"The Sun Shone from Beginning to End"

Apparently Matias prayed for it. And we got it. As Karen said, "The sun shone from the beginning to the end" of our GAT trip. Indeed it did.

We slept in a little Tuesday morning. (Had thoroughly enjoyed the Tango show at Cafe Tortoni the night before.) After breakfast we had a powerful time of prayer, recounting multiple blessings, insights and revelations of how God has impacted each of us this past week. We delighted in each shared blessing.

And then off to see a bit more of Buenos Aires! We taxied to 'La Boca' - a colorful tourist area near the harbour. It is the place where Tango has its roots. We wandered through the gift shops and found an outdoor restaurant with free Tango entertainment. For a lovely couple hours we soaked up some sun, sounds and sights. (Oh, and a cervaza.)

Back to the hotel by 5, we had just enough time to have a highly recommended icecream, in a park about a block away, before packing our bags into taxis and heading for the airport. (Have you ever had icecream in the park on a balmy November 1?)

Flights were on time with an added sweet blessing of an underfilled plane. We were able to stretch out over 2 or 3 seats and sleep on the overnight flight to Houston.

Breakfast in Houston. Snack (and snow!) in Denver. Home by 2:30 pm today.
We went from spring to winter to fall, all in one day.

Glad to be home and honored to have served on this trip. We made some amazing new friends, saw another beautiful part of His world and witnessed some powerful work of the Spirit.
Thank you to all for your love and prayer support.

ps.  We plan on hosting a Argentinean dinner night to share our adventure.
       Keep your ear to the ground for a date!

Bendito Bendice!

~ The Team

                                                   Prayer table in Dennis' room

                                                                La Boca

So long Buenos Aires!

Breakfast in Houston, Texas

Snow in Denver, Colorado

Hello Regina!

A Day At The Orphanage

Well we continue to receive God's Blessings!
Today we were met by Katie, a medical student from the U.S., who is studying here in Buenos Aires.  She took us by bus to City Belle, where we spent the day in service to the orphanage, Hogar Infantil, Bethel.  ( www.hogarbethel.org)  There was a great need for paint, supplies and painting to be done there.  We sanded, scraped, and sanded and scraped, and then the painting began.  So, with paint brush in hand, we started.  They were adding additional rooms to the dormitories, so the need was definitely there. 
We met many beautiful children of all ages and some seemed to be quite taken with us.  A young lad named Claudio gave Dennis a ball cap, and then brought cotton balls for us for our ears as the noise from the sanding was quite intense.  Dennis seems to make friends where ever he goes!  Two little girls followed Carole, Ramona and I for a while, and loved being held and carried.
In the midst of our service we were treated to lunch with the children.  We were given homemade soup, bread, empanadas and polenta.  Then back to work.  We managed to get two coats of stain on the ceilings of the two bedrooms. (Ask Dennis about his painting technique!)  The first coat was hard work and took some time, but by the time the second coat was finished, the transformation was astounding!  The  walls were then white washed one coat.  The walls are concrete so seemed to soak up a fair bit of the white wash.  Before we knew it our time was soon done. 
We left them with a generous donation, because in conversation with Katie we learned that their need was indeed great.
Back on the bus we went!  After about an hour on the bus, we were back in Buenos Aires, a short taxi ride and we were at our home away from home.  As we compose this we are sitting on the roof top patio, enjoying the sunset and thinking of you all, and all we have to share when we return.  Off to see a Tango!!

Love to you all!

On the way to CityBell

Carole & Claudio

Lunchtime!

Therese & Tatianna

Claudio brought us cotton for our ears.

Shaila

Alejandro inspects our work

Muy Lindo

Received More Than We Could Give!

Well the Holy Spirit showed up today, and certainly did not leave us, even as we left to come back to the hotel.
We started the morning in prayer with members of the GAT and local teams. Prayer was raised in song as well as word. 
Dennis started the day with a review of the previous days talks.  The participants enjoyed the questions as we had Canadian toques and pens to give away. 
Fr. Juan celebrated mass and we were able to witness the baptism of 3 babies in the Parish; what an awesome celebration!
 For Ramona the highlight of the Mass was the adoration after the Consecration, which went on for at least 10 minutes.  The Priest then blessed the babies with the Consecrated Body and Blood.  What a joyful celebration it was.  The Church was full of incense with voices raised in praise and song.  It was something we have never before experienced.
For Dennis, a very powerful experience was during prayer before his talk.  He was prayed over by Ramona, Dave and Diego.  The Holy Spirit gave him such a sense of joy and a feeling that no words could ever express.
One of Carole's highlights was at the very end as we stood at the front, the participants stood and clapped for us!  They were showing their gratitude to us, yet we received far more from them, than we could have ever given.  The thunderous applause seemed like the applause of Heaven.
One highlight for Therese, was the CELEBRATION of the mass. Because that is what it was.  A celebration.  The roof was raised, voices raised in prayer and song. Being able to participate in this mass with the baptisms, and hearing the priest give the homily, was awe inspiring. The parishioners were genuinely happy to be there.  The mass went on for over an hour and a half. As each baby was baptized they were presented to the congregation and raised up by the priest. At one point they started chanting "Viva Jesus! Viva Jesus!"
For Dave, it had to do with a decision to wear a gift he had received in Arica, and had never worn.  Dave made a connection, via Jesus, with Chile and Argentina.  Dave was given a gift in Chile that he not worn for fear of ruining, it.  Before leaving on this trip he decided to bring it along.  He wore it today and knew exactly why!  He left it with a special young man here in Argentina, and now the connection is made, between Chile, Canada and Argentina with Jesus at the center.
Tomorrow - early, we are off to an orphanage to paint.

Blessings to you all and we will share more tomorrow.

