January 2012 Newsletter

My Friends,

Grace and peace be with you. We as Christians are not living in this world as tourists vacationing our way to heaven; we are soldiers, and everywhere around us the battle rages. And unless God is behind our efforts, equipping us and giving us the power to do for Him, we are helpless. It is good to meditate on Peter’s exhortation: “So brace up your minds, and, as men who know what they are doing ("with minds fully alert and sober," NIV), rest the full weight of your hopes on the grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ reveals himself” – 1 Peter 1:13, Phillips translation).

OPENING 2012

As a new year begins, many look back over the previous twelve months, taking stock of where they’ve been and making New Year’s resolutions. A little over a year ago, one of our stated objectives at Puente a la Vida was the training and discipling of twenty five members of the congregation to the end of developing and training leaders and helping each one find his or her place in the building up of the body and reaching out to others. As we look back over the past year and the Puente a la Vida (Bridge to Life) ministry, some of the objectives we set forth were met, others are still to be obtained; and the vision and the mission are under study as we pray and refocus and regroup.

CHALLENGES OF THE KINGDOM

Recently we experienced some struggles in the congregation at the leadership level, leading to much prayer, fasting, being broken, and receiving some immediate answers as the Lord has been putting His hand of peace over us and leading us to some decisions.

Over the past six years different men have come and preached for us on invitation, occasionally on one particular Sunday, sometimes to do a series, and sometimes to come and work with us on a trial basis. Mostly they have been a blessing to the congregation, providing solid teaching from the Word. In 2011, the Flores’s, both medical doctors in the area of mental health and coming from a moderate pentecostal background, accompanied us and Gabriel preached with energy and enthusiasm.

Keeping balance, sticking with the essence of the teachings of Jesus without falling into the extremes either of legalism or taking license with the Word, is always a challenge. Over the past months some differences came up, including the teaching of a “prosperity gospel”. At year’s end things came to a head in a confrontation which led to several intense weeks of intense prayer and fasting, seeking God´s wisdom and will. The Lord prevailed in guarding the unity of the body and a spirit of peace, but like Paul and Barnabas with their differences, we are going our separate ways with the Flores’s leaving.

"Examine all things, retain the good" is Paul’s advice. One of the good things Gabriel and Cecilia left with the congregation was a vision for sharing Christ, and in a series of Saturday classes earlier in the year they did an excellent job teaching principles of discipleship and emphasizing the process of winning people for Christ, following up, training and then in turn sending them out. On their last day with us, we gave them a going away luncheon, expressing gratitude for specific things they left with us. Cecilia especially, with her love for the Lord and heart for evangelism, was truly a blessing and inspiration to the women.

THE RADIO BROADCAST

The Puente a la Vida radio broadcast continued a full twelve months on the air with the taped broadcasts airing daily up through August 2011, and our live program going out over the air every Tuesday morning. In September our daily broadcast was cancelled when a three-hour daily news program took over our space, a great disappointment as the owner of the station was more interested in a greater profit margin than in honoring our spoken contract.

As there was no other daily time strip available, I took on the challenge of editing and re-working Alberto Pata’s roughly 20 minute long messages on the Book of James (which with music and announcements were meant for a 25-minute format) into an hour long format, either taping the programs beforehand, or more frequently, going down to the station and doing the program live, working additional comments based on the Bible text into the taped portions and completely redoing the music. Each program required a minimum of four to six hours extra work. The effort was worth it because it brought about an increase in audience and comments from people who saw that program as their daily bread.

On December 31 we finished the book of James and ended a cycle on Radio Cultura. Puente a la Vida has been on Radio Cultura since 1997, the only non-Catholic religious program of its kind on a station where we are “in the middle of the Vatican”. It has been getting increasingly harder to maintain a presence there. Last November I spoke to the director on behalf of a minister of a large, respected church in Buenos Aires who wanted to do a half-hour program once a week on finances and administration from a biblical perspective, but he was not even given any consideration.

At this point in time I am taking stock of our situation, deliberating on if this is the station the Puente a la Vida broadcast needs to be on, or if we need to move on to another place with a different (and perhaps wider) audience. I believe that we still have an open door at Radio Cultura (paying for the air time, of course); but it may be time to look for other opportunities, other stations, and so we pray for God´s leading as we check around.

VISION AND MOVING TOWARD OBJECTIVES

In 2012 we are focusing in prayer on ministry, intercession and the Word, seeking renewal, taking up the challenge once again to raise up servants for Christ from within the congregation, training men and women to use their gifts to serve actively, building one another up in Christ and reaching out to others.

On Wednesdays, the two-hour long class on Discipleship is generating enthusiasm. In January we also started a Thursday evening cell group at Julio’s apartment, inviting neighbors from his building and friends who are seekers. Also at this writing, we have Dr. Aldo Fontao – who preached for us in 2009 – preaching a mini-series from the book of 2 Peter on Sundays.

In the upcoming February report I’ll be telling you more about Marcelo and Sandra Trolio, a couple we met through the radio broadcast. Marcelo first came, did the Bible Correspondence course, and recently his wife started coming; now both are committing their lives to the Lord Jesus Christ. In the meantime, please know that I am deeply grateful for your prayers and constant support. Keep us in intercession before the Lord! In March I hope to be with you personally, sharing this and much more with you.

With much love in Christ,