Visit Report 5

Event: CCNV Sunday Service - Corientes Av. Church
Date of Visit: Sunday 18 November 8 pm

This was the second service that we had attended at this church and this was the second service of the day. We again sat in the box seats at the side of the stage, which helps the translator, but does leave you feeling a bit self-conscious in full view of everyone.

The service began with worship, led by musicians. There is no screen, but everyone seems to know the words. The worship leaders were different from our last visit. It is clear that both male and female leadership is encouraged. The saxophonist seemed to be of a very high standard and we later learnt that he was a professional musician.

Pastor Prein, the senior pastor, preached a message about 'Spiritual Intelligence', which was a follow on from the message given the previous day at the Go groups meeting. The Pastor was concerned that the church is not taking care of its opportunities. They have had great blessings, but they must not be complacent. The Catholic church's teachings about guilt were highlighted as an area of bondage for the whole country. Spiritual intelligence depends on the Holy Spirit, not reason. It is about developing the right environment, obtained through the Spirit, to manifest God's purposes. He referred to the mission with Carlos Annacondia coming up in early December as a key time and opportunity. Pastor Prein prayed for the Holy Spirit to be released to impart spiritual intelligence.

A number of people went forward to be filled with the Holy Spirit. A prayer ministry prayed for people at the front. As in the uk, there were two people praying, one in front and one behind ready to catch the person should they fall down in the Spirit.

The service lasted about three hours in total.

Observations:
- One again, enthusiastic worship, skilfully led, enabled the congregation to come into the presence of God.
- This is an interesting time to be here with the mission with Carlos Annacondia coming up in early December.
- The leadership of this church clearly feels that the Argentinean Catholic church is responsible for a lot of erroneous teaching and practice.

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing! The same is true for languages. We've learnt this word, 'poco', which means 'little'. We are using it in relation to speaking i.e. I speak a little Spanish.

Yesterday, however, I started to get a bit too confident. We had had lots to eat, all provided by members of the church, when one of the pastors asked me whether I had had enough to eat. I thought he was asking how much Spanish I could speak, so I replied, "poco". The next thing we knew was the arrival of two full plates of food, which we had to decline as we were so full. How embarrassing!
Paul

Had a great day today at a ranch, which is about 50 Km from Buenos Aires. There was an opportunity to ride a horse and this is demonstrated here by Mrs Larcombe. It was not so much ride, as follow the leader. It was a short trek round a field and the horses were obviously pre-programmed to follow and take the shortest route if they possibly could.

This was followed by a very delicious barbeque. This is my first taste of Argentinean beef and it was wonderful. We had a superb meal, followed by entertainment and horsemanship by the Grauchos.

Visit Report 3

Place: CCNV Church Service
Date of visit: Thursday 16 November 7 pm

Felicitas took us to one of the CCNV churches. We had a meeting with the co-pastor for evangelism, George Garcia. He is going to develop a visit schedule for us, which we will discuss with him next Tuesday. He welcomed us and asked why we had come to Argentina. They are not surprised that people come as they believe that they have been prepared by God to receive visitors from overseas. They were very welcoming and provided us with refreshments. We each spoke about our churches.

We were then taken down to the auditorium for the church service. Cell group meetings and the first service were just finishing. Inside it was like an old-style cinema or theatre, which probably held around 800-1000 people with the balconys. The worship group were on the stage. There was no screen, but everyone seemed to know the words. We sat in the boxes to the side of the stage raised up from the people slighly, which felt a bit strange. A translator, Pablo, was provided for us and he sat behind us, translating for us. Opposite sat some Spanish pastors. One of them from Alicante, preached about Jesus choosing the way of the cross. The service concluded with an encouraging prayerful response and then the offering was taken, in which everyone fills in an envelope and chooses the area of ministry that their gift is to go to.

We met some further people that would be translating for us during our stay and then we were kindly taken b ck to our hotel by Felicitas.

