Why am I going to Argentina right now? There are definitely poorer countries, and countries with more obvious spiritual issues. So why Argentina? My stepsister Karina described this time as a “kairotic moment” for Argentina, which in rhetoric (her area of study) means a passing instant when an opening appears. According to the New Testament Greek lexicon, kairos is the time when things are brought to crisis, the opportune or seasonable time. What is going on in Argentina that makes me characterize it this way?
Several key provinces are excited and active in working for change in their communities. We have been invited to work in four key provinces: Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fe, and Salta. The first three are key because they are home to Argentina’s three largest cities. Salta is key because it is a land rich in natural resources that also has a significant indigenous population (Wichi).
In Buenos Aires the denominational barriers have fallen and churches are working together. The Libertador Church has been doing relief work in Baradero, a nearby slum, for many years, and recently began incorporating development techniques in the area. This past month, a couple from that church (Horacio and Silvia, who have prayed for 20 years to be released full-time to missions) received the go-ahead to move to Baradero to work full-time. In Cordoba a large evangelical church recently woke up to the idea of missions and is being trained to train others in transformational development. In Salta the villagers have responded to recent trainings with action: building a new form of oven, planning a village-wide event to deal with alcoholism, and requests for more training from both Christian and secular groups.
Horacio and Silvia
Fun serendipitous fact: the location for the training we did near Buenos Aires was called Centro Kairos! Here we are at the urban TOT1:
