Breaking the Ice
"You know Pete? I’m friends with Pete!” - it was this realization from two pastors of two different churches on two different continents that broke the ice between Pastor Fabian and Pastor Cody. Realizing they had a close friend in common despite being utter strangers was a great kick-off that led to deeper conversations and a feeling of being unified in their kingdom work. Despite the pandemic interrupting plans, this meeting was the beginning of a fruitful partnership
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Because of COVID, Pastor Cody’s church - Proclaim Church of Bonner Springs, KS - could not bring a mission team down to do work in Villa Dolores, where Fabian is the pastor. The construction project they committed to couldn’t be completed while the country was in lockdown. Nevertheless, the partnership did not falter, and their support boosted ministry to the congregation and community.
Villa Dolores church was able to renovate a garage little by little into a church building with support from Proclaim. While being stuck at home, Pastor Fabian was able to study Greek with one of Seminario Carey’s professors. At the same time, his wife Gabriela and assistant pastor Miguel were granted seminary scholarships to study theology.
Argentina has started lifting restrictions and churches can meet again!
As the lockdown began to end and Argentina began to open up, the church in Villa Dolores was finally able to take advantage of their renovated meeting room. Not only could they meet there on Sundays, but it was a great space to host children’s activities on the weekends and welcome all the kids in the neighborhood. The new room was also ideal for hosting a trade school, held in December.
This is exactly what partnership does! Churches and individuals come alongside each other to bless one another and accelerate the ministry and kingdom work that is being done. Neither is dependent on the other, but the relationship allows both to grow, whether materially or spiritually.
There is no doubt in our minds that Villa Dolores church would have worked hard throughout the lockdown to minister to its community in any way it could. However, with the combined efforts of Villa Dolores church and Proclaim, the local congregation received a significant boost which allowed it to accomplish goals that weren’t possible otherwise. The theological training, the construction projects, the evangelism events - these things probably would have happened somewhere down the road, but thanks to faithful partners, they were set in motion already. Now, as the lockdown comes to an end, Villa Dolores church is poised to reach their city with new resources and capabilities.
You can be a part.
This year, we are focusing our end-of-year efforts on three strategic areas for 2022.
- A new library in the seminary building: as you may recall, we purchased a building for Seminario Carey several years ago. While the renovation has been slow over the past two years, an unexpected blessing came in the addition of the ground floor of the building to our purchase agreement. We are currently working towards installing a full theological library on this floor, complete with most Spanish theological works. Of course, with thousands of books comes many shelves and logistical support.
- Full trade school support for 2022: for many months, Trade Schools, which support local congregations by providing skills training for the church body and community, had to limit their scope dramatically. As we move forward in 2022, we are excited to serve every congregation in our network with a trade school with support from SBWC interns.
- Benevolence support for visiting teams: in 2020, we had to cancel seven trips to Argentina from partner churches. In 2021, we had none. Now that the country is beginning to open up again, we already have two scheduled (and hopefully many more to come!). To make up for “lost time,” we want to make these trips as impactful as possible by sending not only teams to work alongside churches but also blessing each church plant with resources like books, bibles, and ministry materials that will serve the local church and neighborhoods. Our goal is to “refill” our benevolence fund to purchase what best serves each church and team.
This kind of work can’t happen without you. Reengagement is happening. Will you join with a gift of $50, $200,
$1000, or more?