Visa

This sign, seen at Iguazu Falls, means that you should stay on the path because there are snakes off the path. I just hoped the snakes knew to stay off the path!

Well, I've been in the process of applying for a religious visa for almost a year now, and it's been very interesting. It looks like the process is stalled indefinitely since the Ministry of Religion refuses to grant me a letter requesting the visa. Bummer, since I just finished getting two documents officially re-translated the-special-way-they-have-to-be-when-requesting-a-visa-from-in-country and had the translations legalized.

The good news is that according to friend of mine who's a lawyer and has experience with visas I should be able to continue to get my tourist visa renewed without difficulty. They expire after 90 days, but Uruguay is just across the Rio de la Plata and a day trip is sufficient to renew the visa (a $60 round-trip ferry ride). She actually suggests that I just let it lapse and pay the $15 fine before leaving the country, but that makes me nervous. Of course, this is the same person who told me in September that the easiest way to stay in the country indefinitely would be to get married. She recently reminded me of that, and now adds that since that clearly hasn't worked out for me, I could also just have a baby in Argentina, which would also allow me to stay here. Hmm, I think I'll be on that boat to Uruguay next month. After all, even if I pursue the baby option, that won't help me until about, oh, nine months from now (just kidding!).

The great news is that this has been a good "trusting God" experience. I am really privileged to be surrounded by people of great faith, and the day I found out that it might be "all over" in the visa process both my supervisor (who has lived through coups in Haiti) and my lawyer friend (who mixed her crazy sense of humor with encouragement from Ezra, "keep building") helped me to have perspective and to stay trusting in God. It's also been good to see the need to just keep working, not to lament all of the time and money spent in the past eleven months on something that might not ever work out, but to just keep doing the work at hand every day. That lesson is helpful in so many other areas when I don't always see fruit from my work or understand what will come of it. Today's trouble is enough for today.

Below is some beautiful sateen in our room in the hostel in Puerto Iguazu.

Miscellaneous

Beautiful golden leaves on a sunny day last week.

I only have a few moments between picking up my laundry and going to a colleague's for dinner (Gaby, she's one of our team members for Baradero), but I had planned to blog today since it's been so long. She's invited a couple who are originally from Rosario and have taken our training. They now live in Buenos Aires. It will be interesting to talk with them, and perhaps some of their Rosario contacts will be interested (we need to expand our team there from one to, well, more than one!). I'm also going to help her download Skype -- I've become the resident expert in Skype, scary for those of you who know my computer skills!

A burning bush in my neighborhood.

It's still fall weather, and this morning it was 50 and cloudy as I ran some errands. There are still some leaves on the deciduous trees, and the hibiscus and bougainvillea continue to bloom. I only seem them close to my house, though, the rest of the way is all concrete, but the people-watching makes up for it. This evening as I went to get my laundry I saw lots of uniformed schoolchildren being walked home by their parents or grandparents. Very sweet!

The grill where we picked up some chicken a few weeks ago in Baradero.

Miscellaneous thoughts about Argentina: I have heard from several people here (all Argentines, the one American I knew here has left the country), including an accountant, that one can't trust Argentine statistics. I was skeptical, and it took the BBC to convince me. In a recent BBC article about the farm crisis they note:

"In January 2007, the head of the consumer price index office at the INDEC national statistics agency was replaced, in what was widely seen as a politically motivated decision. Since then, leading economists, consumers' groups and even INDEC's own employees have regularly accused the government of manipulating the inflation figures. Officially, prices in Argentina rose by 8.5% in 2007. But at a demonstration two months ago in Buenos Aires, INDEC staff brandished placards alleging that the true inflation rate for the year was more than 22%. "

Here are links to some BBC articles about Argentina: This first article is a general overview of the country. In this beautiful city of Buenos Aires there really seem to be two cultures living side by side: here is the article. And here is an article on the Toba Indians, which is very similar information to what I hear about the Wichi, with whom I eventually hope to work.

Visitors

Above and below are two views of the "Devil's Throat." No zoom used, I was actually standing right on top of it.

I've mentioned recently that there have been a lot of visitors. Last week I met Steph, a Canadian microbiologist who is now doing trainings at a hospital in Ontario. She's also involved in development work in the Dominican Republic and is working to change her church's relief approach to a holistic, transformational approach. She also has a great sense of humor, and introduced me to Flight of the Conchords.

Another breathtaking view at the Iguazu Falls park. The white glow at the left is due to spray from the falls, we were getting really wet at this outlook.

