Prayer Requests from the "Cuyo" Team in Mendoza Argentina
("Cuyo" being the provinces of Mendoza, San Juan & San Luis)
June 2000
Requests for the Cuyo Team
Please Pray...
- For the Cuyo team as we continues to pray and seek the Lord's will in planting
a church to reach professionals and the university community. New contacts
were made this past month as the Lord is working in the hearts of people who
are recognizing their spiritual need for Christ.
- For the continued networking of the Great Commission Christian groups
here in the Cuyo area that we may continue to work together to see a great harvest
brought into the kingdom of God. Please pray for us this coming Saturday as
we meet together for united prayer.
- For a "church-planting dialogue" our team is hosting in the next month.
- For the best opportunities to be taken in organizing leadership and leadership
training for the planting of new house and cell churches.
- For the university students who have recently accepted Jesus Christ.
- For Vida Estudantil which is emphasizing evangelism on the college campuses.
They have been trying to get 2 discipleship groups for new Christians
going but have run into a few problems getting started.
- For the continued opportunities that are opening up for individual team members
to disciple new Christians.
- For Christian ladies to be raised up who have a call to lead and work with
a ministry to young, unwed mothers.
- For the Cuyo team as a learning track is developed that will form
the basis of the discipleship material for future cell churches.
- For the Cuyo team as they seek to develop working relationships with individuals
and churches to plant churches.
Praise Report!!
We are seeing pastors and leaders develop a growing understanding and interest
in non-traditional methods for church planting. This is something that the Cuyo
team has been praying and working toward. We continue to praise the Lord for
the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts to the people who little by little
are expressing there interest in being involved in reaching the lost through
church planting. A introductory church-planting workshop was held at the Associational
Missions Conference this past month and the room was filled to capacity with
interested pastors and laymen. We are excited by the response and look forward
to further scheduled meetings with these individuals in follow-up.
Within the association we are working with, two men were ordained to the
gospel ministry recently and more and more interest is being seen toward church
planting and missions. Even within the last several weeks, a number of young
people here in the churches have begun to express a desire to enter the mission
field and members of the team have been able to share with them on a personal
basis.
Thank you for praying for the volunteer mission team that worked with the
pastorsŐ retreat and the region-wide ladiesŐ conference. Everything went as
only God could have ordained and the impact of these meetings will be felt for
a long time.
Please Continue to Pray...
- that we, as a team, "stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for
the faith of the gospel" (Philippians 1:27).
- for solid, good-paying jobs for those nationals that wish to work in the
church-planting movement but are hindered by financial situations.
- that established churches will assume the responsibility to plant churches
and to prepare men and women to be church planters.
- for the team as we face the challenge to develop cell church and house church
materials that can be used to reach the people of Cuyo and seek to plant churches
using non-traditional methodologies.
- that the nationals in Mendoza have a supernatural desire to join in a church-planting
movement and that God calls out leaders for this task from them.
Personal Prayer Requests
Joseph & Valerie Cartwright - We are very grateful for the LordŐs work
in our lives and the opportunities we have had to serve Him here in Argentina.
Within the next two months we will be getting ready to shift our lives back
to the States. Please pray for us as we make future plans, prepare for "reverse"
culture shock, begin saying good-bye and look for the job God would have for
us when we return. Pray for Joseph that he would have the wisdom of God in scheduling
his time in order to complete his seminary classes, the many ministry opportunities
opening up and family responsibilities as well. It is a very busy time for him
to be accomplishing all he has to do. It has turned very "wintery" here and
weŐve all had colds. Pray for Elisabeth as sheŐs had her cold for a couple of
weeks now and is struggling (along with mom and dad) to sleep for any length
of time at night. Pray for Valerie to have the energy, wisdom and patience to
be a godly wife, new mom and effective team member.
Amanda Ficklin - Praise the Lord I am finally completely moved into
a new downtown apartment. Please pray that all the adjustments and "fixings"
are accomplished quickly! Pray for the students who are learning English as
a Second Language for Ministry. They are eager learners and hope to help in
the translation for the upcoming October mission trip. Pray that they will receive
a blessing from their learning experience. Work with university students is
increasing. Pray that the students invited to meetings where follow-up discussion
takes place will attend and come to know the Lord as their Savior and possibly
become involved in a new church planting movement. Also pray that these new
Christians will be discipled and will grow in the new relationship to Jesus.
Finally, please pray for my family (mom and dad, an aunt and uncle) who will
be traveling down to see me in several weeks, that they would have safe travel
and that we would all have an enjoyable time together. We are all really looking
forward to this trip. Thank you again for all your prayers.
