Hello everyone!!
What an exciting time it’s been in Argentina so far!! This morning was a slower morning for us since we didn’t have anything planned which was nice for all of us to get some rest. Some maintenance and cleaning people came to the house to fix some of those special features Mary Ann was talking about. CLEAN TOWELS FOR EVERYONE! (They didn’t last long though… read to the end to find out more)

After resting for a bit we set out on a laundry expedition. Had to make sure we didn’t accidentally spend $80 on one load (that’s happened on this trip before). After a trip to the laundromat we came back to the house for a quick lunch before heading out to Arístides street to do an outreach during the World Cup. Vamos Argentina!! ⚽️ We were unsure of how the outreach would go since Argentines loooooove their soccer.

Let me set the stage for you. Imagine a really big street full of lots of different restaurants and little store. All the restaurants have tables and chairs set out with big screens in front of them that have the game playing. The street, and all the chairs and tables are full of people. And then when Messi scored his first goal the crowd went wild!!! Just ask Chris, he made a very special connection with the Argentines when he celebrated the goal with a big hug from one of them.

You can see how this would make outreaching a little challenging but we were able to talk to and pray for a few people. We looked for people who were more on the outskirts and just tried to offer words of encouragement to them.

After outreaching for a little bit we found a spot to stand and watch the rest of the game. We got to watch Messi score his second goal and celebrate with everyone again. Vamos Argentina!! Argentina won the game 2-0 and it’s safe to say everyone was very excited about that. You could tell by all the yelling, screaming, and chanting there was when the game ended. We even got to take a picture with Messi. Look at the pictures below to see for yourself.

After the game we went to get ice cream to celebrate Kira’s birthday!! Let’s pause for a moment and sing happy birthday to Kira

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Kira
Happy birthday to you

Some of our new friends from Mendoza came with us back to our house and we started a game of hide and seek. Me and Lauren hid at the bottom of a dark, cold closet where we waited, and we waited, and we waited. Don’t worry we were found it just took about 30 minutes. After hide and seek Lauren lead us in a devotion on psalm 146. We read it together and then all shared the part of it that stood out to us.

Then it was time to head over to the Young’s house for asado. What is asado you ask? Well let me tell you. Meat, meat, a different kind of meat, and then some more meat. So we all shared a really good meal together, hanging out, and having good conversation. We left the Young’s and headed back to our house, little did we know what would be in store for us.

Remember earlier when I said the clean towels didn’t last long, well here’s what happened to the towels. The maintenance guys had come that morning and had fixed the shower (or so we thought). So I get in the shower and everything was going well until all of a sudden I hear everyone screaming and yelling at me “ELIZABETH TURN OFF THE SHOWER!!!” Somehow water had flooded everywhere in the bathroom and was coming out the bottom of the bathroom door into the hallway. We had to use all of are clean towels to try and clean up the water. We still haven’t gotten a hang of the plumbing here in Argentina. Then again later that night the bathroom flooded again!! Me and Teata tried our best to clean it up but then had to wake up some leaders to come and help us. Safe to say it was a very exciting night and something I don’t think any of us will forget.

Thank you all for following along and praying for all of us. God has been moving and working in us and all the people we have been encountering.

