My Time in Argentina
Ilana Philips
This year I had the privilege of going to serve in Argentina for two and a half months as part of my Discipleship Training School (DTS) with YWAM. I was on a team of 11 people, made up of two leaders from the States and 9 others including myself who were all doing the same DTS as me. Coincidentally, all of the other students on my team were from countries in Europe; including Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and even another Irish guy! They were all roughly 19-21 years old, and our leaders were 21 and 25, so we were a very young team – characteristic of being a part of YWAM!
Our time in Argentina had the focus of getting involved with local churches in many different cities and towns in order to serve and see revival in that community. We spent time in places like Buenas Aires, Córdoba, Neúquen, San Juan, Rosario and Paraná, among other places. I really enjoyed getting to know the Argentinians, and spending time immersed in their culture. I was very lucky in that I speak Spanish, as did another girl on my team, so we were able to translate for our team, as well as communicate directly with people which always feels more personal.
We were usually partnered with a church when we arrived in a new location and then got to plan out our time there to assist them and do different types of ministry with them. Ministry seemed to be quite a diverse term, as it often looked a thousand different ways; from running prayer and intersession nights at the church, to doing street evangelism, to leading at the local youth group and getting to know the teens there, to more practical outlooks like cleaning churches or repainting a primary school, or preaching at the sunday service and then praying with people afterwards, and so so much more! I really had the most amazing time, as I got to watch first hand as God moved among the people of Argentina! It was also an incredible time of growth for me – to practice hearing God’s voice and growing in the gifts I feel like God has been placing on my heart such as speaking.
We did see some incredible things and I really feel that God led us to meet specific people in particular moments in their lives. I can’t even put into words the amount of times that God did something supernaturally insane in front of our eyes. I think one thing that really marked our time in Argentina was the very unusual amounts of healing that we saw, both physical and emotional. These are things which I had never seen before in my life and I think quite often as a church we subject healing to be something that ended with the disciples. However, this is simply not true, as the Holy Spirit is a gift to all who make Jesus their saviour, and as a result we still get to see these incredible moves of the Holy Spirit today. One moment I will struggle to forget was watching a 19 year old’s leg physically grow longer by a few inches in front of my own eyes so that it became the same length as his other leg, repairing the defect he had struggled with his entire life. Another full physical healing that can only be explained by the power of God is when a 17cm cancerous tumour disappeared and a middle-aged woman was freed from stomach cancer. These moments can only really be explained through the words of Jesus himself in Matthew 19:26 when he says “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Indeed, these things were not performed by me or anyone on my team, nor do we have some special power which can unlock it, but it was all done by God himself.
Finally, one of the greatest aspects of spending time away and immersed in the churches of Argentina was how it turned me to look back and reflect on our churches here in Ireland. I for one was certainly blown away by how much of a role the Holy Spirit had in the churches abroad, as well as the familial feel they had. This has encouraged me to come back to Ireland with a hunger for revival here, in our own country. It is one thing to see these moves of God when away, but I long to see Jesus recognised as king here in Ireland. Among students, among families, among everybody here on this island. I really believe that revival here needs to be us fixing our eyes back on Jesus, and not on the things that are around us, even if those things don’t seem bad or aren’t bad, but they are not the main thing, and we need to keep the main thing the main thing. Revival begins with us, the church, and I believe that it is a multi-denominational, and multi-generational movement that is rapidly coming our way. We need to make way for it, as the King is here!
I am forever grateful for my time in Argentina and for the ways in which God has moved in my own life and in the lives of those around me. I could never surmise it in one letter, but I’ve tried my best. If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me, it would be my pleasure 🙂 ilanaphilips@gmail.com