Visit Report 29

Place: Parque Julio A. Roca (CCNV)
Date of Visit: Sunday 10 December 6 pm

The sixth and final night of the campaign. This night was where the fruit of the past week could be visibly seen as over 100 people were baptised. Three large pools had been erected during the day and filled with water.

As we arrived classes were taking place for those who were choosing to be baptised. This was really a final talk explaining the significance of the step they were about to take, encouraging them to join an ABC group, and giving opportunity for any questions. One of the men opposite me had loads of tattoos on his arms and body said, "Don't look at the pictures on my body, it's the beauty of what's happening in my heart that's important." Those being baptised had all been encouraged to dress in white and the tent of liberacion had become the changing rooms. (I had to suppress the images in my head of the Jim Jones cult of the 1980's!).

The pastor of the church, Pastor Prein, then preached from the stage about what was going to happen. Each of those to be baptised first gave a brief testimony from the stage and then made their way over to the baptism pools where about twenty elders of the church, also dressed in white, were waiting in the water to baptise them. Each person was cared for well, especially those with crutches and even one boy with his arm in plaster. After the baptism each was prayed for by another team.

After the baptisms there was a sense of celebration that so many lives had changed. Worship followed.

One of Annacondia's sons led some worship and began taking authority. The crowd was notably larger today. As Annacondia took to the stage drops of rain started to fall. In Buenos Aires it doesn't so much rain as plummet! He began to preach and the heavens opened - literally. Fork lightening lit up the sky followed fairly quickly by thunder. We headed for the shelter of the hospitality tent. An umbrella was taken to Annacondia as the stage didn't have a roof. The umbrella was fairly ineffective, because by now the rain was coming in horizontally, or so it appeared. However, the man didn't give up. I could see him persevering against the elements. You could hear the power in his voice. The people by now had lifted their chairs above their heads to shield themselves from the rain. The intensity of his preaching increased, the anointing fell, and despite the rain a steady stream of people were again carried off to the deliverance tent.

I don't think that the man gave up, but the people themselves must have started to disperse. The final stage was when the power to the sound system and the lighting suddenly failed. Reluctantly the man came down from the stage and was dried off by his team in the hospitality tent. Unfortunately the power to this had failed as well.

The storm didn’t stop there. Someone later described it to me as like a scene from Titanic. Lost children were shepherded into a tent. People in wheelchairs were pushed across the field to bus stops. People were calling out names. The security team were dropping metal barriers to the floor to prevent them from being blown into the cars.

Meanwhile, from the small, but by now crowded, hospitality tent, people were watching the rain and using cell-phones as makeshift torches. Annacondia, now dry, could only watch, communicating with us by way of a smile, at the extent of the storm. His team assembled their families and prepared to leave. He shook our hands with a firm handshake and farewell and made his way out. We had been promised by his team on previous nights that he would pray impart to us, but in view of these events, that wasn’t to be. We accepted his handshake and the farewell as all that we needed for the time being - until our next visit to Argentina!

One the one hand, in the battle against the elements, it looked as if the devil had won, until someone reminded us that the work had been done for the night - over 100 baptisms and a full tent of liberacion. Not bad for a week's campaign!

Visit Report 26

Place: Parque Julio A. Roca (CCNV)
Date of Visit: Friday 7 December 7 pm

Night four of the Nights of Liberation and Miracles campaign in Soldati. This was a public holiday in Argentina, but there were more people here than the day before.

During worship there were problems with the power supply, apparently due to low voltage. There was also an event at the Davis Cup stadium and it was suspected that the power supply to the area couldn't cope. Nevertheless the worship and ministry was able to continue, albeit dimly and not as loud. (British Health and Safety experts would have a field day here - the sound system is really being used to broadcast to the surrounding area, rather than amplify sound).

We focused once again on the liberacion tent, but before that I wanted to observe how the people were during the preaching and when people started these manifestations. It seemed that mostly during the preaching people were ok, but there was a point at the end of the message when there was a sudden change. Liz and I would describe it as when the anointing came. Suddenly, there was a change in the spiritual atmosphere.

At this point we needed to get quickly into the tent of liberacion and we took up an observation place at the far end, protected by our translator and bodyguard. As the appeal for salvation and healing was made, a stream of people were brought into the tent. Some walked in, but the majority were held up by the porters. Again they were placed on a chair and prayed for immediately. Some moved their arms around; some cried out in other voices. The efficiency of the team was astounding. About 50 people must have been brought in altogether.

The ministry finished with the pastors praying for people in front of the stage.

We've been especially privileged to observe all this and ask any questions. Also, each evening we've been invited to join the ministry team for dinner in the hospitality tent after the meeting has ended. Annacondia's team, consisting of various sons, daughters and family, usually have a quick meal then travel 40 Km back to their homes. They apparently work in the family nuts and bolts factory during the day and minister in the evening.

I was able to see the statistics so far. There have been 143 people who have entered the liberacion tent; 70 of these have made a decision to accept Christ (the remainder were already Christians); 23 have committed to be baptised in the open air on Sunday. Overall, the team were expecting higher numbers - they expected 3,000 on the first evening - just over 1,000 were actually present. The offerings are also lower than the costs at present. Although Annacondia's team pay for their own ministry and provide staging, there are still costs for sound, lighting, transport, hospitality etc.

Secuity wise, one man nearly knifed another, when he started manifesting in the crowd. The security team spotted it and intervened. One was taken inside the tent and the other ministered to outside.

The meeting concluded with people giving testimonies of how God had healed them.

Observations:
- Once again these manifestation were repeated and coincided with the strong anointing felt over the meeting.
- The organisation of these teams, and the way that it allows God's work to be done, is great to observe.

