This is a continuation of a small series on the different cities and towns around Lanús, Argentina, where we are starting Faith Baptist Church. Lanús is located right on the southern border of Buenos Aires.  This post is all about Banfield. Banfield is a city in the district of Lomas De Zamora. Banfield is the home to over 223,900 people (this is according to a 2001 census). The city is known for the Banfield fútbol (soccer) club and for the Julián Aguirre Conservatory of Music that was founded in 1951. The city started out from the train that passed through (and still passes through) the area. In fact, Banfield was named after a British man (Edward Banfield) who was in charge of the southern train station. The development of the city began in the late 1800’s.

I have driven through Banfield a few times now. At times you don’t really know when Lanús ends and Banfield begins, nor do you know fully when you have passed through Banfield and entered into Lomas De Zamora. There are parts of Banfield that are nicer than anything I have seen in Lanús. A friend of mine who has lived his whole life in Lanús told me that a lot of the people in Banfield have more money than people in Lanús. This becomes obvious as you drive down the city streets. It seems to me that the further away one goes from Yrigoyen (the main avenue that passes through Avellaneda, Gerli, Lanús, Banfield, Lomas De Zamora and many other cities) the more humble the housing become. In other words the people with “money” (as my friend told me) live close to the big avenue.

I don’t know of a Gospel preaching church in Banfield. In fact, the closest one to banfield will be Faith Baptist Church, which is too far for people to be a part of the church family on a regular basis. Banfield doesn’t just need one church, the city needs at least 4 churches to affectively reach all its inhabitants!

Banfield, just like the other cities we have highlighted, is ripe for starting churches. It is wide open, just waiting on someone to give their lives to help others know Jesus. Pray with me for laborers.

We have rented a building to start Faith Baptist Church. We are very excited about this. We have included a video of the building below. It has been a mechanic shop for decades. The building needs a lot of work. This video is what the building looked like when we finally received the keys. More updates are coming, check back for more.

 

Later This Month…

On February 20 we finally received the keys to the building in which we will start Faith Baptist Church! We are grateful for this opportunity! This month is all about preparing the building for the services (at this time), the floor is covered in oil and grease) and inviting anyone and everyone to the church. We will also be starting free English classes this month. This is an attempt to draw people into the church. Some might not ever come to the church but will come to learn English, especially if it is free. They will also have an opportunity to learn about the church and about the Gospel! As of now, we plan to hold the first service on March 26, 2017.

Serving Together,

Patrick, Leslie, Lily, Piper, and Ivy Henry

• The inaugural service is set to be on March 26, 2017 (date may change).

• Building renovations are being made in preparation for church services.

• Free English classes start this month.

• In March, 10,000 invitations will be handed out each week for the first service.

I’ve started a series to highlight the different cities around Lanús, where we are starting Faith Baptist Church. We have posts on Lanús and Avellaneda. This post is dedicated to Gerli. Gerli is pronounced as “hair-lee”. Gerli is settled in between Lanús and Avellaneda and is smaller in comparison to the two neighboring cities. The town is home to some 64,000 people (according to a 2001 census, the latest census I could find). It straddles the Avellaneda/Lanús county (or partido) line with almost half of it’s inhabitants in each of the two counties. The outskirts of Gerli are just 4 kilometers from the building where Faith Baptist Church in Lanús will be started. The small city has over 30 neighborhoods. Like Lanús, Gerli is divided by two things, the large avenue Yrigoyen and the train tracks.

While there is not much to say about this town, for how small it is, it is full of people! It is also centrally located, and has people commuting through daily to and from Buenos Aires, whether by train, bus, or car. This is the story for many of the cities around Buenos Aires. They are all full of people and have even more people passing through each day.

Of the surrounding cities around Lanús, Gerli is certainly of the smallest of them. It’s proximity to where we will start Faith Baptist Church in just a few weeks makes it more interesting. Even so, the city is in need of at least two Baptist churches, one on the east side and one on the west side. This would make reaching Gerli much more realistic. Yet another reminder that the need is far greater than we sometimes even realize! Pray for laborers.

In the next posts, we will look at Banfield, Lomas de Zamora, and Temperley as well as a special post about some of the surrounding neighborhoods and villas (pronounced, “veeshas”) of Lanús.