Two of them were prepared for this moment with our Bible course “Towards a New Life”, due to special situations they have lived in spite of their short lives.

We wish to thank Pastor Héctor Fester for carrying out this task and because he always supports our work.

We are very pleased because these four young ladies carry Jesus in their hearts and hope we will be able to accompany them and see them grow in their spiritual lives.

We thank the Lord for this new opportunity to share our work and reach more people with the message of Hope.

Click to view slideshow.

]]> http://lhmargentina.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/family-day/feed/ 0 argentinalhm http://lhmargentina.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/analia%c2%b4s-letter/ http://lhmargentina.wordpress.com/2011/12/28/analia%c2%b4s-letter/#comments Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:02:47 +0000 argentinalhm http://lhmargentina.wordpress.com/?p=595 ]]> We received this letter from our volunteer of Jardín America (Misiones)

Hello. We are currently working with the material you provided us in different settings. We are working with the youth group every Friday, and in two of those meetings we work with some of the materials, since we made a schedule with different subjects. In addition, we carry out a specific workshop every two months with important issues for their age, the last time we addressed “Abortion”, and we used those materials, providing images and videos for better understanding. The materials are very useful since they not only provide a theoretic basis for the subjects, but also include theological grounds. Furthermore, as a Parrish we are working at a Mission in a town which is 45 km from here.

We are handing out materials, according to the people’s interest, and each Congregation has these booklets on exposition and they are handed out in exchange for a donation (if they can) in order to be able to purchase more to continue with this task. Members accept this and are very interested… I really do not know how you could help us in other ways, since I do not know which are your possibilities, but anything you can think of will be welcome and appreciated.

Greetings in Christ,

Analía Hettinger

                We organized an activity open to the neighborhood together with three Church organizations with evangelistic purposes. This activity was carried out on October 8-9, 2011. The proposal was made by the congregation, who requested assistance from both the Seminary and the foundation Cristo para Todas las Naciones (LHM Argentina ). The Parris, made up by the community of Hurlingham “Trinidad” and of San Antonio de Padua worked together for the activity, however the evangelistic activity took place in San Antonio de Padua. We reached three different districts, Morón (city of Ituzaingó), Merlo (cities of San Antonio de Padua, Paso del Rey and Merlo) and Moreno (city of Moreno).

We should emphasize that the activity was coordinated by the Seminary since every year it they routinely choose a community and organize this type of events. The seminary requested the CPTLN foundation be involved as a necessary condition.

This activity involved 25 people in total, at different times. On Saturday 13 people participated from the Seminary, 4 from the congregation, Pastor Damián Fischer and the vicar Juan Pablo Lanterna. On Sunday, 17 Seminary students came, 1 person from the congregation (from Hurlingham), and the vicar. This does not include the people who in one way or other accompanied the organization of the activity, which would add over 30 people.

What did we do?

We performed different activities in the neighborhood:

PARKS. We went to a park in Padua on Saturday, where we placed a stand of the Foundation. On Sunday, we went to two parks in Ituzaingó and did the same thing.

HOUSES. On Saturday we walked around the neighborhood in Padua. We visited neighbors, and handed out letters we made on behalf of the congregation. This letter invited them to the service which would take place that night. On Sunday, we left a letter from the congregation which had a message of hope and the schedule of congregation activities. We contacted over 150 families. The objective was to share the existence of the Church in the neighborhood, which was fulfilled in the short term.

TRAIN. Both on Saturday and on Sunday, a group of three people went on the train. On Saturday, from Padua to Moreno – Moreno to Padua, and on Saturday from Ituzaingó to Moreno – Moreno to Padua. They decided to present themselves as something typical in this type of transportation, as are street vendors. The message was: “Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, take a look at this novelty! This is quality, this is a well-known brand… this is a message of hope” and after this introduction a flier with a message and a map of the church was handed out. In this map, you can see how to arrive to the church from the Padua train station. Through this activity at least 300 people were contacted and received the flier. Context was key for people to understand the message.

TRAINING. Three students presented two typical mission subjects (one on Saturday and one on Sunday) with the purpose of training and encouraging the community towards the mission.

1)      The first was: growth of the church (a current movement) and growth in Christ (a Biblical vision of the growth of the church).

2)      The second subject was: ethnocentrism versus Christ-centrism. We addressed the issue of how a Church’s own culture can represent barrier for the mission God has given them.

