So before I left for Argentina, I contacted some emergent friends to see if anyone had any contacts down there so I could meet a few pastors and try to get a pulse of what was happening down there with the church. Maybe find a good place to worship while there.
So I end up with this contact who is excited about emergent and knows everyone in the church in Argentina and is so excited I'm there and just goes crazy calling everyone and arranging get togethers with me. It was absolutely amazing. It ended up becoming a working vacation - but what lovely work.
In particular, my new lifelong friend Flavio and I spent a ton of time together along with his wife and the beautiful young people of his church - Salta de Alegria (jump for joy). I havn't felt so loved and warmly received in many years. They took me to my first tango and I really fell for it (and them).
Towards the end of my trip after meeting this wide range of people and observing this tremendous hunger for something new in the church, something happened. A momentum from them all hearing about each other meeting with me and combined with some tips from my own experience of coordinating the network of emergent cohorts here in the US, and there was birthed a new progressive network for Argentina. Wow, what a privelge to be right there and see it happen.
Even though I tried to talk them out of using the word emergent, they really like the word and so decided to call themselves "emergente". They will begin to meet together like a cohort and will network with other groups like Red del Camino, another South American group associated with emergent village, but which no one there I talked to had ever heard of.
More evidence that something is happening worldwide in God's church. A new reformation is slowly springing up and God is connecting it in order to make it complete. Amahoro in Africa this May was another bellwether event that says to me - everyone is coming to the table, and when we're all there, we can hear where God wants us to go.
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1 comment:
muy bien!
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