Hope for Buenos Aires
Mission Trip Information meeting
Sunday, May 1 at Noon in the church parlor at NRHBC
If you are interested in going on the mission trip to Buenos Aires, June 30 – July 9, please stop by the information meeting which will only last a few minutes at the conclusion of the 10:45 service on Sunday May 1, in the church parlor.
"Free Activities at the Casa de Amistad"
As I’ve mentioned before, we are partnering with Barrio Norte Baptist Church in a previously unused church building, nicknamed the Casa de Amistad, or House of Friendship, that is just outside our adopted barrio of Chacarita.
A godly young couple is leading the work at Casa de Amistad, Guillermo and Nadia, partnering with Manuel and Berta Sosa, who are with the International Mission Board.
Now, under their leadership, the Casa de Amistad is hosting “workshops” five nights a week and a Bible study on Sunday.
Through the work of the Sosas and Guillermo and Nadia, God is doing great things where there was no work. Join me in praying for them and the outreach at the Casa de Amistad.
Chacarita Cemetery
Today was a good day. We stopped by and visited with Irma for about an hour and a half. She is doing well it was a good conversation. Her youngest son was into drugs but recently has turned away from them and to Christ.
We then went to visit someone from the Bible raffle yesterday – her name is Roxana. We visited with her for about a half and hour – I shared my faith story and Dad shared the gospel. Clearly the Lord was working in her heart as she was thinking about God and heaven before we arrived – She prayed to receive Christ.
We then had lunch – Dad had his 5th steak in 6 days. 
After lunch we visited with Iker and his mom, Veridiana. Angela Roberts led Veridiana to faith in the summer of 2008 and I led Iker to faith in March of 2009. We visited for a while and then did a Bible study together – it was a good time of fellowship.
Then we went to an appointment with Kathy – the teen that we have talked to twice. We were very hopeful of visiting with her as she asked several questions yesterday but was not home for our meeting.
Then we went and toured the Chacarita Cemetery as Dad hasn’t been there yet. He was impressed with the mausoleums.
Next we headed to the Casa de Amistad to set up for the Bible Study tonight. Eddie’s boys and a translator, Deanna, were there. Eddie and the other translator, Cristina, were at an appointment.
Soon Guillermo arrived and they began to set up for the music – Guillermo played the electric piano and had a friend play guitar and another play the bass guitar.
Lots of kids came to the bible study and a few adults – funny was that the lady, Isabel, that we visited by chance on Monday showed up – that was very encouraging. I did the message out of 2 Timothy 3:16-17 about the importance of the Bible.
Afterward, we said our goodbyes to Guillermo and the rest and went to McDonalds for a quick meal.
We are headed to bed “early” tonight (11 PM) because we leave for the airport at 6:30 AM tomorrow. We are all looking forward to seeing the falls tomorrow.
Please pray for God to continue to bless the work at the Casa de Amistad.
Please pray for our safe travels.
Watching "Minnesota Cuke" by Veggie Tales at the Casa de Amistad
We were set to meet this morning at 10:30 in the basement where breakfast is now served – unfortunately, we don’t have one of the larger rooms to meet in – we are all in the new part of the hotel with small rooms. Plus, each of the tables at breakfast were in use at 10:30, so instead we went to meet at the Casa de Amistad.
At our meeting, we worked a little on the logistics and set the agenda for the next few days. Each team had three or four new people to follow up with from the Bible raffle plus about 20 “contacts” from previous trips. I encouraged them to focus on the new people first and then continue to follow up with people from the previous trips.
We then broke up for a time before meeting together for lunch. Dad and I met two new people – one was a neighbor of someone who signed up for the Bible. The neighbor’s name is Isabella. I shared my faith story – she seemed to have a commitment to Christ – her brother is a pastor, but she doesn’t frequently go to church. We plan to follow up with Isabella and her neighbor – the lady originally on our list.