Visit Report 27

Place: Anglican Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, 25 Av. de Mayo 280
Date of Visit: Sunday 10 December 9.30 am

"Are you visiting? Where are you from? What is your name? We're a small, but friendly congregation. Do please stay for coffee after the service." Such was the friendly welcome as I was handed a hymn book (Hymns Old and New) and a Eucharist service book (1982). It put me at ease and was a good reminder of the importance of a friendly welcome.

Separate services are held in English and Spanish, with a United Service once a month. The size of the congregation was about 25. We got to bed at 3.15 am after the campaign at Soldati, so the 9.30 am service meant an early start. The Anglican Cathedral is not a particularly grand building from the outside. It is set back slightly from the street. Inside, it is heavily decorated in wood panelling and with wooden pews. It could be a medium-large sized church anywhere in England.

The service was taken by Archdeacon David George, with Revd Kevin Barry as President. Kevin is a retired priest (due to poor health), from New York who helps out here. They gave a good welcome. David gave a formal ordination notice in Spanish at one point.

It was strange to step back into a kind of little England again after four weeks in AOG churches. I was reminded that it is Advent with advent hymns and readings as well as an Advent Candle. It is very hard to equate this with such hot weather. The service was fairly standard with some parts of the liturgy sung, but mostly said. Three readings and a psalm were more Scripture than had been read in the Evangelical churches of the last four weeks. Like a good ex-pat it was comforting to sing some familiar hymns. The Archdeacon gave a good sermon about vocation, which bravely touched on the festival this week of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, which was a public holiday here last Friday. Holy Communion was ministered from the front with a line queueing in front of both priests

After the service I joined them for coffee in the hall. I met a Dutch diplomat, a Methodist minister briefly visiting, and a Presbyterian Bible scholar. The latter called Tom Hanks, apparently the original, had just contributed chapters on Romans and Hebrews to an SCM book, entitled The Queer Bible Commentary. He went on to tell me about how the Metropolitan Church was growing in the US. It seems the gay issue has a high profile here.


I spoke further with Archdeacon David George whom I had met briefly during our visit to the Bishop last Wednesday. The Archdeacon is sponsored by USPG, but under the authority of the Bishop.

Observations:
- I was reminded of the grace that God has given me. To be sitting at a table with Carlos Annacondia just six hours earlier and then to worship at an English Eucharist. It is a grace that searches for God in many different wrappings.
- I don't really know how to begin to reconcile this sort of worship with what I have been seeing in the last few days in the campaign, but that is going to be part of what I must now do as I start to reflect on and process what I have observed.
- I can now see that the path that has been opened to us here in Argentina was what God wanted for us. We tried to have an Anglican programme, but for some unknown reason it was not forthcoming. I would never has seen the phenomena that I had wanted to see if I had had a mainly Anglican programme.

Visit Report 23

Place: Diocesan Office, 25 Av. de Mayo 280
Date of Visit: Wednesday 6 December 12 noon

We were able to meet with the Rt Revd Gregory Venables, Bishop of Argentina and his Chaplain. We began by sharing some common geographical roots from the Essex and South London areas, as well as the names of some mutual friends such as Charles and Joyce May and John and Barbara Battman from Werrington.

Bishop Greg asked me about my church contacts so far. I said that we were aware that we had only seen one slice of the picture, but had been shown tremendous hospitality by the AOG churches. He seemed to be aware of CCNV, but not in any detail. We discussed how I would process these observations. He said that Archbishop Rowan Williams had recently asked him for his observations about England. He advised me not to miss the obvious in reflecting about our experiences here and not to dive into the detail too soon.

We discussed how it seems that people are very black and white here, saying, "I'm Catholic" or saying, "I've converted from being a Catholic. In the eyes of many, there doesn't seem to be any grace left in the Catholic church. We discussed how the word charismatic here has been hijacked to mean a particular strand of Catholicism, which is heavily Mary-focused.

The Bishop's time is presently taken up with the issues in the Episcopal Church of the USA. He would like to help my further reflection and promised to see us again if his diary permits.

Observations:
- We had a very friendly meeting. It was the Bishop's birthday and he said that he appreciated the laughter that we had shared.
- Here we go again with our usual role, bridge-building. Spending time with AOG churches and being an Anglican link to the Diocese here.
- I don't really understand why no programme of visits has been offered by the Angican church here. I contacted them months beforehand and emailed a number of times. Perhaps they felt that we had a full programme. Nevertheless this was a very helpful meeting.

I have mentioned before how much Mrs Larcombe is enjoying the Solarium on the top floor of the hotel. However, we hadn't anticipated that she would be locked in. She was rescued by her knight in shining armour, who went up to see how she was, only to discover that the door to the Solarium had been locked from the inside. Mrs Larcombe was blissfully unaware of this and might have been up there all evening had her knight not rescued her. What a gallant fellow!

Visit Report 25

Place: Parque Julio A. Roca (CCNV)
Date of Visit: Thursday 7 December 7 pm

The third night of the campaign in Soldati. Tonight we were in the tent of liberacion - the deliverance tent. This is the place where people are brought to when they give their lives to Jesus or when they are in need of ministry.

Prior to the meeting, prayer takes place in this tent and continues from the start of the meeting. The tent is a fairly big marquee (about 50m by 40m). Inside, it is bare, except for plastic chairs, arranged around the outside.

In charge of the ministry within the tent is the Elder for Liberacion Ministry and inside are teams of people, organised in pairs, ready to pray for whoever is brought in. Throughout the meeting, these 50 or so people are praying continually. There are also a group of about twenty seated outside and these are the standby teams.

Liz and I were given a translator each - Liz with Eva, and me with Emiliano. This enabled us to hear what was going on, without being in the way. Emiliano often works on the security team and he is always on the alert. He is very protective of us. This is not surprising considering the security issues that Carlos Annacondia has had in the past, with attempts on his life.