Synthesis and conclusion. Approximately 30 people were included in the activity, and over 450 people were contacted (perhaps 300 family groups) in two work days, and a message of hope was delivered. This activity reached 3 districts of the Great Buenos Aires and 5 cities within these districts which are close to the community. We do not see immediate results, working with this “ideal” expectation would discourage the task, we trust that God knows why He used us and we hope our sowing will give its fruits, since the success of the evangelistic activity does not depend on the group, the context, or whatever we see, but only on the powerful word of our Lord manifested in Jesus Christ.

 

This year, our Parrish was represented by a stand, which we called Christian Focus, since we exhibited and handed out booklets from the  LHM Argentina.

We spent some very nice days in which we were able to share time with many people from the city and its surroundings who did not know or had little knowledge about our Church.

65 people approached our stand and we gave them a booklet, of an issue useful for their lives or for someone they knew.

We wish to thank the Local Authorities who gave us the opportunity to exhibit our material, as well as the people of the congregation who were at the stand handing out booklets, keeping us company and sharing some “mates” (a local beverage).

May God make this an extra step for the gospel to reach much more people in our city.

                                                                                                Rafael Migliónico

                                                                                                 Urdinarrain (Entre Ríos)

Click to view slideshow.

For several days I had this conversation in my mind and I really liked and felt motivated to begin a program of this type… for a while now I had felt the desire to do “something more” as service to the Lord and the society… and this is how God planted the seed of concern, interest, and enthusiasm in my heart to face a radio program. I did not hesitate in sharing this with Pablo, Mary and Cinthia, and I suggested that the four of us should take up again this wonderful ministry. They were happy and delighted to start once again with this activity which they yearned for and which had blessed them so much. They accepted immediately. Without losing any time, we started to think about the name the program would carry, in which radio we could air it, on what day, time, how we would carry out the program, a logo, etc. We prayed about this project and asked the Lord to accompany us in its preparation and development, to provide us wisdom and clarity, as well as the resources to carry it out.

As part of the team at  LHM Argentina (Cristo Para todas Las Naciones Foundation in Argentina) , I did not hesitate in sharing this personal project with Gloria, the Director. Since our intention was to use CPTLN’s materials as a basis for bible studies and reflection which we would share in each program, as well as offering these booklets free of charge through the Spots “Focus”, for all those interested o in need of these materials or help, creating contacts for missional work for CPTLN and the Church. It has been and continues to be very important for us to count with the support CPTLN provides us, to carry out this ministry… and we are very grateful for all the help we receive!!

This is how “Healing Wounds” was born, because, who does not have or has had “wounds in the soul”? All four members of the team (from different churches) have joined together in this project in order to share words of Love, encouragement, and inspiration, sharing a message of hope, which is our Faith in Jesus Christ, who heals all of our wounds… we intend to develop a program for families, to inform and accompany those who listen to us during 2 hours a week, with reflection, current news, issues of general interest, music, etc. And we also offer our support by prayer chains, visits, and anything else the Lord puts in our hands and reach to help those who are in need, using the gifts, talents, and resources He gives us… because ”we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word”(THE BIBLE, Acts 4:6)

To be continued…

Written by Ingrid Kreizer

Click to view slideshow.

http://lhmargentina.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/she-is-marion/

A few days ago we received this letter from she:

“I have been back in Germany for three months now, but often think back of my unforgettable time in Argentina, that truly changed my life.

One year ago I was just recovering from burnout and depression that had literally kicked me out of my “old” life. I had worked in the financial services industry and due to constant restructuring in my company and more and more associated pressure, my physical and spirital well-being had gone down constantly. Finally, one day, I broke down and needed more than one year including a treatment in a hospital before I was slowly feeling better. My church family in Frankfurt from Trinity Lutheran church was wonderful and supported me with prayers, good wishes and practical help, as well. I felt that God was with me, too, even though, I could not feel any happiness for months. After having been sick for such a long time, I could not just go on like that. I had already decided not to go back into the financial services industry, but what am I going to do now? I needed time for orientation, away from my old life and environment.

Traveling, that was what I wanted to do, and work as a volunteer to give something back of all the help and love that I had received from my church family and friends during my recovery. Well, God sent me to Argentina. I was full of joy because I wanted to see the beauty of that huge country and I was hoping to improve my speaking skills of Spanish, as well.

