Photos of our baby Lila...
Hola Everyone,
We just wanted to send some pictures of our precious little Lila. She's adorable!!!
Lore is doing just fine, and Josías has been the sweetest big brother! Everything seems to go a bit smoother with the second bebé so far.
Thank you all for your prayers and for letting us share this joyful moment in our family with you.
Love to all of you,
Kurt, Lore, Josías and Lila
Posted August 5, 2009 by Kurt and Lorena.
WE HAVE A BABY GIRL!!!
DEAREST FAMILY AND FREINDS,
WE praise GOD for the sweet gift of our daughter, Lila Naomi Grothe, who was born today at 5:10pm in La Plata, Argentina.
She weighed 3.7 kilos (8.1 pounds) and is the cutest little thing!
Just wanted to share our JOY with all of you and thank you for your prayers. We are so grateful for God´s provision.
Love in Christ,
Kurt, Lore, "BIG BROTHER JOSI", and "LITTLE BABY" LILA
Posted July 31, 2009 by Kurt and Lorena.
ketchup
You keep hitting the ketchup bottle. But not a drop of ketchup comes out. We've been meaning to sit down and catch everyone up on our ministry for about a month. Well... no "catch-up" has come out. So here you go, when you finally get the ketchup to come out... too much comes out! So let's play catch-up!
Don't worry about "table manners:" feel free to "get messy" and read the update out of order according to the bold titles. (there's lot's of ketchup here.)
THE PHOTO ABOVE is how Josías gets messy when he has to play "ketchup"... (it usually involves french fries too!)
Kurt's B-ball bounce to the USA
Like a basketball hits the ground and comes right back up, Kurt landed in the USA and returned quickly to his family in Argentina. The Missions Conference at DBC was the reason for the bounce. All of the missionaries that are affiliated with DBC make the trip from all around the world to share in this conference what God is doing in their respective countries every 18 months. It was a jam-packed week-long trip, but boy was it rewarding!
THE PHOTO ABOVE is at the DBC Missions Conference with missionaries from all around the world sitting in a circle for fellowship and prayer.
A Growing Church
The church plant in City Bell continues to grow. Greg and Kurt have begun a weekly elders meeting where we have been working on developing the mission statement, vision and values our local church. We have purposefully NOT put a sign in front of the church saying who we are, b/c we are waiting to establish some foundational aspects of the church before we "go public." Even so, through personal relationships the Lord continues to bring new people to our little fellowship.
THE PHOTO ABOVE is Kurt preaching in our church plant. Greg Travis is the pastor, but Kurt preaches from time to time as well.
Discovery!
That's the name of the Bible Study material we will begin using for our first ever small group in the City Bell church plant. Kurt will be leading the study with about 12 members of our church starting on July 22nd. We look forward to seeing how God unites our church in Christ as we seek Him together in a small group setting for the very first time!
"You're a What ?"
In Argentina the term "Evangelical Christian" can easily be misunderstood. People see so many poor examples in the Argentine Evangelical Church, that to refer to yourself as an "Evangelical," many times means that you've just hopped into the same boat with churches that are either not a good testimony or maybe even a sect. To say you're a " Christian" is understood to mean you're a Catholic, along with 88% of the culture (most not practicing).
So what do we call ourselves so that people understand? Good question! After much prayer, we've decided to refer to ourselves as "Christians with Protestant roots."
It's not that people don't understand what we say when we refer to ourselves as "Evangelicals", or even "Christians"... it's just that what they understand is most likely not what we want to communicate.
Healthy Churches "en Argentina"
The Bible Training Center for Pastors (BTCP) is such an exciting ministry to be a part of!! Kurt has taken over the primary responsibility for this ministry under Greg's direction. This ministry is prayerfully bringing about a more solid Biblical foundation for the church in Argentina. (2 Timothy 2:15)
Some of the day-to-day operations are beginning to include regular e-mails to all of the centers in the country, phone calls, visits, promoting the ministry in various creative ways, and developing a web site for the BTCP in Argentina. Kurt is also praying for an opportunity to begin a 2 year BTCP with a group of pastors where there is no qualified teacher.
THE PHOTO ABOVE is Kurt teaching a group of pastors that will become the teachers for 3 new BTCP centers in the country. We call this the Teacher Training Workshop.
Fresh off the Press
Its done! All 10 books of the BTCP have been revised and printed! (The Spanish translation was full errors). After many obstacles along the way we finally have a revised, and more excellent tool to provide for pastors in Argentina and all over the Spanish speaking world. We now have over 5,000 freshly printed books in our office, waiting to be distributed throughout the country as this ministry continues to grow. Our team plans to throw a BTCP "fiesta" to celebrate the completion of the project that we all worked so hard on.
The Swine Flu Scare in Argentina
The government authorities have canceled school and other activities for a month as a precaution against the spread of the swine flu. Argentina is the second leading country in swine flu deaths in the world, and people are generally avoiding most social events.
