We spent the night in the town of Gobernator Gregores, population 3500, after 6 hours by the side of the road attempting to hitchhike to the Estancia (the Argentine name for ranch).
The next morning, I walked around and found the “Templo Evangelico,” which was quite an exciting discovery since we hadn’t been to church in a while. We went back at 10 and no, there wasn’t a service, but a bible study would very soon get under way. From what I gathered, the 2 hour study was about the devil and his various schemes, accompanied by a reading and extensive commentary on what is probably every relevant New Testament verse. Two long-suffering souls in the front row read at least 30 passages, as the adults listened attentively. Needless to say, Seth and I identified a bit more with the children, who fidgeted or tugged on their parents' clothing.
The service ended with what some of our French companions here on the ranch have described as an exorcism: The teacher would pray over someone and then push them back into the waiting arms of two or three other parishioners. At first it was novel, but the strangeness of the situation soon became overpowering. Seth and I agreed that it would not be ill-mannered to leave immediately, so we did.
**Blog post interrupted to go catch and slaughter a sheep, no joke**
After lunch we took a taxi for 30 kilometers and then walked with all our luggage on a dirt road for almost 4 hours. The wheels on Seth's suitcase were not a big help and they are no more. The third car that passed us picked us up and dropped us off at the ranch, where we will be for the next 3 weeks.
Very interesting! May God continue to watch over you both! Keep blogging! pdb
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