Motivated Learners

“For learning to take place with any kind of efficiency students must be motivated.

To be motivated, they must become interested.

And they become interested when they are actively working on projects which they can relate to their values and goals in life.”

- Gus Tuberville, President, William Penn College

For the first time in the history of our church, we offered a Bible college-level class for the benefit of every one age 12 and up. Dr. Fred Moritz (Baptist World Mission Executive Director Emeritus) taught four days (10 hours) on theology of prayer and one day (2.5 hours) on theology of worship.

We are thrilled to report that the average attendance of the class was 32, over two-thirds of whom were from our church and the remaining were visitors from the community or from other Baptist churches. The class was extremely well received and we believe it will have a lasting impact on the lives of the believers for years to come.

Dr. Moritz teaching through an interpreter

Judy Moritz ministered to the ladies at a ladies’ meeting on Saturday afternoon. She also helped prepare and serve food every night of the class as well as supervise the children during class time.

We are so thankful for the sacrifice of Dr. and Mrs. Moritz to come down to Argentina to minister in Pilar. Their ministry to us personally was priceless to this missionary family! The encouragement, godly counsel, and wisdom we gleaned from this remarkable couple was invaluable and particularly timely.

Potential Property!

I don’t know about you, but I thought I would never get to write this…  We found property!!  Yes, that is correct; we have found a piece of property for sale that would be ideal for our church.  The lot is 10,763 square feet (about ¼ acre) with a house large enough that we could initially use for the church, and then expand it later. So, we could basically move right in, making modifications as we go. It is in a very accessible location by bus or car. They are asking $120,000, which is about $96,000 more than we have right now.  Please pray for the Lord to provide the remaining funds.

 Click here to view “Investment in Eternity” video

If you have questions about the land fund project, you can read more details here.  If the Lord would have you to give toward this need, you can send a check to Baptist World Mission marked “Greenwood Church Land Fund.” If you would like to give a smaller amount each month instead of a one-time gift, Baptist World Mission has simplified that process with automated giving: http://baptistworldmission.org/automated-giving.html.

 

Happy 2nd Anniversary IBIP!

Happy 2nd anniversary to Iglesia Bautista Independiente del Pilar!

Our hearts are overwhelmed as we reflect on God’s goodness in the life of this church body.  Every face you see here represents a life that has been changed in some way by God’s amazing grace.  Watch a video summary here.

The Lord blessed our special anniversary services with about 25 visitors among the three days.  Our people invited friends, family, and co-workers.  They made phone calls, passed out invitations to strangers, and certainly did their part.  Though we saw no immediate fruit in the way of salvation decisions, we did see God work through the preaching of His Word.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the two new believers James baptized.  Delia was saved in our church just over a year ago, while Jaime was saved a few years ago while still living in Peru. They were both discipled and then married in our church as well.  They finished the new members’ class last week and then followed the Lord in believer’s baptism.

God Blesses Obedience

The special services for the anniversary of Iglesia Bautista Independiente are not just  more events to add to the church calendar. They have a two-fold purpose:

1. Glorify God for the work He’s done in and through this body of believers and

2. Evangelize the lost.

Our folks, as usual, have gone above and beyond to reach the lost. They have called the 90+ contacts on our prospect list, given invitations to strangers, friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, and anyone else who would take one, and most importantly, PRAYED over those contacts.

  Anniversary Invitations

Below is a photo of most of the group who went soul winning last Saturday. We used the religious surveys again and were well received for the most part. Everyone who got contact information from the their interviewee followed up with them later in the week. It’s a blessing to hear even the youth request prayer for these individuals by name!

Although we did not see any immediate fruit from Saturday’s efforts, the Lord blessed our obedience in an unexpected way – 4 visitors on Sunday morning!

Please pray for God to do a mighty work in our midst this weekend in such a way that He alone would receive all the glory, honor, and praise.

