BIG 40!!!

Yesterday Martin turned the big 40... now I won't be able to make jokes about Julie being in a whole different decade.

Lachie and I combined parties and we went paintballing. Lachie's friends against mine. A very enjoyable morning, with a handful of bruises, but not too much damage.

Afterwards we came home for steak sandwiches and cake, all thanks to Julie's skill in the kitchen.

Tea for young ladies ...

It seems so much easier for young guys to get together over a game of footy ... but the young women from our church have more problems gathering together socially, and breaking down barriers between age groups.

On Friday the girls gathered in our home for an afternoon tea and bible study.  There were 35 women, representing various age groups and friendship circles.  I led a discussion on the ´Secret of the Proverbs 31 woman´, and the girls were super keen to interact.

The leadership team of 3 girls is keen for this to be a regular monthly event, to stimulate Christian thinking for women and foster relationships.

Posted by Julie

Happy 15th Lachie!

In Argentina the 15th birthday for girls is a BIG deal .... but for boys, no.

It seems he´ll have to wait till the 18th to get more fuss made of him in this country!

Posted by Julie

Spanish-speaking Aussies

This afternoon we were delighted to share afternoon tea with Antonieta and Miguel, a Cordobés couple who now live in Sydney. We met them whilst on home assignment in Sydney a few years ago, and they follow the blog.

It was great to chat about many different topics, Argentine and Aussie, entirely in Spanish, with just a sprinkling of ´Blue Mountains´here, and ´Julia Gillard´ or ¨Kevin Rudd´ there ....

Posted by Julie

Felicitaciones Romi!

Romina, our friend in the centre, finished her studies this week in the Economics Faculty.

Now for the traditional argentine ´celebration´ ... this concoction, care of Martin, was a mixture of mustard, old wine, egg, tea leaves ...

Isn´t she sweet in her new professional get-up?  And baby on the way in 4 months ...

A content face ... a horrid smell!!

Romi, plus the Fields who witnessed the event.

Congratulations Romi!

New responsibilities

This week Martin has been giving daily classes at a small bible college on the outskirts of Cordoba.  He has been teaching a skill that many Australian church goers take for granted ... that of reading a passage of the Bible and understanding it in the biblical context.  The type of thing many of us do in a bible study group every week.

However various students have struggled to understand the process.  This is simply because bible study groups are less common here in Argentine churches, and a lot of preaching is thematic, pulling verses from all over the bible, but not working systematically through a passage.  We pray that when the course finishes tomorrow the students will feel equipped to use this skill in their various congregations.

Another new responsibility for Martin is a new role he now has at our church ... he has been invited to form part of the pastoral advising team. This means that the pastors of our church trust him and value his opinion with future plans for our church, and he will be invited more regularly to preach and lead services.


Posted by Julie

All camped out!

Last weekend´s camp went off without a hitch ... thanks be to God!

Although the predicted sunshine and warm temperatures never arrived, the light rain and cloudy skies did nothing to dampen the spirits of 60 ABUA Cordoba students.  The campsite was filled to capacity and overflowing ... the Fields were out the back in the tent like last year!

Martin gave two challenging talks on God´s guidance, which were extremely well received. The games were lots of fun, and the camp directors (Laura and Luz) went beyond the call of duty to decorate the site, inspire and care for us all. 

We were thankful that we had invested the time during the previous week to prepare the bulk of the food, so the job in the kitchen was reduced to re-heating and serving  (still no mean feat for so many, in a tiny kitchen, with a blackout at serving time!).

New relationships were forged, and there is a lot of interest for this year´s activities on campus. We hope that a few new bible study groups might open this year in faculties with which we have not yet had contact.

And at the end of camp, various prizes were awarded ... ¿do we need to worry that eldest son won the ´Biggest Nerd´ award, whilst youngest son picked up both ´Most Lively´  and ¨Biggest Flirt´ awards????




















Posted by Julie

An Argentine potato!!!

The big news of course in Argentina is that the new pope ( papa en Spanish- same word as potato!) is a local boy.

It is all over the news, everyone is talking about it- most very proudly, some negatively. Lots of people are coming out of the woodwork to claim a connection- including one lady who says she was his girlfriend when they were 12!!!

There are the detractors as well- some saying he was aware of the goings during the dictatorship but did nothing. Others say that is rubbish- that we was actually involved in getting people away from the military.

It is interesting to see the discussion amongst evangelicals- nationalism seems to triumph over differences of opinion about theology!

Off to camp

Off to the ABUA Córdoba camp this afternoon.

Julie has been busy cooking during the week- sauce for the spaghetti, a chicken casserole to go with rice, meat for the empanadas, and of course her trade mark cakes.

It has been a wet week here (quite rare) but we are hoping for a fine weekend.

Around 60 students expected- and the place has capacity for 60. The Field crew are taking the tent along just in case!

Off to Jujuy

As ABUA has no General Secretary at present, Martin is helping out on a national level in the interem period.

One new responsibility is to accompany the ABUA group in the northern province of Jujuy.  The students and graduates from this city were keen to receive Martin and show him around their beautiful and rugged mountainous land. They spent a weekend making plans for campus ministry in 2013.

Posted by Julie

A Day in the Hills

On Saturday we played tourists for the day ... and visited the strange little town of La Cumbrecita.

Everything is super European ... this town has a Swiss influence, and the neighbouring town has a German influence. All thanks to european immigration in the 1930´s.

We enjoyed the cleanliness, the quaint arquitecture, the bushwalks to pretty waterfalls.

And the products from the Swiss chocolate shop left everyone very content.

Posted by Julie

Newcomers Welcome

ABUA Cordoba held a ´mateada´  .... a mate party!   In honour of the new year, the students invited their friends and any new students to hear about the ministry on campus.

Various older students shared tips for how to survive the change to uni life, and a taste of what ABUA is like.

There was a good turn-out, an over-abundance of cake and a warm and friendly welcome for the newcomers amongst us!

Posted by Julie