I was an assistant Pastor at a wonderful church (my home church) for around 7 years. I can remember clearly there were different times of the year that brought different challenges. It seemed that the optimal time for growth was the fall (when school started back) and January (when many made resolutions to start going to church or some other type of spiritual resolution). There were general times where we may have had a “lighter” congregation as well. Holiday weekends sometimes affected our attendance, the summers had several services that had less people. I don’t think it was just our church, I think it is something that just happens. But that didn’t stop my Pastor. Pastor would do have special events during some of these times to help build the attendance. For instance, during the “summer slump”, Pastor would have “Summer Family Fellowship Nights”. After Wednesday night service we had a time of games out in the lower parking lot. It was a big hit! I think it was something that people looked forward to. I think it helped through the normally slower times of attendance for the year.

I bring this up to say that we are about to go into a “hard season” of the year, at least that is what others have said. The winter is cold, gets dark much earlier, and rains often. I know what you are thinking, “that is the way winter is all over.” While that is true, it does make it harder here. Almost everyone that attends our church walks. So the cold and wet part of winter is felt a lot more. It will also be dark before the afternoon services (Sunday and Thursday) end. Faith Baptist Church is located on the cusp of a pretty sketchy area, and the darkness increases the possibility of a problem. I remember well the conversation I had with one of the early attenders. She and her adult son came for several months. She did not like coming at nights because of the dangerous walk back home (1 1/2 blocks). These are all problems, but something I learned from my pastor is that there are creative answers to the problems we have in ministry. So as the harder times come, we will respond with solutions to help others! After all, what we are doing is for the glory of the Lord. We cannot just “accept” these sorts of things as just the way things are. The Bible tells us, “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.” So we will be working ahead, trusting the Lord, looking for creative solutions to help in times where we may see a lack.

First Baptismal Service

April was a very busy month in several different areas. For one, we were finally able to find a house to rent and signed the contract at the end of April. This is a huge answer to prayer! Thank you very much for praying! We also were blessed to have many visitors over the month! We were also blessed to have our first ladies fellowship with over 9 ladies that attended. 

This month we have several special days but the most important is our first baptismal service! We are very excited to see believers follow the Lord in obedience! We also will have a special service on May 06 for the evening service. We will have our first men’s fellowship at the church toward the end of the month. Thank you for praying for us and for these special events!

Serving Together,

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

• Pray for the baptismal service.

• Pray for the first men’s fellowship. 

• Pray for our special service on May 06.

• Pray for those attending Faith Baptist Church that they will catch on to the vision and purpose of our church!

In Argentina (and in many other countries) May 01 is Labor Day. Because May 01 falls on a Tuesday, many people in Argentina make Monday a “bridge holiday” so it will also be another day off, making this weekend a long weekend. We don’t think this will change anything on Sunday. We are looking forward to another opportunity to preach Jesus and expound upon how to live the Christian life.

A Prayer Request: We also have a man who was saved at the church a month ago. He is struggling in his Christian walk. He stays very busy with his job, but I would like to start discipleship with him. Please pray that God will make this all work out.

I can remember being a boy and days where I really aggravated my parents. There was a look I would receive and I knew I had pushed them to the point where one more small “straw” and the “camel’s back would break”. My parents were always good to display grace in those times. I can remember those days now and as a parent I can relate. We all love our kids. We all know that they are the greatest kids in the world! But we also all know that our kids can sometimes be “difficult”, that is to say that they can, at times, push us over the edge. The truth is we all need to have patience as we raise our children! But how?

Galatians 5 tells us of the “fruit of the Spirit”. This “fruit” should “grow” in the lives of believers. But this “fruit” does not grow naturally, it is a work of God in us as we obey and follow Him! “²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, ²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. ²⁴ And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. ²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-25. Really all of these fruits that make up the fruit of the Spirit can change the way we raise our children, but two words we really ought to consider are “longsuffering” and “temperance”. Longsuffering means “having or showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people.” Temperance means “self restraint”. Both of these terms sound a lot like patience!

So how do we have patience with our children, especially in those difficult times? When we walk in the Spirit, we have the fruit of the Spirit, which means we will have patience!