Harris Family Argentina: week 3

Dylan writes- Well it’s been about a week since our last update so here goes. I went to the dentist the other day as is my habit in foreign countries. For $30 I was able to get a filling done. No X-Rays required here, truth is dentists in the US do that for liability reasons and possibly to do a better job. But a cavity is a cavity, and now it’s gone. The dentist asked me if I wanted pain medicine for before the drilling, uh, yeah I did. Before the dentist could drill, the shot had to take effect so I took that time to talk business with the guy. He was pretty open to spiritual stuff so we had a decent conversation about his eternal destination. Some might think that’s too personal and perhaps not the best timing or place to do have that conversation, considering he had a drill and could inflict some serious pain to me. That’s none of my concern. I’m finding out more and more that people really do want to talk about serious things like politics and religion regardless of what the old cliché says. So why waste our lives only talking about trivial polite things when the Bible clearly says that “it is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgement” Hebrews 9:27. Shouldn’t we all be seriously interested in finding out our eternal destination or telling others if they don’t know theirs? Cheri and I have been reading a book lately titled “23 minutes in Hell.” It’s about a guy who God allowed to experience Hell for 23 minutes in order that he could tell the world what it’s like and wake people up to the reality of its existence. Needless to say it’s pretty eye opening and has lit a fire (no pun intended) under us to not waste time while people are perishing daily. So we’ve been passing out a lot of gospel tracts everywhere we go and purposefully engaging people in conversations in a biblical way. Jesus modeled a great way to approach people in the book of John chapter 4. He talked to the woman at the well about normal day to day stuff and used that to transition into spiritual things. Sometimes just giving someone a gospel tract is enough to start a conversation. We are running low on Hecho (Done) books. Only 3 left, so I ordered another 125 since they seem to be well received. We can get bibles here no problem, but I also ordered another 25 Spanish/English ones from the States since those aren’t available either. Well once I had my tooth fixed I figured the $150 I saved on X-Rays could be spent on my wife. So we went out for a nice steak dinner downtown that night while Lidia and Albida watched the kids. Boy it was nice to just have a date away from the kids, and steaks are really cheap here too! Next day was a family day downtown. We rode the bus in and walked all over, hit up a mall where Ritter played on some toys, then to a park where he played some more. Amelia slept the whole time it seems. We finished up by shopping at the big grocery store and getting a taxi home with everything. It was really fun and we’re getting better at getting out with the kids all together. It does help that things have warmed up and the wind has died down lately. The other night there was a huge fire at the school 5 houses down. We almost had to evacuate at midnight, but everything ended up fine for us, not so much for the kids the next morning. I went down to El Bolson again for the day to look at some places to live. I figured if the Lord wanted us there He would provide something. I literally spent 2 hours walking in circles in a small neighborhood trying to track down the one really good lead we had. I could not find it and the landlord never answered either of her phones. None of the neighbors even knew about the place. The English guy with a car who we know down there who said he’d help us didn’t answer his phone either, nor did the Rental Agent who’s job it is to help people like us. So I was pretty frustrated and at a loss for ideas. I called 10 places from the Classifieds and got nothing. So I got on the bus and went home. I think that door is shut, at least for now. We will still pursue El Bolson but in the mean time there is work to be done here in Bariloche and God has already provided a place to stay. Though not ideal in size or location it does allow us the freedom to go to El Bolson if something opens up between now and then. We are staying in the same complex just beneath our current condo. It’s only a 1 bedroom so that’ll be a little rough with two kids. But it is truly all we can find that’s furnished, has all utilities and needs no contract. Our searching has shown us that something will likely open up at the end of summer in El Bolson. Yesterday Cheri engaged two Israeli girls with conversation about the Messiah. Both of them seemed to be pretty skeptical about religion and Jesus being the one true Messiah of Israel. They did get to hear the gospel though and took Hebrew gospel tracts to read later. I’m going climbing again tomorrow with an American. When a little more snow melt up higher I’ll probably spend a few nights in the refugios/shelters where up to 40 climbers congregate and climb nearby. That will allow for some great witnessing opportunities. We are also working on translating some climber specific gospel tracts into Spanish. Along those lines too we will be printing our own gospel tracts soon for daily distribution. It’ll be cheaper than shipping and they will be of better quality than the local bookmark type that are available in the Christian bookstore. I want to use the same format as the Living Water material that Ray Comfort uses. It basically is a Good Person Test that uses the Law (10 Commandments) to show a person they are guilty before God and need a Savior. Then it will present the good news of salvation in Jesus only. Acts 4:12 says “there I no other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.” That’s the truth, that’s what we share, and that my friends is the end of this story.

PS.We now have an address at which we can receive mail should anyone wish to send some peanut butter, tasty asian spice packets, real pre-ground coffee, or presents for Ritter and Amelia.

The address is:
Dylan y Cheri o Lidia
Avenida Bustillo n 5005
CP:8400
Ciudad: San Carlos de Bariloche
Provincia: Rio Negro
Republica Argentina