Top 5 Note-worthy happenings this year:

1. We started off the year with youth camps, where many decisions were made. Then Ben preached at a family camp during Easter week in Uruguay.

Conference Time

The pastors who attended the Bible Conference.

The second week of October we had the opportunity to participate in a three-day Bible conference here in Buenos Aires. We came together to  motivate each other to collaborate toward accomplishing the task of the Great Commission in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, and Paraguay. There were 12 different speakers (including Ben), each dealing with a different aspect of unity. It truly was a blessing and a great encouragement. One of the highlights was the pastors’ meeting on the last day, where the need for more churches in Argentina was stressed. We also committed to pray for and help each other, and the church planters going out of our churches in a much bigger way. Since then, we have already seen an increase in communication and specific needs being met among the pastors and churches. There is a huge amount of work to be done among the churches here. Please pray for this. God does amazing things when His people pray for what is always close to His heart: REACHING THE LOST!”

Mother’s Day Happenings

Mother{s Day theme in Moreno, Buenos Aires “Redeeming the Time”.

We not only had our own Mothers’ Day event at our church, but Rachelle was also asked to speak at a mother/daughter tea at another church in the Greater Buenos Aires area. The theme was “Redeeming the Time”, and the women had spent much time in advance preparation for this event including inviting unsaved friends and family! Rachelle was very excited when one of the women there, Fiorella, gave her life to Christ after the devotional that Rachelle gave! What a blessing and answered prayer, because the church family had been praying for Fiorella’s salvation for eight years!! It is wonderful to be used by God!

Coming Up

Any study, meeting, or fellowship can be accompanied by the traditional drink: máte

We are thrilled that plans are moving forward for the upcoming church plant. November 13th we begin weekly meetings with our “team”. This team is made up of members from our current church (which will become our new church plants’ mother church) who all live in Gonzalez Catan. During these weekly meetings we will be studying the marks of a healthy church, our goals, and fine-tuning details for when we start holding services. We still plan on helping at the church in Isidro Casanova, even after we officially begin the new church plant.

Click for the printable prayer letter: prayer-letter-2016-sep-oct

Moved Out and In

We were down to the wire and hadn’t been able to find any rentals that would fit our needs in the area we were moving to. Then, God provided a house that, while not perfect, is in a great location (in the center of the town we want to begin a work in), and has most of what we were looking for. So, we were able to sign on the house and we are now renting in Gonzalez Catan! We have been adjusting during the month of August, and are pretty well settled. This is one step closer to where God has been leading, and we have already begun developing relationships with the neighbors here. Please pray for us as we soon will begin meeting weekly with our “team” that will be assisting us in planting the new church. We are excited!

Holding Down the Fort

We have been heavily involved with the ministries of Iglesia Bautista Calvario, and the seminary these past two years. As a result, when Barry and Diane Courts (Rachelle’s parents and pastor of the church) needed to go on furlough, Ben was one of the ones left in charge. We truly love this church family and so many of them have pitched in to keep everything running smoothly. However, Satan has been attacking the families of the church, and we have had to begin counseling multiple couples through some difficult times. Please pray as we continue counseling: that hearts will open to God’s work and that these marriages will be saved and their families will thrive.

Special service before the Courts left on furlough.

Family Happenings

We don’t always update about family happenings, but there have been a few these past two months that we wanted to mention: Lucas turned 10 on July 3rd, Nicolas began his journey walking, climbing, and getting into everything; and Natalie turned 12 on August 27th and joined the youth group! The children have been wonderful helpers through this move to our new house which is half an hour from our current church. They have a couple of friends in this area, but pray that God will provide more friends for them in our new city.

Our wonderful blessings!

Click for our printable prayer letter: Prayer Letter July August 2016

Happy Anniversary!

The church’s 27th anniversary!!

Iglesia Bautista Calvario is the church we have been serving in since we arrived in Argentina. It is a blessing to be in this church: helping them reach out to the community, teaching, and discipling the Chrstians there. The beginning of June marked its 27th anniversary, and we praise God for all the people who are a part of this church family. They are truly a missions-minded church. Pretty soon they will be sending out a second young man that was trained there to pastor a nearby sister church. This is such an exciting thing to see! There is a great need for willing and able men of God to plant and lead churches to reach Argentina for Christ. Pray for these men and our opportunities to train them for this great task through the seminary here and individual discipleship and training programs

Father’s Day

The fathers of our church.

