Mission trip to Alberdi, Tucuman

My weekend mission trip to Alberdi was good yet challenging at the same time. The part for me that was the most uncomfortable was being introduced as, “Kris from the United States”. I know that it is something that I can’t change, being from the USA and I am not ashamed of it, but the way I was presented made me feel like an animal in the circus or that I was ‘more important’ than the others in the group just because I was from the USA. Apart from this, things went pretty well.

Most of the day was spent in the plaza where we invited everyone to come to the event on Saturday evening. We were also able to sit and visit with the people as they passed by. I even ran into the family of one of my English friends from Catamarca. One of the locals lent us their sound system so we could have Christian music playing throughout the day and read Bible passages that God has been using in our lives. On Saturday evening we were able to present an evangelical play and a worship concert in the plaza. A couple of us had the opportunity to stay with a family that lives in front of the church, but are not believers. My favorite part was spending time with this family and sharing with them.

It was neat to see some of the youth stepping out of their comfort zones to do various activities they wouldn’t normally do, such as talk to strangers, speak on the microphone, etc. I also had to step out of my comfort zone during part of the trip when I was asked to speak on the local radio. Then again I wasn’t given a choice to say no, and I had no clue I was going to talk until 3 minutes beforehand, which didn’t give me any time to prepare what I was going to say. Let me tell you I was very nervous, but God is good and gave me the words to say.

Apart from the work that we were able to do in reaching out to the community, we were also able to encourage various members of the local church. But more importantly we were able to grow as a group and be united a bit more. The team included youth from various churches in Catamarca. My prayer is that God will continue to unite the youth and help them to work through the various conflicts and divisions that have developed throughout the years.

Of course the trip was not all work… we were able to enjoy one another on Saturday night as we celebrated Norma’s 50th Birthday. Norma is the mother of my roommates and a good friend of mine. Although by Saturday night we were all physically exhausted, and half the team fell asleep waiting for the food to finish cooking, those of us who stayed awake were able to enjoy the party.