We have been in La Plata, Argentina for almost two weeks now. This is a beautiful city and unlike any other I have ever seen. For one, it was designed perfectly. Everything is in squares. The very center of the city is a large plaza. Other plazas are laid out perfectly around the city square. It is an amazing design. We have been getting around here in taxis. Everywhere we go (stores, coffee shops, and plazas) people are very kind to us. People love to talk to us. My Spanish is very far from fluent. I struggle to say what I am trying to say and many times I am unable to get across the message I am trying to convey. The people seem to look past that. They talk with me, laugh, and talk more. There are all kinds of different nationalities represented here (I love the diversity of people). In the short time we have been here, we have met Paraguayans, Peruvians, and Uruguayans. The Argentines also have a rich and diverse heritage. All of these people from different backgrounds all have come to this country. This is for different reasons. I was talking to one man who said he came down from Peru because of the healthcare offered here. Another man told me he came from his home country for work. I cannot help but to believe there is another reason. I firmly believe God has brought these people here so that He may manifest Himself to them. This city has one of the stronger networks of Baptist churches in the country. My friend Jeff Bush came here as a missionary 10 years or more ago. He started a church here. Many were saved. Men were trained to advance the Gospel. Today there are 5 churches in La Plata and surrounding areas as a result of God using Jeff Bush in this city. There is also a seminary here now as a result of this man’s labor for Jesus. There are almost 1 million people in this area. The truth is even with this strong network of churches and a seminary training men to advance the Gospel, there is still a very strong need here in La Plata. I was at one of the churches on Sunday. A member of the church was asking me where I would go once I complete language school. I named a few places (that is for another post) that were a good distance away. The man responded, “La Plata is still in great need of Bible preaching churches. Much of the city does not have any church like this one” (speaking of the church’s Bible doctrine). If this can be said of a city with a network of churches like this one, think about the rest of the country! The man didn’t tell me anything that isn’t completely obvious! It does not take long to see the need for Gospel preaching churches in this city! My heart goes out to other cities, towns, and villages where there is no network of Bible preaching churches, where there is no seminary of men being trained to advance the Gospel. So my first impressions of my first days in Argentina is that although this city is beautiful and the people are kind, the country is dark spiritually.

We are loving it here, and there is much work to be done! Pray with us for more laborers.

We are in Argentina! 

Great Days are Here, Great Days are Ahead!

After two years, we are in Argentina! Two years of deputation has brought us here. We are very excited about being here. We arrived on Friday morning, March 25, two days before Easter. The church we are in while we complete language school is Lighthouse Baptist Church (Iglesia Bautista El Faro) in La Plata, Argentina. The morning service started at 6:00 AM (a sunrise service). The service was well attended. We were grateful to be a part of the Easter services! We look forward to serving here while in language school.

So What is Next?

After 2 years of deputation it seems strange not traveling from church to church to church. This month is a time where we prepare our lives to move forward. We are currently renting a temporary furnished apartment that we have for one month. During this month we are looking houses to rent. Please be praying that God will guide us to a house very quickly! Once we rent a house we will get furniture and beds as quickly as possible. Our goal is to complete this by May 01. Pray that way with us. We would like to start language school the first week of May. Thank you for your faithful prayers. God is blessing us. We believe firmly God is going to use us here!

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

Deputation is now over. God has blessed our time on deputation. We have seen God move over the past 24 months. We are now saying good bye to our families and friends. God willing, we will be boarding a plane tomorrow night. We are in the States today and will be leaving for Argentina tomorrow. All that we have prayed for, all that we have worked for, all that we have done to this point is to get us to this point and we are almost there. This has been our dream and it is becoming a reality.

We are not naive, we know that we have very much to do when we reach Argentina. We must complete language school. We firmly believe you will not reach a people with the Gospel if you cannot speak their language. There may be exceptions to this but they are few and far between.

We are so thankful for how God has moved in our lives. As hard as we have worked, as many miles as we have travelled, as many churches we have shared our hearts and preach in, it is God who has given the increase. He is worthy of all the praise and recognition. It is our Heavenly Father that has brought us to this point. In these last hours, there are a lot of things on our minds.

• God is so good to us. If I die before the sun sets tonight and I never actually get to Argentina, I want to make clear my God has been so good to us. He is worthy of all the praise we can ever give Him.
• Good days, bad days, fun days, and hard days are ahead. We know that this is really the beginning of our missionary journey. We know the excitement will wear off and that day to day life will resume. We know that life will be like life here in the States in that everyone has both good and bad days. No matter, we will serve Jesus.
• This is a marathon, not a sprint. We are not going down for a few months. We are going down to Argentina to stay. I would love to say that in 27 days that churches will already be started, men will already be trained, and great advances are already being made, but these things are not done over night. I know that ministry does take time. A sprint is a short race, but a marathon is a long race. Our ministry in Argentina will be more like a marathon. We know that and we are excited about it!

There are many more things I can include in this post. My mind is racing with different thoughts. Thank you to all who have prayed for us. Thank you to all the churches that have partnered with us. God bless you.

This is a series on my favorite things through our time on deputation. This post is a little different, but it really is one of my favorite things. My wife is incredible. I am a bit partial, but it is very true. In two year of deputation, we have travelled well over 180,000 miles. We have had meetings in 23 states as far west as California and as far north as New York (our home was in Georgia). Leslie has been by my side through all of this. She has sat in hotels and prophet’s chambers with sick children while I was at church. She has taught classes and given her testimony in many churches across this country. She has made deputation fun for our children while continuing to lead them in home school (which she has done in very odd places). She does not complain. She makes the most of any and every situation. When I am down, she lifts me up. When I am worried she calms me down. When I am in a bad mood, she works hard to lift my spirits. Before every church service she gets our children ready, gets my things ready, and gets herself ready and walks into each church with a smile. She has loved on the people we have met in churches across this country. Leslie has not just “made it through” deputation, she has completed deputation with hard work and a great attitude.

I can recite story after story, event after event that would testify of who Leslie is. I am only going to give one for this post. Our longest trip on deputation was almost eight weeks long. This near two month trip started in August and ended in October. Our schedule was completely full. We had meetings in nine states. We drove across the country from Georgia to California (with meetings in churches that were in between). We ended up going back across the country, driving north and had our last meetings in Ohio before driving back home to Georgia. This trip started out with hot summer temperatures and ended in Ohio in the middle of October with cold temperatures. We had to pack clothes for summer and clothes and jackets for a crisp autumn. Leslie made sure everything was packed that everyone needed. Our car could not handle another bag. In fact, we stopped in Alabama and bought a cheap roof bag for our car to put a few bags in so that I could partially see out of the back window! We stayed in different prophet’s chambers across this country, a few hotels, and a shed out in the middle of nowhere in Missouri. Through all of this Leslie made every place “home”. During off days (days we did not have church services), Leslie found fun things for us to do in whatever area we were in. She made this trip one of the best memories of all of our deputation.

The truth is without Leslie I don’t think deputation would have many “favorite things”. She made our deputation the joy it has been. Leslie is one of my favorite things (or favorite people) through our deputation.