News from the Spradlins in South America

JANUARY 2014 Vol. 6 No. 1

A Special Baptism, Special Visitors, and Special Events

Wow! January was quite an exciting month! The Lord continues to give the increase here in Paraguay through spiritual and numerical growth. What a blessing to work in His kingdom! We hope the good news from this months report from the mission field of Paraguay brings you much joy! DEVELOPMENTS AT AVE. SACRAMENTO Weve been reporting for a few months about our continued study with Sandra Duarte and how her husband, at first, didnt want her involved in the church. This month, Sandra decided to obey the Gospel call! Oh, what joy to see the Word of God working in the hearts of those diligently seeking Him! Our sister in Christ, Karen Bennett, returned to Paraguay this year to visit us and to give the keynote address at the Annual Ladies Retreat. It was a huge success with nearly 30 in attendance to help set their goals for 2014. The men have approved the idea of planning a future church plant! They were four possible cities suggested, so they are going to start investigating to see which one might have the most potential. Please pray for this!

Some of our sisters in Christ who attended the Annual Ladies Retreat at the home of Estela Cursio, with special guest speaker, Karen Bennett.

DEVELOPMENTS AT EMBY CONGREGATION The brethren at emby have decided to make some special improvements on their meeting facilty that they rent. First item on the list: a bathroom for the ladies! Thats right, a bathroom - the one toilet they had was stolen, so they have decided to close in an area and make a nice facility for the ladies. Eliezer Perez returned to Paraguay on January 6th from his furlough back to his home country of Panama. When asked if he missed Paraguay while he was home, he said, Yes. Because Ive already grown accustomed to being here. He said he even took some terer (yerba mate) back with him to Panama! ASUNCION BIBLE ACADEMY UPDATE The students are only a few days away from finishing their first complete year of studies in the Bible Academy! What an achievement! We are so thankful for their dedication and hard work, but more so for the spiritual growth we see in each one. Brother Luis Camacho of the Bear Valley Extension School Program came to Paraguay during the week of Jan 20-24 to teach 1st Corinthians. He did a wonderful job, the students responded very well to him, and we greatly enjoyed having him as a guest. He also preached for us at Ave Sacramento and he had the opportunity to visit the congregation at emby. Brother Enoch Rinks, (our former mission teammate), also taught a short course for us in the Academy on the topic of Church Planting. The students were then assigned a Special Project where they had to develop a complete strategy plan for a new church plant somewhere in Paraguay.

Sandra Duarte obeyed the Gospel call!

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies / Activities: We were blessed to have our sister in Christ, Karen Bennett, come back to visit us. She is such an encouragement to us and we appreciate her missionary spirit and willingness to serve. She is a member at one of our supporting congregations, Central Ave church of Christ in Valdosta, GA. While she was here, she made a lot of great connections with the members and especially the ladies. They even gave her a going away gift (that says a lot!) Ike Yegros and I have continued our study with, Rolando Duarte, the husband of Sandra Duarte (who was just recently baptized). We are doing a verse-by-verse, expository study of Matthew at his request. He takes lots of notes and asks lots of questions so the studies are very thorough. Its so refreshing to see such great interest in Gods word - and dont forget that we mentioned in previous reports that he is very Catholic! Karen Bennett, from Central Avenue church of I now have a twice-a-week study going with my Taekwondo Christ in Valdosta, GA, with a special gift from instructor, Christian Jourdain. We are studying Fundamentals the ladies here in Paraguay on one day and Matthew on the next. He is very inquisitive and has said he just wants to be pleasing to the Lord. We also started having a prayer with everyone in the gym before starting practice. I had the opportunity to study with our brethren, Ramon Paredes and Elvira Dominguez, who will be getting married on February 8th. We used the Bible for some pre-marital counseling to help them start off with a very strong Christian marriage. We pray for a long, happy, and prosperous marriage for them both. Andrea has several studies going on between her English/Bible students, evangelistic studies, and some new edification studies. Her studies are with Oscar Parodi, Adriana Rodriguez, Jazmine Santander, Dina Aycock, and Sandra Duarte. Hawaiian Luau in Paraguay! Most people here had no idea what Brother Luis Camacho from Bear Valley Bible we were talking about, nor does the word luau translate very well Institute of Denver with the students of ABA into Spanish. But, once we said just dress up like yourre going to Hawaii, then the whole youth group got really excited! Andrea prepared several typical Hawaiian dishes, had flower leis for everyone, translated everyones name into Hawaiian names, had island music playing, and the works! There were 40 in attendance including about 10 visitors. Everyone had a blast! Worship and Bible class attendance (Ave Sacramento): Sun am 46 (5th), 57 (12th), 58 (19th), 64 (26th) Sunday Bible study average 40 Midweek study average - 29 Current members: 77 Baptized (43 Family Units)
Hawaiian Luau with the youth group