The meeting had been going for just over an hour when the first woman, in her thirties, was brought in from the congregation. She had begun manifesting in the congregation, probably crying out and moving her arms around. The team of porters would have spotted her and gone into the congregation to physically bring her into the tent. They do this very well and, as we saw from their training, are very careful. However, they bring the people in fast to ensure that the disruption to the meeting is minimised. People in the congregation seem to just accept that this is what happens. We found out later that these are not just porters - they bind any demonic activity as they bring them in.

As the woman came in she was in, like a, 'hypnotic' state with eyes closed, breathing heavily, lashing out with her limbs. Her name was Annabel and the intensity within the tent rose as she was brought in and allocated to a pair of female ministers. They began by trying to sit her on a chair, whilst praying straight away for the demonic to leave her. She was unable to sit and was eased to the ground, where she continues to writhe. All around the tent there is peace as each of the people are praying quietly, mostly in tongues. The team continue to minister to her calmly, but authoritatively.

Liz was allocated to observe the ministry to this woman. Initially there was prayer, but as she gradually became able to talk, the team asked her direct questions about her present and past situation. Their objective was to find out what had caused the demonic manifestation. It turned out that she had lost a child eight months ago and she was angry with God. She had once been raped. Also, as a child she remembered her mother going to a group of witches. Her husband was involved with Umbanda, a Brazilian folk religion. They prayed with this woman for over an hour and she left the tent smiling and with joy in her face.

Meanwhile, Emiliano and I went back outside and observed as one further woman was brought in in the same state. As she was ministered to she started to cry in a child's voice. The team continued to minister, and later I saw her leave peacefully.

I sat with Emiliano close to a boy called Horge, who looked to be about eighteen. He came, carried in, in the same state, but within minutes was able to talk again. He had been born in Paraguay and had two brothers in Argentina, two behind with his mother in Paraguay. He was now quite homesick. As the team probed about his feelings about God and his family circumstances it emerged that he had a deep hatred for his cousin who treated him badly when he was seven years old. That hatred had remained and had grown through the years. The team asked if he had been involved in witchcraft or any other religions, which he said he had not. The team leader than prayed with him for him to forgive and release this hatred. More talking and direct questions followed and there was a sincere pastoral concern being shown for him.

After people have received ministry their contact details are taken and a record card is completed. There is even an admin desk in the marquee with an administrator. Also noted on the card are the details of exactly what has been prayed for and dealt with.

One postscript, security wise. is that a man was spotted, who had a gun tucked into the top of his trousers. The Police were called and as they arrived the man walked off. As the week goes on, the security team will be strengthened in number and especially vigilant.

Observations:
- We came to Argentina to see whether there was revival. These manifestations and the coming under the power of the Spirit are something that we have not seen to any degree in the UK. This would certainly stand out as a phenomenon that marks out what God is doing in some churches in Argentina.
- We continue to be impressed with the maturity of the ministry teams. These are not scalp-hunters looking for the number of souls they can save. These are people with a genuine love for people and their commitment to ministry is excellent.
- The deliverance ministry as we've seen here is mature. It is not the chase-the-name and come-out stereotype, but deliverance that seeks to discern emotional and spiritual roots. There is an sennse of spiritual authority in the tent, both in individuals and in their structures.

Visit Report 24

Place: Parque Julio A Roca (CCNV)
Date of Visit: Wednesday 6 December 7 pm

The second night of the campaign and a warmer night than last one. The parque is not the sort of place where taxis would come out to and the procedure is that we travel to the Agaces church and take one of the buses that have been specially laid on for transport to the parque. This generally means that we arrive early, so tonight we walked around the extensive grounds of the parque. We walked to a new-looking stadium that had been specially built for the Davis Cup last year. It will be used by CCNV on December 26th for a big church meeting.

Prayer was held in the liberacion tent prior to the meeting. Again it was strong warfare prayer with much praying in tongues. Despite the decisions and the testimonies, there is a sense amongst the team that the spiritual holds over the area have not been broken yet. The people then broke into their three groups: miracles; deliverance; porters. Each of the groups was being taught as a result of experience from the previous evening. CCNV are having to get used to operating in a different way to usual - no laying on of hands.

The meeting began with worship and this was followed by prayer and the offering. There is a genuine concern for people's welfare and a desire to see that the people be blessed with new jobs and financial blessing. The Catholic church was referred to from the stage as people who say that God says you are blessed if you are poor, as opposed to the contrary desire for God to bless you so that you may be a blessing to others.

The speaker, one of Annacondia's sons, spoke from Mark 4:35-41 - Jesus calms the storm. People were encouraged to have trust in jesus in all circumstances, especially difficult times.

At the end of the message came the response for salvation and miracles. There were more people than the previous evening. Once again the Spirit moved to convince people of their need for salvation and people start manifesting. Many were taken straight to the liberacion marquee.

The ministry of the Spirit was different this evening. There was much breaking of strongholds and prayers to free the people and break bondage's. There was no sense of having to rush and the people continued to receive at the front for at least thirty minutes. The teamwork was again excellent. There was order, which the team reminded me, commands a blessing.

The meeting concluded with about ten testimonies, including sight improvements, bone healings, hearing improvements and more.

Observations:
- The meeting grew in size from the previous night. We are being told that as the week goes on it will grow each night.
- There is a genuine desire to learn lessons from yesterday's ministry and to operate as desired by Annacondia's team.

Visit Report 21

Place: Parc Julio d' Roca (CCNV)
Date of Visit: Monday 4 December 7 pm

This is where we will be all this week for a week-long crusade with Carlos Annacondia, organised by CCNV and Carlos Annacondia's church.

The venue is a large parc near the Soldati area of Buenos Airies. Access is a problem as we're told that most taxis do not venture into this area. It is also an area in which people do not stop at red traffic lights at night in case their car is highjacked.

