The Baptistry Is Ready...

Even though the Paraguayans are known to take life at a little more casual pace, it never seems to be slow or mundane in Paraguay! April proved to be just as busy as all its predecessors! The month kicked off with our annual congregational retreat which was held at Campamento Sion in Aregua. The theme for our camp this year was “The Lord is my Helper” (Hebrews 13:6). We had 56 in attendance with several visitors and first-time campers. Josh Blackmer directed the activities and all the Academy students assisted with the logistics and various other areas. We had wonderful weather to compliment lots of great Bible study. It’s always a great fellowship experience and this year was one of the very best! That event was followed by several new projects starting up that we have been wanting to get done. Some are still in process, while others have been completed during the month. We praise God for so many blessed opportunities! For example... 

WE NOW HAVE A NEW BAPTISTRY (FINALLY)!
Ever since the congregation moved into it’s new location, it has been without a baptistry. We have been blessed to have friends at a hotel just up the road which have allowed us to use their pool anytime we have needed it for a baptism. One of our sisters in Christ has also allowed us to us her pool on occasion. A while back, there were even donations given by some kind brethren in the USA to help the congregation here pay for a new baptistry. However, it’s just been a matter of what and where to build one which has lead to a long time without one. Our first idea was to build a mobile baptistery that could be wheeled into the auditorium when needed, but the project got stalled when the carpenter became too backlogged to build it. Then, someone finally had the idea to use the “Quincho” out back as a space for the baptistry. Since we never use the BBQ grill that is there (and it was broke), the men decided this would be a great place to install a permanent baptistry. It already had water installed, it would be covered from the elements, and many people could easily gather around it to watch someone being born into Christ! A contractor was hired, materials were ordered, and now we have a beautiful baptistry for those who decide to obey the Gospel call. We thank God for this blessing and pray that we have to use it repeatedly for many years to come!

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies:
•Andrea and I are continuing our studies with our “Learn English Using the Bible” students, Adriana Rodriguez, and Sergia Frutos using “Searching for Truth.”

•Andrea’s study with Dina Aycock is going very well as she continues to ask more questions and she comes to realize the truth of God’s word.

•My study with Marile “Romi” Balbuena is going well. Her interest in Revelation has afforded the opportunity to teach many other parts of the Bible as we progress through the book.

“Comfort in Times of Grief” is a group study program that was designed to help those who have lost a loved one by focusing on God’s word while sharing their grief with others who may have experienced the same thing. The team developed the program to not only help our grieving members, but also as a possible form of community outreach. Brittnea Yegros has done an outstanding job in getting this program going and the current group that is meeting is composed of several visitors. We pray it will be a useful service to the community, bring souls closer to God, and ultimately glorify Him. 

Asunción Bible Academy update:
The students and teachers have settled in nicely to their routines and have already completed several courses. The students are showing great promise in their efforts and attention. They have finals the week of May 6, then a short course with brother Donnie Bates. There will also be a campaign in Ñemby. The campaign will be an evangelistic effort with a focus in finding new contacts and potential Bible studies in the area in order to prepare and coincide with the upcoming church plant in that city. 

Recent Developments:
Perry and Alba Hardin have arrived at the end of their agreed time of commitment with the mission team. Perry has been invaluable to the work here in Paraguay and the Lord’s kingdom has certainly been blessed through his efforts. Although he will no longer be serving on the team, he and Alba will be remaining in Paraguay as he will be serving as Academic Co-Director and teacher for the Asuncion Bible Academy.

Upcoming plans:
•We are preparing for mission groups who will be coming down to work with us this summer in June and July. 

•Eliezer Perez, (from Panama and an ITL graduate) will be coming to work with the church here in Paraguay in June. 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES: HIGHLIGHT(s) OF THE MONTH:
Not sure if this is exactly a “highlight,” but I have spent the entire month focusing on getting some of our long awaited projects completed by working with local construction workers. A truly big highlight for me has been entering the building every morning and hearing all the activity among the Academy students. It has created quite an enjoyable atmosphere! 

Visitation / Other Activities: 
•We have been concentrating our spare time on getting everything ready for our upcoming furlough. It gets a little easier logistically each year, but it is still no less stressful!

•Andrea held yet another “Pinterest Party” where several young ladies of the church came over and worked on special crafts together. They are working on crafts for an upcoming wedding.

•Andrea took a little trip to Santa Maria de Fe in Southern Paraguay with the Las Amigas Club. Several ladies from the club went to deliver some food donations, as well as, to investigate the possibility of giving the community some vocational scholarships. They got to tour an Artesan’s workshop, a medicine garden, and one of the local schools. 

