Kid’s Day, a Brother’s Passing, and the Family Conference

Our furlough continues and so does the ministry in Argentina! In August we saw great days and also one sad day. Kid’s Day is a celebrated day each year in August. Faith Baptist Church held an event that brought in kids from the surrounding areas to celebrate Kid’s Day, and during the event they shared the Gospel. We are praying that God continues to work in these kids and that they will be saved soon! The sad day this month was when one of our beloved brothers at Faith Baptist Church passed away. Isaac Leví died at 83 years old. He was a blessing and encouragement to us all and he will be missed. This is the first time the church has experienced the passing of one of her members. Pastor Matías was able to be a blessing to the family in this time of loss.

September is an important month, it is the beginning of Spring and we usually see an increase in visitors and in attendance. We kick this time of year off with our annual Family Conference. It is something the church has come to look forward to. It culminates with “Family Photo Day”, when we take profesional style photos of every family present. It is one of the biggest events at Faith! Pray with us that they see many visitors and people saved!

Serving Together,

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

Prayer Requests

• Pray for Faith Baptist Church and the Family Conference.

• Pray for Matías as he pastors Faith Baptist Church.

• Pray for the evangelistic outreach of Faith.

• Pray for our furlough travels.

Just like we celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in the United States, in Argentina we celebrate “Kid’s Day” too! When I was a boy, I can remember when Mother’s Day or Father’s Day was coming up, I would ask my parents about when “Kid’s Day” was. They would say, “Son, every day is Kid’s Day”. Well, in Argentina we actually celebrate Kid’s Day in August. We celebrated Kid’s Day last Sunday. Matías and Javier led a special event and they were able to preach the Gospel to all the children who attended! Please pray that God use the seed that was sown on last Sunday!

Serving Together,

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

Family Spotlight: Glasses for All!

Recently, Leslie and three of our daughters had eye exams, and each of them learned they needed glasses to be able to see clearly. This picture was taken when they all received their pair of glasses. Isla, our youngest, found a pair of “glasses” to fit in. We are thankful that Leslie and the girls are able to see clearly!

This is the seventh post in a series on how to be an effective missionary, and I believe it be a very important one. An effective missionary learns from others. We are so blessed to have men who are “further down the ministry road than we are”. I am thankful form men like my pastor and other mentors who have guided me through the years and given me counsel time and time again. There are also other missionaries who are further along than I am. There are some who are just a few steps further than I am, and others still who are many years, even terms further along than I am. I seek their advice often.

But there is a problem missionaries can have. On deputation, we go from church to church sharing our burden, our desire, and our dreams. We sound like we know what we are doing, we sound like we know all about planting churches in a cross-cultural context, we sound like we have it all together, but none of this is true. We have a lot to learn, but after being in 100+ churches, if we are not careful, we end up being “so wise, that we become fools”. I think of two example in the Bible, Solomon was the wisest man in the world, and he “received instruction” from the lazy man (Proverbs 24:30-34) and from the simple man (Proverbs 7). If the wisest man in the world learned from foolish people, we too can learn from others. The other extreme is the fool whom Solomon wrote about throughout the book of Proverbs. A few lesson we learn about a fool is that he has no desire to learn (Proverbs 18:2), and that he already knows it all (Proverbs 12:15). The wisest man in the world learns from others, while the fool can’t learn from anyone because he already knows everything.

An effective missionary cannot be a fool, he must learn from others, and this means that the missionary purposely humbles himself and seeks the counsel of others. There is always room for improvement. My pastor often says, “We can improve almost everything, but there are only two things we cannot improve, our salvation and the Bible”. This means that everything I do as a missionary can be improved, and God has given me great men to help me do so.

So what does a missionary do to learn from others who are further down the road than he is? He asks others missionaries lots of questions. Learn to ask questions about everything, about evangelism, about where to rent a building, about special events, about how to work with others, about culture shock, about everything! We will never be effective if we don’t learn to learn from other brothers and sisters in Christ! Dear missionary, you are not alone, and you don’t have to go about the ministry alone, seek counsel from others, attempt great things, work hard, learn from others, ask lots of questions and do something great for God! To be effective missionaries, we must learn from others!

A big part of our furlough is going to supporting churches to share what the Lord is doing in the ministry in Argentina. I love these meetings, these churches have invested in the ministry God has given us and I have the blessing of sharing with them what God has done through their faithful prayers and support. We rejoice together as we see how the Lord uses both that local church and our family as missionaries to advance the Gospel! We also are blessed to be in new churches. Over the past month, we have been in Ohio, Delaware, Texas, Louisiana, and Florida. This Sunday we will be in Mississippi. It is an honor and a privilege to share what God is doing in the ministry He has given us and to share future plans about our second term in Argentina! Please pray for our travels, that we glorify God in all that we do, that we are a blessing to the churches we are in, and that He keeps us safe!

Serving Together,

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

Missionary Spotlight: The Underwood Family

Stephen and Ashlee are missionaries in Argentina. We have the privilege to be serving with them as partners in the ministry! They recently planted Hope Baptist Church in Ezeiza and are doing a wonderful job! The church is only had services for a few months, and they have already seen people saved! The Underwoods are working hard, they are great missionaries and God is using them. It is a privilege to serve with them! Here are a few prayer requests they shared with me.

• Pray for Hope Baptist Church in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires.
• Pray for the spiritual growth of those attending and the numerical growth of the church.
• Justín, a young man from Peru will be going to Argentina to help the Underwoods at the church, pray they Lord uses them.
• The Underwoods have three boys, they are trying to enroll them in school, pray for the process to go smoothly.