Metzgers to Argentina

CHURCH 9TH ANNIVERSARY

Iglesia Bautista Redención celebrated its ninth anniversary in June! It is always a blessing to remember all God has done through the history of the church. It might still be considered a young church, but we are so thankful for the impact it has in the lives of its members and the community. Please pray for the leaders and their families to continue to mature and lead others to be faithful disciples of Jesus. Pray for the church congregation to be strengthened and grow in their walk with God. Pray for new families and individuals that are constantly visiting, that they might find a church home in which to be saved and grow. And finally, pray for our family and we lead and serve this growing body of believers, that we will be godly examples of true followers of Jesus Christ.

MEN’S MINISTRIES

The men of the church had a busy couple of months. A few of them traveled to the province of San Luis for a men’s conference at the beginning of May. It was a wonderful experience for them, and helped some of the newer men grow a deeper friendship with other men from church. Also, we celebrated Father’s Day with a wonderful men’s meeting the day before, and gifts the day of (pictured here are the fathers with their gifts: hats with the church logo). We thank God that more and more fathers are coming. Pray for their growth and godly leadership in their homes.

GENEROSITY HARVEST

As many of you know, we have collaborated with Trailhead International to raise funds for church planting in Argentina. This has enabled us to help national churches obtain or expand their church buildings. Last year we were able to successfully help six different national churches. This year we have ten. Thankfully five of them are already 100% funded. Thank you to those who have given towards these projects. If you are interested in giving towards churches still needing funding you can give by sending to our missions office earmarked “Metzger Argentina projects” or donating through our website.

Teacher Training

Our church had been needing new Sunday School teachers for a while now. However, Rachelle had a hard time finding free weekends to fit in a couple of teacher trainings. Finally, we were able to do them in March. We had eighteen from our church and seven from a neighbor church take the class! What a blessing to see so many desire to at least know how to teach children and guide them to the Lord. Although some were just interested, we were thankful that eight of those who took the class desire to help teach Sunday school and Wednesday night classes, and others are availab! Please pray that they, along with the current teachers and helpers will faithfully serve God and the precious children God has placed in our care at Iglesia Bautista Redención.

Youth Activities

March also started off the usual year activities such as school, seminary, and also our joint youth activities out at camp! These youth days are held every other month with any sister churches from Buenos Aires that want to come. This year’s theme is “Intencionalmente”, translated “Intentionally”. We pray that the youth will intentionally grow this year in their walk with the Lord toward becoming mature disciples of Jesus.

Special Endeavor

Please pray for a new opportunity for Rachelle. She embarked on studying for a degree in Biblical counseling, which is truly needed in the Argentine culture where secular psychology is the norm. Please pray for this endeavor. If you would like to help sponsor her studies you can do so at the following link: https://tinyurl.com/4skruj5c

Easter Retreat 

Another camp activity was our Easter Family Retreat. While many from our church were not able to go for a variety of reasons, it was a wonderful time of fellowship and remembrance of the sacrifice and victory of our Savior. Every year we come back with a fresh outlook of what Jesus has done for us! This year we were thankful for two salvation decisions made at the retreat! What an extra blessing! We pray that next year our full church family can attend for a maximized fellowship time.

Summer camps

Once again summer camps have come and gone. It is a whirlwhind of activity that our whole family loves to be a part of. This year Ben was a director and Rachelle was in the kitchen. We had the three youngest as campers in their respective weeks, and then Lucas was a junior counselor, Alenna worked in the snack shop and Nico ran around and played. We were also thrilled that Natalie and our son-in-law Facundo could join us at camp helping as counselor and kitchen help one week, and Natalie as a tecaher and counselor the other week. It is still such a blessing to serve alongside our grown children when we have the chance to. And this year’s camps were full to the brim with youth and kids! Hearts were open and tender and there were over twenty decisions for salvation plus many others for various reasons. Praise God!

Ministry Retreats

A highlight each year is the Missionary/Pastor’s retreat held at camp in February. Foreign missionaries and national pastors throughout Argentina come for four days of rest, relaxation, fellowship, and practical learning. It is always a wonderful time to reconnect with fellow co-laborers and obtain useful tools for our ministries. Our kids also love spending time with other pastor’s kids! Please pray that more pastors and their families who need this special time would be able to come next year. And pray for those who were there this year. Many are going through difficult ministry seasons and heealth problems. We know that strong churches need strong leadership, and that is what this time is intended for. We believe that Argentina needs more laborers, but we also need to care for those that we have so that they do not give up or fall by the way-side. 

