A month away from my adopted reality here. January was spent covering Argentina with distinct purposes but all so rewarding. My first stop was to the province of Missiones in the northeast. Missiones is a very different atmosphere than mine here in El Chaco. Missiones is a lush mountain paradise, verging on rainforest, but not quite there. I’ve always been so curious about how the terrain here changes from arid flatland to banana trees, but my transition always occurs during the night on a bus so it may forever remain my mystery. My first voyage to Missiones was to translate for a group from Pennsylvania who came for a mission trip. My favorite experience, or better said, the experience that brought on the most change in my mental process, was a talk that I had with another volunteer and the pastor of the Pennsylvania church. We got onto the subject of former mission trips and the pastor got to talking of a trip member, a youth, if I remember correctly. The youth after hearing that an argentine church only needed 11,000 US dollars to be able to build and maintain a brand new building, returned to his congregation and rallied support for the project. The youth rallied so much support that the church in Pennsylvania was able to give the argentine church 100% of the funds needed to build the building, with some left over for maintenance in the following years. The story sounded like a dream come true to me, a new church, friendships over-seas formed, but then my friend, who is infinitely wiser than I, began telling the side of the story that she had heard. You see, less than a year after the new church was built, the membership had almost completely died in the sparkling new building. This puts a very different dimension of the giver-recipient model that we are taught and witness to in so many aspects of our lives in the United States. The church in Argentina was surviving and growing on the challenge and struggle of building a church without walls first, and then working to put a roof over their heads. If one person had a brick, they would bring it, another with the ability to lay it, and soon you have a wall. In the struggle relationships are built, and a church becomes a church, in a much deeper sense than a building with a sign hung. When the church was just given to the people the struggle was gone, and so was the integral formation of the church. They had a perfectly laid cement foundation to stand on, but with no real foundation to the membership. We get so sucked into the power of money in the United States, with it you can solve and help any problem it seems. Real power though, comes from loving and stepping into the problem with the people. I am stuck many times in my thinking because there are so many dimensions to every problem and solution. I offer no answers here; I only offer experiences that I’ve seen.
A return to Resistencia to wash clothing and rest for a day and then back to Missiones, this time with our youth group from my church. What a wonderful time of relaxation and play to develop relationships with the youth. Brilliant talks in a colossal circle discussing the eternal questions of the human condition. Real faith vs. being gullible. I pondered all of this while floating down the river, Brazil on the left, Argentina on my right, learning from the silence and power of water.
My vacation started on my return from Missiones, and I left for Buenos Aires to pick up my friend that came to visit me the following day. A 26 hour bus ride later and we were in Patagonia, the south of Argentina. I spent my days traveling place to place with all my life in a backpack, and when I had become comfortable with that, our backpacks were stolen and I was left with less. It made walking easier, and we eventually acquired new ones to facilitate the trip. I have never felt freer as I did as I sat on top a mountain staring off for miles at perfect lakes and tree covered islands. Life stopped in those moments. I learned to cook over a fire and live so much more simply. It seems I am always placed next to people that offer so much to my thoughts on life, and this trip was no different, with my friend always offering beautiful new thoughts on a life I constantly feel I have figured out.
I am safe and home now in Resistencia, but not for long. In the coming month I have a kids camp and then I am back again in Buenos Aires for a retreat with the other volunteers. Embracing being lost -james
A return to Resistencia to wash clothing and rest for a day and then back to Missiones, this time with our youth group from my church. What a wonderful time of relaxation and play to develop relationships with the youth. Brilliant talks in a colossal circle discussing the eternal questions of the human condition. Real faith vs. being gullible. I pondered all of this while floating down the river, Brazil on the left, Argentina on my right, learning from the silence and power of water.
My vacation started on my return from Missiones, and I left for Buenos Aires to pick up my friend that came to visit me the following day. A 26 hour bus ride later and we were in Patagonia, the south of Argentina. I spent my days traveling place to place with all my life in a backpack, and when I had become comfortable with that, our backpacks were stolen and I was left with less. It made walking easier, and we eventually acquired new ones to facilitate the trip. I have never felt freer as I did as I sat on top a mountain staring off for miles at perfect lakes and tree covered islands. Life stopped in those moments. I learned to cook over a fire and live so much more simply. It seems I am always placed next to people that offer so much to my thoughts on life, and this trip was no different, with my friend always offering beautiful new thoughts on a life I constantly feel I have figured out.
I am safe and home now in Resistencia, but not for long. In the coming month I have a kids camp and then I am back again in Buenos Aires for a retreat with the other volunteers. Embracing being lost -james
No comments:
Post a Comment