The parc was built about thirty years ago and consists of green areas, tennis courts, roller skating track, barbeque areas. However, it has been poorly maintained and looks worn out. It is beside a dual carriageway and on the opposite bank is a disused fun park complete with roller coaster and rides, which is now closed due to a number of safety incidents. There is a huge 300-foot tower there, which overlooks the parc, and has a set of rooms half way up which once served as a restaurant with a fantastic view of the city.

Somewhat chillingly, several people have independently told us that the area of the parc that we're in is an area where many dead bodies where found during the time of the disappearances, 30 years ago. Local people dug up the parc and found bodies and the also dredged the adjacent river and found many more there.

This first event for the beginning of the crusade week was a play, put on by the arts ministry of CCNV. As we saw at Soldati everything is superbly organised and a complete sound system, stage and seating for several hundred are brought in and set up in the open air.

The play was again very professionally done, with costumes, make up, lighting, sound effects. This was a different play to the one last week. This was about Rahab and the spies and the fall of the walls of Jerico. It lasted for about an hour and a half. Again it conveyed a theme of hope and deliverance by God from oppression.

At the end of the play, a member of the team spoke about the forthcoming week and they then made an appeal for those who wanted to give their lives to Jesus to stand and pray with them. A number of people appeared to be doing so and then it was apparent that the Holy Spirit was ministering to these people. People were falling under the power of the Spirit and this was manifest in their tears and their crying out to the Lord. A number of people were physically manifesting and these were carried or escorted by two or three people to a small marque beside the stage. There they were prayed for by waiting ministry teams. The ministry then moved into a time of prayer for miracles. The on-stage team consisted of two very strong intercessors, who led the ministry very much like an inside church service. I was surprised that this part looked so similar to a church service, and yet it was an evangelistic event. They even took an offering. The artificial separation of the two is perhaps more in my mind than theirs.

Testimonies were recorded and given at the end of the ministry.

Observations:
- Speaking to the team later, they did not expect to be praying for miracles and saw this as led by the Spirit and a great encouragement on the first night of the campaign.
- It was quite an incredible sight to see the Holy Spirit ministering to these people, as evidenced by their faces and their tears. There was no sense of rushing; the team just continued to pray.

Visit Report 22

Place: Parc Julio d' Roca (CCNV)
Date of Visit: Tuesday 5 December 7 pm

Today the Nights of Liberation and Miracles crusade began. The open-air stage, used for the play yesterday, had been modified to ensure that there was a six-foot drop all around it. We understood later that this was a security measure to prevent the speaker from being attacked. Security fencing had been put up all around. The changing-room tent had become a pastors headquarters. The intercession tent had become the tent of liberacion.

Other facilities had been provided. Ambulances were on standby; stand-alone toilets erected; a barbecue for snacks was lit.

The first night was preceded by intercession, followed by a briefing. The ministry team were working with another church and were having to operate in a different way. Carlos Annacondia was asking for there to be no laying on of hands, other than from the platform team.

The meeting itself started with worship led by one of the co-pastors. Carlos Annacondia's two sons led the next part of the meeting, with one of them preaching. His word was from John 5:1-8 about the healing that Jesus did at the pool of Bethesda.

At the end of the message an appeal was made for two responses: those who wanted to give their lives to Jesus, and those who wanted a miracle. There was a huge response, but the ministry team handled it very well by forming a human chain and leading the way forward. This allowed them to ensure that the crowd did not get crushed in front of the stage.

The speaker asked people who wanted to give their lives to Jesus. There were the physical manifestations as, apparently, demons started manifesting. The team were ready for this. The procedure was to look into the crowd from in front of the stage area and for those who were manifesting to be taken to the tent of liberacion. M translator and I observed from just below the stage and I saw one woman carried away by three or four people. She was moving her arms and kicking out with her feet so much that at one point she was pinned to the floor. She was one of many who, like this, were taken to the tent for deliverance from demons. Evangelistic teams went among the crowd taking note of the names of those who had given their lives to Jesus that night. I would estimate there were between twenty of thirty, but I'll find out the official figures.

Next came the prayer for miracles. People were encouraged to remove their glasses and to come out of their wheelchairs. The speaker prayed for miracles. People around those in wheelchairs prayed with them. This is where the human chain came into its own, releasing people gradually to allow room for them to be prayed for at the front. The platform speaker and pastors prayed for people by laying hands on their head. There were a couple of hundred receiving this ministry.

Testimonies were then collected and some of them came on to the stage. These included a woman with tumours, which she believed, had gone. Another was a leg which was healed. Another a knee. All those who testified were prayed for afterwards.

The feeling amongst the team was that this was a very good start to the crusade. We joined the pastors team for a meal afterwards in the tent.

Observations:
- First and foremost was the physical manifestations. We will get a chance to see what happens in the tent later in the week. I have seen this before in the UK, but not on this scale.
- The teamwork within this church is excellent. They act so well in their roles. They know what they have to do and they do it.
- The use of the word miracles may be a translation issue. I would like to talk to people to gain their understanding of prayer for healing.
- What a privilege for Liz and myself to be given access to all areas to see for ourselves how it all works. Thank you, Lord.

Visit Report 20

Place: Fray Justo Ste. M. de Oro 272
Date of Visit: Friday 1 December 11 am

An unusual visit report this one, but nevertheless worthy for insight to my purpose for being here. This is about a conversation with the person who cut my hair today!

He asked what I was doing in Buenos Aires. Upon telling him I was a priest in the Church of England, his first question was how could I be a priest and be married - he'd observed my wedding ring.

I explained that in England it is possible for priests to be married as there is no celibacy rule.

