News from the Spradlins in South America

October 2012 / Vol. 4 No. 10

CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Name of congregation: Avenida Sacramento Iglesia de Cristo Address: Avenida Sacramento 650, c/ Espaa - Asuncin, Paraguay Year established: September 2004 Current number of members: 46 Family Units (81 Baptized) Worship and Bible class attendance: th th st th Sun am 38 (7 ); 57 (14 ); 35 (21 ); 57 (28 ) th th st th Sun pm 18 (7 ); 23 (14 ); 36 (21 ); 27 (28 ) Sunday Bible study average 38 Midweek study average 21 / Other - 23 Recent congregational developments and activities: The Special Committee for the Bible School has been working really hard on the many aspects of organization. They have developed a strong Bible curriculum, worked out a flow-chart for the personnel and staffing, and are continuing to develop the internal rules and regulations. Our Annual Mens Retreat was held on October 13 Jazmin Gimenez rejoicing in her salvation immediatly at the home of Vicente Martinez. We use this after being immersed in the blood of the Lamb! opportunity to review and measure where we are in the goals that we have previously made and to set new goals for the next year. It was a great day with many positive and exciting developments. It is thrilling to see the congregation taking on more responsibility and growing in the process. Please pray that the church will continue to grow and develop through the locals efforts! Recent conversions / identifications / restorations: Baptized! - Fabiola Gimenez. She is the sister of Silvina Gimenez that was baptized just a short while ago. She and her husband, Rodrigo, have been attending the couples Bible study group and have had several questions about baptism. She decided to put on Christ in baptism through her studies and we rejoice with the angels in her decision! Baptized! - Jazmin Gimenez. She is the youngest of the three Gimenez sisters. She followed in the footsteps of Silvina and Fabiola, except she identified more with the youth group and became involved with them. Through various studies she, too, arrived at the decision that she needed to obey that form of doctrine (Roman 6:17) and be baptized. Now all three sisters are rejoicing in their salvation. This is especially apparent in the smile Jazmin produced when she rose into newness of life! (pictured above, right)

Fabiola Gimenez after her baptism, pictured here with her husband Rodrigo and their two sons Maximillian and Santiago.

Special Activities: Annual Team Evaluation Workshop. We invited Gail and Jerry Heiderich from Itu, Brazil, to come once again and provide counseling for the team, as well as, guidance for yet another major transition that the team is facing. The Hardins will be finishing their time with the team in December and we are about to begin a Bible school, both of which will have an effect on the congregation. The remaining team members want to make the transition as smooth as possible and use it as an opportunity to help the church grow. We also set several new goals to work toward as a team. It looks like 2013 is going to be an exciting year! Contacts / Bible Studies Two new English Campaign Contacts! Two more interested students have come our way with Andrea and Adriana. They are both very interested in the Bible, so we pray the English study will develop into an opportunity to focus mainly on the Bible.

Jerry and Gail Heiderich (on left) with the Paraguay Mission Team at our anual team workshop

The remainder of our English studies continue to go well and we are advancing toward more serious Bible studies, as well. Please keep Blanca, Daniel, Sergia, Antonio, and Graciela in your prayers that they may be touched by the word of God.

Evangelistic efforts: A young man named Martn has been attending services regularly and wants to grow stronger spiritually. He struggles with several addictions and just wants to make sense of his life. We pray for him and will continue to offer spiritual guidance. Steps toward mission goals: The new mid-week Bible study group in emby is Our missionary ladies, Andrea, Alba, Brittnea, and Cara going very well! The weekly attendance has been at the CCC 2012 Retreat in Brazil strong and we have had some great studies. We pray this will continue to develop toward a natural church plant in emby, that the church in Asuncin can work towards and facilitate. Most of the leaders and the members have this vision already, so it seems to be only a matter of when instead of if. Plans for near future: We have a guest coming down from the USA! Karen Bennet, who is a member at one of our supporting congregations, Central Avenue in Valdosta, GA, is coming down to work with us for a several days! We have two students coming to Paraguay from ITL of Guatemala to serve as interns, as well as, teaching and preaching. We look forward to their visit! Our Team Retreat and Planning Session is coming up next month!

