News from the Spradlins in South America

December 2012 / Vol. 4 No. 12

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: nd th th th th Sun am 40 (2 ); 37 (9 ); 38 (16 ); 37 (23 ); 41 (30 ) nd th th th th Sun pm 34 (2 ); 30 (9 ); 28 (16 ); 26 (23 ); 29 (30 ) Sunday Bible study average 32 Midweek study average - 21 / Other - 20 RECENT BAPTISMS! Brethren, is there really anything more important in this world than ones salvation? The answer is, obviously, NO there is not! Last month, five precious souls recognized this truth through the power of Gods word and decided to heed the Gospel call! What a great way to end 2012!

Adriana Ramirez

Baptized! Zully and Vicente Martinez! They came to the church

more than a year and a half ago. After we and several brethren studied the subject of baptism with them on many occasions and teaching them EVERYTHING involved in being saved, Zully recognized that she needed to be baptized according to the Bible in order to be saved. However, Vicente believed that they had already been baptized for the right reasons. He maintained this posture based on how he understood the one baptism of Ephesians 4:5. Something in him changed recently when he finally recognized that he had been previously baptized under a false doctrine and was, therefore, rebaptized with this time knowing it was according to the scriptures! Baptized! Nery and Delia Martinez! Nery is the younger brother of Vicente Martinez. Vicente had been evangelizing his brother for quite some time, but when two young preachers from Guatemala came to visit, he decided to seize the opportunity to set up a study with them and his brother. Nery decided to obey the Gospel call then his wife, Delia, decided to do the same! Praise God for the power of the Gospel! Baptized! Adriana Ramirez! Adriana is a friend and neighbor of Mirta Vera, our church secretary. When we needed a cleaning lady for the church building, Mirta suggested Adriana and she has now been with us for several weeks. Adriana began asking many questions and Mirta continued to evangelize simply by showing her what the Bible says. Then one Friday morning, Adriana decided she needed to be saved and right away! Praise God for her obedience!

(Top to bottom) Zully and Vicente Martnez; and ery and Delia Martnez being baptized.

Special Activities / Congregational Development: We enjoyed a wonderful evening of fellowship, fun, and food at our annual End of Year Dinner with both congregations! Everyone brought lots of food and some brought friends or family. We had a few presentations and then topped off the night with a very humorous talent show! Andrea hosted the Ladies Tea in our home this month. There were 26 ladies that came and enjoyed fellowship and some of Andreas famous cooking! Andrea also gave the devotional thought and afterward, the ladies exchanged Christmas gifts. Brother Chris Fry was our guest speaker this month (via Internet) for our Wednesday night Summer Series lessons. He always does a good job and we enjoyed his lesson. Some of our upcoming speakers include Willie Alvarenga, Andy Chavarilla, Enoch Rinks, and Douglas Alvarenga. Bible Academy development: The time is getting closer and we are getting more excited as the Asuncin Bible Academy continues to develop! There is much left to do, but the men are steadily moving forward with the development by working on the Student Manual and teacher expectations. It is long, tedious work, but they are very dedicated. We have several potential students and we ask that you please keep them in your prayers. They are: Enrique Albera, William Arzamendia, Paolo Roschol, Ramon Paredes, and Karen Vega. Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies: English Course Contacts: Our English studies have gone well but now that we are in summer time in Paraguay, many are taking off work for vacation. Several of our students have suspended their classes until February. We ask that you please keep Adriana, Andrea, Guadalupe, Blanca, Sergia, Antonio, and Graciela in your prayers that they continue their studies with us and that they may ultimately respond to the word of God. Steps toward mission goals: Perry and Alba Hardin have completed their committed time to the mission team. They left Dec 31 to go work in Peru for two months, then plan to return to Paraguay where Perry will assume the position of Director of Academics for the Asuncion Bible Academy. We made some improvements on the building! We removed one of the interior walls in order to enlarge the space we are using for worship assembly. We also repaired several cracks in the walls and repainted a large part of the interior. Upcoming plans: 2013 looks like it will be super busy as we get ready to start the Bible Academy, host several groups from the US, gear up for our annual congregational retreat, launch a new English campaign, and offer several community seminars!

Our Annual End of Year Dinner with both congregations of Asuncin.

Our 2012 high school graduates (L-R) Andrs Vera, atalia Mendoza, Emi (for icolas Adorno) and Ramn Paredes. Each received a new Bible with their name imprinted on it for their accomplishment!

Perry and Alba Hardin have finished their time committed to the mission team.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: What a way to end the year 2012! There were five baptisms this month, along with a wonderful End of Year dinner, and the beginning of improvements to the church building. Personal study: I have finally finished the Spanish study guide book for new converts that I have been writing! The first copies of First Principles have been printed and given to several Spanish speaking brethren to help with any corrections needed. I am currently reading / have read: Pauls Letter to the Saints at Rome by Robertson L. Whiteside A Return to Christ Centered Missions by Earl Lavender Cultural or language discovery: Flor de Coco is a popular tradition for Christmas in Paraguay. Many street vendors sell this very fragrant Coconut Flower so people can put them in their homes or around their nativity scenes in their yards. Family activities: We enjoyed a nice Christmas Dinner in our home with several of our teammates and Brittneas parents, Kevin and Tammy Dye! Andrea has a new BIG hobby! Making gift baskets, cakes, and finger foods. Since she loves to cook and everyone loves her cooking, she decided to start taking a few orders by request. Ill be completely honest, I do not like going to the gym! Although I know I need the exercise, but I can find a million excuses for not going. So, I needed to find a different approach and I recently found one in Tae Kwon Do. I must say, it has been rather interesting learning a new sport in Spanish, but I have really enjoyed it and I already feel much better! I even recently earned my first belt! Visitation: Gustavo Aguero has been struggling with many aspects of his life lately. He has once again slipped back into drinking. But, recently he indicated that he needs to get his life back together and return to the Lords church. Well be praying and doing all we can for him. Estella and Graciella - Estella turned 70 years old on Dec 24 and her daughter Graciella, who lives in the US, was here to celebrate. We got to spend a little time with them both because Andrea was asked to prepare a large gift basket for her. They are such wonderful people! Upcoming plans: We are hoping to complete the interior remodel and painting of the church building in January.
We knocked out a wall and widened our assembly space!

Andrea hosted this months Ladies Tea in our home.

I earned my yellow belt in Tae Kwon Do! It is my new way of getting some much needed exercise!

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