Ever wonder what influences and inspires your decisions about holidays? It could be ticking off a bucket list, completing sporting activities, ensuring beach time, or something else…! How about a prayer letter?
Sounds weird doesn’t it, but it was receiving a prayer letter from Matt and Helen Pope that inspired ours! What fun, we thought, to go and see the Popes! And if we were going that far, we could also see another mission partner family from our church who live just the other side of the hills that run through the middle of South America (aka the Andes), Andy and Bethanie Walker. And so the idea of our holiday with a difference was born!
We loved a blend of exploring Argentina and Chile, combined with learning about the life of believers in both of those countries. We joined in with the activities of the mission partners to help us understand church life, including visiting youth groups, Bible studies and meetings about buildings. It was a privilege to meet brothers and sisters in Jesus, from so many miles away, yet with whom we will share eternity! Meeting the Bishop of Argentina was a real joy, learning a little about the national church of Argentina, and indeed the impact of decisions here in the Church of England on the life of believers in South America.
Meeting Bishop Brian of Argentina
It was a real privilege to spend time with the Walkers and the Popes, join in with family life and hear first-hand what life as a mission partner is like. In many ways, living for Jesus in any country flows from a delight in his salvation, yet the wisdom to love people wisely in often challenging and varied cross-cultural environments heightens the sense of dependency upon the Lord’s goodness, grace and provision. It was great to be in the market with Andy when his alarm went off at 9:38am to remind him to pray for workers in the harvest field…so right there amid the lettuce and lemons, we asked the Lord of the harvest to send workers into the harvest field. It was humbling to hear of the faithfulness of pastors and believers in areas with so very little, reminding us how much we take for granted. It was also lovely to renew and strengthen friendships as we enjoyed visiting tourist sites together too, like a vineyard in Mendoza and a tour along the Chilean coast. We learned how to make good use of the buses in Buenos Aires, and enjoyed a “race across the world” style bus tour across the Andes!
Outside church in Mendoza, Argentina
I guess you may be wondering, weren’t we a bother to the mission partners, could you speak the language, what about all the other tourist sites you could have visited? And yes, if life is just about ticking off the bucket list, then we didn’t get far on that. But, as we know, the New Testament calls us to encourage one another, and visiting mission partners is a great way to both encourage others and be encouraged. Being with the Popes and the Walkers allowed us to walk through a week of life together, seeing joys and encouragements as well as the harder aspects of life. It’s important to be mindful you’re joining in with people’s working life and so be prepared to practically roll your sleeves up, wash up, or simply read a book so you can be a blessing rather than a burden to them. We both tried to learn a little bit of Spanish in preparation for our trip – to greater or lesser degrees of success! Despite our lack of language, we loved having conversations in stilted English. Where there is a will there is a way to communicate! Asking the mission partners what would work well for them before going, and really learning about their lives, was a help and encouragement to us all.
Youth group in Mendoza
Coming home after such a rich experience of enjoying God’s world and his people, we were glad that we had shared our adventure with a WhatsApp group of friends and family, both believers and those not yet believing. This enabled many to enjoy a greater sense of our adventure than we could ever recall. Also sharing encouragements from his word and seeing prayers answered were great to share with friends, family and other believers back home, giving them more of the realities of life serving Jesus overseas. A trip like this gives us fuel for prayer for the church in South America, for believers and workers alike. It also challenges and strengthens us in our service back in the UK, as we’re mindful of the challenges of cross-cultural life and the sacrifices that involves.
So, as you start to think about your holiday for the year ahead, why not pray about a mission partner you could be an encouragement to and see where the Lord takes you?