Special Visitors

We were grateful to host Missionary-to-missionary care leaders: Don and Kathy Mingo for almost the whole month of February! It was such a privilege to have them stay with us in our home. They came down to teach those at the ministry retreat and then also stayed to speak at our annual marriage retreat! Along with that, Don preached and both of them gave testimonies at our church and were a blessing to our church people. We are so thankful for all their hard work preparing and getting down here. We know it was a great sacrifice for them to come down, and we thoroughly enjoyed all that they imparted to us, and our family enjoyed hosting them! Please pray for them as they recuperate from this trip.

Women’s Ministry

We are so thankful to God at the growth the camp ministry has been having these past years. This women’s retreat was another record-breaking camp with almost 200 women present from area churches! We were so excited to participate in this, and see our women impacted with God’s Word and with fellowship with other sisters in Christ. Pray for the continued growth of the women in our churches here. Rachelle led the women of our church in a study of hermeneutics and they are now doing inductive Bible studies, which has been a wonderful thing to be a part of: women learning from the Word of God themselves and then applying it to their lives! What a blessing to experience!

Ministry Partners

Our year has been quite difficult ministry-wise, with upheaval in our church, not only in the church body but in our ministry team. As a result, we are extremely grateful for the team that we now have, that has been supporting us, carrying the load of ministry in the church. We know that without their help we could not be where we are. Please pray for these precious people and their families. From left to right they are Monica & Oscar Suarez, Gabriela & Jorge Iannace, Mirta & Guillermo Acosta, (Rachelle & Ben), Nilfa & Marciano Vergara (Senior ministry), and Marcelo & Gabriela Ibarra (youth ministry). Each one has trials they are going through, and need your prayers to remain faithful and strong.

End of Year Celebration

Our church started a lovely tradition the past few years in which we dedicate the last Sunday of the year to a gratefulness and praise service to God for all He has done in the year. This year we added on baptisms and new members joining the church. It was a wonderful reminder of all that God is doing in His people. Four young men were baptized, and four families and some individuals joined the church also. It is always wonderful to hear the salvation testimonies of those being baptized and joining our membership. Praise God with us for all He is doing in our little corner of Argentina.

Youth Retreats

During the last week of July in winter vacation we held our now annual youth winter retreat at camp. However, with continued interest and growth, we had to have 2 3-day retreats instead of only one like we previously have. Both camps were pretty full! The first one was for middle and high school age, and the second one was for young adults. Ben helped plan and run it, and Rachelle planned and worked in the kitchen. We love to be able to minister to the youth, not only from our church, but 12 other area churches. The theme for this year was “No Holding Back”. The youth were challenged to follow Christ no matter the cost. Please pray for the youth of Argentina. Many want to be faithful, but the cares of this world continually threaten their faith.

Children’s Day Celebration

We once again celebrated Children’s Day with a festival for the children of our church and neighborhood. The theme was medieval kingdom, and the children learned about the Kingdom of God, in which the heavenly King offers salvation and son-ship to all! There were no decisions made for Christ, but many parents said they wanted to bring their kids again, and we know the seed planted will yield fruit in its time. We are thankful for the church members who served the families of our community through games, songs, and food. We were also able to have many meaningful conversations with the parents while their children played.

A Very Special Wedding

September 13 marked an extremely large milestone in our personal lives: Our oldest daughter, Natalie married her sweetheart, Facundo Ibarra. They met at church and were friends for almost a year before letting their interest in each other be known, and now two and a half years later were finally ready to become man and wife. It was a bitter-sweet time for us, as everyone who has married off a child knows, because our family home dynamics changed from six down to five, and our little girl is now a married woman. We are so very happy for both of them. Please be in prayer for them as they make decisions on how to continue serving God together. If you would desire to send them a wedding gift you can send it through us earmarked for Natalie and Facundo’s wedding.