Conclusions:
- Once again, we have been provided with a great welcome and hospitality
- The provision of translators is good news for what we will be able to do during this visit
- There will be much to see in this 24/7 church

Visit Report 2

Go Group: Ma. Felicitas Duche (Salguero 2970)
Date of visit: 15 November 2006 11 am

The Go Group meets in the apartment of Ma. Felicitas Duche, who is a leader in the CCNV (Centro Christiana Nueva Vida) Church. The group, one of over 1,000 in the church, has been running for ten years, but it is only in the last year that it has really taken off.

On the day that we visited there were 11 people plus Felicitas, including ourselves. These ranged from one man of 90 to a young graduate working at the Ministry of Foreigh Affairs. There were three who were helpers. The apartment was on the 7th floor of the building. We were very warmly welcomed by the host, who is able to speak English.

Evangelism had preceded the group meeting. About 15 minutes beforehand the host and another member had gone out into the street to invite neighbours and others to come to the group.

When we arrived, people were already filling out a Go slip of paper, which asked for them to write down any needs that they have in their lives.

The group began with an applause for God. The host then went round each of the group, welcoming them and listening to their circumstances and needs. Several of them had only just started coming to the group.

There then followed a time of prayer during which the host went round various people, praying for their needs, including laying hands on them, praying for healing and encouraging them. This was quite tactile and lovingly done and much appreciated by those being prayed for. People were clearly touched emotionally. This was followed by listening to some worship music on tape and using it to praise and worship God.

The host then brought the word, Jeremiah 16:21, which is about God teaching disobedient people about himself. This word is provided by the pastor of the church to all of the Go Groups. It was introduced with some background into the prophet Jeremiah and applied into the people's lives with the host illustrating the word through situations she knew of in their circumstances. One lady was clearly very moved by the Spirit as she testified that her daughter had recently told her that she loved her after many years apart.

Three people had to leave sharply, due to it being at lunchtime. The length of the group is one and a quarter hours. Coffee and cake (provided by one of the members) was served at the end. Two offering envelopes were produced and people were invited to make their offerings to the new church building and/or to the work of the church. I was asked to pray for God's blessing on their giving.

Conclusions:
- I was impressed by the faithfulness and perseverance of the host in seeking to evangelise her neighbours.
- The format of the group is deliberately lovingly-evangelistic, focused on felt needs.
- The word was applied to people's everyday lives.
- We were very much welcomed and looked after, with translation provided

What is really impressing us so far about where we are staying is the parks and places to walk.

We've been to two parks - the Jardin Botanica and the Parque 3 de Febrero, both of which we've enjoyed, and the locals seem to come to. They seem quite relaxed places.

The Parque 3 de Febrero has got a circular walkway, where people powerwalk, cycle, rollerblade and stroll. We've just been for a fast stroll around it once. The length is about half a mile - we might burn off the extra calories from those croissants at breakfast!

Here's a picture of Mr Larcombe in the park.

Visit Report

Church: Rey de Reyes (Claudio Freidzen)
Web: www.reydereyes.sion.com
Date of visit: Sunday 12 November

The Church meets in a purpose-built auditorium in Ciudad de la Paz 2330 (City of Peace), Buenos Aires. The auditorium is on three tiers and probably holds 2-3,000. Shaped like a 120degree segment, the seating is centred around the stage, which has an open platform with steps leading up to the speaker, choir and musicians area.

As the taxi turned the corner we saw peope outside the church queing to get in. We had been told to go to the front of the queue and tell the stewards that we were from the UK. Within two minutes we were shown into the entrance lobby and then introduced to Silvana, who was to be our host and translator for the evening. She was very welcoming and hospitable and was to arrange our brief introduction to Claudio and the other pastors.

We were taken into the auditorium for the end of the 4 pm service, which eventually finished at about 7.30 pm. We walked into an entusiastic and highly charged worship atmosphere. Everybody was standing and all were engaged in worship, led by the worship group together with Claudio Friedzon. Claudio Friedzon was concluding the service and encouraging people in their faith. There was an enthusiastic response of about one hundred people coming forward for prayer at the end of the service and there was a ministry team in place to pray for them. We were invited to go forward and Claudio prayed for us. The anointing of the Spirit was so powerful that we both fell to the floor, caught by those praying for us.

