Winona Lake (IN) Grace Brethren Church member Miriam Pacheco, who is currently in Argentina with a women’s GO Team on a short-term missions trip, sends this on-the-spot report which has been slightly edited. For a fuller report, lists of participants, and many photos, go to www.womenofcharis.net.
MONDAY: God blessed us yesterday with some lovely, cooler weather and we thoroughly enjoyed that. It was our day for an asado ~ an Argentine cookout.
We were in the home of Miguel & Anabela in Banfield, and the Lord has done some amazing things in their lives. The way He brought them to Himself, restored their marriage and is using them in reaching out to plant a church in their neighborhood is such a testimony to God’s grace. She is a very talented artist and their home is filled with her pictures. It was a wonderful afternoon of hearing their testimonies and enjoying their hospitality.
We did a prayer walk around their neighborhood asking God to lead them to the people whose hearts are ready to hear about God’s love, and also that they would be able to start a Good News club at the children’s center just down the street. They have two other couples who are also working to plant the church there.
TUESDAY: We started our day on a cultural scavenger hunt divided into four groups, each group having a Spanish speaker who was to be used just for reference. We had to go to a feria (street market) and buy something, get on the train and ride it into the center of Quilmes (suburb of Buenos Aires), find the office of a gal in one of the churches, visit certain stores, buy some garrapinadas (sugared almonds) and gomitas (gumdrops), and then get to the restaurant for lunch by a certain time. We didn’t lose anyone, although one group was late getting there for lunch.
We went to the Jose Marmol church to meet with the ladies there and hear about their sewing ministry. They get remnants of fabric and take donated adult clothes and make children’s clothes out of them to give to the children in their congregation who have a need. They also give them to other children in the area. These women are such dear ladies. They were very happy to see Viki Rife, because they remembered her from when she lived here with her folks. [Editor’s note: Viki’s parents, Mrs. & Mrs. Robert Cover, were GBIM missionaries to Argentina.]
It was a huge blessing to all of us to see how faithful these ladies have been down through the years and how they are using the talents the Lord has given them to honor Him and reach out to others.
It was fun to share with a couple of the ladies about the times I’ve been in Africa with the Pygmies. One of the ladies got so excited and said, “I love the Pygmies! I’ve been praying for them years.” We had a delightful visit. It is so neat to see how the people here are interested in what God is doing in other places.
[GBIM missionary] Gary McCaman spent about an hour leading us on a study of Spiritual Warfare that got a lot of good discussion going and it was very helpful. Thanks so much for your prayers and interest in this team’s ministry. It is a good team and a satisfying ministry.