After a couple of weeks of language classes in Buenos Aires and Bariloche, Patagonia, where I had already experienced so much love and friendship of the families with whom I stayed, I went up to the North-West of Argentina to start my first volunteer period in Tucumán, the capital of the Province of Tucumán. Again, I felt very much blessed with my new hostparents in Tucumán, Elsa and Raul, who were members of the Lutheran church congregation of  ”Josue“. They made me feel like a part of the family and now, I consider them as part of my family as well. In Tucumán, I offered classes in German and English, on basic and conversational level. I had students of different backgrounds and age groups and the classes were incredible. It was not only about learning a foreign language, but to exchange cultural experiences. I was amazed how much people trusted me with most intimate thoughts and I, who were grown up in a rather suspicious culture, did the same thing. During those conversations, my students and myself felt, how valuable the dialogue is between cultures and people in general. The same happened when I was acompanying Pastor David to his bi-monthly bible study group in San Pablo, a small town outside of Tucumán city. The people there were so wonderful and shared their home, delicious food and Mate. During those bible studies, as well, it came to most profound discussions about difficult issues in life that we could all relate to and we could feel our connection to each other and to God.

The people in Tucumán do not have an easy life. Due to sugar cane production, there is a constant air pollution and most of the times, breathing literally hurt. Also, there was a large crime rate, unemployment rate and a lot of drug addicts under young people. Nevertheless, I was amazed, how satisfied people where in Tucumán with their lifes and how much they trust in God. They had less material things, but were much more satisfied and happier than many people in Europe, who have much more material things.

The six weeks in Tucumán passed way too fast and on one weekend, I had to say „Good Bye“ to Elsa and Raul to drive with Pastor David and his family 2,5 hours further up North to Salta, which is the capital of the Province of Salta. Salta is a nice and clean city. It is not affected by the sugar cane production and is much more „touristy“ than Tucumán. Again, I had a wonderful homestay with Angel and Ana, two members of the Lutheran church congregation „Amigos de Jesú“ of Pastor David. I felt truly blessed with those wonderful families I could live with. In Argentina, I experienced so much love and affection like never in my life before. Love that healed my soul.

In Salta, I had many students for my basic and conversational classes in German and English. Again, during those classes we shared a lot more than just grammar rules and vocabulary. I could pray with one student, who was worried about family members. In my class of basic English it was wonderful to see, how well young and older students worked together, motivating and cheering each other up after a successfully pronounced phrase. We shared dreams, hopes, fears and beliefs. We were from different countries, had a different nationality, but during these moments we were just human beings, all equal. These were truly unforgettable and blessed moments.

In Salta, I had the opportunity to accompany Pastor David to several bible studies at private homes. Even though I could not always understand everything I read and heard in Spanish, I learned so much. I did ask and people told me and each other openly about their experiences with God and the topics of the bible.

For me, a new world opened up. I was raised in a Christian home and knew how to pray, but did not know much about the bible apart from what I had learned during confirmation classes. In those previous years in my stressful professional life I went to church regularly, but skipped bible study. In Argentina, I developed a new relationship to the bible and God’s word. In those weeks in Salta, I had the opportunity to talk a lot with Pastor David and his family, too, about life in general, about what it means to serve God and how this could be done.

These conversations lead me thinking about a new career path for when I was going back to Germany. I wanted to work with people, helping them out in difficult situations and tell them about how wonderful it is to walk with God in their lifes.

In July, finally, after 5,5 months, it was time for me to go back to my home country. I left with a happy and a sad eye. I had to leave behind so many dear friends and this made me sad, but I was looking forward to this new path in my life that God has shown me. And I am sure, it will not be the last time to visit Argentina. I will always love this wonderful country and their people. May God provide hope and good leaders who guide Argentina into a good future.

Well, what has happened since my arrival back in Germany. The first couple of weeks were hard. Germany is very burocratic and a couple of times I was so frustrated and very close to getting a ticket back to Argentina, but God was and is with me. I found a wonderful place to live with nice people and I am opening my own business next week doing exactly what God lead me to do. I will be working as an intercultural trainer helping foreign people to accomodate, who come to the Frankfurt area to live and work here. I will provide information and orientation and extend a helping hand.

Thanks to you,Gloria, all the wonderful people I met in Argentina, my hostfamilies, students and friends. God bless you!  I will never forget you and look forward to meeting you not before long again!”.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-11 gave room to an opportunity for reflection and exchange of opinions. The group, made up by students of the same age, allowed them to review the paradigms on which they plan their personal projects, as well as to explore diverse alternatives to initiate them, allowing them to broaden their perspectives. Group work was given priority since professions are social roles that are performed in groups.

Click to view slideshow.