August Prayer Letter

On Your Mark…Get Set…Go!

Praise the Lord that we have rented an office building to start our weekly Bible studies for the future Iglesia Bautista de Pilar. Friday, August 1, we will be hosting a “Meet and Greet” reception at the new building. It will be an opportunity to get to know contacts from the BBN station, the MBBC concert this May, and others who are interested in being a part of a Bible-preaching Baptist church in Pilar. On Wednesday, August 6, we begin weekly Bible studies. Please pray that we see much fruit from these events.

James installing heaters

Teaching Others Also

Amy began weekly meetings with Veronica, and James with Benjamin, studying Changed Into His Image by Jim Berg and praying together. This is a great time for us to get to know one another and to help Benjamin and Veronica to grow spiritually. (The Leonov family is the one who had been with BBN radio before they closed the office in February.) They have already been a tremendous help in getting the church going in Pilar.

Culture 101

The atmosphere in Pilar is very distinct from most of Buenos Aires in the virtual absence of a middle class. We are learning the effect of that as we notice more and more the great divide between the working class and the upper class. Those from the upper class live in gated communities, go to private schools, desire to better themselves by education, and advance in their careers. Those from the working class live in humble dwellings, go to public school as long as they are required, and often just try to get by. As we seek to evangelize, we need to be cognizant of this discrepancy between the classes in our methods of outreach. An outreach that would work great for one group would not be effective with the other. We have purposefully located ourselves in the center of Pilar, since it is a more “neutral ground.” It is mainly a commercial district, surrounded by a few houses.

Our friends and neighbors have affirmed our cultural observations with comments like, “You want to choose your location carefully so that someone with a nice car won’t be scared to drive to the church.” “Most churches target the lower classes by preaching in a certain style, but the upper class would not tolerate that.”

Quotable Quotes

[Missionaries] must be equipped to be evangelists who can share the Good News in another language and culture, disciplers who can model and teach Christ-like ministry to converts, and trainers who can furnish local Christian leaders with the knowledge and skills they will need to propagate the Gospel. That was the model established by Jesus and practiced by the Apostle Paul.

- Mark C. Vowels; Director of Missions; Bob Jones University