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

RoboBoy!

Our newest superhero's name is RoboBoy!

After surviving a near-fatal explosion in his laboratory, Jaden (RoboBoy!) had a small screw installed in his front tooth. This mysterious little screw gave him super powers which enable him to clean his room by merely snapping his fingers, block every goal in soccer, make a mean cup of chocolate soy milk, and zap all his school work done in one nano-second.

Seriously, thank you for praying for our little guy with all he's gone through with his teeth. Lord willing, this new tooth should stay for a long time.

The Dentist...Revisited

Thank you for praying for Jaden and his 4th trip to the dentist this month (8th this year!). They finshed the root canal and all went well. He goes back next week to reconstruct the tooth for the 5th time. However, the dentist assures me it should stay this time since she closed off the nerve permanently. We felt your prayers as Jaden was very calm and obedient.

Update

Just a quick update on the exciting things the Lord is doing here in Pilar:

Meeting Place - We have asked you to pray for some time now for a meeting place for our weekly Bible studies. The Lord has provided that place! We will be renting the former BBN office. Since they closed the office in February, the owners were never satisfied with those who sought to rent the place. However, as soon as James showed up with Benjamin (the former BBN manager), the owners were delighted to rent it out to another ministry. We should sign the contract this week and we can begin meeting soon!

English Classes – Amy has begun teaching English here, but several more have asked her to start teaching them too. She is hoping to use our neighborhood clubhouse for classes for adults and children. We have already made many in-roads with our neighbors and have been able to verbally witness to several about our faith in Christ.

Another Day at the Dentist – Many of you know about Jaden’s bike accident back in December and how he broke his front tooth. Since then, he has had to get it repaired 4 times. Now he has to have a root canal and is on his second round of antibiotics. We’ve been spending our past 3 Monday afternoons at the dentist’s office for this! Today the dentist said he’s not getting better like she expected, so she will do a more drastic procedure this Thursday instead of waiting another week. Please pray for Jaden regarding this matter.

July Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friends,

Getting Involved Now that we are settled into our new home in Pilar, we are venturing out into the neighborhood, meeting new people, and getting involved in the community. Jaden and Josiah are playing soccer twice a week, and Lauren is in a play group with other girls on Saturdays. Amy is teaching English to Andrea, a Christian lady in the neighborhood. Please pray for these evangelistic and discipleship opportunities, that utterance may be given unto us, that we may open our mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel (Eph. 6:19).


Politics, As Usual James and Benjamín Leonov met with the Director of Community Relations for the Municipality of Pilar with the intention of finding out if the city has a building available that we could use for our weekly Bible studies. We will let the Lord work out the results of the meeting. Many politicians make promises, but we trust God to do His perfect will.

So, What’s Next? The next step in the church-planting process is to get in touch with all of our contacts in Pilar who have expressed interest in being a part of our church. We would like to introduce ourselves, explain our goals, and get to know them as well. (These folks are from diverse church backgrounds and have various reasons for wanting to find a new church, so we need wisdom in each of these “intensive care” situations.) From there, we will launch our first weekly Bible studies. Please pray for wisdom on our part as well as for a building in which to begin meeting.

Praise the Lord that Faith Baptist Church in Taylors, South Carolina recently voted to partner with us, bringing our support total to 96%.

Serving the King of Kings,
James, Amy,
Jaden, Lauren, and Josiah Greenwood

Meeting Where? When?

This past Thursday James and Benjamin Leonov met with the Director of Community Relations for the Municipality of Pilar with the intention of finding out if the city has a building available that we could use once a week for our Bible studies. The meeting went well. At least it was opportunity to make more contacts in Pilar. It may result in a meeting with the mayor. We will let the Lord work out the final details. Many politicians make promises, but we trust God to do His perfect will.

On Friday, we invited Benjamin and his family over for dinner, where we discussed the next step in the church-planting process. Over the next month, we plan on contacting all of our contacts in Pilar who have expressed interest in being a part of our church. We would like to introduce ourselves, explain our goals, and get to know them some as well. From there, we will launch our first weekly Bible studies. Please pray for wisdom on our part as well as a building in which to begin meeting.

New House!

On Saturday, June 7, the owners agreed to a more reasonable contract. We signed the contract and got the keys. We were planning on moving on Tuesday, but it rained on Monday and heavy trucks are not allowed in the neighborhood during or 24 hours after rain. So, we moved it back to Thursday. Which was a good thing to give us more time. In the midst of all the packing and preparation, our pet bunny, Marshmallow, passed away. This was quite traumatic for the kids, for sure. We also attended seminary class in Don Torcuato every night from 7:30 – 10:30. What a week! We had some great volunteer helpers (Jeremy, Martin, Marcelo, and Victor) on the big moving day and we got it done.

We are so excited to be in our new home and thankful for His provision. We could tell you even more about how Satan is trying everything he can to discourage us or impede God’s work, but we press on with the strength of the Lord. God is good…all the time! Our next step is to start a weekly Bible study for the believers who are expectantly waiting for a good church in Pilar. Please keep praying!

June Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friends,

Over a year ago, God began working in the hearts of a few students at Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin. He gave them a burden to take a missions trip to a South American country, but they had no idea where. Little did they know that the missions director at their college had ties with our friends Ron and Chris Self here in Buenos Aires—but God knew! On May 2, 30 students and faculty members, barely knowing each other yet, boarded a plane and headed off to minister through music, English classes, and basketball clinics. Pastor Self did a fantastic job organizing this diverse group. In 20 days, they held 24 sacred concerts all over the city and even in Uruguay. Everywhere they went there were record attendances, whether it was 30 or 330. We were privileged to help translate, chauffer, bake, wash dishes, give tours, or whatever else was needed. They were a terrific group of students with a desire to serve the Lord.