Personal study: 
•I completed (and passed) my first course toward my Master’s Degree in Missions! Hooray! I am now working on the assignments for the next class, “Introduction to Missions.” I’m pretty excited about the material!

•I am currently reading / have read:

♦“The Pentateuch” by James E. Smith

♦“Spontaneous Expansion of the Church” by Roland Allen

♦“Mission in the Old Testament” by Walter Kaiser 

♦Rereading "Missions: Biblical Foundations & Contemporary Strategies" by Gailyn Van Rheenan.

Cultural or language discovery: 
•Construction practices are very different in Paraguay! I have lots of experience in construction from the USA but a good deal of it just doesn’t apply in the same way here. For example, in the US, you usually hire a contractor and he does the entire job, including obtaining all the materials (which is calculated within his estimate). Not in Paraguay! You have to go get all the materials yourself and really, there is no such thing as a General Contractor. Instead, the Architect who designed the building usually serves in the capacity of site manager. Oh, and there isn’t a lot of layout or preplanning, either. You just build the wall, then, if you want water, electricity, or air conditioning in that location, you just chip away at the wall where you want to install it. Presto! So, a lot of things are very different from not only the materials used, but also the practices employed. BTW, the permitting process is a whole other adventure.

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

To see their report with pictures, please click here.

New Milestone In Paraguay...

What an exciting month March has been! A new milestone was reached in the history of the church in Paraguay with the inauguration of the Asunción Bible Academy (ABA). It is a new work of the church that has come to fruition after more than a year and a half of praying, planning, and preparing!

THE ASUNCIÓN BIBLE ACADEMY

• With more than 7,000,000 lost souls in the country, Paraguay needs more workers in His kingdom because the fields are, indeed, white unto harvest. With our thanks to the Lord, there is now a full-time Bible school in Paraguay with the express purpose of training up workers in their own language and culture through His inspired Word! It is an intensive two year program of Biblical studies with a special focus of “hands-on” ministry, personal evangelism, and church planting. 
• The Academy is being assisted by the Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver (BVBID) by providing guidance, teachers for “short courses,” and curriculum materials. See more information in Bob Turner ́s report at: http://www.wetrainpreachers.com/extension-news/ 
• The stateside financial administrator for the Asuncion Bible Academy is the Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ in Palm Beach Gardens, FL. 

INAUGURATION CEREMONY
On Sunday, March 10, 2013 the church held a congregational lunch and invited her sister congregation, “Centro,” to join the activities. Afterward, there was a special ceremony for the Academy. Similar to how Paul charged Timothy with his responsibilities, (1 Timothy 1:3,18; 5:21), brother Bob Turner, the Director of Extension Schools for BVBID, was invited to bring the “charge” to the congregation to remain steadfast and loyal to God while working in this new endeavor with the school. The students and faculty were then presented before the congregation and Brother Donnie Bates, Regional Director of Central and South America for BVBID, brought the charge to the school’s professors regarding their new responsibility. The ceremony closed with me having the opportunity, as Director of the Academy, to deliver the final “charge” to the students to commit themselves to the study of God’s word. (More photos of the inauguration inside!) 

STUDENT BODY and FACULTY
We ask you to please add this new work of the church to your prayer list along with the following names of the students and the faculty:

• The student body consists of: 

• 1. ) Full-time: Enrique Albera (27), Paulo Rocholl (24), William Arzamendia (24), and Ramón Paredes (27), all from the Avenida Sacramento congregation, along with Karen Gimenez (26), from the Centro congregation. 
  2. ) Part-time: Hector Paredes 

• The campus faculty consists of:  

• 1. ) Troy Spradlin, Director of the Academy 
  2. ) Perry Hardin, Academic Co-Director 
  3. ) Professors: Josh Blackmer, Perry Hardin, Troy Spradlin, Pedro Vera, Ike Yegros, and Jorge Vera, preacher at “Centro” congregation. 

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies:

• One of our “Learn English Using the Bible” students, Adriana Rodriguez, has finished the Book of John study and has started with “Searching for Truth.” 
• Andrea is now studying “Searching for Truth” with Dina Aycock and with Sergia Frutos. 
• We have several non-Christian friends and family members of our brethren who are now attending the various mid-week Bible study groups that we are conducting. We pray the seed will land on “fertile soil!” 