The Annual Mens Retreat and Planning Session was held at the home of Vicente Martinez with 12 brethren in attendance.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: Two more precious souls added to the church, a team workshop, a Ladies Retreat/Renewal and the Annual Mens Retreat all lent to a wonderful and busy month of October! We feel so blessed to be able to participate in such a wonderful work! Personal study: I am currently reading / have read: Difficult Conversations and How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone and Bruce Patton. David Crockett: His Life and Adventures by John S. Abbott - just for leisure. The old language used in the book is rather fascinating! Culture and language study: Andrea has enrolled in Berlitz Language School for Spanish classes. She loves it! We are praying this will accelerate her skills in speaking Spanish.

Andrea (middle in white) at the 2012 CCC Womens Missionary Conference in Brazil

Visitation: We had a nice dinner one evening with Aldo Britez and our new sister in Christ, Catherine Pascottini in order to get to know them a little better. We had Guillermo and Mirian Sanchez and Ruthy Pacu over for lunch one Sunday just to get to know our new brethren better. They are a precious family! We had a nice lunch with our sister, Raquel Franco. She is considering attending the Bible school! Prisilla Santandar is now regularly attending a Bible study group and bringing her family with her to worship. We are continuing to visit her and try to help her spiritual development. Dinner with our neighbors, the Mezas. He is a retired Army Major and she currently manages a little sandwich Some of our youth cutting up with some Karaoke. stand near one of the universities. They have always been really kind to us and we enjoyed getting to know them better. Family activities: Andrea attended Continent Care Connection 2012 which is a missionary retreat and renewal conference held in Brazil. She enjoyed getting to know other South American missionaries and soaked in the opportunity to spend some time at the beach! We are thankful for Great Cities who provides this valuable service to missionaries. We voted! After learning what to do for oversees voting procedures, we cast our ballots via the US Embassy. But, we didnt get one of those little I Voted stickers! :-( We enjoyed a nice 17th Wedding Anniversary dinner at La Misin Hotel. We have some fun family plans for November and are looking forward to the opportunities!
Paraguayan engineering: Scaffolding? Sure! We got that!

PARAGUAY MISSIO
Asuncion, Paraguay South America Troy and Andrea Spradlin
Casilla de Correo 13092 Shopping del Sol Asuncion, Paraguay (595) 0981-630-886 We are seeking to "equip the saints for the work of service to the building up of the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:12)

Our Mission Team Goals for 2012:

Evangelism: Each member of the team has developed and committed to some personal evangelism goals. Collectively, we are praying that we will generate more than 120 new contacts and conduct more than 750 Bible studies. These studies will include both evangelistic and member studies. We also plan to use public advertising, special events, and seminars to generate contacts. We also pray that we will continually encourage and develop a more evangelistic spirit within the congregation. Edification: The team is working to develop leadership within the congregation through the mentoring process, special workshops, and by utilizing studies that focus on servant leadership. We are also developing ideas and working on logistics for the possibility of having a specialized Bible school in Asuncion, Paraguay. Edifice: (Building Construction): We pray that we will complete construction of phase 1 of the building this year. All paperwork has been acquired and we are requesting estimates to begin construction.
Visit us at our websites:

PARAGUAYMISSION.COM iglesiadecristo.com.py

thespradlins.blogspot.com conocerlapalabra.com

OUR SUPPORTERS
Margaret Street church of Christ (Sponsoring Congregation) 6745 Margaret Street, Milton, FL 32570 Central Avenue church of Christ Valdosta, GA Dripping Springs church of Christ Dripping Springs, TX Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ West Palm Beach, FL Poolville church of Christ Poolville, TX Families of: Clay Bond / Chet Brown / Virginia Guess / Joseph Markham