Two of the days the group spent in Pilar helping to launch our church plant there. We passed out 3,500 tracts and flyers advertising a sacred concert in a rented facility in the heart of the city center. We were excited when 27 new contacts showed up to hear the concert and find out more about this new church. Two people accepted Christ that night! One was a Peruvian immigrant lady and the other was a young man who came over from the bar right next door. Please pray for us as we follow up with all of these new folks.

The only thing that has hindered us from already doing more in Pilar is that we are not living there yet. For the past two months we have been diligently searching for a house to rent. The Lord has just provided a wonderful home to rent! We are planning to sign the contract and get the keys on Saturday and then move in next week. However, we just received an e-mail stating changes in the contract that we did not agree on. Pray this can be resolved in our favor. Thank you for your faithful prayers and support.

What a mighty God we serve!
James, Amy,
Jaden, Lauren, and Josiah Greenwood

April Prayer Letter

Dear Praying Friends,
Safely Home! After seven months of ministering in churches in the United States, we safely arrived back to ministry in Argentina on April 4. God took good care of us during our flights, through customs, and back to our house. We never want to take for granted His daily watch care over us.

No Greater Joy - We had the joy of seeing some of the fruit of our labor from our first term when the national pastor, Victor Dominguez, was ordained into the ministry and installed as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Esperanza in Escobar. We have spent much time with this wonderful young couple and know they will be successful in this ministry as they trust in the Lord to guide them.

Step-by-Step - We are ready to begin a work in Pilar and are taking the process step-by-step. First of all, we needed to purchase a vehicle since we sold ours before we went back to the States. After much diligent searching, we found another Hyundai H-1 van, but a bit newer and with fewer miles than the one we sold. The next step is to establish ourselves in the community of Pilar. We have looked at several houses, but none suitable to rent because of either location, price, or size. Pray that we can find a home to rent soon ¬for an affordable price, in a convenient and safe location, and with enough space to meet our needs.

Team Ministry - Meanwhile, we are attending a sister church just 20 minutes south of us in Don Torcuato. They are graciously allowing us to be a part of their leadership team so that we can learn even more about ministering in this culture. They have also offered to help in the church-planting process! Right now we are observing and helping where we can in staff meetings, seminary class, weekly services, music ministry, and special projects. One of those special projects will involve helping translate for a ministry team from Maranatha Baptist Bible College this month. We will be with these 30 students and faculty every day for three weeks in city parks passing out literature, in the gym hosting basketball clinics and tournaments, and in the church holding Conversational English classes and music lessons. They will give sacred concerts in at least 8 area churches as well. We are excited to take this team to Pilar for three of the days to pass out literature. This will be our first public presentation in Pilar. Please pray that our “first impression” will make a positive impact.

One of our contacts in Pilar is setting up an appointment with the mayor of Pilar. This is an important prayer request! We will introduce ourselves and look into the possibility of using a city building to meet in. One of the things we have been praying about regarding our support level is that if God does not provide 100% of our support, then He would provide in other ways, especially for a meeting place. (You can understand that this is a large chunk of our ministry budget.)


God’s Blessings
- Safe arrival in Buenos Aires
- God’s daily protection on our lives
- 2001 Hyundai H-1 van — exactly what we prayed for!

Prayer Requests
- Possible meeting with the Mayor of Pilar
- Current support – 93%
- A home in Pilar to rent
- Open doors to present the Gospel with the college ministry team
- Future ministry in Pilar

Upcoming Events
5/4 – 5/24 – help with ministry team from Maranatha Baptist Bible College
5/16 – 10th wedding anniversary

By His grace alone,
James and Amy

God's Hand of Protection

Close Call or God’s Hand of Protection?
It can be easy to take for granted God’s hand upon our daily lives. Ever since our plane departed Tampa, we have seen God work in miraculous ways to protect us. Here are a few of them:
· During one of our flights, the attendants began to serve a snack. We were at the front of the plane, so we saw when the first bag of peanuts was handed out. Amy told the crew that our son, Josiah, is extremely allergic to peanuts and they immediately put all the peanuts away!
· Our plane was delayed by an hour or so, due to mechanical problems beforehand. Therefore, we were the last international flight to land in Buenos Aires for that morning and most of the customs staff had already gone home. Since there was only a skeleton crew, no one even looked in our bags! This was a huge answer to prayer, since customs is always looking to impose a tax on what you bring into the country or ask for a “tip” to get out of paying the tax.
· We put $300 down on a mini-van to reserve it while the dealership handled the paperwork. Ten days later, the paperwork was still at least a month from completion. They gave us all our money back. According to the law, they could have kept our money. Then, God gave us something even better!
· While at a nearby cyber café, Amy’s cell phone was stolen. That night on the news there was a report of a teen shot to death after his cell phone was stolen. This was a reminder to us to praise God that the phone was stolen without an incident.
· Josiah is also allergic to onions, but it has always been minor enough that he can have a little ketchup once in a while. We allowed him to have one packet of ketchup on his French fries and that night he broke out in hives from head to toe! After three doses of Benadryl, he was OK. Praise the Lord it wasn’t worse. No more ketchup for this kid!