Mba'eichapa from Paraguay! We pray this finds you doing well and blessed in His kingdom. God continues working and providing the increase as four new souls were added to the church this past month. There were also some other exciting activities among the brethren to report on, so we hope you are encouraged and will rejoice with us in this month’s “Furlough Edition” of our Paraguay Mission report!
NEWS FROM THE IGLESIA DE CRISTO - AVENUE SACRAMENTO
Baptized! Sebastian Garcia. He is the friend of recently baptized, Fabian Nuñez, who had invited him to come check out the new church he had found. Sebastian also had an interest in learning English, so I began to study with him and our conversation eventually lead to a discussion about his baptism. He was concerned for the state of his soul, so we studied the Bible and he then decided to "obey that form of doctrine" which saves (Romans 6:17)!
Baptized! Jessica Merele. She is the girlfriend of our brother in Christ, Diego Vera. Jessica has been attending services and many activities for quite sometime. She recently was studying with Brittnea Yegros when she decided it was time to put her soul and her life in the hands of God through obedience to the Gospel call.
Baptized! Marcelo Alvarez. He is the friend of recently baptized, Alex Valdez (who brought Fabian to the church). He was concerned about his salvation, so after a few studies with William Arzamendia, he put on Christ in baptism. He is the fourth person to respond to the Gospel call as a result of God working through one Bible tract that was passed out during a recent Bible Academy campaign! Praise Him!
Baptized! Marcelo Ruiz. Marcelo has been attending services and Bible studies at Sacramento Avenue and Ñemby for a long time. He had become a close friend with many of our youth. It seems that all those Bible studies and sermons eventually reached deep into his heart because Marcelo was finally baptized into the Lord's body!
Church Camp! This time of year is always fun, mainly because of our annual congregational retreat. This year, we broke an attendance record and had a wonderful time of fellowship, singing, study, and activities. Knowing that we would probably have lots of visitors attending and wanting to take the opportunity to evangelize, the theme chosen for this year was “The Kingdom of God.”
FURLOUGH TIME!
It's that time of year when Andrea and I head back to the USA for a few weeks of reporting to our supporting congregations, visiting friends and family, and just enjoying all things American!
NEWS FROM THE ASUNCION BIBLE ACADEMY
Second year is now in full swing. The students are closing in on their upcoming short courses with Gary Fallis, who will be teaching II Corinthians, and then Denton Landon, who will be teaching Advanced Hermeneutics.
A SPECIAL OPPORTUNITY AND A SPECIAL REQUEST!
Around January of this year, we were not seeing any prospective students on the horizon for the Beta Class of 2015-2017 for the Academy. So, we began considering changing the format to a Saturday school or some other alternative. Well, God provided! There are now NINE brethren who have stated they want to attend the Bible Academy! Five of them are potential preachers and two have already manifested that they want to plant the church in their home town!
However, with such wonderful news comes a big challenge. The church in Paraguay needs help with funding the scholarships for these students. The local church currently provides most everything for the Academy through their own offering collection: teachers, the building, the utilities, and dormitories. But this amount of students surpasses their budget limits. Supporting one student only costs $300.00 a month for the two years that they attend the Academy.
Therefore, THE CHURCH IS ASKING FOR YOUR HELP! If you can help in any way, or know someone who can, please let us know!
If you would like more information, please go to: www.paraguaymission.com Or, you may contact me directly at 561.601.6551, or our brother Luis Yegros at luisyegros@hotmail.com (he speaks English and is the church treasurer).
Please keep this opportunity in your prayers! Thank you!
Troy and Andrea Spradlin
To see their report complete with pictures, please click here.