Cordoba to Salta-The Evangelical Conference

In our earlier post, we were leaving Pablo's house (our host in Cordoba who we named the 'Alpha Man") for the overnight bus trip to Salta. Pablo and his wife Fer exemplified the gentleness, love and compassion which seems to be rooted in the Argentinian people and which so deeply touched all of us.

[In this picture you will see Pablo and his wife and children along with Suzanne and myself.]

The bus trip to Salta from Cordoba is 11.5 hours, and while the bus was a sleeper bus, sleep proved elusive and we all arrived at the Salta bus terminal quite sleep deprived. Fortunately, we did have two days to rest at the house of Walter and Alejandra (our hosts in Salta) who were wonderful and gracious to us in every way. Upon arrival, much of this time was dedicated to meeting the local support and music teams (Salta was scheduled for two conferences) and working out logistical issues.

[In this picture you see the team eating at Walter and Alejandra's grand table with the local evangelical team.]

Before the commencement of the evangelical conference, some of the team did have the opportunity to travel with Walter (our host in Salta) to the foothills of the Andes were we saw the colored mountains ("de colores"), and visited an indian village. This was a breath-taking and awesome experience as we had the opportunity to witness the wondrous vista of the Argentinian countryside under a brillant azure sky.

The following day, we began the first of two back-to-back conferences, a two day conference with evangelical leaders and an extended one-day conference with Catholic leadership. The evangelical conference included the attendance of many pastors and leaders from local churches and outlying areas. There was a real hunger to understand the principles of Alpha and to gain an understanding of how Alpha could be used to evangelize the Argentinian people for the cause of Christ. Over the two days of this conference, rapt attention was given to all of the presentations, and during the times of Q&A there were many thoughtful questions regarding implementation, and a good discussion of many practical issues. In the end, there was no doubt that the principals of Alpha had been understood by all the attendees who were quite eager to begin their own courses. [Here, were having lunch with some of the attendees.]

In my next, and final Argentinian post, I will address the Catholic conference which was extremely encouraging, and the wonderful gift of Padre Angel who sees Alpha as a much needed tool and a gift from the Holy Spirit to all of the church.

Blessings,

Peter Carpentier

Argentina Global Alpha Training Initiative

The NSCM GAT team is back, and it can honestly be said that the training events held (2 Catholic -one Evangelical) were nothing short of amazing and deeply fulfilling experiences. We are all very tired (perhaps exhausted is more descriptive) as the overall schedule was gruling and very demanding. In fact, one of our team members became quite ill after the first training event, but recuperated in time to assist at the last training event and a follow up time of teaching at the evangelical church.

To give you a sense of things, the trip to Cordoba, AR, from beginning to end, took over 48 hours to achieve due to air travel delays, cancelled connections, and multiple transportation difficulties. We arrived in Cordoba, AR just in time to have team meetings, and then to commence the first training conference. We did get some rest, but very little, and to to say that we started 'tired' is probably an understatement. But, this only begins the travel saga, which became even more interesting as we moved to Salta, AR for the subsequent training conferences (more on that later).

The training conference in Cordoba was held at an old Catholic convent named "Convent of Divine Love" which was without heat and quite cold in the evenings. However, the attending audience was young, quite enthusiastic, and also included three wonderful priests who were a joy to work and speak with -especially as each of them spoke very good English. Yes, in case you are wondering, all of our talks were presented in English and translated by an interpreter as we presented the various sessions. To our great relief, this worked out very well, and the training time proved to be quite effective despite the language barrier.

On the second full day of this conference we decided to move the training outside where it was warm and sunny (70F) in order to escape the cold of the convent. Here, we presented the talk on 'How To Be Filled With the Holy Spirit' and prayed for all of the guests. This was a wonderfull and precious time full of genuine warmth for each other with an embrace from the Holy Spirit which we will all long remember.

Once we finished our training outside we all moved inside for a time of celebration and feasting. We soon learned that that eating 'pasta frita' and drinking coffee was an Argentinian pass time, and to be hospitable it was necessary to join in. There was never a lack of pastries or coffee and it soon became very necessary to restrict intake if you thought remaining 'thin' was ever a realistic option for you.

In all of our training events worship was very important, and we were very fortunate to have Josh Young along as our musician. Josh related to all the young Argentinian musicians in a wonderful way and he soon became 'famoso' werever he went. Worship was always intimate and personal as Josh with his genuine spirit of worship opened the door for the Holy Spirit to come and to minister to His people. This was always an amazing time. The adjacent picture is of Josh with some of the Argentinian music ministers from the Cordoba conference.

From Cordoba, AR, we first went to the home of Pablo and Fer and his family for the evening, and then on the overnight bus to Salta. But, that story and that post will be made tomorrow -please check back in.

Blessings,

Peter