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.

recent stuff

Here´s me and Ritter building a clothing shelf unit for him out of free fruit boxes we found. Our landlady lent us the hammer and nails. Everything "used" in Argenita doesnt loose it value, so I figured better to save money and build something than drop a bundle on a real or used dresser. We had a lot of fun building it and it works great.

Ritter playing with Mattias, the Landlady´s grandson and some other little neighbor kid

Almost Amish quality, but not quite.

We had a parilla (BBQ), it was super tasty! I love MEAT.

Amelia was Baby Jesus for the church´s Christmas play last night. And when I say last night I mean it started at 9pm and ended at 11pm with both kids crying and wanting to go home.

We took Ritter and Mattias climbing today. This was Ritters first roped climb. I was really proud of him.

Lago Nauel Huapi.

New House in the Barrio

Well we've finally found a place and we moved there today. We aren’t sure how long we will be here. Right now we’ve paid for 6 weeks which is almost half the price of our previous tourist cabana. It's a 2 bedroom apartment on the bottom floor of a massive complex. It’s located right in the middle of town between the touristy nice stuff and the Barrio where the poorer people live. This location is really perfect for the upcoming mass distribution of gospel tracts we will be doing. We can walk anywhere which will save money on buses. It’s got a decent view and came partially furnished by the nice landlady who lives above us. Our American friends Ginger and her Swiss husband Hans, both previous YWAM’rs, helped us move here and even loaned us sheets and a small refrigerator. On Saturday we are going to have a Parilla, which is basically a BBQ, but Argentinian style. People in our new barrio seem to be nicer and easier to meet than the more affluent folks from our previous location. People are on foot here too so we fit right in. There are also lots of kids around for Ritter to play with and learn Spanish. Plus it has a washing machine for all of Amelia’s diapers so Cheri is happy about that. I am getting our 10,000 gospel tracts tomorrow so we will begin to saturate the entire city with them. 2 Corinthians 9:6, though talking about financial giving, applies just the same to our work with tracts. It says “…he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Who knows what God will do with the tracts once they get into the hands of people eager for God’s truth. Hudson Taylor, the great missionary to China in the 1800’s was saved after reading a gospel tract. So one of our goals for the next 5 months will be distributing all 10,000 of them. We’ve got a couple of friends coming down in January that will be able to help out a lot. This last week I was able to have some great conversations with people. I went hiking with a friend named Diego who works at a Refugio Lopez in the mountains. We hiked to his work and then a bunch of local and foreign tourists showed up. I was able to speak in Spanish for ½ hour with a couple who actually knows and works with a guy we met on our bike ride 4 years ago. They gladly took a Done book and eagerly listened as I explained the difference between trying to earn your salvation through works and God’s free gift of life through Jesus. Cheri got to spend about an hour sharing the gospel with our neighbors before we moved out. They listened intently and were excited to receive a Spanish/English Bible to practice their English and also appreciated a Done book to further explain what Cheri had given an overview of. They were two young guys that had been dabbling in drugs, pray that the seeds she planted did not fall on dry soil. I also met an Israeli guy named Boaz on the bus who was curious to hear about Jesus the true Messiah. At the refugio Diego let me leave a Hebrew New Testament and a Spanish Bible along with a Done book. There are many trekkers who spend the nights in these places and I’m sure God will prick the hearts of some to read His holy word. One of my goals is to leave bibles in all of the 6 other refugios this summer. I was able to hike up Cerro Otto yesterday and do just that at Refugio Berghof. While there I spoke with Estefan the caretaker for 20 minutes about Jesus. I’m certain he’ll be opening the bible I left as he seemed curious about a couple things I had to say. Two of the neighbor dogs we call “Black dog” and “Yellow Dog” followed me 1000 ft up the mountain and back for about a 5 mile hike in all. The next morning they showed up to say hello, or I guess goodbye because we left shortly there after. Another objective I have is to place Hebrew bibles in all the hostels downtown where God might use them to reach travelers I’ll never meet. So that’s what we’ve been up to lately. Pray that as we go out daily God will go before us.