The second service began about 30 minutes later. The worship group led songs using words displayed on two large projector screens. The worship was passionate and enthusiastic and skillfully conducted by the worship leader, a guitarist. The worship continued for about one and a half hours with an interruption for the welcome and notices. An offering was taken for the support of a church in the north of Argentina, which Rey de Reyes were supporting by sending a container full of aid. After this the worship resumed and became even more powerful, with Claudio Friedzon directing the anointing of the Spirit as it fell upon the auditorium. He was like the conductor of an orchestra or like a helmsman watching for where the Spirit was blowing next. One of the songs, asking for more fire, seemed to capture the moment. We were the direct recipients as Claudio walked down the steps from the platform and came to Liz and I blowing and laying his hands on us saying, "More fire". He then did the same to other visiting pastors and the rest of the congregation. It soon became obvious to us that this was a powerful manifestation of the Spirit. Claudio did not hurry or push on with the programme, but watched and conducted the manifestations as they occurred throughout the congregation.

A 20-minute video was then shown of the recent crusade to Buenos Aires by Pastor Benny Hinn, which featured a number of people proclaiming that they believed they had been healed from some major medical conditions during the meeting. The congregation seemed very pleased and encouraged that this took place in their city.

Claudio then brought the message entitled, Total Blessing. Based on Micah 6:6,7, which concludes with, 'And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.' The message was illustrated with references to mercy and humility, and to supporting the aid being sent to the northern state. The service concluded with further worship, resuming the themes of earlier together and merging them with the main theme of the message. At the end an appeal was made for those who wished to receive prayer to come to the front. Again about a hundred people came forward.

After the service we were introduced to Claudio Friedzon and were able to tell him a little about where we were from. He said that he was leading services next Saturday and was then off to speak in Mozambique. He was very genuine in his welcome to us.

Conclusions:
- The style of the service was not unusual. It would be possible to find such a style and building within a number of places in the UK i.e. Peterborough Community Church.
- The welcome and hospitality shown to us was excellent and performed at a moment's notice including the provision of translation during the service.
- The leading and respect for the anointing of the Spirit was clear and evident, perhaps at the expense of the programme or time.
- The quality of the worship enabled the congregation to come into the presence of God.
- We had an insight into the gentleness of the Pastor as we watched him play with his grandson as he waited to speak.
- The welcome shown to us by Claudio Friedzon and his team was friendly and sincere.
- The manifestation of the Spirit was very powerful, of which we have seen similar occasionally in the UK, but we will observe further over the next five weeks to see if this was special to this meeting or to this church.

We had a really good flight - managed to get two seats at the back of the 747, where the plane narrows and there's only room for two seats, but space for two and a half.

Taxi journey was interesting, especially if you looked ahead. I decided to look sideways!

We had our first exploratory. We have just been on walkabout in the Jardin Botanica, which was great. Liz got some sun, whilst I stayed in the shade!

We're just about to leave to visit Claudio freidzen's church, which has a service at 7pm.

Phew! No excess baggage. We smiled sweetly. Boarding now. Speak to you next from BA.

No more checklists. No more thinking about what is still to go in the suitcase. That's it. Now awaiting checkin at Heathrow. Big question is, can we get through with slightly excess baggage?

This is the problem with taking a short hotel break close to a large shopping area! The lady with the shopping bags is looking very pleased with the bargains that she has picked up. Borders bookshop was great to browse in.

It didn't finish with Matins! We made six visits to the chapel yesterday in total, finishing with Compline at 9pm. One of the Compline prayers talks about the Lord granting us a quiet night. Unfortunately it didn’t seem that way! There was a faulty fire alarm in our building and it kept going off during the night. I was appointed "Chief Fire Officer", probably because I'm not afraid of buttons. My job was to reset the alarm, which I did, including the one at 4am! Everyone was impressed with the speed with which I rushed downstairs and silenced the alarm noise.

It's been a great retreat, but it felt like we advanced. Did I mention the food? It was excellent; as were the talks, company and facilities.