We missed being with you on this Father’s Day Sunday! I want to start by thanking you for the hours you have spent praying for us. Know that they are having an effect!
Our morning began sharing the special features of the home we are staying in. We keep discovering more of them! Don’t be surprised if your children return to you with a new found appreciation for plumbing! The kids have been amazing in adapting to inconveniences. They find humor in everything and adapt so easily. Kira viewing a backed up shower as a way to keep your feet warm will forever be etched in my mind as an example of finding the good in everything.
We enjoyed cooking together for the first time on this trip before heading to the church’s English service. Fun fact: Mendoza is Argentina’s second most popular city for ex-patriots. We have met so many Jesus loving people who have had such different experiences than ours; many having lived all over the world. Kira, Josh, and Hope led the church in a beautiful time of worship. Ray delivered the message, Dan and Ray led the ministry time with our entire group acting as the ministry team. Think our Sunday service on steroids! The Lord gave words and many of those attending had an encounter with the Holy Spirit through prayer. You have to ask Dan about his experience giving the word “cemetery.” Ray, as appropriate for Father’s Day, went from giving a powerful message to teaching our kids how to flush a toilet with a bucket of water.
We were treated to a soup lunch at the Young’s home (church leadership). Amazing how fast people feel like family when we share our faith. I love watching our kids make quick connections with the youth. I hope all of you get an opportunity to watch our kids play signs. When you see Elliot, make sure you ask him to show you his sign! The afternoon was rounded out with a grocery trip. Shopping in a store that sells meat and TVs is always an experience-shopping with 11 people seriously elevates the experience!
The evening was filled with the Spanish speaking service. Please watch the clip of Josh, Lauren, Kira, and Hope leading worship! I don’t know if it’s okay to say our team was cool, but they really were! Dan delivered a message and then we broke into groups to pray for each other. We had the opportunity to minister, but we also were ministered to by the Mendoza church. Argentinians eat dinner around 10 so we were very Argentinian tonight. Chris inspired with a devotional on Psalm 16 which was even better than his jacket sermon! The night ended as many have- a trip to get ice cream!
As I close, my heart is so full as I think of our kids on this trip. I have been around 1000’s of teenagers/young adults in my life. These kids stand apart. They love each other. They love others. They love God….not to mention, they are so fun!

Today started very early or very late depending on how you look at it. After a 3 hour drive, we slept for about 2 hours before heading to the airport for our flight to our next stop, Mendoza. After making it to the airport, we boarded our flight and spent about 2 hours in the air before finally landing in Mendoza.

Once we arrived, we were picked up from the airport and taken to the house we’re staying at. Even though the accommodations are pretty tight in some places, (especially on the first floor (1 room that’s just a bunk bed inside a closet)) we are still making it work. After the travel and lack of sleep, we were then able to have a few hours to rest, sleep, and recover before the rest of the day's activities.

Around 1 pm, we got picked up in a van and headed over to the Youngs' house for lunch and ministry time. We enjoyed some delicious Argentinian pizza and cake while spending time together before beginning ministry. After lunch, we broke up and got the opportunity to pray for six different people. We spent time praying for each of them and asking that they would encounter the Holy Spirit. It was great to be able to minister to them and encourage them as a team.

After our time at the Youngs' house, we headed back to the house we’re staying at and had about 2 hours to rest. After a busy day of traveling, this additional rest felt great.

Next we went over to a plaza down the street from the house we’re staying at. We passed out drinks and snacks to people in the park and got to pray for a lot of people. People in Argentina were a lot more open to hearing about Jesus and wanted to receive prayer compared to a lot of people in the United States, so it was really cool to get to share the gospel with so many people.

When we got back to the house after, we ate salad for dinner with ingredients some people had purchased at the local grocery store, a great healthy meal. During the rest of the evening Maria led the devotional on Psalm 27 and we prayed together as a group. Lastly, about half of us went to get ice cream at Grido’s Ice Cream (only $2.32 for a 3 scoop cup!).

We're excited for the rest of our time here in Mendoza and excited to see what God will do in the next few days.

Thanks for continuing to keep our team in your prayers!

It's midnight (on Friday)  in Argentina as I finish this.  We woke up and went to have breakfast (🧉☕️🥐🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞🍞) with the leadership of the Vineyard here in Gualeguaychu (if you're still wondering how to pronounce this, ask Elezabeth's dad, Aaron: he's great at it...).  We had a 2-way Q&A where we got to know each other and understand each other's ministry contexts.  We prayed together against hopelessness and suicide among the young people in Gualeguaychu.

Then we hung out and talked and played music togehter.  Our girls (Teata, Elizabeth, etc.) traded American slang for Argentina slang.  While translation apps are definitely helpful, our interpreters, my mom and Azul, our friend fromCordoba, who joined us for our Gualeguaychu leg of the trip, are always in high demand.  We are all having so much fun we stayed until lunch (mas empanadas!) then headed back to our hotel to rest (shout out to Dan and my dad for navigating the streets of Argentina and surviving the tightest parking garage in the world).