Church Anniversary

March is always an exciting month of new beginnings. It’s actually autumn here in South America. So, it’s the beginning of a new school year, which means the beginning of discipleship classes in the church. It is also the month of our church anniversary. God has been so good to bless this ministry exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think! Little did we realize that when we began a Wednesday night Bible study in a tiny storefront, the Lord would quickly grow it into the dynamic body of faithful servants it is today.

Please pray for our evangelistic services March 23 and 24. On the day of our anniversary service March 25, James will also be baptizing three candidates.

Rising and Falling

Inflation continues to rise in Argentina. PriceStats, a specialist provider of inflation rates puts the annual inflation rate at 24.4% and cumulative inflation since the beginning of 2007 at 137%(see article). Meanwhile, our support descends (currently 89%) because supporting churches are cutting back on missions giving or just closing their doors all together. We thank God that He continues to provide for our every need as we trust in Him and Him alone!

In times like these, the example and these words of George Mueller are an encouragement. “God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God’s hands as a means. Trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith.”

Religious Survey Results

We recently shared with you about our church-wide soul winning this month. (Click here for the full article.) Each group took a religious survey to help initiate a conversation that would lead into sharing the Gospel. We would love to share the results of those surveys with you after we are able to take more and get a better representation of the population. So far, though, they fall in line with a national survey taken in 2008.

76.5 % Roman Catholic

11.3 % Indifferent (e.g. Agnostic, Atheist)

7.9% Pentecostal

1.2% Jehovah’s Witness

1.1% Other Evangelical (Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Seventh Day Adventist, and Universal Church of the Kingdom of God)

0.9% Mormon

No matter what religion people claimed, they were each asked, “Where do you think you will go when you die?” Too many times the response was, “No doubt, directly to hell.” How sad to live such a hopeless life! That is why we are here, to share the hope found in Christ alone! So, you see, there is yet much to do in Argentina! We need your prayers.

Three things to take with you soul winning

Every soul winner’s “survival kit” should contain three essential items:

1. Prayer

2. God’s Word

3. Passion for souls

Saturday afternoon was our first official church-wide soul winning effort for 2012. We are excited to report that 32 folks enthusiastically showed up, ready to sow the seeds of God’s Word in the hearts of the lost souls in Pilar.

First and foremost, we prayed together for those with whom we would come in contact.

Secondly, we armed ourselves with our Swords, God’s Word. Each group actually took a religious survey to help initiate a conversation that would lead into sharing the Gospel. Each person who participated in the survey received a John/Romans as well as other church literature. Everyone has gone through an intensive soul winner’s course called Netcasters, where we memorized key verses to share in witnessing.

That leads to the third crucial ingredient: passion for souls. As you are reading this on your computer screen, I wish there was a way for you to feel the energy and enthusiasm of every believer who came back from soul winning, sharing the contacts they made and even the folks they led to Christ on the street! As the people answered the questions on the religious survey, we realized that every individual has a story and each one is important to our Heavenly Father.

As we regroup after the summer and begin the 2012 cycle of the school year (March – December) with all the church events that includes, we are praying that this Saturday afternoon would be an indicator of what’s to come the rest of the year. Please pray for God to bring forth the increase as we continue to sow the seeds of the Gospel.

To our supporters, we want to say “thank you” for supporting us with your prayers and finances that allow us to be a part of the great work God is doing here in Pilar. Please don’t stop praying!!

By His grace alone,

James & Amy Greenwood

Summer Camp report #2

Summer Camp. Exciting. Exhausting. Full of blessings. Hot. These are just a few words that describe the two weeks of summer camp craziness this pastor and his wife experienced. Not only did James preach for the jr. high camp (click on link to read the full story), but the next week we took the teens to one camp on Monday, and then took the children to another camp on Tuesday. James ran back and forth between church and the two camps all week while Amy served as a counselor at the kids’ camp.

Although all the activity was strenuous for these “old folks,” the campers had a great time and can’t wait till next year! One of our church kids trusted Christ and many others made important spiritual decisions. We are proud of two special church kids who received the “Camper of the Week” award – Jaden (jr. high camp) and Martin (kids’ camp).

