A police officer's hospitality
"We expect to arrive a little after midnight." I got off the phone quickly because I was driving at night through the andes in the South of Argentina. This was our first long trip as a family in the car. All together we drove close to two thousand miles (with our three year old daughter, Alaina and our five month old baby, Wendy). It was quite an adventure. As the three women in my life were sleeping peacefully I was drawing closer to our destination. We had just left Roca five hours ago where we had spent a couple of days enjoying a wedding of a girl that my wife used to disciple. I spent some time with some in the city presenting the Bible Training Center material to some pastors there. My phone rang. It was Diego again. "Look for the police car and follow us. We will drive you to your place." It was quite an experience to trust a policeman in a country where there is significant corruption among the police.
After taking us to our place Diego and his family had us over in their humble home for lunch and shared some great stories about how as a believer he was challenged to live his faith in his context. It was encouraging to hear that several policeman gathered from different churches to study their bibles and to discuss how to live their faith in a difficult environment. Diego is the brother of a lady who is in our small group in La Plata. Through him we had our first contact with churches in Bariloche. God gave us some very fruitful meetings with various pastors in the area to present the BTCP. There is great need for biblical training (as in many places). We continue to seek for ways to start training centers across the country that strengthen the church nationwide.
Here's what has been going on with us in various areas:
BTCP We continue to move forward on the final revisions and printing of the material so that we don't have to wait on shipping and customs. We are almost finished this project. This will allow us to be more proactive in starting training centers.
Church Plant In the area that we live in it is very hard to come across a place to meet as a church. Its also expensive. God provided a great place that we can afford. We just finished the book of Philippians. Last Sunday we had a special Easter service and then had three girls who are orphans join us for lunch. It was a sweet time.
IBLP (Bible Institute in La Plata) We have one week left in the course that I am teaching on Ecclesiology (doctrine of the church) and Eschatology (doctrine of the last things). It has been a rewarding time. We meet early (very early for Argentina - from 7 - 9 am)
Web page Almost all of our sermons are uploaded now in Spanish. If you know spanish or just are curious and want to see check it out: www.lideressirviendoalideres.org
Small Group We continue to meet as couples on Saturdays. This continues to be an encouragement for us and for them.
Women's ministry This Saturday we will have the women of the church "invade" the house for the monthly gathering (this is when Greg leaves the house :) ). Its a time of fellowship and spiritual encouragement. Caro continues to be involved in meeting weekly with a group of women who plan the ministry. She also meets with different girls from time to time and is now praying about having a small group with these girls rather than meeting with all of them individually.
La Union We continue to serve in the church (now in a more informal sense - I am no longer part of the elder decision making team but I continue to meet with the pastor along with Nico to be a resource, share ideas, counsel, etc.). I am preaching less (once a month or so) since I preach weekly in City Bell. I meet with key individuals from time to time seeking to have an influence in their lives and ministries.
Denton We are looking forward to being in Denton for the missions conference. We hope to see many of you. The conference is in the last weekend of May. We plan on being in Denton for about three weeks.
Please pray:
1. For Christ to be the center and the passion that drives all that we do. 2. For all that is needed for us to go to the conference, for God to provide for the cost to travel to Denton, for Wendy and Caro's passport to arrive on time, for our ministry activities and responsibilities to be covered well in our absence. 3. For a future pastor for the Union church. We are asking God to give us someone from the church that is not one of the missionaries.
Thank you for your involvement with us!!!
Warmly,
Greg, Caro, Alaina and Wendy
Posted April 15, 2009 by Greg and Carolina.
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09-04-2008 Travel and Sickness II (photos and update)
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04-30-2008 Life in La Plata
02-22-2008 Returning Home
01-28-2008 Take to the World
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12-05-2007 An update on Mike Terry (our pastor)
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10-14-2007 WHAT´S A HOME SERVICE?
04-04-2007 TEAM MINISTRY
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08-30-2006 A burden for the interior of Argentina
05-24-2006 Training Leaders In Argentina
04-05-2006 A New Year of Ministry
01-11-2006 Coming to Texas
12-29-2005 Becoming Familiar with the Aiport
10-06-2005 BTCP graduation