He told me that he was a Christian. His family were Catholic and he was kind-of born Catholic. It was what you did. However, I got the impression that his was a notional Christianity.

I said that we were visiting a number of churches and I asked if he'd been to any Evangelical churches. Certainly not, was the vehement response. He didn't need to be told what to believe.

Back to the subject of priests. Clearly he was appalled at the sexual abuses that were going on. In his eyes, 95% of all priests in his country were involved in scandal and he attributed this to the fact that they weren't allowed to marry.

He also mentioned that he had a friend who was a Muslim and he wanted him to read the Koran to let him see that Islam had other values than terrorism. He did intend to do this.

Never mind the theological talk, he did a good hair cut at about half the price of one in the UK. See for yourself...

Visit Report 17

Place: CCNV Church - Agaces
Date of Visit: Wednesday 30 November 5 pm

Alberto is an ancient elder and his department has overall responsibility for our visit. He is also responsible for the organisation of the Carlos Annacondia crusade next week, so he is very busy at present. Nevertheless he gave us some of his time to answer our questions.

- Is there revival in Argentina, or is it a move of God? "You make your own revival."

- Is there any vision in CCNV for working with other churches? Working together is not their vision, but they encourage others to come to them to receive and be blessed.

Is the crusade form of evangelism still relevant? Mostly, it is person to person now. Crusades are ok, but now the group strategy is the most effective. You must have pastoral care in place or you lose people.

Visit Report 19

Church: Rey de Reyes (Claudio Freidzon)
Web: www.reydereyes.sion.com
Date of visit: Saturday 2 December

We visited Claudio Freidzon's church for the second time. He had just returned from a ministry trip to Mozambique and a DVD about the visit was shown to the church.

I feel very much at home in this church. Perhaps it's because the words for the songs are on a screen that it is easier to worship. Or maybe its the style of worship, which is more like what we are used to a Kingdom Faith in Horsham.

Again we were well cared for with translation being made for us. We could have done without the translator singing though!

Freidzon preached from Psalm 23 about the good shepherd. After the word, communion was held from a table the the front using small plastic cups and bread, which were passed around. Freidzon used the words from 1 Corinthians as he prayed over the bread and wine.

Then he again ministered in the Spirit.
He has this gift, which I've also seen in Sandy Millar, where he can see the flow of the Spirit over a congregation. He knows where the Spirit is going to go and he sees and tells those people what to expect. People were receiving the anointing and he was praying for more fire.

Then something strange happened. He asked one of his team to reach into the row (I was in the middle of the fourth row) and pray for me. The anointing of the Spirit was very strong. Then the man praying for me told me to look at Freidzon. When I did so, Freidzon was looking at me from the stage and praying for more fire to fall upon me. Again there was a very strong and powerful anointing. The meeting concluded with people coming to the front to receive ministry. Freidzon's right hand man beckoned us to the front and Claudio prayed for us. I fell to the floor and was hauled back up. Claudio said, "You will never be the same again."

After the meeting Claudio asked me when we were going back to the UK. I replied jokingly, "Never, we love your country." We told him the date and that we were going to Mar del Plata. He said it was a good time to be going there. He said we were welcome to come again in the meantime.

Observations:
- We received something special here tonight. It is as if the Lord is giving us something from each church - anointing from here; organisational strategy from CCNV.

Visit Report 15

Place: CCNV Church - Agaces
Date of Visit: Monday 27 November 6 pm

Anibal Basali is a major elder in the church with responsibilities for the miracles ministry and the new home schooling project. He is a qualified medical doctor, although he is now on the full-time church staff.

He has just returned from the UK, where he was looking at home schooling. Schooling in Argentina is apparently very poor. The Pastor's vision is to pioneer and implement home schooling as a role model for the nation. The church is working with the education institutions in this.

We spoke about a number of issues:

- Spiritual warfare is key to everything they do. We discussed the attitude in the UK, where there are many different opinions about how much to get involved, and even whether you should. I cited the New Wine network, which makes it clear that it does not hold this as one of its values. In reply, Anibal spoke about 20 blocks of houses, which are in front of the church in Agaces. At one time they had no-one at all attending from this area. So, they started spiritual warfare over this area a number of years ago and took on the controlling spirits and principalities. Every Saturday people went out and prayed for the area, fighting with authority, but the enemy resists. However, he cautioned, "You must love people."
The result today is that there are a lot of church members from this area and there are many groups operating there.

- In the 80's and 90's churches went wrong and stopped going out in evangelism. They were enjoying the move of God with its manifestations and blessings, but they stopped reaching out to new people. The Pastor at this church had a revelation for evangelistic and pastoral groups and carried on with outreach when others were looking inwards. The result is this healthy, strong church today.

- We discussed the prayer and spiritual warfare that had gone on in Peterborough. Prayer for the gates of the city; all-night prayer meetings; united prayer days. As he listened Anibal asked quite a profound question, "What is your goal?" He said that prayer needs a goal or a target. I wondered whether this was us in Trumpet Call and other prayer initiatives. Do we have a goal? Have we reached it? Is that why we've stopped and moved on to something else.

- We discussed stress and tiredness in their workers and leaders. Here we touched on a sensitive area. We said that Liz and I were struggling with the late night culture here and wondered how people manage to sustain having three to four hours sleep per night. Anibal said that this is a subject they do not really like to talk about as it can discourage the body of the church. He said that here they encourage members to concentrate on one ministry and they seek to involve the family in the ministry and in all aspects of church life. He said that sometimes church members come and say they are doing too much at church, but when they look at their week they find it's a small percentage of their time. He asks, Is it oppression? Is that why they are feeling this way? He said that taking a break is usually the first time the enemy gets in and he knows as a doctor that you get tired even if you don’t work.