Monday – The teens headed north to their camp.

Tuesday – The 8 to 11 year olds headed west to their camp.

Jr. High Camp

The Lord blessed us with a great week at Jr. High summer camp. James was the main speaker for the week. He had to drink a caffeine-loaded Coke before each service to make sure he had lots of energy for this age group! There were 4 professions of faith and over half of the campers made other important decisions. Praise the Lord for the tender hearts of these kids.

Amy thought she was just going to help her husband, but they needed another female counselor. So, she ended up pulling double duty! It was tiring, but a blessing to her to lead two girls to Christ and have an impact in the lives of the girls in her group.

Counseling Time

Our team flag…and the winners of the week!!

We are so proud of Jaden, who was chosen as one of the “Campers of the Week.” He was very encouraged to get to be around Christian boys his age.

Game Time

Campers of the week from each team

One of the campers from our church, Elias, memorized all the Scripture verses and was able to recite most of them in front of the whole camp for a chance to win extra points for his team. We are so proud of him!

We still have two more groups of campers left to go… Thank you for your prayers!

Vacation Bible School

Thank you for praying for our VBS this week. It was a HOT week, with Thursday peaking 102 degrees and Friday reaching 97 degrees!! Even without central AC, that didn’t hinder God from doing His work! There were about 25 kids and 10 moms each day, and 3 professions of faith. Some of the visitors came because of a radio announcement, but most were invited by a church member.

We are so blessed to have such a great group of servants who were each in their place, on time, doing their part. Each leader poured their heart into their teaching, crafts, or games.

One of the highlights of the week was the mom’s craft table. We invited the mothers (or grandmother or nanny) to stay to make a craft and listen to the Gospel while their children were enjoying VBS. It’s really an amazing ministry as more unsaved ladies came every day! Many solid contacts were made and several promised to come to church on Sunday. Please pray as we follow up with each of these.

Below is a little summary video we put together.  Enjoy!

Thank you so much for your prayers!

By His grace alone,

James & Amy Greenwood

Christmas Banquet

Thank you for praying for the teens’ Christmas banquet. With the help and close supervision of the youth committee, ten teens planned and executed a Christmas banquet in order to raise funds to go to camp. They did a great job preparing and serving the food and raised about 50% of the needed funds!

Praise the Lord for seven unsaved visitors who heard the Gospel! Two indicated they would like to trust Christ. Please pray as we follow up with those.

We are also proud of our oldest son, who accompanied James for their first musical special together! You can see the video here.

Please pray for the teens as well as the children who are going to camp in January, that the Lord would begin to work in each of their lives and hearts even now.

By His grace alone,

James & Amy

2011 Ministry Summary

Summary of 2011

Stateside: We wrapped up a short furlough in February with basically a zero net support gain, maintaining approximately a 91% support average. We held 23 meetings in those 20 weeks, 4 of which were for new support.

Evangelism: We held special evangelistic meetings throughout the year for the church’s one year anniversary, a sacred music concert, monthly ladies’ meetings, monthly youth meetings, and our first missions conference. For evangelism training, we taught the Netcasters course on Wednesday nights. Several folks have made salvation decisions in these meetings and on visitation. Everyone who shows interest receives follow-up by either the pastor or a church member, but only a handful have shown lasting fruit so far.

Discipleship: Our discipleship program continues to be the church’s primary strength. We held two semesters of Sunday discipleship and Saturday youth discipleship as well as 10 weeks of one-on-one with various new believers. The church body has faced several difficulties from within and without. Praise God for wisdom and patience in dealing with these situations.

Training Nationals: There are three men in James’ Thursday night deacons’ training. They have studied three leadership books and have been involved in visitation and new believers’ discipleship. The church will vote on the deacon candidates in January. We are still praying for a pastoral candidate.

Church Building: In September we began a second service to accommodate for growth. Between the two services, the church is averaging 85 in attendance. The Argentines have given almost 50% of the total $20,000 raised for the purchase of property. We continue to search for land in the city center and are also talking with the owners of our current location about the possibility of buying.

