BIMI missionaries, Keith and Judy Harrison, have travelled a winding, challenging, and scenic road to achieve a ministry for Christ in Argentina. It has been a fourteen-year journey including thousands of miles, two very different cultures, mostly ups and a few downs from the Midwestern U.S. to the tip of South America. A journey marked by genuine compassion and great joy.

As the old proverb states, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step,” and that important first step took place for Keith Harrison in June of 1969. It was a step from darkness into light when Keith accepted Christ as his saviour during Vacation Bible School. He was attending a small Baptist church in Indiana as a “bus kid”—a big change from his early home life.

Keith explains, “I was born in a Gypsy home. My father was a Gypsy by race, a man whose people migrated from Romania to England and then to the U.S. My mother was born of Scots-Irish descendants. I was raised in a difficult home—parents divorced and remarried and unsaved with no church background.” Keith’s Gypsy lineage translated into moving around as a child. “I was born in Kentucky, raised in Indiana, and lived in Illinois for several years—just like Abraham Lincoln, although I’m about a foot shorter and not as famous!”

Judy is a native of Illinois. They met in high school and later began dating while attending Hyles Anderson College. When he finished his studies in 1982, he returned to his home church, Faith Baptist Church in Bourbonnais, Illinois. But God intended for Keith and Judy to be flexible and make another move—this time a much bigger one.

Five men influenced Keith’s commitment to missions; three of them were living and known to him at the time, and two, who “being dead, yet speaketh.” Keith’s pastor Tim Starr, Dr. Don Sisk and Dr. Roy Ackerle of BIMI helped Keith fall in love with missions. Reading David Brainerd’s diary and the testimony of God’s prophet in Isaiah 6 influenced him after a long struggle to surrender to the mission field of Buenos Aires, Argentina.

As a journey might involve covering different terrains and geography, Keith and Judy found this to be true in a spiritual sense. After a desert struggle of surrendering to missions, the next part of their journey, deputation, was like a stroll through pleasant pastures. In describing their deputation experience, Keith says, “The Lord blessed tremendously! We raised our support in about 14 months. We presented our work to 120 churches, and 70 took us on for support. Many souls were saved and there were miraculous answers to prayer.”

On August 8, 1989, Keith and Judy with sons Kyle and Ryan (ages six and four) landed in Buenos Aires, Argentina. They immediately felt three strong conflicting emotions that have remained with them for their fourteen years in Argentina. “We were touched by the great need. Buenos Aires is a city of 14 million people. We were appalled by the corruption in the government and the Roman Catholic Church. However, we fell in love with the people.”

Argentina is in some ways a mystery to those of us in the US. It is a country with European sympathy and receptiveness; however, in recent times the economy is almost that of a third world country. The population of the nation is aproaching 37 million, with more than one-third of the people living in or around Buenos Aires.

Argentina comprises 22 provinces which are grouped into five major areas: (1) The Atlantic Coastal, or Littoral provinces, where Buenos Aires is located; (2) The Northern provinces; (3) The Central provinces; (4) The provinces of the Andes, or Andina; and (5) The Patagonian provinces. Spanish is the official language and is spoken by the overwhelming majority of Argentines. Italian and other Native American languages are still spoken as well. Roman Catholics make up more than 92 percent of the population. While some other religions are practiced, there are some sects that are banned as “injurious to public order.” By law, the president and vice president of Argentina must be Roman Catholic.

The inhabitants of Buenos Aires represent various European nationalities. About 85 percent of the Argentine population is of European origin, unlike most Latin American countries where the population is largely mestizo (mixed). The government officially encourages European immigration, with Spanish and Italian immigrants predominating, followed by significant numbers of French, British, German, Russian, Polish, Syrian, and other South American immigrants. (Data derived from About.com Website and Encarta). Keith explains how these demographics translate into everyday living: “An Argentine is basically an Italian that speaks Spanish, dresses like the French, and lives in South America. They are very European and proud. They can be very friendly, but they can also be cold. Many do not practice any religion although most claim to be Roman Catholic.”

Furthermore, while North Americans may think Argentina is a modern, stable society ­— in many ways nothing could be further from the truth. For one, the cost of living is enormous. “A couple of years ago Buenos Aires was considered the most expensive city in the Western Hemisphere. Argentina has been in the news lately because of the economic crisis. What was once a rich country is now facing its highest unemployment rate ever, at 25%. The political situation is in turmoil. In two weeks the country went through five presidents. We are faced with constant lootings, riots, and violence.” An example was found in an Associated Press news story. “Roberto Lavagna, Argentina’s ambassador to the European Union, took over as economic minister (the sixth one in a year) as banks across the country gradually reopened following a four-day government shutdown that left the economy near a standstill .... Since January, the peso has lost nearly 70% of its value, accelerating inflation.”

