whatever circumstance I may be in that the fact remains that God is good, and that never changes. Over the last five years our lives have been so unsettled, moving often, unsure of the future, and in the thralls of culture shock despairing. The fact that God is good has carried us through many trying times, we can trust him.

We praise God for all he has done and will continue to do.

That’s how the old saying goes.  But, in Argentina there are some days where you are eaten and eat on the same day.

I broke down last night.  Completely.  I had one of those days where it seemed like the entire country conspired against me.  A string of unfortunate encounters with businesses culminated in me having to drive away from a drive through at McDonald’s, having already paid for my food, but without dinner.  The service had been so slow that I was going to be late to pick up Ellie from school.  I had already been waiting more than 15 minutes for a bag of cheeseburgers, and I pleaded with the girl at the window just to give me whatever WAS ready.  She was in no hurry to help, though and I had to just abandon hope and leave so my daughter wouldn’t be waiting alone in the dark for me to show.  Obviously, this was not a popular decision with Scott.

I made it home 10 minutes before I was supposed to go to my first of two classes that night.  I had a car full of furious kids who wondered why we didn’t have dinner.  I was frustrated and angry. I got home exhausted, upset, and battling a cold.  After I spent 20 minutes frantically trying to find my materials for English class, I just collapsed.

I went into my room, closed the door and fell on to the bed.  I was hungry, tired, and furious at the whole country.  I seriously debated just packing up all my stuff and going back to the States.  I was that low.

I was being eaten alive by the bear.

Then, inexplicably, something happened.  I can only assume someone was praying for me.  Oddly enough, my internet reset causing Instant Messenger to chime.  I got up to see who was trying to talk to me, only to find out it was no one.  But what I did find was some encouraging messages on Twitter.  After a few moments, I began to feel my irrationality pass.  I decided that I would go to my second class (that starts at 9:30 at night).

I made my way to Marcelo and Ester’s house.   You may recall that Marceo is 29, and learning to read for the first time after being orphaned as a child.

It was a landmark class, really. It was the 22nd lesson in Marcelo’s literacy book.  It marked the final lesson in the first book.  It was all about the letter ‘b’ and ‘c’.  As it turns out, it was far and away the most difficult lesson we had ever done.  Typically, Marcelo has been flying through his lessons, advancing quickly.  A typical lesson takes only about 30 minutes.  This one was a struggle.  We spent almost an hour and half on it, but just before 11 at night he successfully read the following paragraph on his own:

Ramón, Ana y todos leen la Biblia.  Por la lectura de la Bibla conocen a Jesús.  Jesús curó a Ana y al ciego.  Ana y el ciego alaban a Dios.  Todos los sanados alaban a Dios.  Todos los sanados conocen y aman a Jesús.

Translated, that reads:

Ramom, Ana, and everyone read the Bible.  By reading the Bible, they know Jesus.  Jesus healed Ana and the blind man.  Ana and the blind man worship God.  All the healed people worship God.  All the healed people know and love Jesus.

Just a few months ago, I was teaching him the letter “a” and was learning the word “ana” in his first lesson. Now, a few months later he was reading on his own about Jesus.  It was stunning.  The whole day had been worth it.  All of the frustration had paid off.

As it turns out though, at 11:00 at night, my day had only just begun.

As we finished the lesson, Marcelo’s friend Silvio, who had been waiting and listening quietly, began to talk. There’s always people at Marcelo’s house. I’ve easily met 15 or 20 different people just by going to do reading class with Marcelo.  Silvio looked at the sheet Marcelo was reading from. The sheet had a Bible reference at the bottom.  He called for a Bible, and began reading from Matthew 9.  It seemed Silvio had an agenda.

He asked me a few questions, and then said to me.  “I know you. I know all about you.  I mean, I don’t really know you, but Marcelo talks about you all the time, and I have a pretty good idea what you are all about.”

He didn’t say it in a nice way.