Church Anniversary 

We praise God for another year celebrating the Lord’s work in our dear church. It has been a year full of blessings but also with various hardships that have shaken the church. However, the verse, “Let us not be weary in well doing” (Galatians 6:9) has been a constant reminder to us that we know Whom we serve, and He will continue to work even during and through hard times. He is blessing. There are new visitors, new professions of faith, new discipleships, and new growth as a result. Please pray for the youth ministry of our church, which has had a large growth spurt. That we would be able to meet the needs of each youth now attending, searching, and growing spiritually.

Father’s Day Celebration

Father’s Day is the same day in Argentina as in the United States. (unlike Mother’s Day) We always try to get a special gift for the church’s fathers. This time was a decorative desk clock with Joshua 24:15 on it, reminding them to purposefully lead their families to serve the Lord. This is our prayer for each family. We know strong churches are made up of strong families which are comprised of spiritually strong fathers and mothers, leading in example and service. Please pray for the fathers of our church to be men of integrity and purpose- glorifying God with their hearts and lives.

Building Progress

Many of you have helped us raise funds for our new auditorium, and we are incredibly grateful for your generosity. We are mostly there, but have paused the fundraising, and thus, the building, due to focusing on the legal process involved in receiving a donated land for a church. There are many hurdles to overcome, especially in trying to do everything aboveboard and not cut corners. Also, any legal process in this country takes a long time. In fact, this process has extended one year over the initially expected duration. We are thankful for a knowledgeable lawyer to help navigate all the paperwork, and we are confident that our side has met all the necessary requirements to complete the process. We appreciate your prayers in this matter. We cannot wait to get started on this new building! 

WOMEN’S RETREAT

December was a whirlwind of activities. We started it out by wrapping up plans for the yearly women’s retreat at camp. This year our church hosted it along with Keri Kondracki’s Women of Worth ministries. We had over 150 women from area churches come to fellowship, eat delicious food, be pampered, and above all be blessed by teaching from God’s Word. We are so thankful for all the investment Keri and her ministry put into this event. Our women came away thoroughly blessed!

YOUTH CAMPS

In January our church sent almost forty kids and youth to camp. Our family was privileged to also serve at the teen and kids’ camps as counselors and cooks, and we saw fourteen youth come to know Christ as their Savior. Three of them were from the youth in our church! We praise God for this fruit. Camp is something we value and participate in year after year because we know that God uses this time away from the world to touch hearts and change lives.

MARRIAGES STRENGTHENED

In the past month we not only had a Valentine’s banquet, but also a marriage retreat. We believe healthy churches are made up of healthy families, And healthy families start with healthy marriages. That is why we invest in our church couples. It was thrilling to see nineteen couples come to the banquet, and twelve couples go the retreat. Both events were perfect for strengthening their marriages through God’s Word and fellowship with other Christian couples so that we could encourage each other.

SPECIAL FAMILY LIFE EVENTS:
Lucas graduated from high school in December, and Natalie got engaged in January!
Natalie and Facundo will be married in September.

Winter Break

The past few years we have had a short youth retreat at camp during winter break. This year was the second time it was a three day event, and we ran out of beds because so many youth wanted to attend. We took twenty-four of our teens and young adults and were thrilled that three of them recieved Jesus as their Savior, and others made decisions in their spiritual walk. Please pray for our youth. So many of them struggle to put God first in their lives and follow Him faithfully. Also pray for our youth leaders: Marcelo and Gabriela to have the energy and wisdom when dealing with them.

Children’s Day

This August we celebrated Children’s Day once again and children poured in! We had a sports/Olympics theme (which our monthly kids’ club has followed this year) and we were thrilled to have the highest attendance that we have ever had. Almost 100 children came, along with their parents and grandparents, to play, sing, and most importantly hear the plan of salvation. Our church family was such a blessing to all who arrived, welcoming them and manning the games, songs, and snack time. Although no one made a profession of faith, we know God’s Word will work in hearts and bring future fruit. 

10th Anniversary!

 At the end of August we were privileged to celebrate our family’s tenth anniversary of arriving on Argentine soil. It is amazing to look back and see all God has done for us and through us in these ten years. We thank Him for allowing us to raise our kids here on the missions field, go through two full terms on the field, two furloughs, COVID, start Iglesia Bautista Redencion, and graduate one child from highschool (and another one soon to follow in December). We look forward to what God will lead us to do in the next ten years. Please pray that we remain faithful to His will.