• Marile “Romi” Balbuena has lots of questions and is now studying the book of Revelation with us. 

Steps toward mission goals: 

• During the bi-monthly business meetings, the men are now talking more specifically about the details for the possible church plant in the nearby city of Ñemby. It is exciting to hear them making their plans and to be working with them! Our prayer is that the new congregation will start meeting sometime in July or August. 
• Goal reached! Having some type of Bible school has been in the plans of the mission team since first forming in 1997 at Freed-Hardeman University. With the opening of the Asunción Bible Academy, a milestone was reached with our prayers that it will help the church in perpetuating itself through leadership development. 

Upcoming plans:

• • Preparing for our annual congregational retreat in April. 
  • Our upcoming USA Furlough dates are as follows: 
    1. ) Poolville church of Christ (Texas) - May 5 
    2. ) Dripping Springs church of Christ (Texas) - May 12 
    3. ) Margaret Street church of Christ (Florida) - May 19 
    4. ) Central Avenue church of Christ (Georgia) - June 2 
    5. ) Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ (Florida) - June 9 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: I can’t even begin to explain how exciting it has been to see the official opening of the Asuncion Bible Academy! Add to that of what a wonderful feeling it is to walk into the building on a weekday morning and hear classes being conducted to train these young men and women in God’s word! Such a rich blessing!

Visitation / Other Activities:

• We enjoyed having Ethan Hardin and Ivan Villard, Jr. teach at our Wednesday night Bible study for us via Skype. They did a great job and the brethren really enjoyed their lessons. 

• Mirta Vera is our church secretary and a single mom with two adopted children. She is also taking care of her 90 year old mother. We spent a Saturday afternoon studying the Bible and just visiting in order to encourage her in her Christian walk. 

• We went to hear one of our very talented brethren, Diego Acevedo, sing in the famous Italian opera, “The Barber of Seville.” He did a great job! 
• Andrea held a “Pinterest Party” where several young ladies of the church came over and worked on special crafts together. They have now decided they want to do this once a month. 
• We had a nice dinner with Adriana Rodriguez and her boyfriend Francisco Benitez. We are hoping to develop that friendship even more. 

Personal study: 

• I am currently reading / have read:

1. ) “The Pentateuch” by James E. Smith 
2. ) “Elements of Biblical Exegesis: A Basic Guide” by Michael J. Gorman 
3. ) “Los Diversos Rostros y Causas de Incredulidad” and “La Existencia de Dios” by Bert   Thompson, Ph.D. and Kyle Butt, M.A. Cultural or language discovery: 

• The Paraguayans have a very unique way of speaking Spanish. Not only do they use the peculiar form “voseo” (not to be confused with vosotros) for familiar conversation instead of “tu,” but, they also have several unique vocal inflexions which they employ to clarify what they mean. For example, if someone is slow they will say, “el es lento.” But, if someone is really slow, they will say “leeeeeeento” with a high pitch voice inflection on the “eee” part. There is hardly a conversation that passes that doesn’t include this high pitch modulation. It is a lot of fun to hear Paraguayans telling their stories using this tone and variation. 
• For all our Spanish speaking friends who aren’t familiar with it, or all those who are learning Spanish, you should Google “Voseo” to see what Southern- cone Spanish is like. There are several good sites. 

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

To see the report with pictures, please click here.

Asunción Bible Academy Student Information...

The following information involves the current students and faculty of the Asunción Bible Academy in Paraguay. A picture of the students is attached and the information gives some background to each student as they begin this new program of study.

Enrique Albera (27, fourth from the left) - baptized in October of 2011 and is the son of our sister in Christ, Lina Albera. He was born in Asunción and is a graduate of the National University of Asunción with a degree in Agricultural Engineering. He came to know the church through his family and he converted from a local denomination. He hopes to assist the church in planting a congregation in Pilar (6 hours south of Asunción).

William Arzamendia (24, second from the left) - baptized July 2007 and is the brother of our sister in Christ, Carolina Arzamendia. William was born in Argentina and has studied music, as well as, coaching at several Soccer Academies. He enjoys working with youth and hopes to be actively involved with planting the church in Ñemby, where his family lives (just outside Asunción).

Karen Gimenez (26, third from the left) - baptized 2-2-2002 and is the daughter of our sister in Christ, Lucia Acosta, who is a convert from the first mission effort in Paraguay in the 1970's. She and her mother are members at the "Centro" congregation. Karen has worked at McDonalds and in retail sales. She wants to help with church growth for the "Centro" congregation and the church plant in Ñemby.

