First, thank you so much to everyone who served to make Dan Clark’s memorial service so meaningful. I was able to watch some of it on Facebook Monday night, and I know the family appreciated it.

Today we just finished our 5th day of gospel sharing.  We have gone to two different neighborhoods near existing churches which are part of the “Free Brothers” denomination, near San Lorenzo, Paraguay.

The first church, Iglesia Cristiana Evangelica Nuevo Esperanza, or ICENE is in the neighborhood of Santa Teresa near Asuncioń, and was planted 10 or 12 years ago.  They are looking to start another house church in the area and also reach more families in their immediate neighborhood.  

This picture is of our translator Santiago (James), and the pastor’s son José, along with another man from the church, Darius.  We are sharing with a young woman who is taking care of a younger relative for the week since the kids are out for winter break.

This picture is of *Lorena* (middle) and another translator Mia. Lorena told us she is a Christian but she has not been to church for a while. She said she had a Bible Study group she was attending, until several people in the Bible Study moved away. She used to teach young children, and we spent a long time talking to her about the need for the children in the neighborhood to know Jesus. I was really hoping she would come to the church celebration on Tuesday night, but she did not. My prayer is that she would meet people from the local church and see the opportunity God has given her to either start attending a Bible study, prayer group, or possibly teaching young children in the area.

In Santa Teresa we shared with one man named *Camilo* who prayed to receive Christ!  Camilo had lost his wife and kids because of gambling problems and is definitely at “rock bottom”.  His mother owns a small store and is hoping Camilo can get back on his feet again.

The second town we have been ministering in is called Isla Bogado, known for its many nurseries and homeowners who sell plants.  The church there is called Iglesia San Blas, and is about 6-7 years old.  The pastor Amado T., works as a software salesman and engineer, and pastors in his free time.  The church meets once a month in an opened ended brick and steel enclosure  for Sunday service, and each week there are 3 house church meetings in the neighborhood led by the 3 elders, along with youth meetings.  

Today we met a lady named *Diane* in the neighborhood who has a 5 year old son with Autism and is non-verbal.  Pastor T. remembered that he had visited their home 2 years ago and prayed for them when the grandfather was very sick.  We shared the gospel with Diane, and pastor’s wife Elisa talked with Diane for a while.  After much conversation in Spanish, Elisa motioned to me as if to say, “your turn.”  So I asked Diane, “Would you like to pray to receive Christ?”  She said, “Yes I would” and Elisa led her in a prayer for salvation!  Elisa described where the church was, and Diane said she knew another woman who goes there.  We hope to see Diane and her son tomorrow night at the celebration service.  Let’s also pray that God provides the best help for her autistic son.

Overall, between the 5 days our team has counted just under 200 gospel conversations, and about 60 people who have prayed to receive Christ as Savior- God is powerfully drawing people to himself!  

At the same time, we have met many more people who are stuck in either “works righteousness” , or they do not know if they are saved. Some don’t care to know for certain, or they don’t want to question the Catholic Church.  We even talked to one lady who said, “I only talk about religion with people from my own church, which is the Catholic Church.”  There is definitely a spiritual battle for people’s hearts!

The man in this picture below, *Antonio* spent abut 40 minutes talking with us.  He has anger built up against the church because he was involved in a church where he thought the pastor and leaders were taking advantage of people financially (this is a common problem, unfortunately, with prosperity churches).  Antonio said he believed in salvation through Christ, but he also said he thought people needed to “live right” in order to go to heaven by giving money to the elderly and the poor , as well as not being “religious for show”.  As we talked more, he softened a bit and said he may come to the celebration service tomorrow evening.  Antonio was also very excited about Argentina playing in the word cup final, as you can see by his jersey.

Praise the Lord that no one on our team has gotten ill, and the support of the local churches has been wonderful. They have prepared wonderful lunches for us, and some snacks, including Chipas- pictured below. (They are made of cornmeal and are a mix between a biscuit and a) bagel

More pictures to come soon!  Please pray that at the service today (6pm EDT), people from the church in San Blas can make connections with the people our team has visited during the week.  

Bye for now, Pastor Jim