Goals for 2012

Following God’s leading, our goals for 2012 are:

· Begin Saturday morning evangelism door-to-door within a 3 mile radius of the church

· Continue small group and one-on-one discipleship

· After the deacons are voted in, continue leadership training as well as visitation times

· Continue to raise funds for the purchase of church property.

Prayer Requests

· A national pastor to take over this church plant

· Wisdom and funds to purchase church property – our rental contract expires in June!

· Spiritual growth and unity within the church body

· Spiritual and physical protection of and provision for our family

Another FIRST…

It seems we’ve been passing so many milestones of “firsts” lately – first anniversary, first deacons in training, and first church wedding, just to name a few. We celebrated another first this weekend – the first quinceñera in our church. In case you are wondering, a quinceñera is a type of “coming out” party for 15 year-old girls in the Latin culture. Traditionally, the party involves much dancing, alcohol, and the father spending way more money than he can afford for the sake of impressing his friends.

This was the first Christian quinceñera for most of our church people to attend and certainly the first to plan for the family of the birthday girl. So, we talked through each aspect of the event to evaluate how it can glorify God in every way. We are thrilled to say that the music, program, dress, and general atmosphere did honor the Lord and glorify His name. Instead of the birthday girl being focused on herself and her wishes, she was more concerned that her unsaved guests hear the Gospel and accept Him as Savior! That is God’s working in her life and the godly influence of her parents! We were also glad to see so many church folks pitch in to help out the family with the preparations and clean-up so the parents could actually enjoy the party too!

James giving a challenge to the birthday girl and the Gospel to the unsaved

Church update:

· Praise the Lord for continued growth. We’ve maintained an average of 85 since November. Anyone who’s had to go to two services to accommodate growth knows it’s not any fun, but certainly worth it! There is no way 85 could fit comfortably in our building.

· Yesterday there were 30 children in children’s church. No, we don’t have a bus ministry and there aren’t even kids who live nearby since we’re in a commercial district. There are just a lot of families bringing their kids, nephews, and nieces. Lauren brought her neighbor friend too. Later, the mom told Lauren that the girl really enjoyed church and that “Lauren’s daddy is a really good singer!”

Update on Land Fund

We continue to search for property, but everything we have found so far is either too small or way out of our league financially. Please keep praying for God to show us His will in this matter. To this date, the Argentine church folks have given over $9,665 which is almost 50% of the grand total of $20,520 presently on hand!!

If you have questions about this project, you can read more details here. If the Lord would have you to give toward this need, you can send a check to Baptist World Mission marked “Greenwood Church Land Fund.” If you would like to give a smaller amount each month instead of a one-time gift, Baptist World Mission has simplified that process with automated giving: http://baptistworldmission.org/automated-giving.html.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was the Wednesday afternoon before Thanksgiving. We were busily finishing our lesson preparations for our perspective Wednesday night classes. (James is currently teaching a course on godly music and Amy is giving a teacher training class.) Of course in Argentina, life does not revolve around a North American holiday such as Thanksgiving, so our church plans proceeded as usual. However, somewhere in the midst of pondering the meaning of Thanksgiving, we realized that it’s not just a North American holiday, but a Biblical mandate for believers to give thanks. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving” (Col. 2:6-7).

Halt! Change of plans — Let’s have a good old-fashioned praise service at church tonight! And that is what we did…

We formed a circle around the room (something that we have had to stop doing because of the amount of people now attending Wednesday nights) and just spent the evening singing, reading verses on thanksgiving, giving thanks to God, and praying.

It was so wonderful to hear testimony after testimony of how God has been working in each one’s life – folks are growing spiritually; fathers are leading their homes for the first time; families are becoming united; wounds are being healed; and the Lord is taking first place! Praise God for His work among this sweet group of believers! I believe it was unanimous that this will become a new tradition at Iglesia Bautista Independiente del Pilar!