Up at 5.30 am for Matins at 6 am. This truly feels like a retreat. I'm completely cut off from mobile phone access too, but have come for a walk as you can see from the photo. Excellent talks and a stimulating place. Other retreatants are all interesting characters. Food excellent and plentiful.

Arrived safely via train and bus. Weather is superb and views are breathtaking. Looks like a full programme beginning with tea at 4.30 pm. What a hardship!

Thought I'd better check in with the boss at one of His places!

Here I am on the way to Ampleforth Abbey for a 3-day retreat. I last came here in 1999, when I was Curate at St Botolph's, Longthorpe. It's quite a place with the Abbey, where the monastic community is based, and the school. It's set in beautiful grounds in wild countryside.

It's a led-retreat, led by Fr Dominic and I don't know what the theme will be, but I'm open-minded. Lets see what God has in store for me!

There's much booking of tickets going on at present. I've been looking on-line, but it still seems cheaper when you come to a real booking office!

I can also update from my PDA, so I hope to keep you updated from the UK and Argentina.

This week I will be traveling to Ampleforth Abbey for a retreat. I have been there once before in 1999.

Welcome to this diary about my sabbatical during Autumn 2006.

What's the sabbatical all about? Well here's the Proposal, which was approved by the Diocese.

Purpose: The overall purpose of the Sabbatical will be to study an overseas culture in which there are claims that parts of the Christian church have experienced revival in recent years. The personal reflection will take place in and about the church in Argentina. Over the last twelve years, Paul Larcombe has attended a number of conferences and seminars, which have included speakers from Argentina.

Visit to Argentina: The overseas part of the Sabbatical is being put together with the help of Mr Claudio Coquet, an Argentinian friend of Paul Larcombe’s. Mr Coquet came to the UK from Argentina in Spring 2004 with his family, as missionaries. They are based at Open Door Baptist Church in Gunthorpe, Peterborough and are financially supported by this church. Mr Coquet has successfully coordinated a number of visits by British church ministers to Argentina over the last seven years. It is also hoped to link up with SAMS, which will give insight into the establishing of Christian mission in Argentina and will also give a present-day perspective and contrast to the charismatic and Pentecostal traditions, which form the main basis of Mr Couquet’s contacts.

The visit to Argentina will consist of a number of visits to churches that claim to be in, or are experiencing, revival. This will centre around Mendosa and Buenos Aries and is likely to include the following churches and ministries: Carlos Loredo; National Prayer Centre; Assemblies of God; CCNV (Largest church in Buenos Aries – 30,000); Claudio Freidzon; YWAM; Annacondia; C Mraicda (Largest and oldest Baptist church in Argentina). The visit will also include opportunities to preach and minister, something which other visitors from the UK have advised is very important in terms of experiencing what it is like to preach and minister in this different culture. It is hoped that Paul Larcombe’s wife will be able to accompany him during this visit.

Schedule/ Plan of time: Week 1-2 Oct 06 Retreat Week 3-4 Oct 06 Personal Reflection and Preparatory Study Week 5-10 Nov 06-Dec06 Overseas visit including Personal Reflection Week 11-12 Dec 06 Holiday

Mentor/Supervisor: Dr Brian Stanley, who was Paul Larcombe’s tutor at Trinity College, Bristol, will be approached to act as Theological Supervisor. Dr Stanley is based in Cambridge. He is Director of the Henry Martyn Centre, Lecturer at Cambridge Theological Federation, Senior Research Associate at the Faculty of Divinity, where he directs the Currents in World Christianity Project. The Revd Russ Parkes, Pastor of Open Door Baptist Church, Gunthorpe, Peterborough will also be approached to provide local supervision. Revd Parkes has made five visits to Argentina during the last five years and has done much personal reflection on both the overseas culture and the claims that parts of the Christian church have experienced revival in recent years.

Theological questions: Paul Larcombe is developing a mind map approach to the theological issues raised. The mind map includes a number of questions about revival in this context in Argentina, including history of church growth, the definition of revival, transformation of society, its extension across denominations, rate of growth and fruit, and cultural differences.