The hotel gave us a conference room to hold our devotional, and Chris took the opportunity afforded him by the podium to give a speech on the virtues of his rain jacket (hit up Mary Ann for the vieo proof).  Then I led a devotional on Psalm 2, and we prayed together that Jesus would actualize his rightful rule over Gualeguaychu and Argentina through us and the church here.

We had an hour or so to nap or walk the city.

At long last, Josh got his wish: he an Elliot got to play basketball in Argentina with Argentines!🏀

We endind our time in Gualeguaychu with an evening service at the facility the Vineyard uses for their Sunday services.  Kira, Lauren, and Hope led us in bilingual worship.  Dan gave a teaching (my mom interpreting) on our aurthority an permission as chidlren of God to seek the Miraculous and take initiative ministering in the Spirit.

During ministry time we got to pray for the Spirit's empowerment.  I got to pray with Lauren over Isaiah, one of the pastor's sons (age 11) that he would no longer fear to pray in front of people.  My dad led a gentleman named Nico to pray a prayer to accept Jesus; he made sure to let the local leadership know so they could follow up with discipleship.

When we said goodbye there were lots of hugs and kisses (this is Argentina after all).  We grabbed dinner (mas empanadas!!!), and headed back to Buenos Aires to sneak a few hours of sleep before our next flight at 6:00 am.

We're sorry to leave our uamas in Gualeguaychu behind, but are excited for what God has for us in Mendoza!

Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

Hi guys! Today we started our day with three museum tours alongside our friends from Gualeguaychu Vineyard. We explored the city's history, visited an old slaughterhouse, and learned about the town's archaeological past.

After, we ate lunch together at a local restaurant. While inside, it started pouring rain, which continued the rest of the day... After lunch, we had some free time where Mary Ann led our devotional time with Psalm 34. In that time we listened for words or pictures to give for the upcoming meeting later on at night.

We arrived at our vineyard family's house and quickly discovered they had 240 empanadas waiting for dinner. They were amazing! We had an awesome time of worship, a good talk from Ray, and a very impactful ministry time.

¡Hola! Today was another travel day, our last day in San Telmo, Buenos Aires, and then we headed to our first Vineyard church in Gualeguaychu. We started our day with Dan leading us through a devotional on Psalm 145 about the greatness of the Lord! Then we packed up and hit the road. On our 3 hour drive to Gualeguaychú we stopped at a gas station to use the bathroom. In the parking lot we met a couple, Adriana and Julio, who were also on their last stretch of a road trip. Julio expressed to us that he suffered from constant back pain and additionally was navigating how to treat his colon cancer and the possibility of treatment in the US. We got to pray for his healing and for the restoration of his wife's hope in God.

After a short rest from the drive we arrived at our hotel in Gualeguaychú. We went for a wild empanada chase but unfortunately never found them. But before long, it was time to head to the house of the pastors of the Gualeguaychú Vineyard. They served us coffee, mate, pastries, choripán for dinner, and a beautiful cake for dessert. We met a bunch of the youth and got to teach them a popular game at our church called Signs. We spent the night eating, fellowshipping, worshipping, playing games and drums, and eating some more. We are excited for what tomorrow has, and to enjoy more time with these lovely people!

We encourage you to lift up Julio and Adriana in your prayers, and that we would minister to the people of Gualeguaychú in power! ¡Ciao!

Hello! Tuesday we landed in Santiago, Chile around 5:30 am. We had a 2 1/2 hour lay-over and then flew over the Andes mountains to Buenos Aires. We are traveling with backpacks and personal items, so all we had to do is go through customs, which was relatively fast. We had rented what we thought were going to be two 7-passenger vans, but turned out to be two small SUVs, but we fit with all our luggage! Ray and Dan were our drivers and we made our way to the San Telmo house. After a late lunch at the Choripaneria we were led by Ray in a devotional time from Psalm 1. We then had free time to rest, shower, play games, etc. I have to admit that the most exciting part of the day-for me-was watching the team from Argentina play Algeria (and win 3-0!!) even though the game here started at 10 pm. Bedtime was after midnight, and tomorrow we begin our travel to the churches by driving to Guleyguaychu, about 3 hours away.  Thank you for your prayers and support.

