Argentina Summary: March 2015

God is blessing. We are having space issues. Which, as problems go, this is a great one to have. There are other areas of the city where new works could be begun. The problem with that, however, is the lack of trained men called to take the challenge. Please pray for our leaders as they seek God’s solution.

The college kids have an annual spiritual retreat over Easter weekend. This year Sasha and Maria Silvia Rasmussen were expecting between 35-40 kids to attend. They ended up with 73. Many are not yet believers. Our hope is that those who don’t know our Savior will soon become our brothers in Him.

Since February 2014 Alejandro and Soledad Grande, along with their sons Agustín and Luciano, have opened their home to host the new congregation in Jesús María. Every week without fail they rearrange the office, living room, kitchen and garage in order to make room for “church”. This past year this new congregation has had a tough road to walk. It was a blessing to see how they ministered to each other through the deaths of two of their congregation members. In both cases, the Lord has used the situation as an evangelistic tool among the families and friends in the community. They continue with a hard road to travel. Soledad Grande is undergoing cancer treatment. She praises the Lord that she is still able to serve Him even with this new situation. Their group has outgrown the Grande house and is looking for a larger space to rent. They have their sights on a place that has a great location in front of one of the main plazas. Please be in prayer for the leaders as they make decisions.

The church in Córdoba sent people out to start new congregations outside the city. One of those works is in Saldán. The congregation grew quickly and needed more space. With help from two churches in the US a Sunday school building was built and ready for use before the cold weather arrived. Nearly a year later, they have once again outgrown the facilities and are in need of a larger space that will accommodate the needs of both children and adults. Pablo Gonzalez is the caretaker for this group. He feels the call to serve but not as pastor. Three young men are working beside Pablo and his wife Noelia in this ministry. Nestor Pastor, Martin Ponce de León and Mauricio Bustos are from the Córdoba church and are training to be pastors. Please pray for continued spiritual growth for this congregation, for the men training them, and also for a solution as they look for either rental or permanent property for purchase.

The rental contract was renewed for the current meeting space in the town of Malvinas Argentinas. Roberto and Elida Romero continue growing in their leadership of the church body and are a good influence on the community. They had a good number of teens that went to camp this year. For the first time they were able to raise most of their camp costs instead of depending only on scholarships from the Córdoba church. This is just one way in which we see lives changed through God’s word being taught. Please pray for the gospel to spread through this drug infested community.

With the Abregú family now living in La Rinconada it has helped firm up the believers they had for so long been working with by long distance. They are meeting regularly and have begun weekly bible studies with the children, teens and women. Fabián is working with the men as well but they tend to be slower in trusting outsiders. Marcela has set up a bread store to help supplement their income until a teaching job becomes available. Selling bread has given them many opportunities to share the gospel. The church has outgrown the house and is in need of its own space. It is our hope that after the summer rains cease, construction can begin on the new church building. Please pray for this project. Funding and manpower are needed in order to complete it in a timely manner. Pray also for the Lord to bring men to work alongside Fabián to bring hope to this desolate area.

The church continues to grow in Cachi. We’ve been asking the Lord to send men to work alongside Marcelo and Nancy Brondo. God has answered and Marcelo now has 10 men he is discipling. One has even begun classes at our Seminario Bíblico William Carey. Please pray for the new believers in Cachi that they would grow in their walk with the Lord and become fruitful and serve Him. Please pray as well for the health of Nancy. She has an issue with a heart valve and is scheduled to have it repaired April 21. 

Fabián and Gabriela Grau have begun a Bible study with their neighbors. It is a first step to seeing fruit. Please pray for the Grau family as they work in the city of Villa Dolores. Pray also that the Lord would send a pastor to lead the ministry.

This is an exciting year. Three new study centers have been opened for the seminary. One is located just north of the province of Córdoba in the province of Tucumán. The other two are both located in Chile in the cities of Santiago and Valdivia. We now have students in our online program from Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, Perú, Ecuador, Chile and Argentina. God has blessed the seminary team working here in Córdoba which is headed up by Juan Leyton. In November we had the privilege of having Dr. David Sills as our guest speaker for our annual conference. He is a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and also the founder of Reaching & Teaching International Ministries. He will be returning in August with a team from Reaching &Teaching to train our leaders. In October this year we will host 9Marks for our annual conference. Please be in prayer for our professors and students as they train to “go into all the world.”