Missionaries: Troy and Andrea Spradlin Mission Field: Asuncin, Paraguay South America Date/No.

. of Report: February 2012 / Vol. 4 No. 2

CONGREGATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Name of congregation: Address: Year established: Present number of members: Avenida Sacramento Iglesia de Cristo Avenida Sacramento 650, c/ Espaa - Asuncin, Paraguay September 2004 41 Family Units (77 Baptized)

Worship and Bible class attendance: Sun am 40 (5th); 49 (12th); 50 (19th); 50 (26th) Sun pm 28 (5th); 30 (12th); 22 (19th); 21 (26th) Sunday Bible study average 39 Midweek study average 21 / Other - 5 Recent congregational developments and activities: When we think about the Great Commission and the responsibility that we have to teach others so that they, in turn, can go and teach others (2 Tim 2:2), we have to give some serious thought as to how we are going to facilitate that. This is exactly what the men of Using Searching for Truth in Spanish during our Bible classes the congregation have been doing for several months now. We have the idea to start a Bible School (School of Preaching) to begin training our brethren how to evangelize their own fellow countrymen! The possibility is looking brighter all the time so please keep this on your prayer list. Some representatives from the casino next door to our building have approached the men of the congregation with the intention of wanting to buy our property. Several of our brothers have since been out scouting for other properties to see if we could take advantage of this proposal. We ask that you please keep this decision making process in your prayers, also. The church budget was presented and reviewed during this past month. The congregation is maintaining their budget through the consistent offering by the members. This is great sign of a healthy, maturing congregation! Recent conversions / identifications / restorations:

Baptized! Andrs Vera - The Pedro Vera family has been involved in the church in Asuncion, Paraguay for many years. They have witnessed many missionaries come and go. They have seen the church grow from just a few members to many. They were involved in the several moves that the congregation has made. But, most important, they have witnessed their children grow up and be baptized ... except one, Andrs. He had always been involved in the youth activities, as well as many Bible studies, but hadnt arrived at the point of obeying the Gospel. February 19, Andrs Vera decided to put on Christ in baptism! We rejoice with the angels in heaven!

Andrs Vera was baptized!!

Contacts / Bible studies: Juan Carlos Silva Juan lives just down the street from the building and is looking for a church. We have had a study with him, along with many conversations, and pray he continues to discover the truth of God's word and see the Lord's true church within us. Sara Sanabria Andrea's studies with Sara are going great. They are almost to the chapter on baptism and Sara has been coming to some of the youth events. Her mother has also agreed to study with us! Mabel and Ivanna Ortiz Andrea has been continuing her studies with Mabel and Ivanna is beginning a study with Brittnea. She has also been attending the youth activities. They are both asking more and more questions and gaining a much clearer Our Tuesday Night Bible Study at the home of our sister Delci Enciso, with Nati, Maria Teresa, and Pablo picture of what the Bible has to say on many topics. Evangelistic efforts: English devotional The mission team has regular, monthly English devotionals (because we don't get to worship in English that often), in each of the team member's homes. This month, we hosted the devotional and used it as an opportunity to invite some friends of ours, Jordan and Elin Fortner. Steps toward mission goals: We are meeting most of our team goals. We have developed several new contacts, hosted many Bible studies, and conducted several evangelistic studies. It is great to see the team so focused on evangelism! Additional activities: Vacation Bible School It is sumertime in Paraguay and the kids were out of school, so some members decided we should host a Vacation Bible School! It was a lot of fun and the children really enjoyed the activities. Once a month, we invite everyone that attends our regular Tuesday night Bible study held at Delci Enciso's David? King Saul? With a Roman soldier? home to come have dinner and study at our house. The Perry, Troy, and Brittnea dressed up during our recent VBS group is continuing to grow and we pray it will soon be used as an outreach tool. Some of the mission team members got together at TGI Fridays to watch the Super Bowl. It was a nice little touch of American pastime fun. Plans for near future:

Several representatives from Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver are coming to Paraguay to meet with the men of the congregation about the idea of starting a Bible school. We are gearing up for a mission group coming down from Freed-Hardeman University. Brother Glen Henton will be giving a seminar about the family. Next month will be our annual congregational retreat at Camp Zion. We are making lots of plans and looking forward to a great time together!
Andrea and Nati playing a game with Blanca's children during a recent visit

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Personal HIGHLIGHT(s) of the Month: Andrs Vera being baptized was definitely the biggest highlight of the month for us! We also had a great month of visits, Bible studies, and making new contacts. Also, believe it or not, we have now been on the mission field for two years! We celebrated with a nice dinner out on the town. Personal study: I am currently reading / have read: o Baptism in the Early Church by Everett Fergusun o Selections from Word Studies from the Greek New Testament by Kenneth Wuest o Revelation, an Introduction and Commentary by Homer Hailey I am making good progress on a new study guide in Spanish on the subject of the fundamentals of Christianity. There are a total of 50 lessons divided into two sections. I am writing most of the lessons, compiling materials from other brethren (and translating them), and designing several new charts and graphics for the book. I am trying to complete at least one lesson and one chart per week. Culture and language study: Here was our recent cultural experience: looking for a place to rent! Our landlord told us that he was going to raise our rent by almost 20%!! So, we decided to start looking for other places to live because we just can't afford that much. We found several places for what we were already paying. When we showed him all the options available to us, he decided to keep the rent at the same price and let us stay! Of course, this came after many prayers had been made! Thank you, Lord! Visitation: One of our sisters, Estella, lives about an hour away from Asuncion and her daughter, Mechy, was in town visiting from the USA. So, we decided to take a little trip out to see her. Delci and Nati went with us. We were pleased to find that several other members had the same idea! Estella prepared us a wonderful lunch and we had a blast enjoying fellowship with each other! We also took a couple of members to visit Blanca and Maragarita in their home to bring them a little encouragement. We also visited with the Adorno family to encourage them, as well. Family activities: Movie Night as a date night. Most movies are in English with Spanish subtitles and the theaters are pretty nice here, so it's a nice way to enjoy a little taste of back home entertainment. Andrea went to a ladies game night where they sang Karaoke tunes and just had a lot of fun! Plans for the near future:
Valentine's Day lunch at Estella's house

Notes:

We are excited about our upcoming furlough trip! The Bear Valley group visit, church camp, and the FHU mission group are going to be lots of fun next month!
Cookie making time with Vivian!

Andrea's allergies have flared up terribly again. She has had to make some serious adjustments in her diet and her activities. She is doing just fine, but please keep her in your prayers.

Asuncion, Paraguay South America Troy and Andrea Spradlin

Casilla de Correo 13092 Shopping del Sol Asuncion, Paraguay (595) 0981-630-886

PARAGUAY MISSION

We seek 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 Clay Bond Family Chet Brown Family Virginia Guess Family