A different Ladies "Encuentro"

 A different Ladies "Encuentro".

As with everyone this year, our annual regional ladies retreat went virtual. The idea was to connect with all our sisters in Christ in the province of Buenos Aires. We invited Tonya Liles, missionary in Peru, to share a Christmas message. She reminded us of all the hope that we have in Christ and that that same hope is still available to us today, tomorrow and forever!!

Encuentro Bautista Regional de Mujeres 2020, el 5 de diciembre

Hello!

 Hello!! I'm back!  Please forgive me for the long absence. So, now to try and catch up!

We have continued with our normal activities at church and and camp during this time. Two highlights at the begining of this year  was a visit from our friends, David and Tonya Lyles. They were so kind to come in February to preach and teach at the Pastor's/Missisonary Retreat and also at our camp for married couples. They did such an excellent job and were such a blessing!  We have invited Tonya back for our regional ladies encounter. This year it will be done through a platform like Zoom due to the quarantine measures that still restrict us here in Argentina.

Another sweet blessing was a baptism on the last Sunday of services we were able to have before the quarantine.

As I have already mentioned, we are still under quarantine from the Covid 19 pandemic so we are unable to have meetings in our church building. However, we have continued to have services via Zoom, Facebook Live, and WhatsApp. We are anxious to have regular meetings again!  We have two who are waiting to be baptized!

We do give thanks to the Lord for His protection and care during this prolonged quarantine. He has allowed us to be healthy and has provided for all our needs. God is always faithful even in such crazy times that we are living in today!

22 decisions made for Christ!

8-13 year olds  -  10 decisions

14-25 year olds  12 decisions

Ladies Retreat 2017/Encuentro de Mujeres 2017

Treeless

Did you know that it is over 8,000 miles round trip from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Miami, Florida? Did you know that you can travel over 8,000 miles around the United States in 3 months? I'm sure others have done more but 8,000 is plenty for me!
God blessed those three months and allowed us to visit family and churches with only a few little hiccups. One of those was hurricane Irma. But like I said, God blessed and protected us and our family.
Now, we have been back in Argentina for two weeks. It feels like we have never left. It took us a few days to get unpacked and reacquainted with our house again. Reconnecting with the church was sweet and end of the year plans immediately were made.
                                                                                                             

This past Friday and Saturday we had our first regional ladies retreat out at the youth camp in Marcos Paz. Words cannot define the amount of joy and happiness I experienced as 56 women came together to worship, learn, and share with each other. I think we are all agreed that this will definitely be a yearly event! This is a picture of  a small group of us. When I receive more pictures I will make a special post to explain what went on those 2 glorious days.


Christmas time is upon us and I think this year more than ever I really have been able to focus on the true reason for all the celebration. I'm not against Christmas trees but this year I won't be putting up ours due to the fact that I just don't have the time and we have already begun some of the repairs on our house that have been put on the back burner for too long. I am convinced that being treeless this year is the reason that it has been so sweet for me to focus more on my wonderful Savior's birth. God's gift to us is so incredible, who needs a Christmas tree?! (At least for this year!)

There is no one like you!

Jeremiah 10:6,7  Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee.

These past few months, to be honest, have been discouraging. Some very big changes and challenges have been going on in our ministries. On top of that, preparing to leave for our furlough in August and a sick 13 year old family pet has added to the mix.
Sorry not to be upbeat, but it is the reality of missionary life. Many times it is hard and you just don't know what to do.
I keep going back to these verses in Jeremiah these days. No matter what is happening or going on, no matter if I feel abandoned or feel like I am standing alone, I know who is great. I know who is worthy. I know there is no other who deserves my service. No matter if everything feels like it is crumbling around me or if it feels like I may never get out of the rut, I will always stand up and shout "YOU are my King!!"

On a sweet note, this picture was taken of our daughter Stephany visiting her brother Michael in Peru. He is a TEAM missionary for one year in Lima. He has shared with us what a blessing it has been serving with the David Liles family and that he has learned many valuable lessons that will help him in his future ministry in Argentina. His term will be ending in a few months and Lord willing, we will all be together for the first time in years for Thanksgiving.

Please continue to pray for us. Our story is far from over. Just a new conflict in the plot. We all know how it ends.  VICTORY!!

Missions Month Activities

Saturday we had our yard sale and it was a great success!!  I was surprised of the outcome and so excited to think that all those proceeds will go to our missionaries.  We still have a lot of things left over so we decided to do it again in 3 weeks.

The Zacal family was with us this Sunday. They are Filipino misionaries in Argentina. We enjoyed hearing their daughters and son sing a special song and hear a challenging message from Raymund.