Tag: Family

October 2023 Report

Posted on by

Final preparations for first service!

Sanctuary before and after the new lights were installed.

During the month of October we have been busy getting things ready for our first meeting in the main room.  Towards the end of the month the curtains were finished and brought out and installed in our building.  They have really helped both in the appearance as well as the acoustics of the room.  We were still waiting to get the electrician out to take care of the need for more plugs and more lights.  While he didn’t make it in time for our first service, he did make it in time for our second service which really made the place look brighter!

Installing our curtains! Pray for these two men: Marcelo and Lucas! 
While they were working on the building I was able to share the Gospel with them!

Printing, Binding, Stamping, Stapling, Folding and Distributing!

Front and back of our invitation flier!

Leading up to our first service we have spoken with many people about what we are doing and sharing the gospel with them.  It is hard to find good tracts here in the christian book stores with a clear plan of salvation.  As a result we produce a lot of our own material to give to people.  But in order to have tractsand fliers available, they must be first designed, prepared and then printed.   At the house we will get the kids involved with the folding and stapling!  They also enjoy carrying tracts with them to give to their friends and acquaintances.  

We were very thankful to brother Victor Cervantes, the pastor of Templo Bautista for loaning us their youth group to help pass out fliers the day before our first service.  We were able to get a flier to several hundred houses and make several new contacts!

Our first official Sunday night meeting!

For our first Sunday meeting we had a total of 27.  The 7 in my family 15 from Templo Bautista and 5 from the neighborhood that responded to invitations from the week before.  On our second Sunday we had one couple return from the first week and another couple come that had an invitation slid under their door from the outreach!  Please pray that we can continue to share the gospel with individuals and that the Lord will give us clarity of speech and understanding to make the presentation as plain as possible.

~Thoughts from Stacie~

Getting Away for a Few Days

We missed taking a winter vacation in July and August so at the beginning of the October we booked an AirBnB in another part of the province outside of the city where we live. We have found that these occasional short get-aways help us a lot when the stress of the culture and daily life starts to get to us. It was a good time as we knew things were about to get even busier once we officially started our Sunday Bible Studies.

Our New Pet, Bella

Since we got back from furlough last year we considered getting a pet for the children. We don’t have a yard so a dog would be harder to care for as they usually need more space. However Scott and I agreed that our children were ready for a cat.

I saw a post in Facebook for our neighborhood of someone looking for homes for 30 rescue cats. They would take care of spaying and neutering the cats in exchange for the cats being adopted into good homes. We decided to adopt one of the older kittens which we named Bella. She is about a year old and has slowly gotten used to our large noisy family and the children have been learning to care for and be considerate of their new feline friend. So life with Bella has been really good for our children especially for Elisabeth and Joanna who seem to be Bella’s favorite people in the family.

Feeling Young Again (Joining the Adult Brass Band)

For 8 years of my childhood, 6th grade through one year of college, I played French Horn. For the past few years, Scott and the older 3 children have been going to band on Thursdays while I and the girls stayed home. Elijah has been playing French Horn in the band for a couple of years now and he told the band director that I played French Horn too. The director told him that I was welcome to join the adult class if I wanted and I could borrow one of the school’s horns.

One of the days they had a special speaker come to the school so I decided to go and listen to the speaker and also join the class. It was the first time I’ve played French Horn with a group in… well we don’t have to say how many years but you can probably guess by the ages of our children. Elijah’s and Scott’s huge grins were worth my taking that extra time in my week to go play with the band.

Mother’s Day in Argentina

Mothers’ Day in Argentine falls in October. I like to joke that I get two Mother’s days while Scott only gets one Father’s Day.  Scott wasn’t thinking about it being close to Mothers’ Day at the time he found a good price for a French Horn. The school only has a few French Horns that they are able to loan to students. I felt bad because our band instructor would take the best horn the school had from another younger student for me to play on. Then one day we surprised the teacher when I brought my new French Horn to class. He came in with the school’s loaner horn and was shocked to see me with my own horn. I smiled and pointed to Scott like I was blaming him for my new instrument. Everyone in the class cheered over my new Mother’s Day gift that my husband got me. Scott gained some major husband points in the eyes of the class that day. Pray for the band members as there are some upcoming opportunities for us to get to know them better.