Worship and Bible class attendance (emby): Sun pm 19 (5th), 22 (12th), 20 (19th), 21 (26th) Midweek study average - 8 Current members: 12 Baptized (8 Family Units) Other news and upcoming activities: Enrique Albera and Leti Alfonso, as well as, Ramon Paredes and Elvira Dominguez will be getting married in February Special Mission Trip to El Salvador/Honduras Annual Church Camp/Retreat

emby church of Christ mens business meeting

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Some of the Paraguayan youth group at the Hawaiian Luau

Personal Activities: Andrea went to a Going Away tea for Laura Rinks at the home of Nora Yegros. It was great to get to see Laura and Enoch while they were visiting family here. By the way, they are expecting another baby real soon! We went to visit Maria Teresa Vaesken to encourage her in her attendance. She hasnt been coming as often and sometimes people just need a little encouragement that their church family misses them when they dont attend faithfully. We enjoyed a nice evening of fellowship and food in our home with our brethren, Delci Enciso, Natalia Mendoza, Maria Teresa Vaesken, and Karen Bennett. I finally had the opportunity to go play golf! Karen Bennett and I went and tried out the Asuncion Golf Club. It was a nice course and it was fun, but the sewer water running through the creek in the middle of the 1st hole was a little distasteful! The brethren at emby hosted a Welcome Back dinner for Eliezer Prez. It was a nice evening to get to see and visit with our brethren out there. Personal study: I am currently reading / have read: The 360 Leader by John Maxwell Why I Left The Catholic Church by Joseph C. Malone I have been studying with a Jehovahs Witness for the past several weeks. I asked him How can we ever arrive at the same conclusion if you are using a different Bible than what I use? He has proceded to show me all about his Bible but still hasnt satisfactorily answered my question! They take a lot of verses out of context and employ a very strange hermeneutic to show their reasoning from the Scriptures. I have been preparing sermons and lessons for a mission trip to El Salvador and Honduras in February. Preaching/teaching opportunities: This month, I had the opportunity to preach at Avenida Sacramento on the subject of How to Identify a Mature Christian. I also taught classes on Judges and Romans in our Bible study hours at Avenida Sacramento.

Going Away Tea for Laura Rinks

Nati, Karen, Delci, Maria Teresa, and Andrea

Brother Eliezer Prez returned to Paraguay after his furlough to Panama

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 Goals for 2014:

The brethren at the Avenida Sacramento congregation have set the following goals for themselves for 2014 and have asked the mission team to help them accomplish these goals. The team will actively support them under their direction. The goals are: Evangelism: (1) Hold a Personal Evangelism Seminar, (2) Evangelism campaigns in various plazas, cities, (3) Plan, investigate, and pursue areas for a new church plant, (4) Offer Learn English using the Bible campaign, (5) Use "Searching for Truth" book, (6) Post banners that get peoples attention for Bible studies. Long term: (1) Evangelize each Department/Capital of Paraguay, (2) have a Radio Program. Edification: (1) Promote the Asuncion Bible Academy for the next class, and/or start a Saturday School, (2) Host a special Homecoming event involving all congregations, (3) Improve ministries organization, (4) Special Mens Retreat, (5) Install glass doors at the main entrance, (6) Have a Camp/Retreat with all three congregations, (7) New convert classes, (8) Skype studies offered by brethren from USA, (9) Conduct new extension courses in leadership, (10) Develop or obtain materials/courses for brethren with family problems, (11) Develop communication in Guarani for the brethren. Long term: (1) Finish the building faade. The mission team will assist and coordinate these activities according to the direction of the congregation. Benevolence: (1) Offer the course "Comfort in Times of Grief" to the public, (2), Visit the sick / prisoners, (3) Provide a class on the topic of "Benevolence," (4) Use donations to help some members, (5) Prepare meals for the needy, and (6) Participate in various activities of benevolence. These are some wonderful goals and we are so excited to see their growth in leadership. Please pray for the successful completion of each of these and the continual development of leadership in Paraguay!

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

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