IN AWE IN ARGENTINA

What follows is a report on how God is moving in the midst of the worst of times in the South American country of Argentina, reported by Missionary Rocky Grams (Director of the Assemblies of God Bible College. It is amazing how God is using the situation to draw people to Him! In the middle of hardships God is using the very hardships as instruments to make Jesus know and to bring people to salvation.

In Awe in Argentina - June 3, 2002

In the midst of despair, the Church shines forth.

What pain we have felt in our hearts during the last few months. Watching a great and noble people pretty much come apart at the seams is so difficult. The news magazine Noticias states it this way: "Argentina is a devastated country, without self-esteem and having lost its way...a nation that does not believe in itself is a self-destructive nation ."

Feeling defrauded, angry, with their dreams trampled by corruption, many are looking for a way out—emigration. Others, feeling swallowed up by the crisis are even thinking about suicide.

In the midst of this volatile situation, Christians are showing that the Light of Jesus makes an enormous difference in life.

Company executives are walking desperately into our churches with suicide on their minds—seeking help. And they’re finding it in Christ’s power and in the people’s love and understanding.

Record enrollment despite the crisis (Bible School)

God calls young people to His purposes in the midst of crisis. With so much of people’s money frozen up in the banks and an unemployment rate of over 30% in some provinces, we were ready for the worst—a major drop in student enrollment. But God is the Source! 207 resident students are in the Classic Program, we had 86 resident students in the Intensive Program and have 254 students on the weekends. The total? 547!

"Couldn’t hand in my homework —we were robbed"

That’s the note that was handed in by a couple of students recently. Sounds like a very far-out excuse on the order of "my pet crocodile ate it." But at this time it is a good reason with all of the red tape involved in compensating for being victimized in this way. In the last four weeks, various students have been robbed.

Today, Monday, was testimony day at River Plate Bible Institute. Eduardo and Ana González were coming home from church when a man with a steel pipe accosted them. Since they only had 5 pesos—just over a dollar—the man took Eduardo’s watch and sports coat. He told Ana to open her purse and could not believe there was no money in it. Out of spite, he told her to hand over her Bible. She refused and he took off. Later she wondered if she had done right refusing to give up her Bible—but it was her first reaction to that demand.

Last Monday Karina and Debora gave testimony to having been accosted at gunpoint early in the morning, after they got off the bus. However, they were so sleepy when it happened, they just said "No, we have nothing to give you" and ran across the street in front of the oncoming traffic and got away.

Matías, a graduate, has been helping us film a video of God’s work here three days last week. While he was hard at work, a thief was also "hard at work" holding up the employee at his photo shop—three days in a row.

One Christian couple continued to live in a ghetto-like area despite God’s abundant blessing on their lives. They had neighbors who had trained their children up to steal and had given two of their sons exactly the same name to confuse the judicial process. This family broke into their house to steal so many times that they finally decided to move to an apartment and transform their former house into a feeding-program base. Today some of those very children of the neighbors are being fed and kept alive by their former robbery victims. That certainly is turning the other cheek!

A lady gave testimony at our church Avance Cristiano, recently, that she had been able to quickly recuperate from the bullet wound she had received in a robbery. Wow!

There are two favorite topics when we Christians get together—the latest testimonies of God’s power and the latest robberies. Everyone we know has been robbed at some time or other. The interesting part of all of this is that we do not live in fear—extreme caution, yes, but not fear. Also, we are at ease and joyous, despite the "spoiling of our goods."

Children kidnapping children for $150 ransom. It’s happening. "The kidnap express"—pets being kidnapped and held for ransom. Creativity adjusts to the times.

Though our hearts are heavy and we wish we could report on a widespread repentance movement among crooks and corrupt officials, we do see God at work and that His church is shining forth. One very interesting aside is that many of the thieves accept Christ when they finally end up behind bars. We have a congregation "behind bars" that has 1,200 members. And the leaders pray that their fellow-believers will not be let out of jail too soon—so they can be properly discipled.

A teenager trying to steal a bicycle was shot so many times in the legs by the father of the child riding it that he had both legs amputated. Who visited him in the hospital? Christians who are showing him love despite his guilty-as-charged situation. And he is responding to their love.

God is giving us laughter in this time

Another student shared that she had always been wary of people’s accounts of the demonstrations of God’s power. But she stated "I laughed so hard at church until 3:30 A.M. this weekend. I have never laughed so heartily in all my life—for an entire hour." When she mentioned it with some embarrassment to one of the church leaders—he answered that he had no problem believing it because the pastor’s daughter had laughed for three hours that same week!

The student’s comment: "It’s a manifestation of the Holy Spirit."

When so many people are full of venom and anger, laughter sure stands out as a sign from God!

"He gave me back the desire to live"

This was the expression of one of the people touched by God’s grace through the students’ lives.

Consternation in the Constitution Train Station

On Saturday in my Freshman Evangelism class, one of the 92 students shared this testimony. The Classic Program students had gone down to one of the main train stations to share their faith in Christ. Due to the very desperate situation the nation is facing economically, there are many homeless people living in the station. As these young people opened their hearts concerning God’s love, one of them noticed an unkempt man standing there in an extremely dirty shirt—tattered and worn and full of the stench of urine. The student, Damián Gonzalez, had recently been given a new shirt and was wearing it that day. "Give him your shirt," he sensed God say. Immediately, he took his shirt off and handed it to the wanderer. The man took it and began to weep. As e held it he began to take off his own shirt—then and handed it to Damián, who had been standing there bare-chested. Then the student proceeded to put on the stench-filled shirt and hugged the man. Passers-by were so moved they wept at such a demonstration of love. They knelt right there and with tears accepted Christ as Savior!

Let me tell you about your harvest

The first Saturday of the month is Missions day for the weekend students. Walter, graduate and Argentine missionary with his wife in Mozambique shared how the students’ offerings had produced fruit. The Saturday students had been the only ones to respond with a generous offering to his plea for help to purchase land for a church.

The owner of the land, a Moslem, had refused to sell the land for use as an evangelical church. The congregation’s pastor suggested Walter go and speak with him since he is white. The missionary walked up in his normal African get-up, including a little hat. The man, enthusiastically took him down to the notary public to the seal the deal. When they were drawing up the papers, he found out it was for an Assembly of God church and became very angry. But the transaction had been signed and he could not back out.

The fledgling church needed water, so they dug a well—and found a spring! People all over town started digging wells, but none of them found water. The irate religious man went over to demand they return his property. "Would you like us to deliver the water to you?" was the missionary’s question. They began delivering water to the church’s neighbors. Today in the church that in 1998 had five people, 180 new believers worship—and the deacon is the former land owner!

So many testimonies, don’t know how to choose. We can barely keep up with all that is going on. Are we bored? Not at all. Challenged! Surely.