As slums go, Juan Pablo the 2nd isn't the dilapidated open sewer kind like you might imagine.  It is what is called a "Government City".  The government has constructed houses and set up local services for water, gas, sewer, and education, and has moved many people out of their old slums into the government housing.  The slum culture, however, is only slowly being left behind. Many youth come from horrendous family backgrounds.  Some are the sons or daughters of prostitutes, and some are working as prostitutes themselves.  Many are abused, drug use is common, and violence and theft are ways of life.  How does one shine the light of the gospel effectively in this context? That was a question which has haunted me for some time.

 

In April, a lady in our church approached me about attending a teachers workshop put on by Campus Crusade for Christ.  The workshop trains in a curriculum that teaches values and character to teenagers as a means to both help prevent the spread of Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as present the gospel in the public school system. 
 
Campus Crusade contends that teaching information about sexually transmitted diseases alone is not enough to prevent the spread of AIDS unless youth begin with basic values like self dignity, responsibility, and true love. Information, without the skills and tools to implement it, is largely just foreign noise.
 
I attended the intensive workshop which lasted a week and did a practicum in the public school Junior High/High School in Juan Pablo the 2nd on the outskirts of Cordoba in mid May. After the practicum, the principle, who is a strong believer, invited me to begin immediately with the year long curriculum. I have had some experience teaching, but never in an environment like the "villa", Argentina's slum.  Their chaotic reality naturally makes it more difficult for them to respect authority, work together, and at times follow lesson plans.

  
As you can imagine I am learning a lot.  I have been learning how to control a classroom setting in a context with fewer givens.  I'm learning how to teach instead of preach, and how to gain their respect.  Some days you couldn't hear me over the laughing and shouting, and other days, the days when I spoke about what true love is, or that every person is special and has dignity, those were the days that I could see that they were hanging dearly to the words I spoke, and that their eyes were picturing new realities and dreaming new dreams.
 
Life at the Crossroads uses Jesus as their model of character, and thus, is able to show the Jesus Film halfway through the curriculum.  At this point I will be able to share the gospel with both of the classes I am teaching.  When we speak about sex, AIDS, and sexually transmitted diseases Maria Silvia will have the opportunity to present the material with her credentials and expertise as a Doctor.  Life at the Crossroads holds Abstinence as the only sure way to avoid AIDs and other sexual transmitted diseases, and as the morally correct expression of true love. 

 

God has opened up a door for us in a place of great darkness and pain.  He has responded to my plea to have some form of ministry to the youth of the villa.  Please pray for the kids in my classes as they face their difficult reality, and are given an option to take a different road.

 

At the end of July we received a short term missions group from First Baptist Church Oak Grove Missouri.  They were able to help us with two crucial projects.  The first was the building of a foundation in the small village of La Rinconada, which literally means "Corner of Nothing".  The foundation is meant for the future house for Fabian and Marcela, a couple from our church whom we hope to be sending as missionaries there in the coming two years.  The village is really more an outpost for residents which live and ranch in the surrounding area.  It consists of three blocks on which lie a few houses, a chapel, a police station, a school, and the mayor's office.  It is their equivalent of an old western town.
 
The team we took was a dream team of sorts.  From our church we had an architect, a structural engineer, and a construction foreman and his crew of five, plus various others who just wanted to help.  The team was a mix of Argentineans and the team from the U.S.  In three days we were able to work together to build a solid foundation, without the use of cement trucks, with limited water resources, and with electricity which we paid to have them run the town generator in its "down time" during sunlight hours.  It was amazing to watch how God helped us solve all of the many obstacles which presented themselves.
 
Two kids from our youth group went on the trip, Nestor and Gaston.  They both worked extremely hard, had amazing attitudes, and related phenomenally with the group from the States.  The team from Oak Grove was ideal.  They never complained about anything, always looked for ways they could serve, and also related well with the Argentineans even with their little or non existent Spanish.

 

On July 12th Alto Voltaje took three soccer teams and one volleyball team to compete in the Cordoba Cup city wide tournament.  The tournament is an evangelistic brainchild of a group of college/young adult youth leaders in a church in another neighborhood.  This is their fourth year putting on the event, and instead of trying to reinvent the wheel we decided it was prudent to hop on board and do our part to make it a success and to encourage our kids to bring their friends who would normally not darken the door of our church. 

 

We got together with the leaders from Crisol and prayed together and listened to their needs to find where we could help with the event.  We rounded up a projector screen, spoke with a missionary photographer who works with us to enlist her help, and Maria Silvia served as on sight medical attention.
 
One thousand one hundred people; kids, coaches, parents, and leaders showed up for the event, of which we contributed forty.  Fifteen of our group were first time visitors with us and we had the whole day to talk and develop relationships with each of them.  At lunch an invited college pastor shared the gospel but did not lead the kids in prayer.  I felt like the message could have been much clearer, and that the opportunity to share the gospel had kind of slipped away from us.  From this experience I decided that at our follow up activity I would make sure and present the gospel in a clear understandable way, and to make sure and give the listeners an opportunity to respond.
 
One of teams made it into the quarter finals, but were shut down by the team that eventually took 2nd place.  To me the day was a success because it gave our group, and mainly our leaders the opportunity to form connections and relationships with various kids who in other contexts we may never have had contact with.  Those ended up being the same kids that came to our own smaller Sport Night activity.

 

Just two Saturdays after the Cordoba Cup we planned a follow up activity for the visitors that had come to the Cordoba Cup. We rented out a local gym for the whole night from 7:30 to 12:30, played music, had hamburgers, and put on mini soccer, basketball, and volley ball tournaments.  Towards the end of the night we took a break to eat and watch the videos and slideshows from the Cordoba Cup.
 
Immediately after the sports videos we showed a video called "Most" which means "bridge" in Czech.  It is a video which analogizes the sacrifice of Christ on the cross with a modern short film about a train bridge operator and his son.  It is a powerful video.  After the video I gave a short and clear presentation of the gospel and closed with an opportunity for the kids to respond.  We had about 15 visitors again, with some that hadn't even gone to Cordoba Cup.  Although 7 of the visitors took off before the video and gospel presentation, two kids responded by praying the prayer of forgiveness.
 
The Sport Night was a success on so many levels.  As a leadership team we planned, prepared, and executed the activity as a team, and we worked so well together.  We are beginning to form a name for ourselves in our neighborhood and in the schools of the kids that go to our group.  Two kids have found forgiveness for their sins, and peace and hope for their lives in Christ because a team of supporters in the United States saw fit to invest themselves to send them the only message that brings salvation.

 

Audra, a 22 year-old primary education student from Kansas City, came down to help Centro Crecer from mid May until the end of July.  She connected to the work here through her church Glenwood Baptist, longtime ministry partners of Sam and Carita, and Maria Silvia and I.  Her time here was very fruitful and her efforts, passion, and heart benefited many of the ministries in our church including Alto Voltaje. 

 

Audra showed a servants heart in her willingness to help in any capacity, whether cutting out and painting cardboard angel wings, playing her violin for our worship team, or just happily dropping to her knees to enthusiastically play with and talk to the children of our church. 

 

She is an example of how God can use even an investment of a short period of time to make a long lasting impact in peoples lives.  It helped that she spoke a well advanced Spanish before she arrived, and improved greatly while here, but beyond that her heart of service was the key in the ministry God accomplished through her.  We will miss Audra and hope that it is in God's plans to bring her back someday.