Our new apartment, only the lower floor, but it has a white steel rebar picket fence and a rose bush!
Black dog and Yellow dog on the hike

Not sure what she´s thinking here

Cheri and Amelia having lunch with an American girl we met

Ritter found this bamboo stick and immediately called it his ¨staff¨. He then said he needed to part the sea like Moses! He is starting to speak a few words of Spanish on his own now.

Sipping mate

Canyon hike up to Refugio Lopez

view from Refugio Lopez

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


Bus ride to El Bolson out my window
Fire down the street
Always so cute, except when she's screaming.
On a date
Cheri being bold sharing with some bikers
Ritter's friend Samuel. Ritter said to us the other day "my friend doesn't talk" because really he only speaks spanish, not english.
Ritter's new Pirate outfit
The daily bus ride into town
Witnessing at the bus stops is always good

This last week

Cheri writes:

It’s 9pm and the kids are down. It’s finally quite in the house and Dylan and I can catch up. Since we arrived we’ve been trying to figure out exactly what the Lord is having us do here in Bariloche or even maybe outside of Bariloche in another town. Our ministry and evangelism doesn’t appear to be the same as how it has been in the past. In prior trips, we have always been a tag team in evangelism and working side by side – even when Ritter was younger, it was still possible to do everything together. Now, however, with Ritter being older and Amelia being only 2.5 months old, we have found ourselves in a very different situation. To go anywhere with the two of them takes a ton more preparation and a lot of work while we’re out and about. So we’re a bit limited in what we can do together as a family. Having a one-on-one conversation about the Lord while a baby is crying or Ritter is antsy is hardly ideal. So lately we’ve been struggling with what our ministry should look like especially in a city like Bariloche where you have to take buses or taxis everywhere, travelers are more mobile and less likely to just hang out and have conversation. Yesterday, however, shed some new light on the situation. Dylan went out to run errands and check some things out. While he was gone I was at home with the kids and felt a strong urge to pray for Dylan. Not so much for safety, but more so for the Holy Spirit to give him the words he would need to talk to someone in particular. I prayed for boldness for him and for appropriate scriptures to come to his mind as he spoke. Ritter and I stopped what we were doing and prayed for him then and there. About 20 minutes later Dylan comes home super excited that he felt the Holy Spirit urging him to give a gospel tract and boldy share with a young man at the bus stop about 20 minutes ago! It was at the exact time I sensed the Spirit leading me to pray for him. Through that situation he also met and encouraged a fellow believer from California that was also praying for the guy reading the gospel tract at the bus station. All and all, it was confirmation that one of the main things I can be doing for His Kingdom is interceding in prayer for Dylan while he is out sharing the gospel. Anyway, it’s cool to see how the Lord will use us as a team, just a bit differently than in previous trips. Please pray for me to have more sensitivity to the Holy Spirit’s leading and for continued direction daily as to how we can further His Kingdom.

Dylan writes:

A few days ago we took a bus trip to El Bolson south of Bariloche. The bus ride was one of the most beautiful drives I’ve ever been on. There were alpine lakes, green trees, roaring rivers and snow capped peaks with wicked spires atop them, all seemingly within arms reach. The town is much more laid back and smaller than Bariloche too. It’s nestled in a small valley of snowy craggy peaks. We went there to discern whether or not the Holy Spirit was perhaps going to have us there instead of Bariloche. Reason being is because El Bolson is one of many New Age spiritual centers in the world, sort of like Sedona, AZ. Most people in the west don’t realize the majority of their beliefs are simply regurgitated Buddhism and Hinduism that’s been cleaned up and marketed to them. While in El Bolson for 24 hours we had some great witnessing encounters. First we met a couple from Germany biking around South America. We were able to talk with them at length due to our common experiences on bicycles. They gladly took a gospel tract in German and promised to read it. At the hostel we stayed at we met another young German man who was doing nothing more than drifting around the globe trying to figure out what to do with his life. I was able to relate to him in the quest for searching. I then told him my testimony and offered him a German gospel tract, telling him once I found Jesus I stopped searching because He is truth. I told him the tract is a good start for him in his search for meaning. A local man named Ricksharaj had a son who was playing with Ritter in a park. We talked with him at length and learned he was a Hari Krishna follower. He seemed pretty open to things, even said he’d read some of the Bible. So I offered him a Done book which says on it’s cover “what the majority of religions don’t tell you about the Bible”. This perked his interest and he happily accepted it. Finally on the ride home I noticed a group of Israeli backpackers got on the bus from doing a trek. I got to talking to a few of them, asking them if they knew where to find any good Israeli food in Bariloche. It turns out there is none surprisingly, but they said El Bolson has a unique hostel location called The Farm that Israelis gather at only by word of mouth. That got me pretty excited because I love witnessing to Israelis. They are direct descendants of and are in fact God’s chosen people which is really cool. When you think about our position to them as talked about in Romans chapter 11 it really humbles a person. If you haven’t read that chapter in a while you should, and read it slowly a second time just to make sure you really get it. Oh, and don’t forget to read verses 1-2 of chapter 12 which are the “therefore” of 11, they are verses that tell us what our immediate response to what you just read should be. Anyhow, back to the Israelis. I had a great conversation with one of them. All I had on me were 3 Hebrew tracts so I gave them to them to read. In the future I’ll need to remember to carry more. Better to have too much than too little. All in all it was a great trip to a beautiful place with some awesome witnessing to be had. We looked all over town for places to rent for 2-5 months but it is really hard to find something there too. Summer is almost here in 2 weeks and when school lets out these places will be flooded with tourists so they all charge triple the normal rates. No one wants to rent to us for a more permanent time frame when they can get triple for the months of mid-Dec through February. We do have a few leads though to follow up on. Pray that God opens doors if it’s His will for us to be in El Bolson. In the mean time we continue to do what the Lord has shown us is his will, evangelism.

Yesterday I was able to get up to the nearest climbing area called Piedras Blancas. My goal was to use my climbing as a way to meet other climbers and share Jesus with them. Sure enough I ended up climbing with Paul and Helen from England. It took a while for me to find an inroad to speak about spiritual things but eventually that obstacle was overcome and I was able to share a little bit. On the way down from our last climb Paul actually brought the subject up again and specifically asked me if I had any kind of experience that originally brought me to Jesus. I then used my personal testimony of salvation to fully share the gospel with him. I wove the themes and scriptures of the law, our sinfulness, our need of a Savior, and the grace and good news of Jesus into my own story. It was exactly the kind of witnessing that I love to do and had prayed for.

Today after church Cheri and Albida, went downtown to the Centro and passed out gospel tracts to passersby and shopkeepers who looked bored and needed something to read. They had a few good conversations with some folks who’ve never heard the good news of salvation before. I was glad for Cheri to get out on the streets with a fellow believer. Albida is a bold witness for the Lord and a great help to us with her sister Lidia. Well, I’m sitting in a local gas station called YPF writing this because they have the nearest wi-fi spot to us. I had to walk here in the cold wind and now must return home with it in my face. Thankfully my wife and two wonderful kids are waiting for me there. Until next time, we love you, we miss you, and we hope you are being a light wherever you are.

Videos of kids and stuff

Pictures of this last week

Cheri and Ritter enjoying learning ABC's
Family Picture near a famous the famous Hotel Llao Llao

Bus ride to El Bolson

Walking around El Bolson. The skyline is reminiscient of the Sierra Nevada in California. This peak is called Piltriquitron.

Climbing at Piedras Blancas

Our house is shown by the red arrow.

View towards Chile from top of Cerro Otto

Ritter being ever so GQ.

Amelia. Need I say more?