December 1, 2009
Dearest Family and Friends,
The Advent season is soon upon us. November 29 marked the beginning of Advent. Our community in Buenos Aires once again welcomed the Advent season with a time of liturgy and worship. Advent is the season when we await the coming of the Christ Child. And in this waiting we seek to reflect on the meaning and implications the birth of Jesus has for us personally and in relation to the whole of God’s creation and the cosmos. But today I wanted to reflect a little bit upon a terrific question that the well-known author Christine Sine posed in her blog Godspace (www.godspace.wordpress.com). She asked, “What are we waiting for this Advent season?” Simple enough. Yet it has a depth to it that I hope each of us can have some opportunity to explore with deliberateness and the help of God’s Spirit.
As I think of the birth of Jesus one of the things that I await this Advent season is hope; a greater and deeper sense of hope.Hope for friends here who mostly hope that they can make enough money for the day or week to eat, or feed their families or find some form of fun or distraction in their lives. Hope for each of you as you discern how to best follow the path of Jesus in your lives, your families and community. Hope for Adriana, Cora, Amani and me to continue trusting and believing in God’s provision despite a chronically low support account the past couple of years.
On December 22-23 we will be having a Christmas party sleepover for the youth who attend the Encuentros gathering twice a month. Please pray that this shared time would be a special celebration for all who participate and that Jesus’ would be born anew in our lives and in the lives of the youth we minister among.
Love,
Walter