- Anibal described what he saw in the UK and Europe as people with masks over their faces. People with needs that they can't acknowledge. He describes this as mute screaming. He can see that inside they are screaming for God, but nothing comes out and they are mute.

Observations:
- This was a really frank discussion. We are moving into a new phase of observation as we start to ask some reflective questions.
- I have some concerns about this home schooling strategy that it could lead to isolation. However, it is difficult to assess how poor and inadequate the education is here.
- They appear to be sailing close to the wind. I wonder how close some of these key leaders are burnout.

Visit Report 16

Place: Union de las Asambleas de Dios, Rvdo. Enrique Walter Strohschein, Presidente Nacional, Av Rivadavia 4160
Date of Visit: Wednesday 29 November 2.30 pm

This visit was set up by Claudio Coquet, who told us, "He has more than 1000 churches under him, CCNV, Jose Vena, and many more are part of AOG. Please give our love to AoG president (his name is Enrique Strohschein, a tough German with
God's heart! Love him to bits)."

Claudio was absolutely right. He was a man of God who encouraged us, prayed for us and blessed us with God's love.

As a pastor of pastors he was impressed that our church was able to provide a sabbatical. We explained that we had made contact with the Anglican church in Buenos Aires, but no hospitality had yet been forthcoming. He has learnt a key for coping with his workload, that is to spend one hour of prayer per day. He tells this to all the pastors under his care. He faces many pastoral issues with pastors under his care and it is exhausting work.

He also shared a verse with us, which he shares with all pastors: Jeremiah 10:21 'The shepherds are senseless and do not enquire of the Lord; so they do not prosper and all their flock is scattered.' He urged us to meditate on this verse in our ministry.

We asked whether he considered Argentina still to be in revival. He said, "Argentina is receiving a wonderful move of God, but it is not revival." He cited the crusades of Carlos Annacondia in San Fernando, where he lives. In 1986 there were 80,000 at the crusade and the people were packed into the tent. In 1996 there were 6,000. Recently, in 2006 he'd heard that there were 3,600. He said that it is a delight to minister in Argentina, a nation blessed by God.

He told us the story of twelve prisoners, known as the 12 apostles. They were violent men, even cannibals, who were eventually separated. One of these prisoners converted after one of the AOG Pastors risked his life to share the Gospel. That prisoner then led others to Christ and great things have been happening in the prisons.

Personally, he has seen many converts from these times whose lives do not yet reflect Christ. They get involved in lying, stealing, being bad witnesses, being poor workers. He said there is a big problem in Argentina with making disciples. He has seen the Cell church and G12 movements come and go and believes that many people have been put in leadership positions far too soon.

Enrique also teaches at a Bible school run by AOG here and is involved in other Bible schools..

He kindly gave us a calendar and DVD of their ministry.

He and his colleague prayed for us before we left. It was a powerful prayer for fire to be upon our ministry, for God's anointing, for blessing upon us and our family.

Observations:
- As Claudio said, he was a great man, who you knew was passionate about prayer and knew the source of his strength and sustenance. Liz said it was like meeting with an elder statesman.
- We were very grateful for his time amongst many pastoral situations and demands.
- It was fascinating to hear his views on revival and a real insight.

Visit Report 14

Place: CCNV Soldati
Date of Visit: Monday 27 November 7pm

We returned to Soldati, which is a very poor area of Buenos Aires consisting of blocks of flats that have been occupied illegally and an area of shacks and wooden structures under the highway. We were here to attend a GO (Grupos d'Oracion) group, or praying group.

This group takes place in the flats in a downstairs room, which is used as a Pizzeria. The hosts were Marcelo and his wife. The flat has electricity and a telephone, but the floor is concrete and the walls have no decoration. The walls have been patched up and it looks as if a window has been removed and bars have been poorly fitted in its place.

Before these GO groups begin, there is a period of evangelism inviting people to come to the group. Pedro, our driver and the leader of the meeting, invited us to join him in this evangelism. This was a sight to behold. His approach is to stop people in the road, tell them about the group and then take their arm and lead them into the meeting room. We saw this with a man in his 40's who was stopped, prayed for and marched into the room all within the space of 3 minutes. He did have a choice and willingly did so. The next were a family of two parents and two young children. We were introduced as the visitors from the UK, and within 30 seconds, Pedro had us praying for them in the street. The people are very open and in great need, and they wanted us to pray for them. Prayer complete they were then invited to the room, which they willingly agreed to.

Evangelism over, we went into the room to find the group assembling. The hosts' parents, young men, a woman with a baby, and older women had been joined by this new couple and their young children. Unfortunately the first man must have got cold feet as he was no longer in the room when we returned. Altogether there were over 20 people in the room and it was standing room only as the meeting began.

The meeting began with worship using music on cassette supplied by the GO resource team. There was then prayer for the meeting and the rebuking of evil. We were introduced and asked to say a few words about ourselves, which were well received. More prayer was followed by Pedro bringing the word from the Bible. Unfortunately his anointing for super-fast evangelism did not equip him for super-fast preaching and the message went on far too long. This was a great pity as the couple with their young children were starting to look disinterested. Even the hosts had gone into the kitchen when Pedro started to speak. Eventually he concluded and it was time for the offering. I noticed that the man of the couple gave into the offering.

The meeting concluded with prayer, asking the Holy Spirit to minister. We were invited to go around and lay hands on those present. The meeting concluded with a notice about the crusade with Carlos Annacondia taking place close by in the following week. As with other GO groups, there is a set format and it doesn’t allow for coffee and drinks.

There were a stream of people asking us to pray for them and it felt as if we had turned a corner from observation to ministry. We mostly prayed in tongues and I noticed that my tongue became very strong whilst I was praying here - more so than most of the time in the UK. There were many needs - financial, mostly pensions; health, especially children; family reconciliation; work, the need for jobs.

