Christmas and such

Here is our new neighborhood called ¨Barrio Elfelen¨

Ritter´s Christmas gift that I had to exchange because it broke the first time he tried it

We live on the bottom floor in the middle of the picture



Another view of the barrio after a rainstorm

A family picture at our friend´s house for Christmas

Here is the parilla we smelled most of the day- lamb cooked over coals

Amelia in her crib with a mobile we made as a family for her

Here are the brownies we gave out to our neighbors

My first batch of homemade empanadas!

Our neighbors preparing the lamb for the parilla

10,000 gospel tracts ready to give out. Please pray for the people´s hearts as they recieve them


Cheri writes- This year for Christmas things are a bit different as I’m sure you can imagine. No Santa anywhere to be seen, no elves, no Rudolph, no Christmas carols, no massive crowds at Walmart, no Christmas light wars with neighbors, no Christmas cards you receive and immediately check to see if they are on your list, no kids going bonkers over what the latest fad in gifts is, none of that. It’s actually quite refreshing to us. I dread Christmas chaos every year and I’m glad to be out of it. Of course I miss family and friends and even pulling out the ornaments for the Christmas tree as they are fun trip down memory lane. Here in Argentina things are much more mellow and people don’t seem nearly as rallied up over the holiday season as in the states. There are a few decorations up here and there, stores are having sales, the grocery stores are well stocked with various fruit cakes and candied nuts, but other than that you probably wouldn’t even know it was Christmas time. Last night we went to our church for the Christmas service and live nativity scene. Amelia was asked to be the baby Jesus, so we committed to going regardless of how late it started (8 pm) or how long it went (11pm!). I think if a church service in America went till 11pm it would cause a small uprising and it certainly did in our family. Ritter started melting down at about 10pm and they hadn’t even started the nativity scene. Amelia did ok with Mary for a while, but then had her own meltdown shortly before it was over. It was a long night and today we’re laying low to try and recover. So for Christmas Dylan and I decided to save the money we would have spent on each other or on Christmas in general and do something different. Since we just moved to a new neighborhood, I thought I could make a bunch of brownies and give them out with some scriptures in Spanish pertaining to Christ’s birth. Today was going to be the trial run and I was super excited. I looked at the recipe on the back of the bag of flour and got all the ingredients. A few problems presented themselves as I went. For starters, I didn’t check to see how much chocolate I needed, I just got a bar of baking chocolate. So, I had to run back to the store. I rode my bike, didn’t have a bike lock yet (I just bought it yesterday and there were no bike stores open since it was Sunday), so I asked the guard at the grocery store to watch it for a few moments while I got more chocolate. He obliged grudgingly, but I was warned not to do it again. Then I got home and realized I didn’t have any measuring devices, so I had to down some yogurt to use the container of 200 grams and estimate quantities based on that. Then it occurred after I measured everything out that grams could be either the weight of the yogurt or the liquid amount. I didn’t know, but I figured that even if it turned out terrible, I could always put it over ice cream and it would be fine. Then the directions did not indicate what size pan I should pour the batter in… how lame is that! So I used I used what I had, and hoped it would work. The directions also failed to indicate what temperature I should set the oven to. It just said to bake in an “horno suave”….. what?!?? A smooth oven?? Plus it’s a gas stove with little adjustment, so I fired it up on low and hoped it would bake it eventually. The directions said 25 minutes, but I checked it and it was still gooey. I tried again in 45 minutes, then again in an hour and still gooey in the center and by then burned on the bottom and sides. Oh well, “A” for effort and it was still pretty edible. I’ll try again before Christmas and hopefully my neighbors will appreciate it more than a store bought fruit cake.


4 days later….

So I had a local friend of mine come over and go through the whole brownie process with me and it went much more smoothly. They turned out excellent, so I put huge squares on Christmas decorated napkins over green plates and wrapped it all up with a bow and card with Isaiah 9:6 and John 14:6. We made 11 bags and took them to our immediate neighbors. They were quite shocked at first, but we spent some time at each apartment and a few even invited us back for mate later. So that was our Christmas Eve, all that done after a long day of distribution of tracts on the streets. Christmas day we woke up reading about the birth of Christ in Luke, a lazy breakfast, then opened up our 4 gifts. Dylan got salt and pepper shakers that dispense so much at once that they’re not functional. I got a fun apron since the countertop we have is really low and water from the sink goes all over. Ritter got a bubble gun that broke the first time he used it. Bummer. Amelia got a butterfly mobile that we all pitched in to make: Ritter painted the butterflies, Dylan found some wire in the street to hang it and I put the contraption together. Later that afternoon, we went over to an American family’s house for chicken, stuffing and mashed potatoes. All in all, it was a blessed Christmas. God is so good and we’re so thankful to have the opportunity to serve Him down here in Argentina. What an honor and pleasure it really is for Him to have brought us here. Please continue to pray for the hearts of the people here that the good news of the Gospel will fall on rich soil.