She invited me up to Iguazu Falls, which is on the Brazilian/Argentine border, normally a 16-hour bus trip from here. Add four hours to that because of the farmers' road blocks due to the still-unresolved farm crisis (and thanks to a very patient Steph for waiting at the bus terminal). We spent the night at a hostel and had a really fun conversation over dinner with an Israeli-Argentine couple and another Israeli guy who was traveling by himself. The next day we spent six hours at the falls, and they are stunning. We decided to return to Buenos Aires that same night, since the only other thing to do was to go to the Brazilian side but I can't leave the country while in the process of getting a visa.

Steph enjoying the boat ride! The land you see is Brazil.

Me at the "Two Sisters" falls. You can kind of tell by my hair that I'm soaking wet from the boat trip we took.

Vision Seminar

Reberson and Silvia in Berisso

Well, I've facilitated my first Vision Seminar, and I hope they're all like this one! A Brazilian mission agency, Proyecto Puente had made contact with us a few months ago. Reberson had taken a TOT in Brazil and had been spreading the word about CHE. Paulinho is a Brazilian missionary with Proyecto Puente who has been helping people fix up their precarious housing, helping individuals get treatment for alcohol abuse, and working with teenagers and youth at an open-air church in the slum of Berisso, the city his wife comes from. Berisso is just outside of La Plata, the capital of the province of Buenos Aires (the city of Buenos Aires itself is autonomous).

Horacio and Silvia and I drove down to La Plata on Saturday to find a room full of 28 people from nine organizations, including three pastors from different churches and several mission and development organizations. Some are doing relief work with feeding centers or construction, others are working with refugees and immigrants, others church-planting, still others doing betterment work like school tutoring. All of them want to see lasting change in their communities. It was so exciting, because most of them didn't know each other before Saturday, and yet they engaged really quickly. I love the participatory, fun learning style we use!
The above picture is an exercise we did to introduce the topic of worldview. We talk about how the importance of recognizing our own worldview, the worldview of the people we serve, and also the Biblical worldview. It's crucial to not impose our own worldview as if it's God's, but we can't refrain from doing so if we're not in tune with the differences. (This teaching comes from Darrow Miller of Harvest International.)

This picture is one of the groups explaining the difference between relief and development. Relief is necessary in crisis situations, but is dangerous when done outside of a crisis. Development involves local resources and leads to empowerment, maintains people's dignity, and brings lasting change.

We were asked to come and facilitate a Training of Trainers there, "as soon as possible but when the weather gets better so that people will come, like September." Several of the organizations committed to sending people to the TOT. Very fun!

Choripan

Hot dog, it's been a long time since my last blog. I've been meeting lots of new people (none of whom live in Argentina), receiving various house guests, traveling, and facilitating a very exciting vision seminar.

Today was spent going downtown for some more visa documentation and also sitting at my computer revising my first quarter's reports (yet again -- very steep learning curve here). Unfortunately, I'm still at that latter task and I've got to get them in tonight, so I'm not going to post any more today. Just wanted to let you know I'm still here.

Fun fact: this post is titled "choripan," which is one of my favorite words here. It is a sausage sandwich that I've never tried, but I do like the name. Other great words are "Jujuy" -- a province and capital city of same, and "cucurucho" -- ice cream cone. Come on, try saying them out loud!

More presents

My friend Erin quoted C.S. Lewis' book Mere Christianity last week: "Comfort is one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth -- only soft soap and wishful thinking to being with and, in the end, despair."

I've been really blessed this week. I don't think that's necessarily because I was looking for truth, but there it is. On Saturday I met a couple from the U.S., Steve and Beth. They were here with their young daughter for a medical conference. Steve is an internist with a masters in public health and Beth owns a fair trade business. Steve has been to a Training of Trainers (TOT1) and is really excited about the CHE vision. You know when you meet people and you really share a similar vision and hope, how exciting that is?

Last night I got together with them again along with their friend Amy, a linguist who works with Wycliffe in Peru. More fun! They treated us to an excellent steak dinner.

I've been reading Jesus' words more lately, and love these verses that Dr. Luke recorded (chapter 12): Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Now I'm really new at this "missionary" thing. Sometimes I'm hesitant to talk about its blessings because of that. I've been reading Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline recently (thanks, Matt!) and he says that we tend to talk too much because we self-justify rather than trusting God to take care of our reputation. Sometimes I am also too silent about God's blessings, out of not wanting to be accused of being naive, but I think that's also wrong. So, enough justifying, here goes!