Observations:
- There is an openness to prayer here that we have not seen in the UK. Maybe it's because their needs are so great.
- Pedro aside, there is a desire to bring people into relationship with God, and they are prepared to do something about it by inviting their neighbours.

Visit Report 13

Place: CCNV Radio Station - Parque Vida
Date of Visit: Monday 27 November 5pm

Parque Vida is a 24/7 FM and internet-streaming radio station broadcasting to the whole of the Buenos Aires area, which is part of the ministry of CCNV.

There is one studio and a control room. Music is stored in mp3 format on computer. There is a reception area, which is manned for 24 hours for telephone prayer requests. Upstairs there is an editing room and a prayer room. The transmitter and aerial are located in the same building.

We were invited into the studio and met with the presenters, one of whom was called, Mercedes. We were then invited to speak about where we came from, who we were and how we had come to be in Argentina. As the programme continued we were asked to speak about how we had become Christians and about what God has been doing through our church.

After the programme we had a tour of the building. Later, as we drove to our next appointment, our driver told us that he had been listening on the radio and had been greatly encouraged by our testimonies.

Observations:
- This is a very impressive operation, financed as a ministry of the church and staffed by church members.
- They have a licence for FM, which is very different to the UK system, which has very limited FM availability and is very restrictive on licences for Christian broadcast.

Visit Report 12

Place: El Buena Pastor church (AOG), Lomas de Zamora
Date of Visit: Sunday 26 November 6pm

Our first visit to a church in the provinces of Buenos Aires. We were collected by Suzanna and her husband, who kindly drove into BA to collect us. On the way out to the church we passed through some very poor sub-urban areas, which are areas that the church ministers to. The translator was Ricardo Forbes, who spoke very good English.

We had previously met the pastor, Jose Vena and his wife Rita, when they visited Peterborough in June 2006 and spoke at Pastor David Week's church, PICC, which is about half a mile from our Vicarage.

The church had only been open for two weeks and was a well-designed building with a stage area able to hold the worship band and speakers. There was seating for about three hundred (my estimate). The church was beside a school, which Suzanna taught at.

The style of the service was not unusual - worship group and choir; offering; word; ministry. The worship was well done and enabled people to enter into the presence of God. We were enthusiastically welcomed by Pastor Vena and asked to say a few words of introduction to the congregation. The offering was taken as an important part of the service.

Pastor Vena spoke from Mark 1:9-11 about John the Baptist, baptizing Jesus in the desert. He said, that, always the heavens remain open where there is obedience to God. The Holy Spirit guides you and we must learn. He asked, "Do you speak in tongues?". You must render yourself. Pastor Vena is obviously a good teacher and it was good to hear some Bible exposition, which sometimes seems to be a bit limited at CCNV.

The meeting concluded with the offering of the baptism of the Spirit and prayer to be filled with the Spirit. About 50 people responded and a time of ministry followed.

After the service we were invited to the leaders team meeting, which is usually held. Its purpose is to review the scripture preached and produce three questions for use in the cell groups during the week. Having completed the questions, empanadas (cornish pasty-type pastries) were served. There was also a couple from Switzerland, who are regular visitors to this church. They are visiting for five weeks. We all prayed together and we felt very much to be part of the family.

Pastor Vena prayed for Liz and myself:
Liz:
New fire
Release of healing
Paul:
This not yet revealed to men
Step by step grace released
Fire to preach the Gospel
Not to be afraid of boldness
Revelation of wisdom and grace

Suzanna and her husband also kindly drove us back to our hotel in BA.

Observations:
- It was good to hear some excellent Bible exposition.
- It was also good to see a church in a sub-urban area, which felt more like (charismatic) churches that we are used to in Peterborough.
- Once again, excellent hospitality was provided for us.
- The ministry of the Spirit flowed and many people received, but this did not appear to be any different compared to the UK.

Visit Report 11

Place: CCNV Soldati
Date of Visit: Saturday 25 November 4pm

Soldati is a very poor area of Buenos Aires. It consists of blocks of flats that have been occupied illegally and an area of shacks and wooden structures under the highway. People do not pay rent and there are limited services of electricity and water. In the shacks the electricity is taken from the highway above. The people are apparently very cynical about politicians, who they feel have let them down and used them for political purposes.

CCNV church have been working in the area for a number of years praying for the area and providing for the people. They have a number of praying groups in the area, of which we would visit one on Monday. They believe that they have done a lot of spiritual groundwork, using spiritual warfare to rid the area of the influence of evil and are continually praying for the area. This is also close to the area in which Carlos Annacondia will carry out the crusade in a couple of weeks time.

This event was an outreach to the area consisting of a theatre play, health talks, provision of a tea for the children, prayer and provision of food for the people in the shacks.

A massive stage was erected, with curtains and scenery. A sound system, complete with about six radio microphones was set up. Chairs were brought in for about 300 people.

The first event was a talk by a health visitor from the church, who addressed a number of the women about use of water, care of children, breast feeding etc. The women were very open and appreciated the advice and practical tips. Topics also included sanitation, cleaning of teeth and the importance of feeding the children before themselves. There were a number of under 16's there with babies. One of the babies had a kind of bronchial fever, which looked like the symptons of a very heavy cold.

The play was conceived and staged by a ministry of the church called, Artandveida?, an arts and music ministry. It was of a very high standard with full costume and make up. The sound was professionally done, although being in the open air, it was spoilt by the strong wind. The play was based on the story of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem by Nehemiah, which seemed very appropriate for the regeneration of this community. The play had about eight scenes and lasted for a couple of hours, including comedy and dialogue. There were some pantomime-type scenes, which the children enjoyed. It culminated in a girl dressed in the Argentinean colours, with a huge backdrop of the Argentinean flag, rising up through God's deliverance and bringing hope and faith to the people. At least that was my interpretation! Mrs Larcombe lost the plot after about an hour. It really was too long and a number of the people drifted away before the end.

