Brian Reports: Neuquen, Argentina

Neuquén, Argentina – I recently spent several days in the province capital of Neuquen, located in South Central Argentina. It is a city of 350,000 and considered to be the northern entry point into the area called Patagonia. Sitting in the foothills of the Andes Mountains, it is dry and cold.

I was joined by one of our videographers, Sergio Villegas. Our purpose was to film a video around the theme of “Equip” which showcases the life and ministry of Pastor Ariel Almirón.



While there, I had the opportunity to visit Radio Impacto and meet with the director, Pablo Castro. Radio Impacto is one of several radio stations airing our broadcasts in Neuquén. I also was able to cross the river into the Province of Rio Negro and meet with a new radio station in the city of Cipolletti. I was interviewed on both radios stations and was able to share about our ministries.

I presented a communication workshop on the Saturday afternoon in the Church of the Nazarene “Gracias Señor.” The director of the radio station in Cipolletti, Isaías, came with several staff members along with some listeners interested in what we are doing. Also, a lady associated with the Church of the Nazarene, who works in secular media in Neuquén, came. She will be a great contact and has agreed to help us get in the doors of the secular media there. It was a great success and many people were excited about using mass media to reach an unchurched audience.

The video shoot with Ariel went great and will showcase how the ministries of theological education, literature, communications and missions are equipping the church and developing new leaders.



Through the process of the video shoot, we met Carlos Amaza. Carlos is a Police Officer in Neuquén and attends the Church of the Nazarene. We soon realized that his testimony and current ministry is a story worth telling. Carlos has been a Police Officer for 22 years and a Christian for 8. He currently works out of the 18th precinct with the social issues facing the community.



In Neuquén there is a neighborhood on the northern part of the city where more than 75,000 people are living in the worst conditions I have ever seen in South America. Carlos is working in this neighborhood as a part of his work, but it is also his ministry. We visited several ‘homes’ made from scrap wood, plastic, pretty much anything they could tie together for a roof and walls. There are little who have electricity and most bathrooms are large paint buckets in corners. I was amazed because my bathroom is the size of their entire house.

In first house we visited, the husband had recently physically abused his wife and we talked with them and calmed them both down. Carlos gave the husband a stern lecture and told him if he had Jesus in his heart, he must respect his wife. Carlos deals with more than 1,000 family violence cases every year in that neighborhood. The wife had a face full of tears and was pleading to be able to go out of the house. The husband was fearful of her safety in this area and showed off his many knife scars from his own encounters in the neighborhood. They have a 2 and 1 year-old and she is expecting their third child. I had the opportunity to pray with this couple and share mate with them.

The next house we visited had an old station wagon (minus wheels and windows) in front of the house. It is where the dogs seem to sleep. It was actually nicer than the home we entered. The house had plastic sheets for walls and a large whole in the roof. The floor was dirt and a rat-infested mattress lay on the floor. The house was full of smoke from a homemade wood-burning stove to heat the place. Carlos had led this couple to the Lord just three days earlier. They are both alcoholics and look twice as old as their actual age. Carlos showed me that that had cleaned up around the house and sitting on a wooden crate, used as a table, was a bottle of soda. They haven’t taken a drop of alcohol since accepted Christ earlier in the week. As the shared how God had changed them, tears were pouring down the husband’s face. Carlos was able to get some new roofing material to fix the hole.



Another house we stopped at was actually still in construction and lacking a wall. A single mother lives there with her five children. We talked to the mother and shared Jesus with her. She, along with two of her children and another boy from the neighborhood, asked Jesus into their hearts.

Carlos then took us to the city dump, where most of the people look for cardboard, glass, plastic, anything they can sell to recycle. We stood around a campfire talking with a man who actually lives in the dump. He has set up a little place to sleep and that is his life.

I honestly was overwhelmed by the needs in this area. The more I thought about it the more I began to think about other cities in South America - Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Rosario, Lima, Rio de Janiero, Quito, Bogota, even Pilar - where I live. All of these cities have neighborhoods like these. I asked Carlos, what we as a Church could do for these people, besides share Jesus. Do they need a soup kitchen? Do they need clothes? He told me that most have jobs, most have food, most have a ‘roof’ over their heads. They are in that situation for various reasons: drugs, alcohol, lack of training, etc. So, Carlos told me what they need is to be educated, not only about Jesus, but also about the basic social skills of life. The Argentine government is beginning a literacy program and the local churches are involved and helping.



I notice that almost all live below the radar of mass media. They have no TV, no radio and they can’t read. So, how do we reach them? How do we as a communications ministry reach this oral society and offer them Jesus and a social education to find a better way to live?

This is preoccupation this week. I am tossing around many ideas and beginning to put together a project linking communications and compassionate ministries. If we are called to reach the unreachable, we must reach them.

Be looking for Carlos’ testimony next year on WMDVD. I pray it impacts lives…it impacted mine.