Ramón Paredes (27, first on the left) - baptized September 2010. He came to the church by noticing a banner that was placed out front advertising free Bible studies. Ramon has spent most of his life working in construction. He was born in Concepción, Paraguay. He wants to assist in church growth for the Sacramento Avenue congregation in Asunción. He has brought his brother and sister-in-law, Hector and Patricia, to the church and also converted his fiancé, Elvira Dominguez.

Paulo Rocholl (24, on the far right) - baptized in January of 2012 after learning about the church through a flyer he found thrown on the floor of a bus. He has completed an intensive, 14 month, English course offered by the Ministry of Defense and has also worked as Assistent Manager at "Plastec," his father ́s plastic manufacturing plant. He would like to see the church planted in Itaugua (about 40 minutes outside Asunción).

Professors and Administration:

Troy Spradlin, Director
Perry Hardin, Academic Co-Director
Josh Blackmer
Jorge Vera, (preacher for the "Centro" congregation) Pedro Vera
Ike Yegros

Steps Toward Mission Goals...

It brings us such great joy to see the brethren so excited about the many activities that have been taking place within the church here in Paraguay! It’s been said, “A working church is a growing church.” According to what we ́re seeing around here, it’s looking like that saying is true!

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES / CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:

• The church had a special “Work Day” to clean up around the building and organize all the rooms. Part of the objective was to gather up the many old things that were not being used, like furniture, clothing, toys, or anything that just needed to be discarded. There was a “feria” for the members to buy whatever they wanted among the items with the proceeds going to the building fund. We also hired a company to bring in a big trash container for the stuff we needed to throw away and we filled it up! Things are looking mighty good around here. It is great to see the brethren taking pride (the good kind) in
  maintaining their meeting facility. 
• Our Wednesday night “Summer Series” lessons were such a success that the members have asked to have some more guests! Brethren Glen Henton, Ethan Hardin, and Ivan Villard, Jr, have all agreed to speak for us. If you are a Spanish speaking teacher, or know someone who would be interested in participating in this program, please let me know! 
• Vacation Bible School! School starts the end of February in Paraguay, so it is a great time to have a VBS. We invited our member’s children, those of our frequent visitors, and from the local orphanages. Our youth, like Natalia Mendoza, William Arzamendia, and Carolina Achucarro did an amazing job with organizing and executing this event. There were an average of 40+ kids there all three days! That’s a lot crayons used!

ASUNCIÓN BIBLE ACADEMY DEVELOPMENT:

• The Asunción Bible Academy is now in its final stages of development before opening on March 11. Everything appears to be in order, set, and ready to begin. Next month’s mission report will be mostly dedicated to the opening of the school. 
• We now have five “officially approved” students. They are: Enrique Albera, William Arzamendia, Ramón Paredes, Paolo Roshol, and Karen Gimenez. Please pray for them! 

RECENT BAPTISMS / RESTORATIONS / IDENTIFICATIONS 

• Baptized! Vicente Martínez, Jr. He is the son of Vicente and Zully Martinez who were baptized this past year. Vicente, Jr., has really “come out of his shell” lately and been a lot more involved in the youth activities and Bible studies. He eventually came to realize the state of his soul and decided to submit to the Gospel call. We rejoice to have a new brother in Christ!

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies:

• Dina Aycock is a new friend that Andrea has made through the “Las Amigas” club. She has started asking lots of questions, so Andrea has invited her to come and see the church for herself! 
• The mid-week study groups are going strong again after a short summer break. We are back to studying in the homes of Delci Enciso and of the Martinez. Our subject is Romans. 
• We are also studying with several different couples with various topics like marriage, new convert lessons, and textual studies. What a blessing to have so many brethren that want to learn and grow in His word. 
• Two of our former English students have returned to continue their studies. Andrea and Adriana are just about to finish the John study that we use, then they will transition into the “Searching for Truth” material. There are always lots of questions that follow with that study! 
• Sergia is one of Andrea’s English students who has now advanced to “Searching for Truth.” 
  