Dad, Nestor and I visited another lady – she listened attentively to Dad’s faith story, through a window – she is not sure about her salvation but didn’t want to really hear the gospel.
We then met the team for lunch. It was good to hear their “success” stories as well.
After lunch, we met a third “new” lady who signed up for the Bible. She is a believer and attends a pentecostal church. It is encouraging to meet believers.
Next we walked for a couple dozen blocks to follow up with Kathy – a teen that we met on Saturday who heard Dad’s faith story and who I shared the gospel with. She was a no-show.
We were pretty worn out at that points, so we grabbed a drink at a cafe and rested for about a half an hour. Then we walked back to the Casa de Amistad to meet Guillermo.
At this point we started to set up for the movie. We had to arrange chairs, buy refreshments, etc.
The movie went well – we watched a Veggie Tales video about the “Minnesota Cuke” – it was around the story of Sampson. Several Argentine families showed up with their kids – we had a full room.
After the movie Noah Andruss shared his faith story and did a great job. Eddie shared his and included a clear presentation of the gospel. We encouraged people who were curious about more to stick around and visit with a team member and to come back tomorrow. Several conversations took place after the movie and each family committed to return on Tuesday night for the next movie.
After the movie we had a late dinner and turned in for the night.
Today, Tuesday, is Carnival (Mardis Gras) which should make for an interesting day.
We all still have appointments of Argentines to visit today. Also, because it is a holiday and because we have a second Family Bible, we plan to do another free raffle in the park this afternoon.
Please pray for Argentines to be open to the gospel and willing to come tonight to the movie.
Yesterday morning we were able to sleep in a little bit as we didn’t need to be at the church until 11 AM – so we left at about 10:15.
The church service was good. I spoke out of 1 Corinthians 1 about the issues of disunity and self-righteousness. After church the pastor, Daniel, invited us to lunch – we went to the same steakhouse as in September -they have delicious steak. It was a good lunch and quick by Argentine standards as we needed to be at the park at 3. After lunch, some of us went back to the hotel to grab our materials while others went to the Plaza.
Pastor Daniel invited his church to help our outreach effort – several from the church showed up and were a big help. The outreach started at about 3:45 and ended about 4:45 because we needed to get to the Casa de Amistad for the Argetine led (by Guillermo) Bible study. We had 31 people sign up for the Bible raffle, which was a fantastic sign up because we only had such a short window of time to do it.
There were at least 20 Argentines at the Bible study (not including us) – they had to keep bringing out chairs. Some were from Barrio Norte church but several were not – so that was encouraging. Guillermo did a good job leading the study – at least I think so as it was in Spanish.
After the Bible study, Nestor and I went to the pastor back to Barrio Norte church for the evening service while the rest of the team went back to the hotel for dinner and an early bed-time.
Nestor and I grabbed a taxi back to the hotel and ate a couple empanadas while he watched Boca Juniors soccer team play and I worked on the computer.
It is hard to believe we only have three more days of ministry here. It has been fun working alongside dad. I don’t know how many appointments were set for the next few days, I’m sure it was several. Even if not, we have a lot of work to do.
Please pray for people to be home today to receive our teams and to hear the gospel.
We started out the morning with a team meeting then headed to the Casa de Amistad. We divided up on maps, contacts, tracts, flyers, etc. and headed out for a bit – first for an hour and a half before lunch, then for a long time after lunch.
In the first hour and a half, Dad, Nestor and I went to three homes. At the first home Dad shared his faith story – the lady, Gisele, heard the gospel from before by Debbie and didn’t make a decision. But she seemed more interested this time as though Debbie’s sharing planted the seed and Dad’s turn was to water. Hopefully, we can harvest the next time we see her.
The next home was a bust, but then we headed over to a third home and were able to set an appointment for Tuesday.
We then met for lunch – the teams had similar luck in following up with people. It was encouraging.