At the end, the characters mingled with the audience and gave out food and drinks to the children. Since when we first arrived church members had been getting alongside the audience, chatting to them, taking note of any prayer requests and this continued as the event drew to a close. I noticed quite a few members of the church praying for people and there were many tears as God's presence became manifest. The mercy mission of the church took quite a number of food parcels into the shacks.

By now it was about 8pm. No toilets could be provided and we and our translator, Amiliano, were fit to burst. It was a great relief to get back to the downtown church!

The job of dismantling the stage, sound system and chairs was performed very efficiently. However, the logistics of getting all of that, plus all the church members out of the area, was quite a logistical challenge.

Security wise, the church were obviously looking after our welfare. We noticed that we weren't invited to go into the shacks area. However, there seemed to be quite a peaceful atmosphere in the whole area and there was no sense of violence at any time. When I spoke to church members about this, they attributed it to the prayer and spiritual warfare which has gone on in this area for many years and has given favour to the church.

Observations:
- This was a very impressive work. Once again, everyone knew their role and the whole thing seemed to work like clockwork. It involved a number of ministries all working together superbly.
- The positive atmosphere, in amongst an area of desperate poverty, was quite incredible. You have to conclude that it is a fruit of earlier work.
- The mission here was holistic - preaching of the Gospel and education and feeding and hospitality and love. It is also a long-term work, not a one-off event with little follow-up.

This evening, downtown in Buenos Aires we undertook some research to help us with our next Maundy Thursday shoe shining. On Maundy Thursday, in Peterborough for the past three years, free shoe shining has been undertaken by clergy and lay ministers from the Diocese.

Revds Tim Sledge and Ron Watkinson do a great job of organising us, but I have to conclude that we do a pretty lite job by comparison.

There is a chair-stool, a foot-stool and a table laid out with various creams, brushes and cloths. The price for a shine is 3 pesos, about 60p, and he took between 10 and 15 minutes to clean both shoes.

It is a five-step process:

Step 1: The shoe sine begins with a general brushing of the shoes.

Step 2: Next comes the fitting of leather sleeves between the top of the shoe and the socks to protect the polish from going onto the socks. (Note: So that's how it's done! I always wondered about this during my role as an apprentice shoe-shiner).

Step 3: A type of liquid polish is then applied thoroughly to all parts of the shoe. The shoe is then left to dry, whilst work starts on the other shoe.

Step 4: Now comes the real work. Solid polish is applied to the shoe. This is then brushed energetically and thoroughly.

Step 5: The final stage is the polishing. First comes one cloth as a rough polish remover, and this is followed by the piece-de-resistance - a special polishing cloth held between the hands and vigorously moved from side to side at the back and front of the shoe.

The gleam in the shoes was very apparent - they were almost better than new. The man did such a great job and he had a very pleasant manner. Like all satisfied customers, we will return in the next few days with our other shoes, which have taken a battering on some of the dusty streets of Buenos Aires!

Visit Report 10

Place: CCNV Hospital ministry, Penna
Date of Visit: Saturday 25 November 2pm

Monica heads up the hospital ministry for CCNV. They minister in 36 different hospitals throughout Buenos Aires and have teams of hospital visitors, who visit on a weekly basis. We went to Penna Hospital, which is just behind the Agaces Church.

The hospital facilities seemed very poor. There were plastic gloves, left lying on the floor and the patients cupboards all looked dirty. Liz said that the storage of medicines was not up to the sort of basic nursing standards that she is used to. There were very few medicines visible.

We met the team of about 20 visitors in the grounds of the hospital. The team prayed for opportunities to pray for and speak with patients, staff and visitors. We went with a small team of men and a small team of women. Each visitor carries a record sheet to record the patients name and any prayer requests and they also have leaflets about Christianity and about the church.

As we approached an upstairs ward the first sight we saw was two armed Police standing in the corridor outside one of the bays. Inside a young man of about 20 was handcuffed to the bed. Apparently he had tried to harm his cousin and would be going to jail once his treatment was complete.

We were very impressed with the team of visitors. They spoke sensitively to all the patients in each bay and when they offered to pray for them, each patient said yes. This is in complete contrast to the UK, where hospital visiting is mostly a matter of talking to the patients, many of whom are sceptical of prayer. Also, because of the faith of these visitors, the prayers were for healing and miracles, as well as for comfort and peace.

Liz was given a special, and unusual, opportunity to go into intensive care with one of the teams. Inside Liz said it was like going back to the 1930's in terms of the available equipment and technology - more like a field-hospital. One man was being treated for a gunshot wound and they had an opportunity to pray for him. A couple of young people were prayed for, who gave their lives to Christ there and then. Altogether about ten were prayed for, as well as one of the nurses.

I asked if there was a hospital chaplaincy, but there didn’t seem to be. The Catholic church has special privileges, but the team were pretty disparaging about any real pastoral care provided, which seemed to be limited to a couple of services a year. They quoted one pastoral situation involving a patient who had just died and the Catholic priest wasn’t interested in speaking to the relatives. There is an outside chapel for use by all. Above the ward entrance was a shrine/doll of the Virgin.

Observations:
- It was so refreshing to see the team taking Jesus into the hospital. So often in the UK we seem to take what we have to offer, but keep Jesus hidden in the background. The people's openness to prayer was staggering.
- There is a real financial crisis here in terms of hospital funding. There is a need for the prophetic ministry of the churches in the nation to speak out against the corruption that we are constantly hearing of.
- I was very impressed with the organisation of the team, which had clearly been very well trained. A ministry to 36 hospitals, without being part of an official chaplaincy is a pretty impressive fruit of the Spirit.