Father’s Day here in Argentina is on the same date as in the United States. We celebrated the fathers in our church with a special gift. We thank God for the many fathers the church has, since strong, Godly, leaders are few in our Latin American culture. Please pray that these men will continue to be faithful to God and to their families.

Parenting

Some of the young mothers in our class.

Because most moms are stay at home moms here, biblical parenting can be an overwhelming challenge, when moms and dads have not grown up in church with sound biblical advice. As a result, Rachelle and Diane Courts (Rachelle’s mom and pastor’s wife) set out to have a “moms’ class”. For the past 3 months they have co-taught on subjects of parenting, such as godly discipline and discipleship of our children. Many of the moms have said they have been implementing what they have learned and are excited! Please pray as we continue with a new series of lessons in August.

Prayer Requests and Praises

*Salvation for Pablo and Lorena, our landlords, and Fabricio.

*Pablo Yedro (who recently was saved!) and Mariela’s marriage.

*We will find the right house for us before our contract is up.

*The church and seminary as we and other leaders take over while the Courts are on furlough.

*Our baby, Nicolas, turned 1 June 3rd! He is such a blessing from God!

Click the following link for a printable prayer letter: Prayer Letter- 2016- May June

Calling ALL Students!

March is the beginning of fall here in the southern hemisphere and it brings school with it! We had a wonderful summer filled with Christmas events and camps. Now, back to school schedules for all of us! Rachelle homeschools the children, and this year they are in 6th, 4th, and 2nd grades. We jokingly made Nicolas the school mascot. He obviously had no clue, but the older kids thought it was hilarious (see photo). As we adapt to our school routine, Ben is teaching in the Bible Seminary again and, starting in the middle of May, will also be making a weekly trip to downtown Buenos Aires to teach a preaching class to a group of men in a church there.

New school year, new grades!

Nicolas is the School mascot.

Easter Family Retreat

Most people have the week or weekend before Easter off from school and work for a religious holiday. We headed northeast to Uruguay to participate in a church Easter retreat. Ben was the guest speaker. We enjoyed meeting several people and spending time with good friends and fellow missionaries. It was a wonderful week remembering Christ’s sacrifice for us, His resurrection power and our victorious walk in Him!

Ben preaching at the Easter retreat in Uruguay.

Planning

We continue seeking out where God will have us begin a new church. We are prayerfully exploring Gonzalez Catan, which is located half an hour from where we are now. It is one of the most populated areas of Buenos Aires, with very little Gospel witness. There are a couple of families from there who come every week to attend the church here in Isidro Casanova, and we are in the process of planning things with them so they will help us begin the work in their city. It is very exciting! However, we want to move to that area to be in a more central location and we are having a hard time finding a house to rent. Please pray we will find the right place, which God already has waiting for us.

The area in which we are praying to start a church.

Click for a printable prayer letter: Prayer Letter- 2016 Mar Apr

Camp Time!

Our second camp season here in Argentina has come and gone. Camp is always such a wonderful way to reach young hearts and turn them towards God. The camp we participate in has three weeks of camp for different age groups, and our church has children/teens in all of them. Ben was a counselor in the older teen camp, and had the opportunity to speak directly into the lives of the young men in his group. They are bombarded on every side with all the pleasures and perils of the sinful world in which we live. We woud ask that you pray specifically for one unsaved young man, Fabricio, who came to camp, recognized his condition before the Lord, but hardened his heart towards the Gospel, all because he did not want to change his life. He continues attending his church, but still needs to turn to Christ. We praise the Lord for several others who made decisions to turn from specific sins in their lives that were ensnaring their Christian walk, and follow the Lord more faithfully. What a blessing to see God work in their hearts! Since then we have also seen follow-up steps several have taken, such as being faithful in church, starting classes in the seminary and talking to their friends about their Savior!

Our team at the 8-11 year-old camp, the blue team!

Investing in Families

We truly believe that in order to have a strong church there must be strong church families, and these begin with strong marriages. One of the ways our church invests in marriages is through couples’ meetings which usually include an evening off without the children, teaching on marriage, fellowship with other couples, and even fun things like a Valentine banquet once a year! It was very fun to organize the banquet this year, and there were eighteen couples present, some of them for the first time at church. Please pray for one of these couples, Pablo and Mariela, who have been attending church for a short while. They are going through counseling because of problems in their marriage, partly due to Pablo being unsaved. Please pray for his salvation and that their marriage will not only be saved, but  flourish.

At the Valentine banquet. Pablo and Mariela are on the right.

