To our partners in ministry,
As some of you know, we have arrived in Buenos Aires and are in the midst of our assimilation into life, ministry and community here. As we reflected on what to share with you all, it became clear that we must address the predominant theme of our lives this past year (and several years before that) which we would eloquently entitle "waiting."
It was a little more than a year ago when we received the specific calling from the Lord to begin our lives here among the youth on the streets of Buenos Aires. Thus began our journey of waiting. It began with "fundraising" which took several months of active and hopeful (prayerful) waiting. Mixed in there we were "expecting" a child which is just a fancy way of saying we were waiting…again. We waited for our things to sell, for our home to rent, for Jeremiah's job to be completed. And then we left the U.S., bound for Argentina, confident that things would now begin.
We arrived in this bustling city and were ushered to a temporary apartment where we have been staying for two months now. We very quickly discovered a more permanent living situation that was suitable for our family and began the process of securing a lease with the owner. Little did we know how very long this process of waiting would be: We have been obstructed by an unbelievable amount of paperwork and red tape. Likewise, we are "waiting" for our friendships with the children of the streets to be cultivated and for our grasp of the Spanish language to mature. It is painful to wait.
Today, after we received a call that our signing of a contractual lease for a permanent home was postponed-again, for the 5th or 6th time, both of our stomachs literally started to gnaw. I can't describe the feeling that this smallest of trials perpetuated-though many of you have experienced it, probably to a much more significant degree, as you wait for your homes to sell, your test results to come back, your mate to appear, your raise to come through-it was as though we would pop right out of our skin. We bowed to pray, and I recalled the chorus of a song that we sang frequently at Christ Church in Colorado Springs… "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord…"
As we prayed, the faces of the youth on the streets began flashing through our minds, and we realized that they, too, are waiting. They are waiting to be loved, to be liberated, to be forgiven. Even after they recognize God's love and enter His kingdom, they are waiting for the full restoration of that kingdom which has come, but is still hidden. We find solidarity with them as we wait upon the Lord, whether it be in our minor inconveniences or our overwhelmingly large grievances. Ultimately, we all wait together for the reign of God to come to fullness and for death, pain and poverty to cease. But our waiting is not passive, as the word implies, but alive and vibrant as we move forward to reveal the values of our kingdom which has come, but is still coming. We bear the sufferings of the forgotten and defend the defenseless as we "wait" in expectation of full restoration.
Whatever we all may be specifically waiting for, may we move through this life with the hope and intentional service of others which marks our kingdom. One day the yeast will spread through the entire dough.
(We have to leave you now as we are "waiting" for a first tooth to surface and need to soothe a fussy little girl…)
We love you all and carry you in our hearts,
Jeremiah, Jennifer, Jordan and Selah