Special Prayer Concern:  Bible Shortages

We try to stay out of politics here in Argentina, however when the political problems start interfering with our abilities to share the gospel we have to start praying hard. This is an election year here in Argentina and with the upcoming elections has come a restriction on imported items including Bibles into the country. Currently our only solution is to have people bring us Spanish Bibles when they come to visit us. The bookstores are still able to sell Bibles but they have limited supplies due to the import problems. For instance we were able to get some of the cheaper economy paperback Bibles that are printed in the country. We also still have on hand a limited number of pocket New Testaments and a few full Bibles in our current library. Please pray that the government will loosen their grip on imports and better quality Bibles to be brought into the country again.

Bonus Pictures

October 2023

July 2022 Report

Posted on by

Winter Break in Argentina

In the middle of July a strange thing happens if you are not expecting it.  Businesses that are normally open are closed.  Activities that are normally taking place are suspended.  When we first arrived here in 2018 we were left unaware but have since begun to learn the rhythm and flow of the city.  During the first week, we rented a house in the mountains for a few days and let the kids have fun playing in the dirt.  Even though we were an hour and a half from the city, I was able to talk to two people there about the Lord that either lived in our city or worked in our city.  While we were enjoying our time in the small village I was able to pass out several Gospel of John booklets in that place.  Please pray for seeds planted!

 During the second week, Hannah, Jonathan and Elijah had the opportunity to spend the week at a youth conference with other kids their age.  This was a great experience for them and for their Spanish.  Elijah had not had this opportunity during our first term since he was younger.  This term will be his term to truly soar in his learning and speaking!  Please pray for him!  It is not easy to make friends in another language and culture, but during the week he made some friends!  

     On the last day of the youth conference the rest of us joined them as we traveled 2 hours south of Cordoba to the mountains.  There is a place there that has zip lines that are stretched between the mountains over a river and other activities.  The kids had a great time and continued to bond with their new friends.

“Maybe you should pray right now!”

One of the activities was one that I truly enjoy, archery!  As I was shooting, we had a conversation with “Franco”, the one running the activity.  Pray for him, as he needs to be saved!  I shared what Jesus did for him and how one day we will leave from this earth and stand before Him in judgment and how Jesus willingly gave his life on the cross to pay our sin debt.  I told him how he needed to repent and trust Christ before it is too late. 

About the time that I was stressing the urgency, my daughter Elisabeth shot an arrow that missed the target and ricocheted back and flew right by him nearly hitting him.  Without missing a beat, I looked him in the eyes and said, “Maybe you should pray right now!”

A Visit to the Plaza of Alta Cordoba

While the older three kids were away at the youth conference, we worked on a lot of things with the younger two daughters.  One of the things that they really wanted to do was visit the plaza where we spent a year before the pandemic.  As we walked around the plaza, we were able to talk to several people as the girls played.  There was a lady there that rents out trampolines that started the conversation with us, having remembered us from before when we put on a Christmas concert in that plaza during 2019.

The Grey Haired Barber

I had found a grey haired barber that I liked after having my hair butchered by another younger barber.  The only problem is that here if you find something that you like it probably wont be there long.  One day I noticed that his barber shop was no longer there.  I had to find another barber!  I went on the search for another barber.  It sounds silly, but my requirement was that the barber had grey hair, hopefully distinguishing themselves as more experienced.  I walked to the center and saw an older gentleman through the window.  I entered and struck up a conversation with him about my search for a good grey-headed barber.  After we talked for a while, I discovered he was not the barber!  The barber was a young lady with piercings and dyed grey hair.  While I was not sure what the outcome would be, I had my hair cut and must say that dyed grey hair must be as effective as naturally grey hair!  All joking aside, I had a great opportunity to talk in depth with three people about the Lord and gave them each a Gospel of John Booklet!

Two Reactions to the Word of God

One day when my wife and I were walking in the center we saw a man trying to sell an old, worn out Gideon New Testament for the price of a brand new complete Bible.  I began preaching to the man about the value of God’s Word and that it was not intended to be a commodity to be bought and sold!  How sad that this book that he had meant nothing more to him than an item to sell!  I told him that the only reason that I would purchase a Bible like that would be to turn around and give it to somebody without charge!  I told him that I would not buy anything from him, but that I would give him something.  I gave him a copy of the Gospel of John and showed him where I had printed on the spine of the book that it was “NOT” to be sold and explained what grace is.  

He will probably try to sell it, but I am confident the Lord will get it into somebody’s hands, where He wants it to go!  On the same day we met another older man about the same age.  When I handed him a copy of the Gospel of John and told him what it was, he immediately hugged the book!  What is your reaction to God’s Word?  Is it precious to you or do you scorn it? 

Thoughts from Stacie

Fellowship with other Believers

One thing we have found is that we need fellowship with other believer’s in Christ. There are no ABA churches here in Argentina and during our first term we visited several different types of churches.

