Argentina; Astonishing Lessons from the Past

We've been here now for four days and have met numerous people whom we worked with, ate with, laughed with, and knew deeply. Seeing them now after these twenty and more years I've heard many of them tell me about seemingly small things that I did or said that made a profound impression on their lives. What captures my attention is that I was only going about my work and seeking to be faithful and had absolutely no idea that these things were actually so significant in the lives of these people.
It is a wonderful lesson for me, for it is a reminder that perhaps more often than not we simply do not know what impact we are having on the lives of other people. In fact I dare say that perhaps even most of the time we have no idea if our daily lives are significant for the cause of the kingdom or not. I have learned that through the faithful carrying out of that which seems insignificant that God is building an invisible kingdom through us...and to be sure we may never know until we stand before Him whether our actions and our faithfulness were of any account, but by faith now we can and must believe him that every cup of cold water given to the thirsty, that food given to the hungry, encouragement given to the desperate, direction given to the wandering, the gospel given to the seeking one...that all these things count for the good of people in this life and they will count for us when we stand before the judge who sees all and forgets nothing.
Royal for the family

Argentina: DayThree of Unlooked for Delight

The church in Ramos Mejia (a suburb of Buenos Aires) celebrated its 25th anniversary on Sunday night. I was glad to be there and to be able to share a little bit of how the work began so many years ago. Even at this distance I remember the seeming impossibility of the task that had been given of planting a new church. Linda and I were new to Argentina, our Spanish was barely understandable, we hardly knew anything about the culture--and here we were in a city of 13 million people seeking to establish a new church where the good news of Christ would be spoken and taught. We didn't have a lot of sophisticated strategy, but as I look back after all these years, and other people have confirmed it, we did have and still do have a very strong love for the Argentine people. It wasn't something that we put on...it was just there and we lived it and expressed it on all occasions. The other thing that is of great significance is that we prayed. We prayed personally and we encouraged and taught the church the importance of seeking after God for guidance and power to do the work that he had called us to do. In the end it is God who establishes churches and builds his church, and I believe he wanted another work for the fame of his name to be established in Ramos Mejia.
The church now has an attractive building and all the trappings that go with an established work. But I couldn't help but think as I sat in the celebration that in the end the outer trappings are of such minor importance. For the church is a people of God who have been reconciled to God, a people who live in the power of the Spirit and under the guidance of the spirit. They are a special, called out people who truly love and support one another to such a degree that a watching world is amazed.
Linda and I have been stunned at how profoundly this experience of returning to Argentina has touched our lives. The worries and anxieties that we had at first have not come to pass even in the slightest degree...the old relationships have been renewed and reestablished and it has been blessing, after blessing for us both. We see so clearly that even though we thought we were chiefly coming back to Argentina to attend a celebration that God in fact had so much more in mind. It has been immensely satisfying...words truly do fail. And even Andrew is beginning to relax and seems to be enjoying himself immensely. More tomorrow...Royal for the family in beautiful Buenos Aires

Enjoying some of the Best Food in the World

Yesterday we had supper (delicious Argentine pizza) with our worship leader of 22 years ago, a man who hails from Chile originally. Two other very dear friends who were part of our church plant were also with us. To be physically present with these friends who were in intense spiritual battle years ago with us-- and to see, hear, and physically touch them in warm greeting all in the context of the beautiful Spanish language was like a refreshing tall drink of cool water or perhaps like salve on an angry cut...almost impossible to put into words, but truly a healing ministry to our souls.

I went to Church this morning and heard a very good message on the importance of faith in the life of Elijah. It was well done and a blessing to me. I'm amazed at how quickly Linda and I are recapturing our ability to understand virtually everything spoken so that we are even now comfortable in any of the situations we find ourselves.
This afternoon a couple of our old missionary friends took us out to an Argentine restaurant which specializes in Argentine beef. Did I say mouth-watering, delectable, tender, palate- caressing, grass fed beef? I had forgotten how good food is here. The Argentine food culture is actually very comparable to European since there are so many Italians, Spanish, and also a powerful French influence. So you get fresh food all the time with an eye to careful preparation and presentation. Of course the Argentine beef is in a class all by itself and is famous all around the world.
We are seeing a pattern of some deep stress among our missionary friends. It's totally understandable as this field is being closed by the denomination and people who have done missionary work here for 20-30 years are being told that their career here will be over in just a couple of years more. Do pray for them and for us as we seek to be useful and a blessing in their lives at this time. More tomorrow, it's 12;30 am here and I'm muy tired. Royal for the family.

Return to Argentina

In just two days time my wife, Linda, my son Andrew, and myself will be flying to Argentina. We left there in December of 1987 fully intending to return after a one-year furlough in Canada. Alas, near the middle of 1988 we concluded that due to our Andrew being born mentally challenged we would have to find a new mission field to in which he could get all of his schooling in English.

We came to our decision with very heavy hearts for after spending only one term as missionaries in Argentina we found that we had left our hearts in the country. But the welfare of our son had to come first and so with much sadness we made that decision and went on to serve in Mexico. Over these many years the pain of not being able to return to Argentina has abated to be sure, but we at least to some extent protected ourselves from the grief we felt by putting the country and its people largely out of our minds and hearts. I don’t say that was the right thing to do, but for us it was kind of a necessity because of the intensity of our feelings for Argentina and for its people.

Our arrival in the country on Saturday, Nov. 21 will be our first trip back after being away for some 21 years. We go with a great deal of anticipation and joy at the thought of seeing so many old friends. The trip for us is totally, but totally about the people whom we expect to see. In fact our schedule for the five days we will be there is more or less wall-to-wall visits with dear saints whom we truly thought we would never see again.

It is to say the least for both Linda and I a roller coaster of emotions—most of them connected to joy, gratitude and excitement, but there are some emotions as well of guilt and sadness, too for we will meet many people whom we more or less let slip out of our lives because it was just too painful at the time to keep in touch. It may be difficult for some of them to understand, and for Linda and I it may be difficult for us to cope with our own emotions.

So Linda and I are asking all of you who care about us to please hold us up in prayer as we return to this country where 21 years ago God gave us the privilege of being involved in the founding of a new church. Do especially pray that in all of our reunions with many dear friends and saints whom we never thought to see again that we might carry a blessing from Jesus.

I will try and blog each day about our experiences. If you would like to follow our progress and pray for us you can follow us on www.royalhamel.blogspot.com