Christopher Alam: January 2009

We slept in, and then went back to La Estancia for an awesome lunch of Chivito and Carne Asado....

Then in the evening we went to Pastor Juan Crudo's church to preach. The place was packed out with people. It was good to see Pastor Juan, his lovely ever-smiling wife and their 3 beautiful children after 15 years. His kids, who I had last seen when they were small, are all grown up, married and have children of their own.

What a joyous reunion!

Pastor Juan's dad, who used to pastor this church before him, went home to be with Jesus about 12 years ago. He was a wonderful man whose company I used to enjoy. He told me stries about Lester Sumrall when he came through as a young evangelist. The future Mrs Sumrall was then a young single Canadian missionary who played the piano in this church when Brother Sumrall first came through....

We had a great service this evening. Many people received the Lord Jesus. Many wanted God's healing touch. We began by praying for those who were deaf in one or both ears and Jesus touched them, in face, as far as I could tell, they were all healed! The crowd rejoiced and we then prayed for the rest. The power of God once again moved over the crowd. Many were healed, the people weeping and rejoicing.... but because of the density of the crowd inside the building we could not call people to come up and testify.

All Glory to our Wonderful Lord Jesus!

We are looking forwards to tomorrow (Sunday). Back to Pastor Crudo's church in the morning and in San Justo for an evening service.

People at the alter

Preaching to the crowd

We just flew into Buenos Aires from Washington Dulles on United Airlines.

We checked into the "Hotel Colon" (I JEST NOT!! - That is the actual name of the hotel! Actually it is not at all THAT funny...."Colon" is Spanish for "Columbus" as in Christopher Columbus!) The hotel is at the end of the famous Calle Llavage close to the Obelisk. We checked into our room and went straight out to my favorite place to eat in Buenos Aires, the La Estancia Parillada, just a few yards away from the hotel.

Gabriel asked for a small steak, and they came out with their "small" steak, a huge rare "Bife de Lomo" (Flame-grilled Fillet Steak) of at least 1.2 lb or 600 gms. And guess what, my son polished it off in no time. I got a taste, it was extremely melt-in-the-mouth tender.

The thing is that there is no such thing as a "small steak" in Argentina. The smallest steaks are what we would call "huge". This country is a carnivore's paradise and a vegan's worst nightmare!

They love their meat here!

I had a "Chivito al Asador" (Baby goat slow roasted over an open flame) - Crispy outside, and incredibly sweet, tender and tasty inside. YUMMY!!! Gabriel tasted it and announced "THIS is what I'll have for lunch tomorrow!

Argentina has the best beef in the world and it is very inexpensive too. The US will not allow the importation of the much superior and cheaper Argentinian beef because it would push US beef right out of the market and hurt American farmers. So one has no choice but to go overseas to taste this good stuff! Not only that but it is quite inexpensive to eat here.

For dinner we went to Pastor Claudio Freidzon's favourite place: The well known "El Palacio de la Papa Frita" (Translation: "The Palace of the French Fry"!!!) . The name of the place is deceptive, because this is actually a top-class steak house. They are world-famous for their amazing "Papas Souffle"- piping hot, freshly made , fried, thick cut slices of potato that are both crisp and "puffed up" like small pillows. An incredible accompaniment to a good steak. Gabriel and I did not fully understand the menu and we ordered for him what sounded like Short Ribs. What the waiter brought in was this huge very thick world-class melt-in-the-mouth T-bone steak of about 2.2 lbs or 1 kg. It cost only about $12!

I had a plate of tender "Mollejas" or Calf Sweetbreads. Incredibly tasty with a squeeze of lemon. Sweetbreads are the Thymus of small Calves and Lambs. The Thymus is a very tender organ in the throat of the small baby animal that disappears when the calf or lamb grows up. Incredibly delicious, and a much loved dish in Europe and South America.

I wish my America friends would shake off their squeamishness about foods that they are unfamiliar with and be adventurous. There is a lot out there that the Lord has made for us to enjoy!

We have a free day today, and I start preaching tomorrow in my old friends Pastor Juan Crudo's church. Juan Crudo pastors "Cristo La Solucion" a group of large churches that are part of the Swedish Assemblies of God. In fact, Juan Crudo's main church was the first Pentecostal church in Agrentina, pioneered by Swedish missionaries.

The interesting thing is that the Assemblies of God's powerful work in Brazil and Argentina was pioneered by Swedish Pentecostals. The AG in Brazil was pioneered first by brothers Berg and Vingren, Swedish emigrants to the US who were sent out as pioneer missionaries by the the American AG. They later on moved back to Sweden where their descendants live today.

There are TWO AGs in Argentina, the American AG and the Swedish AG, and they both work together quite seamlessly.

We are excited about what the Lord shall do here!