Julie Hill - Thank you for praying for Roxana and her baby several months
ago. They are doing well and are presently in Bolivia right now filling out
paper work for job opportunities in the States. Thank you also for praying for
my sister Susan. She was able to come for a visit and we had a great time as
well as had occasion to minister together. I have started discipling a new Christian
lady who really wants to be discipled. Pray for her that she continues to have
a desire to grow in her faith and that God guides me in our times together.
I praise God that He has used my life here to encourage other young people to
consider serving as missionaries. I had the opportunity to share my personal
testimony and call to missions with the youth and adolescents of First Baptist
Church. It seems doing so has opened doors to getting to know people I didn't
know before and to get to know others on a deeper level. God continues to fill
my life with good things for which I am thankful. Please pray that I will not
get too busy and not have time to do everything God needs me to do. Sometimes
it is hard to figure out where to best spend the time God gives me. Continue
to pray that God will help me to better communicate in Castellano and that He
will help me to be the English and music teacher He wants me to be and the students
need me to be.
Asbury & Hope Martin - Thank you for continuing to pray for our children
who have all had birthdays in the last several months, Justin (17), Adrian (15),
and Allison (12). Pray for us and the other missionary families that have children
approaching college age as we work toward preparing them for this new chapter
in their (and our) lives. It is very exciting for them, but can also be difficult
adjusting to a new culture, a new type of school system and living away from
home (a very long way!) for the first time. Pray for Hope as she continues to
disciple new Christians among the professional community. Pray for Asbury as
he participates and leads up-coming dialogues on church planting and opportunities
in training leadership for new works. Pray for Justin and Adrian as they are
having wisdom teeth pulled before they are fitted for braces. We are really
thankful to God for all the doors opening up to us for personal and team ministry
and continue to ask your prayers for His guidance in these areas.
Jon & Monica McKinney - Thank you for your prayers for our family, especially
for our children. Your prayers went into action last week as our son Trey had
his bike stolen from him at knife point. We praise God that he was not hurt
and ask you to continue to pray for the protection of all three of our children
as they continue to learn and adjust to the culture (some adjustments being
made more easily than others!). Pray for Tristan, Trey and Aaron as they continue
in their schooling and learning the language. Pray for us as we minister to
our neighbors, Felix & Susanna and Marcello & Viviana. God has been faithful
in giving us chances to minister and for Jon to preach and disciple. Please
pray that we continue to learn as much as we can of the culture and language
in order to be as effective as we can with the Gospel in the opportunities given
us. We are thankful for JonŐs mother arriving safely (though because of some
unannounced flight changes, she spent some stressful time being driven all over
the tarmac in Santiago, Chile looking for her plane). Pray for our time together
as a family in these next weeks as we play, pray and work.
Paul & Laura Shelton - Thank you for keeping our family in prayer. We
are constantly on the go and appreciate your prayers that keep us covered in
our day to day walk. Continue to pray for Jolie, Andrew and Joshua in their
studies at their schools and with Julie. Pray for God to bless Jolie as she
is faithful in developing her musical ability on the piano though she is working
through a challenging program at the music institute of Mendoza. Pray for Joshua
as he travels to Buenos Aires this week to participate in a computer competition.
He is also still preparing for the SAT, and especially working hard on memorizing
vocabulary. Andrew is also beginning work on SAT vocabulary. Pray for Laura
and the many opportunities she has to share the love of God with people she
encounters throughout the week. Pray for her continued culture and language
work with the missionaries throughout Argentina and that the Lord would place
helpers alongside her as and when needed. Pray that Paul be given GodŐs heart
for the strategy of winning Cuyo for Christ and supernatural ability to lead
the team in its church-planting efforts throughout the region. Pray for the
many administrative tasks necessary for the team to be completed quickly and
without problems and for wisdom in guiding and instilling vision for the church-planting
movement within the many pastors of the local association. Thank you for continuing
to pray that we use our time in the way God wishes us to, for above all, we
wish to fulfill GodŐs will for our lives.
May God Bless You,
www.byhisgrace.com/imb-argentina
Mailing address for letters only: Casilla 637, 5500 Mendoza, Argentina
You can reach individual team members at the following email addresses:
Team Members: Joseph & Valerie Cartwright mailto:jvcart@lanet.com.ar
, Amanda Ficklin amandaef@hotmail.com,
Julie Hill hilljulie@hotmail.com,
Asbury & Hope Martin asbury_martin@lanet.com.ar,
Jon & Monica McKinney mckinney@ciudad.com.ar,
Paul & Laura Shelton shelton@lanet.com.ar
The "Cuyo" Mendoza Team