Fr. Juan

Dennis' talk on the Holy Spirit

Prayer during Mass

Wonderful worship

Some of the local team with the 'Canadians'

A Bouquet Of Roses

Last night in our prayer time Carole shared a reflection on receiving compliments (roses) gracefully and then later in prayer offering them back to the Lord as a bouquet, since the glory really goes to Him. So on our first day of GAT we thought we would be mindful of any "roses" given today and at the end of the day share them and gather a bouquet to give to the Father.....

Another beautiful day in Buenos Aires but we had to be ready early for our rides...7:30 am..(that's 4:30 am SK time!) We got to the church for a bit of prayer just before registration.  Many folks were there before 9 AM and about 100 people came out.

There were 2 tracks presented today. Lili and Rafael were "Training the Trainers" which means they were teaching Alpha veterans how to do a GAT. We presented the regular "how to do Alpha" teachings.

Carole, Ramona and Therese gave their talks this morning. They all went beautifully! Dennis gave the talk "Why Did Jesus Die?" It was awesome. After lunch Father Flavio completed the day with teaching people how to pray for others in Alpha and a time of of praying for each other...again very beautiful to see small groups of 3 people huddle closely, intently interceding for each other.

We are so enjoying working with the local team here. Deeply devout, faith filled people....we all believe we are receiving far more than we are giving.

Our GAT day ended by 6:30 and then it was back to the hotel and out for a late dinner. Over dinner we shared our roses...moments that touched us as individuals, conversations we had and compliments that we graciously accepted, and then tucked away to be gathered tonight and returned to the Father. When we finished sharing, Therese offered our bouquet in prayer. The waiter apparently overheard our prayer and was taken by what he saw. He a made point of chatting with Therese about it while she paid the bill.

Seems we can hardly give back to God what He deserves without Him turning around and giving out roses again.

Opening Worship

What Is Alpha?

Essential Elements

Hosting Small Groups

Why Did Jesus Die?

Small Group - Bank Of Heaven Cheques

Diego And Matias

Parroquia Corazón de Jesús (Heart Of Jesus Parish)

The Priest's Day

Today was Alpha training day for the priests of this diocese. There were 15 priests in attendance. Lili and Rafael, our training counterparts from Columbia, lead the day. We arrived mid morning to help with set up. Carole and Dennis had the opportunity to share about their experiences with the Alpha course in Regina.

Afterwards, we went on a walking tour and had lunch at an outdoor cafe which happened to be right across the street from the famous Recoleta Cemetery. Eva Peron, and several former presidents and generals from Argentina are entombed here. You may be singing "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" at this moment and you'd be right to. Google "Evita".

We then wandered back to the hotel and called it a night.

Buenos Noches!

Transporting Lunch

Recoleta Cemetery

Springtime in Buenos Aires

8 AM breakfast with Katie. Who's Katie? She is a medical student from the U.S., currently studying in Buenos Aires. She has offered to take us by train to an orphanage near La Plata (CityBell), just south of here on Monday. We will be painting. Painting what you may ask? Not sure yet but there is a need for paint in the orphanage, and we will be supplying not only the paint, but the labour as well! We are all looking forward to the opportunity.

After breakfast we met up with Matias and Paula, his girlfriend. They showed us some highlights of Buenos Aires: the Obelisk, the Cathedral, the Opera House, the widest avenue in the world (July 9 Avenue)....11 lanes each direction, the "Pink Palace" (the former home of the President, now used as the legislative building), Florida Street; an outdoor market-ish street, packed with street venders and stores.
We then enjoyed a wonderful steak lunch at Siga La Vaca restaurant recommended by Ila Rhea. (It was terrific Ila!!) After a bit more touring of Florida Street, we headed back to the Hotel for a very brief stop, then proceeded to the church for our team meeting to go over the weekend's agenda.

Days are long....nights are short but having a great time! Blessings to all!!

                                      

                                               The Widest Avenue in the World

The Obelisk

Florida Street

"Follow The Cow"

Team Meeting

We've Arrived!

We've arrived!!! After 22 hours in transit, we're finally here! After 2 more hours in the airport clearing customs, no pat downs (sorry Ramona!), we arrived at the Wilton (almost Hilton) Hotel. Special thanks to Matias, Matias (yes, there is more than one) and Cesar for waiting for us at the airport and bringing us "home".

We enjoyed a wonderful lunch with the fellas, and Karen, whom you may remember from our last trip. She is the Alpha Relationship Manager in Argentina...the gal that set all this up! After lunch, we returned to the hotel for a brief siesta, then ventured out for a quick look of our surroundings. We've re-discovered Dulce de Leche...which was called Manjar in Chile...google it, yummmmm!!

Highlight of the day...an invitation to join in the evening Alpha course at Parroquia Corazon de Jesus, the hosting church of our GAT event this weekend. After a hair-raising hour long drive through the streets of Buenos Aires, we arrived at the church. We were welcomed warmly by Matias and his team just in time for an 8:30 dinner...(5:30 in Saskatchewan, if you're counting).

Dave was quite taken with the background music during the meal....a "Queen" concert, live at Wembley stadium! Not quite the "elevator" style background music from at home! There was a live speaker (live speakers are all they use in this course) who gave the "How Can I Be Sure Of My Faith" talk. When the talk was complete, the participants went into their small groups and we joined the prayer team in Adoration prayer that goes on simultaneously with the course. This continued until almost 11 PM. The Spirit was prevalent throughout, and it was a wonderful experience! Once again, its truly amazing how the Spirit knows no language barrier and is completely universal!

Adios!

Buenos Aires

View from Hotel

Alpha Course - Parroquia Corazon De Jesus

The Kitchen/Serving Team

Shepherd's Pie...yum yum

Adoration