As a family, we are taking the day to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with other North Americans. We’re planning on having another praise service – this time in English – and reading a Thanksgiving Declaration from George Washington. So, in whatever corner of the world where you may celebrate Thanksgiving this year, we pray God would give you a day of “declaring his works with rejoicing” (Ps. 107:22).

By His grace alone,

James & Amy Greenwood

The Family: Love is Spelled T-I-M-E

The Family: Love is Spelled T-I-M-E

Pastor Brent Armstrong, Missions Conference 2011

Stewardship

Saturday - Stewardship

part 1 –

part 2 –

Coming Soon….

Sunday AM - The Purity of a Mighty Church

Sunday PM - The Family: Love is Spelled T-I-M-E

The Purpose of a Mighty Church

Here are some videos of the preaching times during the 2011 IBIP Missions Conference, preached by Pastor Brent Armstrong.

Friday – The Purpose of a Mighty Church

 

Missions Conference Answered Prayers!

We are praising God for working in a mighty way over the past several days!

Our special speakers, Pastor Brent and Shelli Armstrong, from Tucson Baptist Temple, were supposed to arrive Wednesday morning. We had planned for them to share their testimonies with our church people on Wednesday night during the mid-week service. However, they were delayed by 24 hours due to a mechanical failure with their plane. Everyone showed up on Wednesday evening expecting to get to meet our special speaker, but God had other plans! James explained what had happened and then asked that we all just pray, one by one, for the conference. As a church body we literally cried out to God, begging Him to work in our hearts through the preaching of His Word and for souls to be saved. After an hour and a half we had to quit because it was getting late, but those who didn’t have young children probably could have stayed for at least another hour.

On Thursday morning we picked up the Armstrong’s from the airport and allowed them to rest up after their extended trip. (You can read about their journey on Pastor Armstrong’s blog.)

Why are YOU Having a Missions Conference?

Several folks have asked why a church plant in a foreign field would have a missions conference. That’s a good question. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20 is given to EVERY believer, not just those in the USA. However, the focus of this conference was a bit different than the average missions conference in the States. The focus here was mostly on answering God’s call to serve Him full-time rather than supporting missionaries (but we’ll get to that soon!). God answered prayer and greatly worked through the preaching. One couple approached us after the first night saying, “We’re willing to do whatever God wants us to…where do we start?” Amen! There was a good turn-out among the members at the meetings Friday through Sunday.

Evangelistic Opportunities

On Friday afternoon we had an evangelistic ladies meeting. There were 10 visitors, one of whom trusted Christ! She is already scheduled to begin Basics for Believers with one our members.

On Saturday afternoon we had a men’s cook-out. There were at least 6 men visiting, one of whom was one of our neighbors!

On Monday evening we held a Business Ethics seminar. Because Pastor Armstrong was a successful businessman before going into the ministry, we wanted to use that as an outreach tool. It was advertised on the radio and open to the community, so honestly, we had no idea if there would be 5 or 50 people there. Actually, there were over 30 adults! The response was phenomenal. People were blown away by the concepts and Biblical principles presented.

This family brought a total of 11 first-time visitors during the week! Please pray for us as we follow up on those who need a visit.

Hearts Overflowing with Thanksgiving

We are so thankful for the ministry of Pastor and Shelli. They were a tremendous encouragement to us personally and in the ministry. They were a blessing to our church folks in their speaking and with their examples. We thank God for the work He did through their visit to Argentina. (You can read their summary of their trip here.) Thank you to the folks at TBT for lending us your pastor and pastor’s wife for a week! We look forward to reporting more of the fruit of this trip in the near future!

By His grace alone,

James and Amy Greenwood

Missions Conference

Pastor Brent and Shelli Armstrong

The preparation is done. The speaker has arrived (after a 24 hour plane delay!). The time has come for Missions Conference 2011! Please continue to pray for God to use the preaching of His Word to convict, touch, and work in hearts this week. Pray that He would call men, women, teens, and children out of this church body to serve Him full time. Pray that He would call a man to serve as the national pastor of this church. Please pray for several evangelistic activities during the week as well – a ladies’ meeting on Friday, a men’s cook-out on Saturday, and a seminar on business ethics on Monday.