Click for printable PDF: Prayer Letter January February 2016

Ready to Teach… and Learn

God impressed on Rachelle’s heart to begin a childrens’ class on Wednesday evenings during the prayer meeting. So, in November she started a kids’ class and has had between 8-12 kids coming regularly to hear God’s Word and learn together. Of course it is a learning process for Rachelle also, since we have one year-olds through twelve year-olds all together! But, they are eager to learn! So far we have dealt with topics such as salvation, the Lords’ armor, and soon we will learn about prayer and how we can truly draw closer to God by praying effectively. Pray for us, that during this time these sweet children will draw closer to God.

We regularly have 8-12 kids on Wednesdays.

Merry Christmas!!!

We have regular women’s meetings, but two of the biggest ones of the year are for Mother’s Day (in October) and Christmas. This year we had many of the women of the church involved in everything for the Christmas event. We also had 5 visitors who heard a clear Gospel message! Once again our landlady came and really enjoyed herself. She had some questions, also, but as of yet does not see her need for a Savior. Please pray that all of those who visited will be saved soon!  The Christmas program, which is also a large event, was held on December 20th. Our brother-in-law, Richard wrote the program, and it was a fresh way of presenting the Christmas story. We praise the Lord for the many visitors who heard a clear message of the Gospel!

Christmas family picture.

We had many visitors for the Ladies’ Christmas event.

New Year… New Doors

Thank you so very much for your wonderful support both financially and prayerfully this past year, we cannot do it without you! We’re starting 2016 and excited for the new doors God will open. Up until now we have been blessed to be involved with the ministries of Iglesia Bautista Calvario here in Isidro Casanova, but we know God is leading us to start new churches in other areas. We ask you to pray for us, that we would see God’s guiding hand to the place He has for us. There are overwhelming needs and tremendous possibilities, but God is faithful to lead and strong to help.

The Christmas program’s cast- Ben was the innkeeper.

Click for Print: Prayer Letter- 2015- Nov Dec

One Year Anniversary

August 26-27 marked one year since we left the United States and arrived in Argentina! So much has happened during this last year. We have adjusted well to the new culture and language. The children continue to learn Spanish. Natalie is close to being fluent, and the other two are still learning. We enjoyed welcoming Nicolas to our family, and continue to enjoy having a family with four children now. In ministry, we have thoroughly enjoyed becoming a part of Iglesia Bautista Calvario. Ben and Rachelle have taught Sunday School, Ben is teaching in the Seminary, and we have personally been able to lead 5 individuals to the Lord, and are discipling 5 teens and adults! It has been a great year!

Saying goodbye to Ben’s family one year ago.

Youth and Children

We asked for prayer for a youth conference in July, and Children’s Day in August. Both were wonderful events. Ben spoke at the youth conference, the theme of which was evangelism. Two girls were saved, and many reported that they now have the boldness and tools to effectively witness to their friends. Praise God! For Children’s Day, our church held an event with games, prizes, and an evangelistic skit and message. We had a huge turnout with almost 200 children present, not counting parents and workers! This was almost double the attendance of the previous year! Now we are helping with follow-up visitation to all the families who came. Please pray as we minister to these families.

Youth Conference “Not Ashamed of the Gospel”

Children’s Day event- The church was packed!

A Huge Thank You

We wanted to take the time to say thank you to all of you who have been praying for us, and giving to our ministry! This past year would have been very difficult with all our transitions here in Argentina without you lifting us up in prayer. Thank you so very much! Also, we want to send a special thank you to our Sent Team from our sending church, Cherry Street Baptist for all you’ve done- especially for the long-distance baby shower when Nicolas was born! And to all those who sent gifts when our good friends Kevin and Stacey came to visit! You truly have blessed us!

Click for printable Prayer Letter- 2015- Jul Aug

Newest Arrival

Nicolas´s first day, first photos with mommy and daddy, the four Metzger minions.

We received a huge surprise on Tuesday, June 2nd, when Rachelle’s water broke a full month before her dute date! The doctor tried to postpone things for a few days while trying to mature Nicolas’ lungs with steroid shots, but Nicolas was bound and determined to be born, and he made his appearance on Wednesday, June 3rd at 2 P.M.! He was healthy, but only weighed 5.4 pounds and measured 17.6” so the doctors kept him in the NICU to make sure he was ok and to help him gain weight. It was a hard 6 days, seeing our tiny baby hooked up to monitors. We thank so many of you who heard about the situation via Facebook and prayed for him! He came home and immediately began gaining weight and growing. God was so gracious to us and to him, and we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know our newest little family member.

Father’s Day

Discipleship