There is one Independent Baptist Church here in the city that we found to be the closest doctrinally to us. They believe in local church only and even practice closed communion. The pastor understands that we’re not there to become members but that it’s for us to be able to fellowship with other believers and for our children to be able to participate in Spanish services. The members of Templo Bautista Bíblico have welcomed us to their morning services and other activities that they have going on throughout the year. Visiting with them doesn’t stop us from starting our own work but they are a big encouragement in our desire to plant churches as well. 

Two Concerts before the winter break

Here in Argentina July is in the middle of winter. Even though there isn’t a corresponding holiday here schools take a two week winter break in the middle of July. It’s kind of like Christmas break in the States. Before the two week winter break our children were able to participate in a couple of mini-concerts. Scott and the older three children participated in the band concert on a Thursday.

Then Elisabeth and Joanna played their violins in a casual recital style concert that Friday. The girls were able to dress-up in costumes for their mini concerts. Joanna dressed up as a unicorn and Elisabeth dressed up as a colorful bear. Elisabeth even surprised us by volunteering to play a solo. We really enjoyed getting to hear how far our children have come along musically.

Taking a short break at the Mountain House

Children need the freedom to run around and just be kids. City life can be tough on country kids. Our kids have learned to be flexible here in Argentina. We live in a large city and we give them plenty of opportunities to play in the parks. Of course in the city we try to encourage them to speak mostly Spanish outside of the house and if they do speak English to do so quietly in order to not attract a lot of unwanted attention.

However when we visit the countryside, we give them freedom to run around and be as loud as they want in whatever language they want. Little breaks like that are good for all of us.

Immersion in the Culture

The week following our stay at the mountain house Hannah, Jonathan, and Elijah attended the youth conference with Templo Bautista where they got to spend a whole week immersed in the culture and getting to know the youth of the church. They were talking about how nervous they were on the drive over to the church but when the week was over they were all declaring how much fun they had and how they were glad they went.

Ladies Meeting   

I also had a similar immersion experience one Friday evening towards the end of July. I was invited to a Ladies Meeting that started at 8:00 PM. There was a guest speaker and a fellowship afterwards. I made myself go even though it was late in the evening and I was tired. When we’re tired our Spanish suffers. However sometimes that’s a good time to force ourselves to use Spanish anyway.  I was glad I went. The Ladies at Templo Bautista also invited me to a women’s retreat in the middle of August. Pray for me as I’ll be driving several ladies to the retreat.

Missions Conference and Banquet

Templo Bautista where we’ve been visiting on Sunday mornings held a special Faith Promise missions conference and banquet. They asked every family attending to bring food from another culture to share during the banquet. We brought Texas chili, corn bread, and a blueberry cobbler to share. The chili was a big hit.

Celebrating Ruth’s Birthday from a Distance

Ruth turned 22 this month. It’s hard being so far away but we got to talk with her and really enjoyed hearing about all her plans for teaching at church camp. It’s hard to believe my “little girl” is now one of the grownup sponsors and a teacher at camp. 

July 2022

October 2021 Report

Posted on by

Mission Conference and Marriage Conference

At the beginning of the month we were able to attend MTM, (Missionary Training Ministry) in Mountain View, Arkansas.  This ministry is a great blessing to all missionaries and sending churches. 

Later in the month my wife and I were able to attend the Homebuilder marriage retreat.  This is something that we wanted to do for years but were not able to do before.  It was a great weekend to spend together away from the kids for a few days.  The kids had a lot of fun with their grandparents while we were away.

Passports Sent off for Renewal

One of the things that was on our list to finish early was the renewal of the kids’ passports.  Passports for children are only good for 5 years.  The renewal process takes between 16 and 12 weeks to renew and have back.  That is one more thing that we can cross off our list!

Oklahoma State Meeting and Time with the Churches

We were able to attend the Oklahoma state association meeting held in Vian, OK.  It was a great blessing to be able to reconnect with so many brethren that we had not seen in so long!  We are also thankful for the opportunities this month to share and fellowship with several chuches in the area!

Thoughts from Stacie

Family Time
I’ve been having a hard time keeping up with what day it is. Time is passing so quickly. Some of the plans we had for October got moved on us. While I hate to mention the “C” word, but one person at a meeting we attended early in the month had gotten sick and tested positive for Covid. So we had to change some of our travel plans just in case we had gotten too close to that individual during the meeting. Thankfully none of us got sick and we were able to enjoy the extra time with our oldest two children. Joshua and Ruth both had a day off at the same time so we were able to plan a family field trip to a Heritage Village and the Zoo. It was such a blessing to have all our children together. We also enjoyed having one Sunday that we were able to attend Church altogether as a family.

