Waiting for Luggage in Cordoba

Good evening! Our entire team is safe and sound in Cordoba. We even have all our luggage. And that is saying something since a few of our young ladies suffered a strange case of multiplying luggage after a couple of days in Buenos Aires and Montevideo. We did not have to leave the hotel until noon and that meant we could all sleep in a bit. Believe me, we all needed that!

We touched down in Cordoba a little before 4:00pm. Were it not for the range of small mountains to the west of the city, flying into Cordoba looks much like flying into Kansas City. This is a university city and has a reputation for being a center for intellectuals. The 1.3 million inhabitants enjoy a pace of life far more tranquil than Buenos Aires.

As a plenary speaker, a reservation was made for me in a downtown hotel; the rest of the team is staying at the international fairground where the conference will be held. So, the bus that picked us up at the airport headed straight downtown to drop me at the hotel before taking them to their spot on the floor where they will place their sleeping bags. As  the bus pulled away I felt badly that I was headed into an air conditioned hotel and they were going to a hot assembly hall … but I got over it quickly.

Our entire team is serving as volunteers, even though they have no idea yet what it is they are volunteering to do. They will team up with other student volunteers to do the many backstage logistical tasks necessary to facilitate a conference for approximately 2,000 students. Most of the volunteers will be German-speaking youth from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, though they will be others like ours from different places. Tomorrow they will get their assignments and orientation. The first plenary session is tomorrow evening. I am so proud of this group. They are an amazing group of young adults and I know that though they will be exhausted after this week, they will also be forever transformed for having been here.

My part is to teach principles of making disciples based on the first chapter of Titus. I think I am the only speaker who speaks everyday. I go first thing in the morning followed by a break down into small groups to discuss and apply what I will be teaching them. There will be over 8o speakers from around the world. Most of us, though, will be Spanish-speaking. Tomorrow afternoon we will meet and have our orientation.

Unrelated to the above, from various emails we have heard of the horrible destruction and loss of life in Haiti. We have not been able to get the type of coverage you are getting in the United States. Haiti is a near neighbor to the United States and it is quite natural that the interest would be great as is the desire to help. In this part of the world, Haiti is so far away that the coverage is not going to be quite what it may be in the US.

Someone asked if we have a contingency plan to help disasters like this one in Haiti. No, we do not. There have been times when we have had wonderful contact on the ground of disasters such as this, but we currently do not have that level of contact in Haiti. A local church simply cannot do everything. There are, however, many fine Christian missions and other organizations that are already responding and doing a good job. Maybe God would lay it on your heart to participate by giving something through such an organization through your work, school, or one with which you are already familiar.