I sold a bunch of my possessions last year -- not nearly all, as my Aunt Char will tell you who has boxes in her basement. I'm also really starting to learn, with great examples from my contemporary sister-missionaries, to be more generous with what I have. And while sometimes scary, it's mostly really really fun. I also appreciate what I have, which is another great gift. I still have my CDs (thanks again to my sister Lorena for putting them into well-organized books for easy traveling), and so am listening to Brahms' cello sonatas right now. I not only was able to bring everything I needed with me, but I'm currently in a really well-furnished apartment. One of my church's community groups sent me a gift certificate for books, so I have some great ones here. I even received a bunch of fun things from the American couple as they were leaving town: fun US foods (oatmeal, almonds, Trader Joe's rice dishes) and their guide to Buenos Aires. It feels like Christmas all the time!

Here's my "drive-by" the Casa Rosada in March

I've only seen the Casa Rosada (like the White House) once since my arrival, and that was just a drive-by. It was either too hot or I was too tired or not wanting to go alone on my days off, and so really haven't seen anything in this apparently gorgeous city. Well, more gifts today! I had to go downtown for steps in my visa process:

1. Leave before 7 am (still dark here!) to pick up "lack of Argentine criminal paperwork" by deadline of 9:30, (and I've experienced that between 8 and 9 it can be physically impossible to squeeze onto the train).
2. Copier at immigrations center doesn't open until "9 or 9:30, more like 9:30," so I go back to the train station to copy the "I am innocent" paper.
3. Return to the immigrations center for my first attempt at turning in my paperwork, most of which is wrong. The church papers have to be sent to the Ministry of Religion first, the translations with apostille that I had done in the US are invalid when requesting a visa from in-country. Thankfully, my FBI paperwork from the US is not expired, which I had thought it might be.
   
4. Got directions to the translation center -- back to station to get a bus.
5. Bus I was directed to isn't exactly right, but will take me close by and the driver is very helpful. Plus (present!) we go by the Casa Rosada and other beautiful downtown buildings.
6. Translation center only certifies the translation once it's done, and has a 4-inch thick binder with names of translators I have to call -- no directions, and a lot of the phone numbers are wrong. However, a Colombian woman is also looking, and she knows the city well and finds us a translator next door.
7. Go next door and pay for translation of two documents, to be picked up in a few weeks.
8. See subway stop nearby and take that (with one transfer) back to train station and then home.
9. Accomplish a few errands on the way home -- I finally have rubber boots for my work in the Delta!

Another drive-by the Casa Rosada, also in March. Although this isn't the greatest photo, you can see some of how alive the Plaza de Mayo is. It was even more colorful today since Argentine's national day was two days ago, celebrating the beginning of their independence from Spain.

Missionaries

Perspective: As you've probably heard on the news, Africans that have gone to South Africa fleeing war and poverty in their home countries are being attacked and dozens have been killed. On NPR I heard a woman from Zimbabwe, who is working in South Africa as a street vendor with her blind mother. She said, "To sleep outside, no problem, because we've got blankets. But they must to stop to beat us and kill us."

"If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin." -- Charles Darwin

One of the "presents" I brought back with me from my trip to the US (I'd had it in storage) was the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer. Here's one of the prayers for missionaries:

Almighty God, whose will it is to be glorified in your saints, and who raised up your servant N. to be a light in the world: Shine, we pray, in our hearts, that we also in our generation may show forth your praise, who called us out of darkness into your marvelous light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

I really like that one, since it prays for all of us that have seen a glimmer of God's light to shine out for God's glory, not just the "missionary." I've been listening to some sermons from my friend's church, Bethany Community. In this one (March 9, 2008 -- and watch out, somehow my Firefox closes the first time I try to access each sermon, then works the second time), the pastor is talking about seeing ourselves as in a love relationship, rather than as free moral agents. He notes how freeing it is, to see ourselves as caretakers of a vineyard, as those who see themselves as existing to make God's kingdom visible.


Alejandro and Silvia, standing by the new front door of the church in Baradero. Alejandro has been spending his nights and weekends making this door. Since the church was originally a car repair shop, the front door was gigantic (including all the white paneling you see and more) and with great difficulty slid to the side to be opened. Now the church has a door that opens to the street, rather than only access through the feeding center. The door will soon have a curtain (Alejandro just finished welding the rod you see there). This picture was taken at our Wednesday night prayer meeting last week, and I can also say that hopefully the door will have a glass window soon since it's chilly! Silvia, along with her husband Horacio, have been going to Baradero every Wednesday night and weekend for over a year while working during the week in Buenos Aires. They are now moving there next week as full-time missionaries!