News from the Spradlins in South America

November 2012 / Vol. 4 No. 11

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: th th th th Sun am 58 (4 ); 43 (11 ); 51 (18 ); 47 (25 ) th th th th Sun pm 32 (4 ); 22 (11 ); 32 (18 ); 31 (25 ) Sunday Bible study average 40 Midweek study average - 22 / Other - 22 Recent congregational developments and activities: The Special Committee for the Bible School has made some great progress this month! We now have the management structure decided, the faculty members have been chosen, and the course descriptions are taking shape. Perry Hardin was named the Academic Director and I was named Administrative and General Director of the school. We are very excited to announce that brother Jorge Vera, from the Cento congregation, has also joined the staff as one of our professors. Everything appears to be on target for beginning March 2013. Please keep this effort in your prayers as we continue to develop this school. Special activities: Karen Bennett, who is a member at one of our supporting congregations, Central Avenue church of Christ in Valdosta, GA, came to Paraguay to work with us for several days! She was involved in many activities, from giving personal devotionals in the homes of many of our sisters, to visiting an area orphanage, to encouraging our mission team ladies, and serving as special guest speaker at the Annual Ladies Planning Retreat. It was a real pleasure to have Karen in Paraguay and we greatly appreciate her enthusiasm for mission work. We hope she comes back! Gabriel Gonzalez and Eliezer Prez are students from the Institute of Theology of Latin-America (ITL) in Guatemala who have come to Paraguay to work with us for three weeks. They have been a great encouragement to the church and have done a fine job in every lesson, sermon, and study that they have given. They have served as a great example as to what we pray our Paraguayan Bible school will accomplish.

Our special guest, Karen Bennett, of Central Avenue church of Christ (Valdosta, GA) with some of the children from the orphanage in Limpio

ITL students Gabriel Gonzlez and Eliezer Prez have come to Paraguay on a ministry campaign .

The 2012 Asuncin Mission Team at their Annual Team Banquet and Retreat

Special Activities (contd): The Annual Ladies Planning Retreat was held this year in the home of Pituca Wingate with 23 ladies present. Karen Bennett brought a lesson involving a Christians Survival Kit. Andrea said, It was so encouraging to see many of our ladies think so deeply about the growth and maturity of the congregation and their roles as women, workers, and servants in His Kingdom as we sat down together to set our goals for 2013. Annual Team Banquet, Team Workshop and Planning Session, and Team Retreat This time of year is always fun, busy, and exciting because there are so many activities going on. The mission team always takes this time to reflect back on what has happened in the past year, evaluate any changes necessary, and then make plans for the upcoming year. After having the Heiderichs with us The Annual Ladies Planning Retreat was held at the home of during our workshop, we spent a couple of days Pituca Wingate, with Karen Bennett as special guest speaker. developing our plans for next year (its going to be a great one!) and then we took a couple of days off to have a retreat in Atyra at the hotel/resort of Casa del Monte. Brother Donnie Bates was the first of our guest speakers (via Internet) for our Wednesday night Summer Series lessons. Modern technology allowed us to connect with him from Denver and his lesson was well received! Our upcoming speakers include Chris Fry, Willie Alvarenga, Andy Chavarilla, Enoch Rinks, and Douglas Alvarenga. Contacts / Bible Studies English Course Contacts: Our English studies continue to go well as we are advancing toward more serious Bible studies. Please keep Andrea, Guadalupe, Adriana, Blanca, Sergia, Antonio, and Graciela in your prayers that they may be touched by the word of God and respond to Christs invitation. Evangelistic efforts: We set up several evangelistic studies with the ITL students through one on one studies, and addressed the topic of salvation in our home Bible study groups where a visitor was attending. Please keep Elvira, Susanna, Javier, Miguel, and Vicente in your prayers. Steps toward mission goals: Jeremy Barrier and Roy Wilson from the Madison church of Christ in Huntsville, AL came to Paraguay to investigate the possibility of starting a Christian radio program for the area. Brother Ike Yegros accompanied them around Asuncin and assisted in researching the local resources. We pray this program will come to fruition in the near future! Upcoming plans: Our Annual Congregational End of the Year Dinner is coming up this next month. It is always a fun event!

Jeremy Berrier and Roy Wilson from the Madison church of Christ in Huntsville, AL came to Paraguay to see about starting a radio program here!

Brother Donnie Bates teaching class via Skype during a our Wednesday ight Summer Series.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: So many great activities! There was the Annual Team Banquet and Retreat, the Annual Ladies Planning Retreat, visitors Karen Bennett, Jeremy Barrier, Roy Wilson, Eliezer Prez, and Gabriel Gonzalez, along with the Marine Ball and Thanksgiving dinner! Whew! Personal study: I am currently reading / have read: Difficult Conversations and How to Discuss What Matters Most by Douglas Stone and Bruce Patton. Preaching by Fred B. Craddock Culture and language study: Andrea has enrolled in Berlitz Language School for advanced Spanish classes. She loves it! We are praying this will really help her skills in speaking Spanish. (BTW, she served as translator for Karen for more than a week!) Family activities: U.S. Marine Ball - we celebrated the 237th birthday of the Marine Corp with several of our friends from the US Embassy at their Annual Marine Ball. It was a beautiful ceremony and a very fun night! I even had the opportunity to have a religious discussion with the US Ambassador, James Thessin. Andrea helped head up the planning and execution of the Annual Thanksgiving Lunch by the Las Amigas Club. They use the event to raise funds for the nursing scholarships. There were some 140 people in attendance and the food was absolutely delicious! We took the ITL students to a concert of traditional Paraguayan music and dance. Our sister, Natalia Mendoza, was participating in the event. The mission team shared a nice Thanksgiving Dinner together on Turkey Day this year.

Troy and Andrea at the Annual US Marine Ball 2012

Andrea enjoying the beautiful landscaping of Casa del Monte in Atyra, known as the Cleanest City in Paraguay

Visitation: Andrea and Karen Bennett made several home visits to bring a devotional to some of our ladies with theme of The Joy of Being a Woman. Upcoming plans: Andrea will be hosting the monthly Ladies Tea in our home in December. They plan on exchanging gifts and, of course, Andrea gets to cook! We will also be having Christmas Dinner with the team and Brittneas parents, Kevin and Tammy Dye, next month! We hope to start the first phase of construction next month on the building. We plan on removing one of the interior walls first so that we can enlarge the space we are using for worship assembly. Were praying to find a solution to get started on building a new auditorium!

Having a very pleasant religious discussion with the US Ambassador to Paraguay, James Thessin, at the U.S. Marine Ball.

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