Silvio then began to pepper me with questions and half accusations.  He challenged every aspect of my life and theology, beginning with the question, “Do you really think that Jesus is God?”

I prayed a silent prayer and dove in.  Over the course of the next two hours we covered every possible area of theology while Marcelo and Ester and another friend listened.  We discussed:

The divinity of Christ, the purpose of the law, the nature of the Bible, the 10 commandments, the nature of the church, the trinity, eternity, the end times, Jehova’s Witnesses, the Catholic church, salvation, the nature of baptism, the nature of religion, what it means that Jesus was in the image of God and what it means that He was the “firstborn of all creation”.

We read from the Psalms, the gospels, and the epistles.  I told stories of David, of Isaac, of Cain and Abel.

As I was reasoning with him, I was aware that every level of my Christian training was being tested:

What I learned as a child at Eagle Creek, lessons from my first year of Bible quizzing, things I discovered on my own, advanced ideas I learned at Grace College and Seminary, things taught me by my team here in Argentina, and things Deb and I had discovered through our ‘read through the Bible in a week’ projects…it was all on trial, and the opposing council was hostile.

Silvo had experience with religious people and thought he knew me.  As the Spirit gave me words to say and answers to his questions that he had never considered, he thawed.  Marcelo and Ester grew increasingly excited as the tone of the night changed from “the trial of Nate Dunlevy” to a night of great encouragement from God’s Word.  For better than two hours went back and forth, and by the end Silvio was delighting in hearing things from God’s Word that he had never considered.  It was astounding.  By the end, he was no longer giving me the third degree, but was asking honest questions that he really wanted answers to.

Finally, Deb called wondering where I was (after all, it was 1 am).  We ended the night with hugs as he thanked me for taking the time to talk with him, and we all agreed that there was nothing better than spending time talking about God and reading the Bible.

I’ve been doing class with Marcelo 1-2 times a week since October.

Last night, it all started to pay off.

Yesterday, Argentina was a bear.

Some days, you eat the bear.

Discipleship.

The case can be made that discipleship is the core concept from which early Brethren thought proceed-ed and around which it was organized. However, the theological content of that thought is expressed more clearly by the German word Nachfolge (a following after) than by the English word discipleship (a learning from). All Brethren distinctive doctrines can be interpreted as outgrowths from and necessary implications of a basic commitment to the following of Jesus.

That Christians are to follow Jesus, rather than simply believe on him, immediately draws Brethrenisrn away from the usual intellectualities of systematic theology, creedalism, and confessionalism, directing it toward matters of life, walk, and character. The New Testament acquires direct authority as the requisite means for Chris-tians to become contemporary with the historical Jesus in order, together with the first disciples, to follow him. The church, with its profound sense of divine communion and fraternal commonality, exists precisely as the caravan of “followers in pilgrimage.” All the elements of Brethren “nonconformity to the world” proceed from the fact that these pilgrims could not follow the world because they were already pledged to follow the Lord. All the distinctives of ethical and social fruitbearing are simply the specifics of what the Brethren have discovered the New Testament to demand of Jesus-followers. And Brethren ‘ordinances are the means by which the community, assembled with its Lord, portrays for itself the source, dynamic, and nature of kingdom discipleship.

Furthermore, this focus upon Nachfolge brings with it a general theological perspective quite different from the churchly theologies that have reigned through most of Christian history. These expound the gospel primarily as a system of personal salvation, the way of the individual soul to its beatitude lying just beyond death. Conversely, the essential context of Nachfolge theology is eschatological Heilsgeschichte, that is, salvation as the world-historical process by which, through Christ, the Lord God, with the following of the faith-community, continually moves his world from its first creation toward its new creation in the kingdom. This view is eminently historical (God is identified much more strongly in his ac-tions moving history to its goal than in plucking individuals out of history and into salvation) and eschatological (oriented toward history’s transcendent end in the kingdom).
This different perspective, which modern scholarship is finding to be much more profoundly biblical than that of classical theology, radically transforms Christian doc-trines, namely:

Theology. God is primarily the Alpha and Omega of history, the one whose will being done on earth as it is in heaven constitutes the coming of his kingdom.

