Mission Report - Jun 2013

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ASUNCION BIBLE ACADEMY UPDATEASUNCION BIBLE ACADEMY UPDATE

The students have already finished their first quarter of studies and each finished strong! We are verpleased to announce that all the students received passing grades in all their subjects. Their quarter endewith brother Donnie Bates of BVBID teaching a “short course” on Bible Geography.

During the past quarter, the students also participated in their first evangelistic campaign. As an effort tgenerate new Bible study contacts for the upcoming church plant in Ñemby, the students wendoorknocking around the neighborhood of our brother Vicente Martinez’s house, who lives in that citThey organized a special Bible study for the final night of the campaign and invited lots of neighbors t

come. Unfortunately, the electricity went out in the arethat night making it difficult for anyone to attend. Thewent ahead with their plans and finished the week havinconsidered the campaign a success.

Their second quarter began with brother Gary Falliof BVBID, coming to Paraguay to teach on the subject othe “Godhead.” We were able to incorporate a couple oour brethren, Ale Yegros and Silvina Gimenez, atranslators for brother Gary. The class was well receiveand the students are excited about the upcoming courses This quarter will also include a considerable amount otime dedicated to "Practical Ministry," or “hands-oexperience, where we will be teaching how to do variouservice works like visitation and benevolence, as well asteaching how to lead prayers, preside over the Lordsupper, organize the service, etc.

News from the Spradlins in South America

MAY and JUNE 2013 / Vol. 5 No. 5

Furlough, First Quarter, and FruitionFurlough, First Quarter, and Fruition “Mba ‘eishapa” (hello in Guarani) from Paraguay!. This report covers our activities for both May and June. Wewere traveling in the USA all during May for our annual furlough visit back home which made it a bit difficult tosend out our report. I arrived back in Paraguay on June 10 and have been running non-stop ever since! Icount it as a great blessing to have so much to do! We hope you find this report encouraging and informative!

BIG PLANS COMING TO FRUITION!BIG PLANS COMING TO FRUITION! Just two days after getting back to Paraguay and trying to“get back into the groove” of things, I went to the airport topick up brother Eliezer Pérez. He is from Colón, Panamaand a graduate of the Institute of Theology of Latinamerica,

located in Guatemala City, Guatemala. Eliezer came toParaguay in November of last year to work with the churchfor a few weeks during a campaign. He liked the work hereso much that he has decided to return and labor with us full-time for a couple of years! To add to this excitement, thecongregation here has decided to support him as their first,very own missionary! They would like for him to help themplant a congregation of the Lord’s church in the nearbysuburb of Ñemby. We are truly excited about the forwardthinking that the church is demonstrating and we are prayingthat God will richly bless the efforts of brother Eliezer.

Brother Gary Fallis with the students of ABA at the start of their second quarter.

Brother Eliezer Pérez in Paraguay!



Evangelistic Contacts / Bible Studies:

We have started facilitating our weekly home Bible studiesagain in the homes of Delci Enciso and the VicenteMartinez family. These have been very fruitful in the pastin not only edifying our brethren, but also providing ameans to invite their neighbors to join us.

Andrea and I will be starting up our “Teaching EnglishUsing the Bible” studies again in July.

Recent Developments: History in the making! In order to help facilitate the new

church plant in Ñemby, the brethren have decided to startmeeting every other Sunday morning to formulate their plan. The first meeting brought up questions of “when,where, who, and how.” It was decided that the plant willprobably start in the home of Vicente Martinez. Brother Eliezer Perez will start leading the weekly Bible study outthere and knocking on doors around the neighborhoodwith some of the brethren that live in Ñemby. No datehas been set, as of yet, to begin worship services, but itis so exciting to watch and help in this church growth

process! Saturino Gonzalez is a missionary from Mexico to the

USA, who contacted our brother Ike Yegros severalmonths ago about the possibility of coming to Paraguayto meet with and get to know the brethren here. He andhis wife, Elizabet, arrived on June 15th and he taught our Bible study class the following Sunday. We also gavehim an opportunity to teach a couple of classes on songleading for the Academy students. It was nice to get tomeet them and we appreciate them taking the time tocome and visit us.

Finished more improvements on facility! The entire front

has been cleaned and whitewashed. It looks great! Also,the students put down a layer of rocks out behind thestudent housing in order to improve the use of that area.

Worship and Bible class attendance: Sun am – 53 (2nd) 47 (9th), 37 (16th), 42 (23rd), 59 (30th) Sun pm – 13 (2nd) 14 (9th), 21 (16th), 18 (23rd), 35 (30th) Sunday Bible study average – 43 Midweek study average - 28 Current members: 83 Baptized (45 Family Units)

Upcoming plans: We are preparing for mission groups who will be coming

down to work with us this summer in June and July. A group from Palm Beach Lakes will be here June 28 until

July 7. They will be helping with our evangelism campaignin Ñemby and doing service projects.

A group from Leanna will be here July 24 until the 31st.They will be bringing lessons on leadership, churchplanting, and congregational development.

Two of our Academy students will be traveling to the DarienJungle of Panama in July to work in a campaign with our brethren from Margaret Street church of Christ.

