January 11, 2005

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Greetings to all of you from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania! We hope that this Christmas season was a time of meeting Immanuel, God with us, and that you had some time to celebrate his love, care, and real presence. It was certainly a different Christmas and New Year for us since instead of joining with our small local church in Buenos Aires, singing Christian “folk” songs, and joining neighbors in a time of celebration outdoors, barbecuing our “famous” Argentinean asado (grilled meat), we had to remain indoors in the warmth of our place.

Some of you are aware that we are in the United States until July 2005, and we are eager to have the opportunity to come to see more of you and correspond on a more regular basis. Manuela took a “rest” from the coordination of the Young Adult Volunteer program in Argentina to finish her masters of divinity courses by the end of May 2005. This is a very busy time for us but especially for her since in addition to classes she has to prepare for ordination exams, complete CPE (chaplaincy program) at a local hospital, and fulfill weekly responsibilities at Catasauqua Presbyterian Church in the Lehigh Valley. But we are excited to know that we still have six months left to share with you news of our ministry in Argentina and opportunities to become stronger partners responding to God’s mission here in the United States and in Argentina.

Those who participate in the YAV program come for one year to minister and serve with our partners and us and become special bridges between congregations in the south and in the north. By the way, this is the time—the deadline is February—to apply to the program. We encourage young adults who would like to serve in the United States or abroad for a year to go to the PC(USA) Web page, search for an application, and fill it. We encourage you to pray and take this step of faith, knowing that God will transform you beyond your wildest dream while serving Him and neighbor this year!

Our daughters are also being transformed by the opportunity to live in the United States for a year. They are discovering the way of life in the United States has both wonderful and difficult sides. Laura is in seventh grade and taking advantage of the precious gift of public libraries, art classes, and other options that the school system and the city offer. She is developing her lovely voice by attending choir at church. This was a dream of hers, so she is feeling very encouraged. Camila, who is now in third grade, is learning a lot of English and has several friends, though she still misses her many friends in Argentina.

Argentina continues with deep economic difficulties, especially with its international debt. It will probably soon start to pay interest on this “eternal debt,” which was mostly implemented by big banks so greedy that their only concern is the interest on the debt, a sum already paid several times despite its having been illegally contracted! Churches in Argentina and Uruguay are coping with many needs in their communities presenting the gospel as the only real hope for mankind to change the present situation. It is true that in times of trouble many people turn to the church for an answer and all of us, as the church community, need to present the whole gospel of Jesus Christ.

We present for your prayers these two countries and the churches attending to the people’s needs. At the same time, we do not want to keep silence about the tremendous need of prayer and support towards all the people who are suffering in the Asian part of our world through the deadly impact of the tsunami effect.

We send you our love and hope to hear from you. Our, phone, email, and mailing address are correct as above.

Your brother and sisters in Christ on furlough in the United States.

Juan, Manuela, Laura and Camila Kauer

The 2005 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.40