  Steps toward mission goals: 

1. The new church plant in Ñemby! The men of the congregation at Avenida Sacramento have decided to support a young preacher named, Eliezer Perez, who is about to graduate from the Institute of Theology of Latin-America in Guatemala. When he was here a few months ago, he expressed the desire to come to Paraguay and work with the church. So, the church will provide him a place to live and a salary. This is a HUGE step for the church in Paraguay! They are stepping out on faith with the intent to support a young preacher. Eliezer will be working with the congregation here, as well as, being very involved in the church plant in Ñemby. We are praying and working toward having everything ready by July in order to start worship services there. Please pray for this effort. 
2. Upcoming plans: 
   *Preparing for the Inauguration Ceremony and opening of the Asuncion Bible Academy 
   *Congregational retreat in April 
   *We bought our plane tickets for our USA Furlough coming up in May and June of 2013! 
3. We will traveling to the following places during these dates:  
   a. Poolville church of Christ (Texas) - May 5 
   b. Dripping Springs church of Christ (Texas) - May 12 
   c. Margaret Street church of Christ (Florida) - May 19 
   d. Central Avenue church of Christ (Georgia) - June 2
   e. Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ (Florida) - June 9 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES
HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: We have a new brother in Christ and the excitement is growing as we are getting closer to starting classes in the Bible Academy.

Family Activities

• Yegros family. We had a nice evening visiting with Ike and Nora and just enjoying a late-night Paraguay style dinner. 
• Angel Ortiz is the husband of our sister in Christ, Mabel Ortiz. We had a nice visit one afternoon when he came by the church building during our “work day.” He is a very interesting person and a rather busy entrepreneur. I hope to have more opportunities to visit with him in the future. 
• Preaching on Skype! I had the opportunity to preach for our sponsoring congregation at Margaret Street church of Christ in Milton, FL via Skype. Even after having done this a few times, it is still such an interesting experience and great opportunity! I am very thankful for the technology that allows us to “be there” with are brethren in the USA. 

Family activities: 

• Valentine’s Dinner! We went to an old Peruvian restaurant we had been hearing about. 
• After a lot of sweat and hard work, I have advanced one more level in Tae Kwon Do to orange belt. Thanks to this much needed exercise, it has helped me to feel much better and have more energy. I have even lost a few pounds in the process. 

Personal study: 

• I am currently reading / have read: 

“The Letter of Paul to the Romans” by Richard A. Batey (Sweet Co) 
“Gramática Simple del Griego (Simplified Greek Grammar) by Armando Alaniz 
“Mejores Estudiantes de la Biblia” by Mark Reeves (Bible Academy Textbook) 

Cultural or language discovery: 

• Interesting point: Americans are often viewed as being “frio” (cold) by the Paraguayans. The reason is because we are considered to be very direct in our personal communication. Americans usually go right to the point, whereas the Paraguayans have several exchanges of greetings before eventually getting to the point. Then, the point is sometimes softened in some form or another. Even in text messages, it is considered rude if you don’t put several lines of greetings before getting to the point! 
• Want to learn more about Paraguay? Check out Natalia Goldberg’s, “Paraguay (Other Places Travel Guide)” which you can get through her insightful website: http://discoveringparaguay.com 

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

If you would like to see Troy’s report with pictures, please click here.

Preparing For The Opening Of Classes...

NEW BEGINNINGS, CAMPAIGNS, and PLANS! 
As we begin this new year, we are really excited about the possibilities and opportunities that lay before us in His kingdom here in Paraguay! God is clearly working as we see our calendars filling up with lots of upcoming activities. We see Him working through the many Bible studies being conducted, the recent baptisms, and through the continual spiritual development among our Paraguayan brethren. These are exciting times in Paraguay! We can’t wait to see what the Lord is going to do next! 

SPECIAL ACTIVITIES / CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT:
Our Wednesday night “Summer Series” lessons have been a great success! The event has exposed our brethren to some good, sound preachers for a fresh point of view. Our speakers have all presented great lessons and have included: Chris Fry, Enoch Rinks, Donnie Bates, Andy Chavarilla, Willie Alvarenga, and Douglas Alvarenga. 

ASUNCIÓN BIBLE ACADEMY DEVELOPMENT:
•The Inauguration date for the Asunción Bible Academy has been set for March 10, 2013! There will be a worship service followed by a lunch for both congregations. The day will include a special ceremony and a charge to the students, faculty, and church. The opening orientation session will be on March 11. We couldn't be more excited! The classroom is being prepared, the student's residence is being made ready for use, and the professors are about to turn in their first set of study plans!

•We are also excited that we will have brethren Bob Turner and Donnie Bates from Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver here in Paraguay for the opening of the school. 

RECENT BAPTISMS / RESTORATIONS / IDENTIFICATIONS 

•Baptized! Norberta Vera: After many years of seeing the Gospel demonstrated in the lives of her daughters and hearing them speak of the Good News, Norberta Vera decided to put on Christ in baptism at 90 years of age!