Christology. The Christ of faith is the historical Jesus, the only one who can be followed. His function is as Leader-Lord, as the eschatological agent who has in-augurated the kingdom, who leads his people toward it, and who will come from it in order that where he is, they may be also.

Authority. The mind of that Leader-Lord is the sole authority for his followers; it has been given its normative expression in the New Testament, which thus becomes the rule of faith and practice for his followers.

Hermeneutic. The New Testament can speak this mind of Christ only when his followers use Scripture as a vehicle for becoming contemporaneous with that par-ticular historical person, hearing him and responding to him in the same terms as did the first disciples.

Piety. One can truly follow this Jesus only upon first loving him and putting oneself into his hands in the per-sonal trust of complete dependence.

Eschatology. Eschatology is no longer an appendix to theology or mere speculation regarding the when and how of the events of the end. It is the dynamic of theology as a whole, an action of following the eschatological agent to his eschatological destination, of appropriating the precursions of the kingdom in anticipation of its consummation.

Pneumatology. The coming of the Spirit is an eschato-logical sign and itself an eschatological power in the wake of Jesus, sweeping creation toward its appointed end.Ecciesiology.

Ecclesiology. The church is the caravan-community in eschatological pilgrimage. It is composed of individuals drawn into a body through the power of the Spirit to make common cause in following their Leader-Lord.

Evangelism and Social Concern. Because we cannot know who all and what all ultimately is to be caught up in the eschatological current of Jesus, the church must always be open-handed toward all others, both to grasp their hands in welcome and invitation and to wash their feet in service.

Soteriology. Although personal salvation is in no way denied, it is subordinated as just one aspect of God’s great work of salvation that is to make all things new.

Pistology. “Faith” cannot be simply believing in Jesus. It must be belief acted upon through the venture of a committed and lived following.

Of course, nowhere is this theology stated as explicitly and neatly as here; yet these are themes that, both by statement and by implication, pervade the early Brethren literature. It cannot be said that any of the modern Brethren groupings have done a very good job of maintaining such a full and complete vision of discipleship.

I had asked for prayer for Marcelo and Ester who needed a new house because they were being kicked out of their home.  They found a plot of land in a villa (shanty town), and were told they could buy it for $3000 pesos (about $750).

The saved up their money and made payments and bought the land.  What they didn’t know at the time is that the whole thing was a scam.  Some thugs in the neighborhood would sell the land (to which they had no right…there’s no paperwork on those plots).  Then when the buyers would move in, they would set the new house on fire and chase them off.

Then they would sell the land all over again, and start the whole process over.

Marcelo and Ester found out about this before they started building.  When they talked to the men they paid, they were threatened.  The men came to there old home with pipes and threatened violence if they made problems.

The couple had no choice but to walk away from the situation, grateful they ‘only’ lost the $3000.

And so the search continues.

We obtained our first Argentine Visa 2 years ago (crazy story), and they were set to expire on February 5th.  We have been back in the U.S. since the end of October and originally planned to return to Argentina at the end of February, thinking that once we got our Argentine National ID, that that document would automatically renew our Visa.  We misunderstood.  We’d have to return before the Feb 5th (assuming we had all our funding in order) to renew the Visas.  A couple days before we left Argentina last October I was reviewing the instructions for renewing our visa and saw an asterisk I hadn’t seen before, reading the fine print I saw that there was a tiny rule that required renewals to be submitted no later that 10 days before the expiration! Whoa, we were planning on coming back just a couple days before, good thing I saw that!

As January arrived and we had a firm outlook on how our funding was coming in, we realized that we wouldn’t be able to return by the end of January as hoped.  But, we had this Visa issue to take care of.  After two visits to the Argentine Consulate in Washington D.C. we were told we could not renew our Visas in the United States, that we had to be in Argentina to renew them.  We could start all over again with new visas, but, we were told things have changed in the last two years and would take a long time to get them…no thanks (on several levels).  So, we flew back to Argentina last Monday, a week ago today.