In the end, it seems to be more bark than bite. It's wise to take precautions, but we rest in the sovereign hands of the God over all creation. This is something that we are quick to point out as many people find themselves a bit shaken up by everything.
THE PHOTO ABOVE is what it looked like in the airplane when Kurt arrived to Argentina from the USA. They passed these masks out to all the passengers for the swine flu.
From Argentina to Brazil & Chile
Did you know that Kurt is learning Brazilian Portuguese? With the help of Rosetta Stone (a fantastic language acquisition program for the computer) and Vini, my weekly Portuguese teacher from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Kurt's on his way to forming entire phrases now! How awesome would it be to bring BTCP to Brazil with Vini!
BTCP in Chile! We're on the brink of beginning the first ever BTCP in Chile... A pastor from Chile contacted Greg and has expressed such a hunger for learning with a teachable heart that it's been almost impossible to refuse. We've decided to do an intensive training center in Santiago, Chile, inviting several pastors from around the country.
Between Greg, Nico, George and Kurt we will trade off traveling to Chile to teach the BTCP on a quarterly basis throughout the year for one week of intensive BTCP.
New House
The house we have been living in is a bit small for our growing family. Houses to rent in City Bell are hard to come by, but the Lord has led us to a place that is close to the church plant and has plenty of room. The challenging part is that we will have to move just 1 or 2 weeks after our daughter is born!
Baby Girl
We are so excited about the arrival of our precious daughter. Lore is about 2 weeks away from the due date, but it could be any day now! We will send you pictures and news as soon as she is born. By God's grace the pregnancy has been totally smooth and without any complications. We continue to pray!
THE PHOTO ABOVE shows Mommy with baby girl in the tummy. She will most likely NOT be as interested in tractors as Josías is!
A Ministry Challenge
We have noticed our relationship with some neighbors (and close friends) begin to grow a bit tense. The relationship no longer feels natural. As missionaries, sometimes nationals look at us with more critical eyes. We fear that our friends have begun to feel more like an evangelism project than genuine friends.
It's become quite apparent that with the new church we've planted, they feel as if we only spend time with them so that they will become Christians and come to our church. We plan on talking with our neighbors about our relationship and the tension we've felt, so please pray that our friendship would be renewed, and even strengthened, and above all that Christ would be glorified!
Playin' the Guitar
Kurt leads the worship service in our church plant in City Bell alongside Vini. Kurt sings and plays the guitar, while Vini plays a special wooden drum that you actually sit on while you play it. Vini is also a leader in our church that Kurt has been discipling.
3 Ways to Pray:
1) May the Lord protect our baby girl in the final days of Lore's pregnancy and give Lore great courage and trust in Him as she draws close to the due date along with an almost simultaneous move into a new home.
2) For our neighbors and the relationship that seems to be going through a challenging moment. (Read "A Ministry Challenge")
3) For our first ever small group in the new church plant that will begin on July 22nd. May we bond more deeply in fellowship through the love of Christ!
Posted July 19, 2009 by Kurt and Lorena.
05-15-2009 2009 Missions Conference at Denton Bible Church!
04-18-2009 City Bell
03-11-2009 From the Andes Mountains
01-03-2009 The Battle Is At Our Doorstep.
12-11-2008 USA CITIZENSHIP
12-09-2008 "THE GROTHE NEW2"
11-21-2008 3 Goals
10-17-2008 Teaching BTCP in Honduras
09-25-2008 Update on Lore's Citizenship
09-24-2008 Pray for Thursday!
08-14-2008 The Red, White and Blue
07-28-2008 Sad to say "Good-bye", Glad to say "Hi!"
06-14-2008 The Grothe's are Heading Home Again
05-14-2008 "How did you know my name was Kurt?"
04-25-2008 "Gracias."
04-11-2008 The Grothe's are in Texas!
03-27-2008 OPEN DOOR TO THE USA
02-23-2008 Good News All Around
11-27-2007 Christian Community in City Bell
11-02-2007 The Grothe's Anniversary
09-12-2007 Missions exists because...
08-06-2007 Grothe News. FINALLY!
04-14-2007 Introducing Josías Steven Grothe
04-10-2007 THE COUNTDOWN...
03-13-2007 WE HAVE A NEW GROTHE "BLOG/WEBSITE!"
02-21-2007 Baby Grothe in 6 WEEKS
01-26-2007 Getting Started :)
12-13-2006 We´re in Argentina!!!
12-04-2006 The Grothe's Are Going!!!!
11-17-2006 Even Closer...
10-25-2006 Praying For 15!
09-12-2006 OUR BIG NEWS!
06-23-2006 ESPANOL!! ESPANOL!!
04-24-2006 Back From Honduras!
03-16-2006 A Quick Trip To Honduras
02-27-2006 4 Months of Marriage & 40% to Argentina!
12-14-2005 "Sr. y Sra." Kurt and Lorena Grothe
06-25-2005 Ministerio in Sanger, Texas
06-03-2005 "Solteros Ilegales"
01-22-2005 RUNNING THE RACE!