•Baptized! Javier Zarate is the fiancé of our sister Maria Jose Yegros. He has been attending services, Bible studies, and other activities for quite some time. Josh has been diligently studying with him until the seed that was planted finally grew to fruition as Javier decided to heed the Gospel call!

•Baptized! Elvira Dominguez. She is the fiancé of our brother, Ramón Paredes. She came to the church from a denominational background and has been consistently studying to learn “more accurately” the truth of God’s word. We rejoice in her decision to “obey that form of doctrine”  that saves! 

Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies:
•So, what was accomplished in 2012? Well, God provided our team with tremendous opportunity through a total of more than 1800 Bible studies this past year! These numbers include all our individual studies and group studies with more than 400 of those being evangelistic studies. God also provided the increase with 20 precious souls that obeyed the Gospel call. Many of these came from the 65 new contacts that were made throughout the year! What wonderful things are happening in His kingdom! We look forward to 2013 having just as many opportunities. We are already setting goals to help us focus on more evangelistic efforts while also continuing the training and study for the spiritual development of the members.

•Elvira Dominguez is the girlfriend of our brother, Ramón Paredes. Elvira came to the church through Ramón from a denomination. She had many misconceptions about the church and the Bible but has been steadily learning and growing through the many Bible studies she’s had with our brethren, Alba and Perry Hardin, and then most recently with Andrea and myself. We rejoice that she came to the conclusion that she needed to put on Christ in baptism according to His plan in order to be saved! 

•Hector and Patricia Paredes are new babes in Christ that have hearts of servants. They are very involved in many church activities and have a desire to grow stronger in the Lord. We have started a new converts study with them and we´re enjoying watching them grow! 

Steps toward mission goals: 
•Church plant in Ñemby! We are getting even closer to planting the church in the nearby city of Ñemby as our brother, Vicente Martinez, has been out looking at locations that could be rented to use as a meeting facility! Some of the group has decided they want something independent, simple, and centrally located instead of meeting in someone’s home. We look forward to the continual development of this vision.

•Be sure and check out the back page for some really big news about some big steps being taken by the church here in Paraguay. We´re excited! 

Worship and Bible class attendance: 
•Sun am – 44 (6th); 41 (13th); 50 (20th); 58 (27th)
•Sun pm – 30 (6th); 24 (13th); 37 (20th); 20 (27th)
•Sunday Bible study average – 33
•Midweek study average - 24 / Other - 22
•Current members: 85 Baptized (47 Family Units) 

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES  

Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: Three baptisms, the church building remodeling project coming together, new plans and new beginnings with several other projects coming to fruition . and it’s only January! 

Family activities: 
•We celebrated New Year’s Eve by having a nice dinner with the Yegros family. Brittnae´s parents, Kevin and Tammy Dye, were here with us also.

•Andrea celebrated another birthday this month (she looks way younger than she really is)! We went to one of her favorite restaurants and enjoyed the evening together.

•We took our annual South-American vacation and went to see the beach in Encarnacion, the old Jesuit ruins, and a yerba mate processing plant, along with a side trip for some river fishing. It was a great time and much needed rest! 

Visitation: 
•Next-door neighbors! We have had some wonderful opportunities to visit with some of our next door neighbors from beside us and behind us! We had dinner with the Meza’s last month and have plans to get together again soon. We also have an invitation from another neighbor for dinner.

•The Martinez family is struggling with some personal issues and needed some encouragement. We took Delci and Nati with us and just visited a while.

Personal study: 
I am currently reading / have read:

♦“St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen” by William Mitchell Ramsay
♦“Balanced Christianity: Maintaining Biblical Balance” - 1997 Shenandoah Lectureship 

Cultural or language discovery: 
“La Costanera” is a term used in the Southern Cone (Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Chile) to describe a riverside drive or park. The term has been in all the newspapers a lot for the past couple of years. One of Paraguay’s southern cities, Encarnación, completed their “Costanera” last year and has since turned into the country's biggest tourist attraction for beach goers. Not to be outdone, Asunción has been speedily constructing their own version in order to attract tourists. There´s just one major difference: the Paraná river by Encarnación is rather clean and pure while the Paraguay river by Asunción has been deemed unsafe to enter for swimming! Oh the dilemma! 

Upcoming plans:
•Vacation Bible School in February.
•Preparing for opening of the Bible Academy in March.
•Congregational retreat in April

Troy and Andrea Spradlin

To see Troy’s report with pictures, please click here.