As we approached Argentina I got more and more anxious.  Will immigrations even let us into the country with our visas so close to expiring? What about our National ID’s, Tara’s had already expired?  Will we be able to get all the additional documents we’d need in time? Is there some new requirement we aren’t aware of? Will it even happen?

The first step was getting through immigrations at the airport.  We went through the Argentine line, because we had National ID’s.  Tara’s was expired, but the lady allowed us in without any problem and even waived the $100 entry fee for Tara (because her ID was expired).  It went really smooth.  We made it back to La Plata late that night and were in line at the next step by 6:00am the next morning.  We needed to get a police background check.  While we were sitting in line waiting (we were 6th in line) the security guard came out and announced that they would not be able to attend anyone, the power was out and there was no indication that it would be back on anytime soon!  What!! Most everyone left, but a few remained, the guard did eventually say that if the power came back on we’d be able to get in.  Tara and I stayed and prayed.  A half hour later, at 8:00am, when the office was supposed to open, the power came on.  Ten minutes later we were in and got finger-printed.  From there we went to another government office to get a certificate that certified our “home” address in Argentina.  Tara and I had all we needed to get ours, which is what I thought was all we needed.  But, the lady then asked for the info for the boys, which we had but didn’t have copies of.  We needed copies.  She decided to waive that and gave them their certificates too (that is unheard of!).  The next day (last Wednesday) we went to go pick up our background checks, the question that remained for that was if our fingerprints were taken well enough for them to complete the check, they were.  From there we went to the  Immigrations office to begin the BIG renewal.  I had no idea what to expect.  We had visited the office last October to find out some info and discovered that all our documents were in Buenos Aires (where we had done our initial paperwork), and that in order to do the renewal here in La Plata they would have to submit a paperwork transfer request to get the to La Plata.  Did the lady actually do it? Did they get lost? Did they actually arrive in La Plata? These are no simple questions! The bureaucracy and inefficiency are notorious here in Argentina (in any 3rd world country), for people to do what they say they will do and that things would happen in a timely fashion are the exception.  After waiting in line, it turned out that it was too late in the morning and we had to come back first thing the following day.  On Thursday we arrived at 9:00am like we were told, but the person that was to see us wasn’t in the office yet, an hour later she arrived.  I was told to go to her office to start the renewal when I asked if my whole family should go, the guy said, “What?, I thought it was just for you.” I had told him specifically on several occasions that my whole family needed renewals.  He took me down to the office and the conversation revolved around whether they’d be able to do all of us now or not…ugh, the tension standing there listening.  I was told to go back and wait upstairs…ugh, what was going to happen?  It is entirely nerve-racking to have your whole “Fate” in the hands of one government worker.  There’s really nothing you can do other than look cute with your family of little kids and hope they like you enough to not put you off.  (oh, and there’s the whole trusting in God thing–thats hard to do.)  She came upstairs this time and they decided that we all could get them renewed right then!  WoW!  So we started all the paperwork…when the Bombshell hit and my heart went through the floor and my head about exploded!  She asked me for my Argentine background check, which I had, then she asked me for my background check from the U.S….”What!?” I thought!  Oh my goodness! We don’t have that! I didn’t know we needed it, the instructions didn’t say we needed it!!  I then calmly said to her (while my heart was racing and my hands were starting to shake), “The instructions said that we only needed the Argentine background check.”…..a moment passed as she thought about that and then responded,”Oh, ok then.” And she proceeded to finish all our paperwork and stamp our renewed Visas in our passports!  Wow!

I can’t begin to express to you how amazing it was to be able to do all this as quickly as it was done and smoothly it was done.  Every step of the way God was smoothing it out.  Now, we confidently go back to the U.S. working hard to find the funding that God has already prepared for us.