FIRST Missions Conference!

We are gearing up for the FIRST missions conference in the history of Iglesia Bautista Independiente del Pilar. This will also be a first for a majority of the church folks! We are praying, praying, praying that God will use the preaching of His Word to call many out of this body of believers to serve Him full time as a missionary or pastor. We have been praying for several years now, well before we ever moved to Pilar, that God would raise up a national to pastor this church plant. Please pray with us!

A supporting pastor and his wife, Brent and Shelli Armstrong, from Tucson, Arizona have graciously offered to come down for the conference. The Armstrong’s have been friends in the ministry since our deputation days and we are thankful for their godly examples. Pastor Armstrong will be the keynote speaker. He will also speak at an evangelistic men’s cook-out and teach a seminar on Christian ethics. Shelli will speak to our ladies at an evangelistic ladies’ meeting. Pray for their traveling mercies and health, especially with their busy schedule!

Folks, there is a spiritual battle going on in our midst. We are armoring ourselves, praying, and watching (Eph. 6:10-18). We covet your prayers as Satan continues to lance his fiery darts at us, our ministry, and those to whom we are ministering.

We know that many of our supporting churches are having their missions conferences at this time as well. We are praying for God to work in and through each of those. It’s been precisely said that “An annual missions conference is not just a meeting for missionaries;it is an annual business meeting to determine the destiny of the heathen.”

By His grace alone,

James & Amy

New Religious Survey

La Nación, an Argentine newspaper, recently published the results of a religious survey. The results show that 76% of the population in Argentina still hold to Catholic beliefs (although only about 20% actually practice their faith). This is a dramatic drop from the 92% from 10 years ago. So, the question is, What are the Catholics converting to?

Well, there’s good news and bad news. The good news is that Evangelicals now make up 9% of the population. That is up 7% from a decade ago.

The bad news is that those who would call themselves “indifferent”, in other words they don’t even profess to be atheists, is at a startling 11% — a 9% increase! How sad that these folks have become so disenchanted with the Catholic church and have turned to nothing! Is it because no one has shared with them the hope that is in Christ alone? God has placed within each one of our hearts a God-sized hole that only He can fill. These poor souls are looking to fill that hole with something that can never satisfy, whether it be riches, power, fame, drugs, alcohol, risk-taking, or even earthly relationships. Dear Christian, it is up to us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with every one we possibly can. It is up to us to live our lives according to the truths of God’s Word in order to be salt and light in this world.

“The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2)

Update on Land Fund

 

Link to:“Investment in Eternity” video

To this date, the Argentine church folks have given a phenomenal amount of over $8,011! A few supporting churches have already given toward this need, making a grand total of $18,865 presently in hand. We are actively searching for property in the city center. We know the Lord will provide the right property at the right time. If you have questions about this project, you can read more details here.

Relying on God’s provision, our goal is to raise $100,000 for the property before June 2012. Would you pray and ask God how you can be involved? If the Lord would have you to give toward this need, you can send a check to Baptist World Mission marked “Greenwood Church Land Fund.” If you would like to give a smaller amount each month instead of a one-time gift, Baptist World Mission has simplified that process with automated giving: http://baptistworldmission.org/automated-giving.html.

Ladies’ Tea

The Lord blessed our ladies’ evangelistic tea and specifically answered our prayers! The ladies were united in spirit, focusing on winning the lost visitors who came. There were 7 tables, each one with a hostess who was in charge of the setting and decorating the table, serving those at her table, as well as leading the discussion after the devotional with target questions. Our speaker was Raquel Dominguez, a dear friend and pastor’s wife in a sister church where we spent our first term. She did an excellent job of teaching on mothering and fully explaining the Gospel. She brought about 20 or so ladies from her church, so there ended up being about 70 ladies all together. About ten of them were unsaved contacts – friends, family members, neighbors – from Pilar who our church people brought. Praise God for these ladies who heard the Gospel! Pray God’s Word would penetrate their hearts!