Weekend Get Away It has been at least 4 and a half years since Scott and I have been able to spend more than just a few hours together away from our children. In Argentina we weren’t comfortable leaving them all overnight much less for a weekend. So we took advantage while on furlough of having family nearby to watch our children while we got away for a much needed alone time as as a couple. The retreat really helped us step away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and take a good look at our marriage and family. The end of November Scott and I will be celebrating our 25th Anniversary. I can’t think of any better way to celebrate than spending quality time together at a marriage retreat in Branson.

Bonus Pictures

October 2021

December 2020 Report

Posted on by

Merry Christmas!

A Special Thank You for the Special Offering to buy Bibles and Print the Gospel of John Book

This year, while we were in quarantine, I finished preparing a Gospel of John booklet that has a clear plan of salvation, the complete text of the Gospel of John with the beginning steps of discipleship at the end.  About a month ago a church, which desired to remain anonymous, had connected with us on what they could do to help us share the Gospel here in Argentina. We mentioned our desire to print these booklets to be able to give to people that we meet.

They had graciously voted to send $1,000 to either print the Gospel booklet or buy Bibles.  We will be looking for the best options for getting them printed as soon as possible.  This booklet will be a great resource as it could be used not only to visually share the Gospel, but also as a basic study guide for beginning discipleship sessions with someone.  On the back of the book there are links to our Podcast as well as our Youtube channel.  If we can get somebody plugged into our podcast we can continue to speak the Word of life into their lives.  This book is free to download and copy, so if you know anyone in your community that speaks Spanish you can freely share it with them!

We Miss Having Places Like O’Reilly or Autozone

Culture in other countries can be very funny sometimes.  We miss the fact that in the US, every town has an Autozone, ABC or some kind of autoparts store.  The experience is usually very straightforward.  You enter the store, buy your part and leave. Done.

Here in Argentina, in a city of almost one and a half million people, it was very difficult to by the part that we needed for the car recently purchased.  When we bought the car, we bought it at a discount, knowing that it was going to need the rear light assembly.  When asking whether the part was in stock, the auto parts store did not have one and were unwilling to order one from the factory for fear that the price would change while it was being shipped. 

They gave me the number of someone else that might have the part.  They did not, but they told me of another that would have the part.  They did not but were willing to order it with a 7-10 day wait.  I told them to order the part and two weeks later received notice that it came in. 

When I arrived with the money to pay for it, they explained that it was not there but at the other location on the other side of town.  He printed off the bill for the part and I traveled to the other side of town and was able to get the part that we needed.  After several trips and translations, we finally have that part that we need!  Praise the Lord!

The Lord Opens Up Opportunities to Share the Gospel 

One thing that is nice about a large city like Cordoba is that you have great potential to meet new people.  There are many times that you will meet someone for the first time and possibly never see them again.  It is a great opportunity to share the Gospel.  This month had been no exception!  From the people that I get to talk to regularly to people that we met that were selling items for Christmas. 

One such person was the green haired young man that came to Cordoba to take college classes right before the pandemic hit.  While he was not very interested in making Jesus the Lord of his life, he did listen to the gospel and later I shared the link to our podcast.  Pray for him. 

Or the taxi driver that was sad when we got to our destination because he was enjoying the discussion.  Please pray that the Lord gives us wisdom in all our words, actions and decisions!

Abortion Legalized

At the end of the month, our hearts sank with the knowledge that abortion had been legalized here in the country.  Earlier in the month we even saw a notice by two women that wanted to become pregnant just to be the first in line to abort their babies.  I am having a hard time even writing this paragraph without tears in my eyes over the evil rebellion in the heart of people.  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Thoughts from Stacie

Thank You for making our Christmas so Special!

Our Children posing in front of the tree on Christmas Morning

Christmas is usually an unsure time of year and some years are a little tighter than others. Our children are really sweet though and are always excited for Christmas no matter how many gifts are under the tree.

This year because of several generous Christmas offerings we received we were able to get some really special gifts for not only our children here in Argentina but also to send a little something special to our State side children as well.

The five children here were especially excited a couple of days before Christmas when we gave each of them money to go out and buy gifts for me and Scott. I think they might have been more excited for us to open our gifts than they were to open theirs.

Christmas Eve we set out their gifts after they were in bed and Christmas morning they set our gifts around the tree. After our Christmas morning Bible reading where we read about the birth of Jesus from the book of Luke and Matthew, they wanted us to open our gifts from them first.

