Faith Baptist Church had two baptisms and a baby dedication last Sunday! It is exciting to see how the church is growing! This Saturday, they will have a couples fellowship. We have a few members and regular attenders who have spouses that are not saved and do not attend church services, but they will come to these special fellowships! Pray that the Lord work through Pastor Matías on Saturday.

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, Ivy, and Isla Henry

Family Spotlight

Our two oldest daughters, Lily and Piper, are currently in India on a missions trip. They are excited to be able to see what God is doing in Delhi and are stirred to see the great need! Pray that God works in their hearts during this time!

I am a big believer that a missionary should take a furlough. The pattern that has been set is four years on the field and one year on furlough. Although this is not a strict rule to live by, it is a great pattern to follow. There are a few things I want to cover about furlough, including what it is and why it is beneficial for both the missionary and the ministry. I will also address what goes on during a furlough and how to make the most of it. My family and I are currently on furlough, during this time we have seen the Lord work in ways we never considered while planning for this year! Lord willing, we will return to the field in a few months, with that being said, we are thankful to have this opportunity to be on furlough!

What a furlough is: It is a period when the missionary goes back to his home country. It is not a vacation. Some think it is a time when the missionary and his family head back to the states for some “r & r”, but that is not exactly what it is all about, at least from our perspective. Furlough is a time to report back to the churches who have faithfully supported us over the past term. It is such a joy to be able to share all that God has done in the ministry in Argentina! It is also a time to raise support that has been lost over the years. We are grateful for all the churches that have supported us. We are not worthy of any of it and we are thankful to God and to the churches who have partnered with us. But over the years, we have lost several churches that previously supported us. It was never because of a disagreement, or a change in doctrine. We have had churches that have dropped us because they have closed down, some have fallen on hard times and are not able to support us at this time, some are just not able to continue supporting their missionaries. Whatever the case, we understand and we are grateful for them. We have no ill feelings toward them, only gratitude. With that being said, during this furlough we have been able to recuperate almost all that was lost over the past six years!

Why it is beneficial: Furlough is beneficial for the missionary family. For one, they can take this time to raise more funds if needed, and they can receive more training to take the next steps in ministry. We have been able to do both of these things on this furlough! Another important benefit is that the missionary children can learn more about the culture in their “home country”. This has certainly been the case with our family. Our daughters have grown so much during this furlough. Lily has learned how to drive (she received her license) and is on the road gaining more experience almost daily. Lily and Piper have both grown spiritually and have been challenged by special events put on by the churches we have been in. As I type out this blog, they are both on the way to India on a mission trip. I am praying the Lord work in them during this time. Ivy put her faith in Jesus as Savior during the Summer. We have been praying for that day, even before she was born, and it finally happened! We have witnessed to her so many times but she was never quite ready. At a VBS, after hearing the Gospel, she received Jesus as Savior! Isla was born in Argentina, so this is her first real time in the United States. She arrived speaking a mixture of Spanish and English, but over time she has lost almost all of the Spanish and only speaks English! She has loved this furlough! It is also beneficial to the missionary and his family because they are able to spend time with extended family. While we have not been able to spend as much time as we would have liked, we are able to see parents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, nephews, and nieces, and other family members that we have not seen many years!

The furlough is also beneficial for the ministry on the field. For the first time, Faith Baptist Church in Lanús learned to do ministry without the founding missionary. Pastor Matías has done a phenomenal job, so has Eric and the other members of the church. They have been tested and have come out shining like gold, and we are thrilled! God is at work in the church, and men and women are stepping up to fill “holes” to serve Jesus and their family of faith. The whole purpose of church planting for the missionary is to develop indigenous churches, in other words, churches that are self-governing, self-propagating, and self-reproducing without the missionary. This furlough has brought Faith baptist Church closer to that goal!

Potential goals that a missionary should have during furlough: This is subjective, but in general it is a time to report to supporting churches, raise additional needed support, prepare by training for the next steps in ministry, and coach the pastor and church on the mission field from “afar”. On a personal level, it has been a time to prepare our 16 year old daughter for living in the states. If the Lord allows, she will be going to college in a few years, before our next furlough, and has her parents we want to prepare her for success when that day comes. That is an important goal for us as a family. Depending on the missionary family, they may have other goals for their furlough. With that being said, I believe a year (give or take a couple of months) is the optimal time for a furlough. With a full year, the church on the field will be forced to press forward instead of “holding on” for a few months until the missionary returns. It will also give the missionary time to visit churches around the country. This is a general guideline, and there are extenuating circumstances that may call for a longer or shorter furlough. My pastor would say, “everything needs to be weighed. in it’s own juices”. With that in mind, I believe a one year furlough is a good time frame in general.