After lunch we visited the Plaza Los Andes where we will have the free Bible raffle tomorrow. The goal is to have people sign up for the Bible, including their name and address, and we will follow up with them. The teams broke up again for another few hours
We went to several more homes. We tried a lady that the team in November met at a woman’s shelter but she wasn’t home. Then we went to a house of believers and will go back on Monday to encourage them to participate in the outreach from the Casa de Amistad.
We then had a trek up to the part of Chacarita closest to Villa Ortuzar. The couple we were going to meet were not home, but a teenage girl was standing outside her home. Dad shared his faith story and I shared the gospel. She listened well, but said that she believed in part and in another part didn’t believe. We plan to follow up with her again early this week – Monday or Tuesday, I forget at the moment.
Then we stopped by Iker’s house, called and set an appointment and then stopped by Javier’s house. Javier has moved, but we have his phone number. Nestor called and we should be able to get together with him sometime this week.
The teams then met back at the Casa de Amistad. Each team accomplished a great deal and were exhausted. The morning was much more successful in finding people home. But everyone had a good day.
We headed back to the hotel to grab the food stuff for the Frealys and then left again for their house. We decided to take the bus which turned out to be an adventure. After waiting for 20 minutes, I put Eddie, Noah, Tyler and their translator Christina in a taxi. Then, of course, the bus arrived. The rest of us took the bus but got off one exit too soon. So I called Jason who picked us up.
But Eddie and the others weren’t there yet. So…I stood on one street corner while Tiby stood on another. Finally, from his cab, Eddie saw me and the cabbie pulled over. I feel bad for them – their cab got lost and was very frustrating. But thankfully we were all together.
We were met at the Frealys by an Argentine who served in Central Asia. After dinner, the Argentine did a Q & A for our team. I was disappointed because I had to leave to come back to the hotel to meet our travel agent. All is set in that regard and we are looking forward to our trip to Iguazu.
The team arrived back at the hotel at about 11 PM – they were excited about what they were able to hear from Jose.
This morning we are headed to church at Barrio Norte. Then we hope to have a quick lunch and make it to the park by 3ish. There is a Bible study tonight, led by Argentines at the Casa de Amistad, at 5 PM. We are going to attend. After that we will be calling the people who signed up for the Bible.
My Dad, Parker, trying maté for the first time.
Today was our first day in Argentina – we left DFW last night and arrived in Buenos Aires early this morning. Our team is comprised of Parker Spence (my Dad, not my son), Lydia Pedroza, Eddie Andruss and his two sons Noah and Tyler. Noah and Tyler are doing great – the are both excited to tell people about Jesus.
I am enjoying spending time with Dad on mission. Someone remarked that this is the family business…what I cool thought. I hope that we can lead my sons, Parker and Jonathan to have the same passion.
The flight went well – no one got any real sleep but fortunately, no one was grouchy. The customs aspect was a little bit of a mad house – people were ignoring the lines and the exit acted like a funnel. They were x-raying each bag as it entered the country. That was a first.
When we got to the hotel, we arrived at the same time as a soccer team – some team that I had never heard of in the Argentine 2nd division. We had to wait a little bit but we were able to check into our rooms immediately even though we we arrived before check-in.
We grabbed a lunch of pizza, rested during the afternoon, and at 6 PM Kelli Frealy, a missionary with the International Mission Board (IMB) met us for an orientation.
Two of our translators are new – Christina from Ecuador and Diane from Florida. Tiby and Nestor are also going to help this week. Several mission teams have worked with Tiby and Nestor.
After orientation, the team met up with Jason, Daniela and Nicholas for dinner – Kelli’s husband (also a missionary), daughter and son. Afterward, we sampled the local helado (ice cream) and are now settling in for the night.
Tomorrow we will be headed out to Chacarita – working out of the Casa de Amistad. The goal will be to meet up with contacts from our previous trips and invite them to the Bible Study on Sunday night and Wednesday night and to the movies on Monday and Tuesday.
Please be in prayer for us as we connect with people from previous trips to encourage them in the faith.
Blessings,
Mark