Saturino Gonzalez teaching a song leading class

Watch our 2013 Paraguay Mission Report

on video by going to www.pblcoc.org

and navigating to “Sermons, Missionaries”

Saturino and Elizabet Gonzalez Missionaries from Mexico to the USA



PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: Call me crazy, but “un-eventful” international flights to and from the USA andParaguay are a huge highlight for me! We were blessed with safe travel for all of our furlough and I am happyto rejoice in such small blessings as that. 2013 Furlough was the best one yet!

We had such a wonderful furlough visit to the States! It was sogood to get to see and visit many of our wonderful, loving

supporters. Thank you so much to all of you for making our stay so enjoyable. Even though we love working in South

America, we still miss each of you dearly and long for the nexttime we get to see you again.

We are especially thankful to the many brethren who providedus a place to stay, prepared delicious meals, took us out toeat, or on several fun outings. Our cup runneth over!

We became rather nervous when Andrea was traveling toParaguay and the Asuncion airport announced it was closingits runway for 48 hours due to inclement weather. We thoughtshe’d be stranded in Lima, Peru, for two days where her connecting flight was. But, thanks to many answered prayers,

the weather decided to cooperate and she made it home ather already scheduled time.

Be sure and check out our 2013 Furlough Mission Report onvideo by going to www.pblcoc.org and then navigating to“Sermons, Missionaries, South America.”

Visitation / Other Activities:

We had a real nice dinner with the Ike Yegros family visitingwith brother Gary Fallis and then another one with the PedroVera family, visiting with Eliezer Perez.

Andrea’s family had a big family reunion while she was in theUSA. It was the first time her family (seven brothers and sisters)

had all been together like that in more than twenty years!

Personal study: I have spent a great deal of time preparing for this quarter’s

classes: “Exodus through Deuteronomy” with Bible study andvarious materials in Spanish and English.

I am currently reading / have read: “The Pentateuch” by James E. Smith

“Guidelines to World Evangelism” Ed. by George Gurganus

“The New Global Mission” by Samuel Escobar “Planting Missional Churches” by Ed Stetzler

Cultural or language discovery:

Paraguay doesn’t have an OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) to monitor safety on construction sights, that I amaware of, like that found in the USA. If they do, they certainly havetheir work cut out for them! Everywhere one drives that is near aconstruction sight, (and there are a lot these days) it is possible tosee a scene like the photo at right. Usually, the workers can be foundin very precarious positions, at dangerous heights, and almost never with any safety or fall protection. It’s no surprise, then, when I read inthe newspapers about a construction worker falling to his death or serious injury. Sad.

A common sight around

construction sites in Asuncion

My nephew, Layne, was recently baptized! I realize this doesn’t really have anything to do

with the work in Paraguay, but his missionary

uncle is sure happy for him and just wanted to share the joy with all of you! BTW, that’s my brother, Lance, baptizing him!

Andrea (aka “cool aunt Dede”) with

many of her nieces and nephews



Our Mission Team Goals for 2013: This year, the mission team will be making a major shift in its role here by focusing on aligning its goals with those of the church and submitting itself to the authority of the Paraguayan leadership. In the past, the team had to make manyof the principle decisions for the church until sufficient leadership could be properly developed. In 2013, for the firsttime, the Avenida Sacramento congregation itself will be making all the principle decisions for the church. The team willsimply support them by their direction. The church has chosen the following goals for themselves and have asked us tohelp them accomplish them. Evangelism: (1) Offer various specialized seminars to the public, (2) conduct evangelism campaigns, (3), use the book"Searching for Truth" in various other ways, (4) provide more English courses, (5) plant a church in the city of Ñemby,and (6) have a radio program. In addition, the team will continue to generate new Bible study contacts throughadvertising, campaigns, personal contacts, and family relationships. We pray to generate at least 65 new contacts.

Edification: (1) Develop and begin an intensive, full-time Bible study program (Academy) to train brethren, (2) conducta new leadership class, (3) have a camp / congregational retreat, (4) have two planning retreats for the men, and (5)start reconstruction of the church building. The mission team will assist and coordinate these activities according to thedirection of the congregation.

Benevolence: (1) Offer the course "Comfort in Times of Grief" to the public, (2), keep a box of food for those in need,(3) provide a class on the topic of "Benevolence" (4) use donations to help some members, and (5) participate invarious activities of benevolence.

These are some wonderful goals and we are so excited to see their growth in leadership. Please pray for the successfulcompletion of each of these and the continual development of leadership in Paraguay!

PARAGUAY MISSIONPARAGUAY MISSION Asuncion, Paraguay Asuncion, Paraguay – – South AmericaSouth America

Troy and Andrea SpradlinTroy and Andrea Spradlin Casilla de Correo 13092Casilla de Correo 13092

Shopping del SolShopping del Sol Asuncion, Paraguay Asuncion, Paraguay (595) 0981(595) 0981--630630--886886

We are seeking to "equip the saints for the work of service toWe are seeking to "equip the saints for the work of service tothethe building up of the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:12)building up of the body of Christ." (Ephesians 4:12)

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

PARAGUAYMISSION.COM iglesiadecristo.com.py conocerlapalabra.com

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Mission Report - Jun 2013