There is much more that could be said, but the point is clear, a furlough is good for the missionary, the missionary family, and the ministry on the field. It is something that an effective missionary includes in his ministry for the glory of God. An effective missionary takes furloughs.

Faith Baptist Church’s Annual Mission Conference

October was a wonderful month! The Mother’s Day service was definitely a highlight at Faith Baptist Church in Argentina. Back in the states, we were able to be in churches in Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland, and Florida. 

This month, Faith Baptist Church will have their annual mission conference. One of the missionaries we support is named Jairo, he is an Argentine missionary to Burkina Faso. The church has supported him for years now. He is going to be preaching the entire conference! They are excited to spend time with Jairo, his wife Muriel (who he met in Burkina Faso), and their new baby!

Our two oldest daughters, Lily and Piper, will be going on a missions trip to India. They both our burdened for world evangelism and we are praying that the Lord works in them during this trip! Please pray for them with us. 

Our furlough continues and this month we have meetings in California and in Georgia. We are honored and humbled to serve the Lord and see Him work in Argentina and in the states while on furlough!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, Ivy, and Isla Henry

Prayer Requests

• Pray for Faith Baptist Church. 
• Pray for this year’s mission conference. 
• Pray for Lily and Piper and the missions trip to India.
• Pray for our furlough travels.

Leslie and I have four daughters. God has blessed us with these girls, we love them so much! We believe God has a plan for each of their lives! There are things we want for our girls, things that all parents want for their children. We purposefully invest time, instruction, money, and prayer to help them grow up to be the young ladies God wants them to be. Parents want their children to grow up to be responsable, to work hard, to be successful, and to enjoy their lives. In addition to all of this, Christian parents want their children to love God and know Him as Father, to be faithful to a Bible believing church where they worship, grow, and serve, to be a faithful witness of the Gospel of Jesus, and to be good stewards of all that God has given them. These are common things we all want for our children. As missionaries, Leslie and I want all of this and want our children to love the ministry. Whether God leads them into full-time ministry or not, whether they serve the King on the foreign mission field or in the States, we want them to love the ministry and be burdened for the mission field. So how do we do this?

First off, it is important to remember that children will grow up and will ultimately decide things for their future. The Bible says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6. This is biblical truth, but we need to understand what it means. When we train up a child in the Truth, it will always be with him, whether he live for Jesus or not. But, as they grow up, they will be responsable to make their own decisions. So there is nothing we can do to guarantee their love for the mission field.

But there are things we can do to help them. Here are a few that are on my mind…

• Don’t complain about the field where you serve. There are a lot of things that go on that are not easy. To add in a foreign culture and language, it is a recipe to complain. Don’t do it. Don’t just “not complain in front of the kids”, don’t complain at all. This means we must have a distinct outlook on things.
• Help them see the positive things about ministry and about the field where you serve. If you love where you serve, you will be able to share that with your kids. We serve in Argentina and there is so much we can enjoy. The food is incredible! We have amazing places to see in the country, including the second largest waterfalls in the world, the Andes Mountains down in the Patagonia, the beautiful coastline, the green pampas, and the rolling sierras. The people are kind and we have made friends. We focus on those things. No matter where you are, there is always something to complain about, but also there is always something to thank God for in the name of Jesus. We choose the latter.
• Teach the biblical principle of contentment and live it out as an example. Philippians 4:10-13 says, “¹⁰ But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly, that now at the last your care of me hath flourished again; wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. ¹¹ Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. ¹² I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. ¹³ I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” This was Paul’s testimony, and we can learn a lot from it. First off, we understand that contentment is not natural, it is something we must learn (vs. 11). We are sinners and as sinners we struggle with being content. But it is something we can learn. Second we learn that contentment is no related to how much we have, or how much we lack (vs. 12). We can think, “If I just had more money”, or “If I could have the car that my neighbor has”, or “If I were more healthy”, if we could just have these things we would be more content, but nothing could be further from the truth. Contentment is not found in what we have. Lastly, we learn that contentment is found in Jesus (vs. 13). In Jesus, we can be content in all things, in the good and in the bad, with a lot or with little, and anywhere, whether in the States, or on the foreign mission field. We can be content, and we should be!
• Make time for your kids and be patient with them. The kids need their dad and mom, so make time for them. When they do have hard times, or when they struggle with culture shock, love them through it. Be patient and walk with them.

I am so thankful for my family and I want them to love where God has us. They are not missing out on life by living on the field, the opposite is true, they are blessed to be able to live in another culture and serve Jesus by helping start Bible-preaching churches on the foreign field.