Bonus Pictures

August 2020 Report

Posted on by

Click this link to view the printable PDF of this report:
http://argentinabaptist.org/Newsletter/Report-2020-08.pdf

Get the Printable PDF of this Report Here

The last day of August was the 165th day of quarantine here in Argentina. We have now been in quarantine longer than there are days left to Christmas. However what at the beginning seemed such an inconvenience to our original plans for the year, we are now able to look back and see how the Lord was working through it all. So many things that we have started and focused on during this time of social distancing and isolating, as they call it here, we would have not done otherwise. 

New Podcast

Just in the month of August we not only continued to send out daily audio messages and weekly YouTube livestreams, we also started podcasting around the middle of the month and our listening audience has grown. 

Our Children’s Education 

We’ve also been able to work with the kids on their homeschool lessons which with the additional time this year they’ve been able to go further than they might have if their attention had been divided with extracurricular activities. They are focusing on getting ahead in their lessons so that when the country starts opening again it will be easier to keep up when things get back to a new normal.

Family Devotionals in Spanish

While on the subject of kids’ education, this month we added presenting our evening family devotionals in Spanish every other week. We already had each of us taking turns giving devotionals in English to help our children prepare for one day possibly being Sunday School teachers but we also want them to be equally prepared to minister here should they ever be asked to teach or speak in Spanish.

LAMB Seminary in Columbia 

Scott was blessed with the invitation to bring a few virtual lessons through Zoom for the Latin America Missionary Baptist Seminary in Columbia. We are thankful for the opportunity and are looking forward to seeing what doors the Lord may open in the future.

Children Stateside

Please pray for our Stateside children. We are so glad that we are able to stay in touch with them through all the craziness they have had to face in the new normal of 2020. It’s hard being so far away through the transitions that the year has thrown at them. However God has been faithful and they are doing well. When you pray for us please lift Joshua and Ruth up as well. It’s hard parenting from a distance but we know God’s grace can lead and guide them even better than we can during these times.

  • Watching our daughter, Ruth, sing a special at her church in Texas over 5,000 miles away through Facebook
  • Enjoying some coffee and conversation with our son in Michigan.

Bonus Pictures

February Deputation and Family Time before we head out of Texas

Posted on by

Elisabeth’s first shopping trip.

Our sending church Nevill’s Chapel held a Faith Promise Conference and our picture was posted along with the other missionaries on the church sign.

Granted we’d be around 70 if this shirt’s message still applied 30 years from now.

My parents holding their two youngest grandchildren. Note the toys all over the floor the next picture explains why.

We made a special occasion before we hit the road on deputation to make this picture happen for my parents with all 16 grandkids.

Joanna on one of her new baby blankets that was given to her by the ladies of Ridge Crest MBC in Levelland, Tx.

We had a good time during Senior day at Glenwood Baptist Camp. The kids got to help Bro. Ken Sibley with his gospel illusion lessons.

We also got to hear the gospel group The King’s Servants the same day at Camp Glenwood.

Scott was the guest speaker on Senior Day. He preached from Psalm 71:18.

We enjoy singing together as a family.

My cousin Christi had her baby a week before Joanna was born. We finally got the second cousins together for some pictures. It was a little tricky getting both babies to be happy at the same time.

We had a really good visit with Mema (Charlcye Taylor) before heading out on a longer deputation trail visiting Churches all over the United States.

We also visited Bethel MBC of Tatum, Tx with Mema, Aunt Connie, and Uncle Tom.

Scott shares our mission plans for Argentina…

…and he enjoys preaching from the Word of God when given the opportunity.

Elijah gets to hold Joanna in this picture. Joanna is not short on getting attention with so many siblings.

Welcoming Joanna Lynn

Posted on by

IMG_0195We would like to introduce the newest member to our mission team, Joanna Lynn. She was born into our world January 14, 2017 at 2:10 a.m. at home in Henderson, Tx weighing 9 lbs and measuring 21.25 inches long.

16473796_1440923665918933_8220400000109260391_nThis was our first home birth and it was our best delivery experience to date. We really appreciate the help of our midwife Kristin Green of Seeds of Grace Midwifery. She was a true blessing to us and even prayed with us right before Joanna was born. 15977961_10212357428957042_1278282277961485963_nIMG_0194

16178415_10210201169883784_6025970449457728801_oIMG_0260

16142413_1264140010329840_7408078775431019984_n16602988_1440923605918939_7572815166172035826_n (1)15975246_1259560860787755_8277428163800483466_oIMG_5740