For the Harrisons and others in Buenos Aires, the political riots are not the only danger to be faced. The biggest challenge of everyday living is the crime and the fear it brings. “We live in fear of robbers breaking into our home. The police are corrupt and offer little to no help. Almost all of our neighbors have been robbed or shot at.”

Even so, the Harrisons—who were blessed with daughter Amanda a year after arriving in Buenos Aires—find much to enjoy in Argentina. “The food is great! We enjoy the meat, pasta, vegetables and fresh fruits. Our kids love soccer!” They also enjoy an active life in ministry. Keith lays out his weekly schedule for us: “Weekends we are busy with soul winning and church activities at Victory Baptist Church almost from the time we get up in the morning until night. During the week we begin the day with private devotions, family Bible time, breakfast and then home schooling. Monday night is open. Tuesday night is for teaching at the Bible Institute. Wednesday night is for midweek service. Thursday is spent on family time. Friday night is visitation night. Because of the growth of our church in the last couple of years, I have been involved in a lot of building projects—a parsonage for the new national pastor and new buildings to expand our present space. I also teach in the Bible Institute on a weekly basis nine months out of the year, training nationals for the ministry.”

Arriving in Buenos Aires completed the first leg of their journey. As new arrivals, getting acclimated to a culture that looked on the surface much like their own but which was deeply different from North America, was a challenge. They first began to learn Spanish, spending “over 800 hours in private classes here in Argentina through much blood, sweat, and tears.” Fluency in Spanish allowed them to begin to plant a church that was founded in 1990. A Bible Institute ministry was established in 1992. The various ministries of the church—Sunday School, bus ministry, soul winning and visitation, discipleship, youth work, Bible clubs, and music—have occupied Keith and Judy fully. Judy devotes many of her daytime hours to home schooling Amanda (now 11) and Ryan (now 16). Oldest son Kyle is studying in a Bible college in the U.S.

The Harrisons have developed close relationships in Argentina. “We fell in love with the Argentinean people,” Keith affirms, “and we have given our hearts and souls to the people.” They also work closely with other missionaries who work in this southernmost nation in the Americas. “We try to fellowship with all of the other Independent Baptist missionaries. We work together with youth summer camps, youth conferences, preaching conference, and the Bible Institute. There are currently only three other BIMI missionary families in Argentina: Larry and Ruth Owens, Dana and Deborah Brosius, and Bill and Lynn Norton.

The Harrisons belong to Argentina now; nevertheless, at times they miss the United States and some of the conveniences easily taken for granted. Speaking English is one of them, along with American sports, a good variety of restaurants, a reliable banking system, garage sales, central heating and air, and libraries. They will get a chance to revisit the U.S. and some of these American amenities in 2003 when they take their next furlough.

Until then, the Harrisons’ next step is to turn over Victory Baptist Church to a national pastor and start a second church. “We will move on and begin again from scratch,” Keith says.

Yes, the journey with Christ that began in 1969 for Keith and for Judy in 1966, the journey that they began to walk together in 1979, and the journey that took them to Argentina in 1989, has had its twists, turns, mountain trails and straight wide paths. Keith asks us to pray for his health as he lives with Crohn’s disease. This is a debilitating, long-term inflammation of parts of the digestive tract, usually the ileum or the colon. Surgery and medications are usually necessary and the symptoms include pain, fever, weight loss and general malaise and fatigue. The Harrisons also ask prayer for:

•The finishing of the new parsonage for the national pastor and his family

•The expansion of the present auditorium

•The national leadership of Victory Baptist Church

•For more missionaries to come to Argentina

A popular Christian song says, “There is a joy in the journey. There’s a light we can love on the way. There is a wonder and wildness to life and freedom for those who obey.”* The Harrisons have obeyed God’s call on their lives and found that joy, wonder, and freedom. As Keith tells us, “I owe everything to Jesus Christ my Saviour and Lord and to my loving wife, Judy, who is the best Christian I know. We are just undeserving missionaries who are still in the battle by the grace of God.”

*copyright 1986 Birdwing Music

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

John 15:5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Jonathon & Mandy Crews -  BRAZIL
Joel C & Brooke Daku -  KIRIBATI
Paul W & Martha Daku -  FIJI ISLANDS