Baptism and Fire Fighters

You probably have never heard those two things together in the same phrase!  But, that's what we've been doing in the last few weeks.

The last Sunday of April we were so proud to see Renzo make the decision to be baptized. He has been with us since he was 6 or 7 years old.  Please pray for him that he would continue to grow spiritually and that  he would be a testimony to his friends and family.

This past Saturday we had the closing day of the first cycle of our Children's Club.  We invited the fire department to come and they sent out a young man to give a demonstration for the kids.  The best thing is that he got to hear the Gospel message and we gave him a Bible to thank him for coming.

The month of May is our mission's emphasis month.  We've invited Mike's dad and mom to come for our Mission's dinner which is always one of the highlights of the month.  We also start the second cycle - Super Heroes - of the Children's Club this month.

We still ask that you remember us and our ministry in prayer.  Satan has blinded so many and the battle is raging.  Pray for the whole country of Argentina. Many decisions are being made and more are to be made that can very well affect the individual freedom of its people.

Thank you for your interest in our ministry, your prayers and support!!

Will you pray with me?

I've been praying and thinking a lot lately.  I really think that one of the things we need to do to reach the world is to pray that God would break the bonds of spiritual blindness of those who do not believe.  We also need to pray for the spiritual obstacles that Satan puts in the way of believers that discourage us to reach out to those who are in darkness. Will you pray with me?

Potpourri

It's been awhile since I've posted so there is going to be a lot of "this and that".

After camp season was over we re-evaluated some of the ministries at our church. This lead to restructuring our teen and children's programs.  The children's ministry we renamed Crusader's Club and this is what the inauguration looked like.

Our attendance drops considerably during summer as the kids get involved with summer programs, vacations, and swimming pool time. So, we started with a few kids but are praying that we will be able to re-group and get them all back and involved in the Crusader's Club.

We are always looking for ways to strengthen our teens and for ways to reach those who are lost.  We plan to have 3 teen activities a month.  Each activity always will have a good strong Bible lesson or Christian character building lesson. We always try to have games and food but now we are going to try to have some movies from time to time.  I have to give  a shout out to "Minute to Win It" games!  They are so much fun and definitely provide a lot of laughs!!

We also started up our monthly ladies Bible studies again. I don't have a picture but we had a good group at our first meeting. We had 2 new ladies join us!!  Everyone seemed to be excited about the topic, "Lies Women Believe" taken from the book by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.  I am so thankful for Marta, a member of our church, who is teaching this series for us.  She is doing such a wonderful job.

I must say that we are very blessed to have people who are very capable, talented and willing to serve along with us. I would like to thank Sofia for her help in the children's ministries; Carlos, Fernando, Aldana, and Trinidad in the music and multi-media; and all those (and including those already mentioned) who always help with cleaning, maintenance and construction.

Everything we do, we do to honor and glorify our Lord!  Our heart's desire is to reach others and share what Christ has done for us. Our prayer is that He would give us fruit for our labor and that lives will be changed for eternity!!

Unfortunately, 1+1=2

While at our first week of camp...

first attempt at breaking in.

While at our third week of camp...

second attempt at breaking in.

We are praying that the culprits are discouraged and won't try again now that they know that we have security glass and alarm system that works.  We are also praying that we will be able to replace these windows as soon as possible.

And speaking of camp, we just got back from 3 weeks of camp and are happy to report 32 professions of faith and many, many decisions to serve the Lord!  We thank all of those who prayed for our camps and ask that you would continue to pray that these young people will stand firm on their decisions.

7-11 year olds

12-14 year olds

15-25 year olds

In February we have one more camp week which is our annual pastor and missionary family retreat.  It is always a wonderful week to reunite with ministry friends and family and have a time for us to sit and hear God's word preached and taught to us.

Satan really has been at work trying to discourage us.  I just ask that you would continue to pray for us and our family in the States.  All of us are in the ministry or studying to be in the ministry and each one is going through special trials and challenges right now.  Thanks for remembering us and allowing us to be your ambassadors in Argentina!

December

These past few weeks sure have been very busy but full of blessings!  The end of November we had a baptismal service where Mike baptized one of our teens. She and her family have been very faithful for years so it was such a joy to see her finally make this decision.

We also had our last kid's activity of the year.  Carlos, for the first time, taught the lesson and we played games with water balloons and ice.

The first Saturday in December we had our ladies meeting.  Marta taught the lesson and we finished the meeting with Christmas crafts.

Our church choir sang a selection of songs from our cantata in a recital in a public venue.  It was amazing that God gave us this opportunity to share the true Christmas message in the community.

At our last teen activity of the year we did one of the most favorite things the kids like to do - roast hot dogs over a fire.  We even had marshmallows to roast!!

For the first time, we made gingerbread houses and manger scenes to display at the church Christmas party.

And finally, the choir presented the cantata "Come Ye to Bethlehem".  We had 6 visitors even though it was so hot that it felt like we were melting.

 Michael and Stephany were able to come for Christmas.  That's the best Christmas present ever!!

Merry Christmas to all and a blessed Happy New Year!!

Piggy-backed blessings

Have you ever had a piggy-backed blessing?  We just heard we are going to get one!  Our daughter Stephany has been praying and saving to come home for Christmas this year. Time was running out and she didn't have enough saved. A very dear and loving mentor-friend heard of her situation and took it upon himself to make sure she made it home! Not only that, (this is where the piggy-back comes in) he also thought of our son Michael and he is coming home too!! Michael wasn't even considering coming this year but God had other plans for our family!! I have to say, this is the biggest and best Christmas present I will have received in my whole life!! I'm so excited and can't wait!!  It will be so awesome to wake up Christmas morning and have them back home in their own beds!

As of November 17, the ceiling tile is finished in the auditorium!!  We did it in a couple of Saturdays and a few hours here and there.  We want to send out a thank you to the Las Americas Baptist Church for their offering which allowed us to complete this project.

The Choir is still diligently practicing and are praying that God will use the songs we are preparing to announce the Good News to those who attend our service and in the other opportunities that we have to present publicly.

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Please keep us in your prayers for all of the activities and projects that we have for the end of the year and for camp season that is coming up in January.  All For The Glory of Our Savior!!

And November starts with a flood...

Sorry that I don't have any pictures, but yes, the camp flooded again. This time it was bad.  Water got into every building.  There was at least a meter of water in the kitchen.  So any construction was put to a halt and they had to get the pressure sprayers out.  After two days of washing everything down they were able to clean the mess up.  But thanks to the flood, a load of sand that had been delivered to work on the project was washed away.  Hey!! That sounds like a good illustration to prove what Jesus said about the foolish man!

But, construction is still going on at the church.  Last weekend some men from the church pulled together and made some headway on the installation of the ceiling tile.  They are planning to work this weekend also and are hoping to get almost all of it completed.

This past Saturday we also had a teen meeting and played volleyball for the first time. (on our own property) It was a lot of fun but the mosquitoes just about ate us alive even though we bathed in Off!

Our Christmas Choir is still practicing getting ready for the Cantata.  Please pray that God will give us opportunities in the community to present this work!

We are also praying that Stephany will get to come home for Christmas.  I'm asking for everyone to pray that God will provide so she can make that happen. (a prayer dear to a mother's heart!)

Sandy