Today was our last day in Mendoza. We had a total of four concerts at various Baptist churches and each one took on a different character.
The first church we visited was North Mendoza Baptist Church. We participated in the church’s congregational song (in Spanish) and then sang our pieces for about forty minutes. We then immediately made our way to Covimet Baptist Church and sang another thirty minutes of music. After the service, the church served us lunch which consisted of some Argentine beef and various other cultural dishes.
After lunch, the pastor spoke to us and shared his vision for the church. He talked about how the church was growing, and that they were saving money to first build an education building and then a new sanctuary. They have already purchased the land that surrounds the current building, and they are saving little by little to accomplish the greater vision. The pastor also expressed his appreciation for our visit because he thinks it will inspire the men of the church to be more active. He said that seeing so many young men who are committed to Christ will speak to the rest of the church.
Then his wife got up and shared her incredible testimony. She talked about how her father become a Christian as a young boy. An American missionary family witnessed to him when he was very young, and she said that if it wasn’t for them, she would most likely not be serving God today. You can watch her full testimony below. I would highly recommend watching it. It is very moving…
We then participated in our favorite Argentine cultural tradition—a Sunday afternoon siesta! The nap was much needed, and it rejuvenated us for the rest of the day.
In the evening we went back to First Baptist Church Mendoza, this time to sing for their service. We only sang three songs, but many of the members said that it greatly blessed them. They even shouted for an encore! After singing the encore (which was” Praise His Holy Name”) they gave us a standing ovation. It is such a blessing to see how God is working through our music to minister to the people of Argentina.
We then immediately drove to Mendoza Baptist Church to perform two different sets of music. In between the two portions of the concert, we broke ourselves up into groups of four and spoke with the church members. In my group the most profound thing expressed was spoken by on older lady in the church. We understood her through a translator. She said this: “I don’t speak English, so I can’t understand the words to some of your songs, but I know they are about God because the music is so beautiful.” The lady sitting next to her agreed and said that our presence has truly blessed them all. Throughout the rest of the concert I was watching both these ladies, and the smiles never left their faces. Even though we could not efficiently communicate because of the language barrier, their smiles expressed more than any words possibly could.
After that, we traveled to Paul and Laura Shelton’s house for some pizza. These two people were our contacts in Mendoza, and over the past week we have grown very close to them. After eating, we had a time of reflection. First, the Sheltons expressed how much they appreciated our coming to Argentina. Before each concert, Paul Shelton always introduced us in Spanish. Most of us had no idea what he ever said, but Laura told us tonight that he introduced us as a “group of men who live what they sing.” She said that they did not translate this until tonight because they wanted to see that it was true without putting pressure on us to act insincerely. She said that she appreciated the fact that we lived up to this introduction without being conscience that people were watching us in that way.
Then Paul shared with us that each concert has had an effect on people. For example, last night we performed a concert at Hotel Cordillera and a man came who is member of their church. He said that the man has gone through a great deal in his life. When he was twenty, both his parents died and just recently his wife left both him and his seventeen year old son. Because of this, he has been very closed off to people. This changed at their church this morning. At church, he shared about the trials he has gone through and how he has always been searching for God. Paul said that he thinks it was our music the night before that inspired him to open up. This was an encouraging story to hear, and is just an example of how God is using us. God will surely use our music to have an impact on people’s lives, even if we may never know it.
We then told the Sheltons how much we loved them and how they have had such an important impact on our trip. As one member said, “they have become parents to us.” Their spirit of service and encouragement truly has changed our lives. In planning the Mendoza portion of our trip, they thought and prayed very hard about which churches they wanted us to sing for and where we needed to visit. In our experiences over the past week, it is evident that God has used them to minister to us. It is also interesting that many of us have ministered to them without even knowing. They told us that their house was purchased by funds from the Lottie Moon Christmas offering, which is an offering taken up every year through the Southern Baptist Convention. Being a Southern Baptist, I have grown up learning about missions and it was great to meet a family that is doing so much with the offerings that they receive.
The Sheltons’ children have all gone to Baylor, and a few of the BUMC members know them. As expressed tonight, it is evident that Paul and Laura have instilled Christian values in them. It was a great lesson to us about how to parent our future children.
After we all expressed our appreciation, we surrounded Paul, Laura, and our friends Tomás and Rolando to sing “Traveling Mercies” over them. Many of us wept, and it was by far the most emotional moment on the trip thus far. They have had such an impact on all of our lives and we will deeply miss them.
Our group with Paul and Laura Shelton and Tomás
-Clint Kimmel