Hello everyone,
Yesterday was a long travel day that is continuing today.  We left Fresno around 8:00 am in the morning, and got to the airport around 12:00 pm.  We had an 11 hour flight to Chile and are now waiting to board our next flight to Buenos Aires.  We are tired but very excited to see what the Lord has for us in Argentina!  Some of us have already gotten opportunities to reach out to people and show the love of Jesus.

Please pray that the Lord Continues to meet us while we're traveling and that everything goes smoothly.

G'day mates!  We're almost off to another land. After a long day of fasting on Saturday and praying and eating together on Sunday, we're almost ready.  We're preparing to drive to LAX tomorrow and then fly to  Argentina. Everyone is very excited and grateful that God has brought us here.

Prayer Requests:
Pray for us to have no complications an that we all get good rest before our long travel.

We recieved notice that as of 10 a.m. the team is in the air and should be in Fresno a little after 1:00 p.m.  Thank you to all who prayed and  gave of their time and finances to make this trip possible.   

Six a.m, in an airport again.
Headed back to Buenos Aires, one more day till the end.
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The team headed back to Buenos Aires for their flight back home on Tuesday night.  Once they made it back to Buenos Aires they spent some time in worship and prayer.  This is thier last devotional together before heading home to the states.  

The day was spent at the beautiful Iguazu Falls in Argentina.  What a magnificent sight. God's glory abounds in His creation.

The team said goodbye to the church in Cordoba and are headed to Izuazu Falls. 

Here's the team at an asado.  What is an asado, you may ask?  Well, "the word Asado is a multifunctional term that describes the method of babecuing meat in South America, the meat itself, and the social event associated with the meal".   So here they are enjoying an Argentinian BBQ with La Vina Cordoba! 

Today's adventures began with a trip to Lamadrid, Cordoba where our team, alongside La Vina Cordoba, ministered to an impoverished community.  They hosted a gathering for the local children, served  lunch and ministered where needed.   Later that evening, they gathered together for fellowship and worship led by Jenna and Jared.   

The team finally made it to Cordoba!  The afternoon included a picnic hosted by the leaders of the Vineyard church in Cordoba.  In the evening, La Vina Cordoba treated the team to pizza. Yummm!

Well friends,  today's flights to Cordoba were changed and the team missed their flights.  Unfortunately, there are no more flights to Cordoba today.  They are hoping to book a flight tomorrow morning but they will need to figure out accommodations for tonight.  For now, it looks like they are staying the night at the airport.

God is good.  The team was able to stay an extra night at the Air BnB and they were able to book the 9am flight to Cordoba tomorrow morning.

Still working hard at Vina Rock Cafe today.  The team took a few hours in the afternoon to rest up before gathering tonight with La Vina Mendoza for a Holy Spirit Night.

Service project at Vina Rock Cafe, the home of La Vina Mendoza .

The team traveled to Mendoza, Argentina on Saturday.  They are spending their time with La Vina Mendoza doing service projects in the cafe where the local church meets.  Sunday evening the youth worship team was the guest for a worship night in the La Vina Rock Cafe.  

Friday afternoon impromtu worship circle at Iglesia La Gran Familia.  Later in the evening, 

In the evening the team joined together with  Iglesia La Gran Familia for a second night of worship; familiar songs in an unfamiliar language.  
In the afternoon, still in Carmen de Areco, the group went to the streets witnessing Argentina style!

Having lunch with the youth kids at Iglesia La Gran Familia in Carmen de Areco, Argentina.   Spent some time together in preparation for tonight's service.  Jared will be preaching at tonight's service and our youth will be the ministry team.  Come Holy Spirit!

Landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina then on to Caremen de Areco via bus.

The group is all ready to board, minus Sarah and Baby Jo, who are already in Dallas.  Baby Jo has her passport!  Next stop, Dallas, to pick up Sarah and baby Jo.
Arrived at Dallas airport.  Picking up Sarah and baby Jo and heading off to Argentina.