Don Britez is a short Guaraní man with a ready smile and arms made sinewy by years of hard fieldwork. His wife Lucia and her father opened their minds and hearts to Jesus’ truth beginning with our very first visit to their village of Naumby in southern Paraguay. One by one, the Britez’ nine children also became followers of Christ. But not Don Britez! For eight years he told polite lies to excuse himself from our weekly Bible studies in their home. Then one day in his field he was struck with excruciating pain and felt he must get right with God. (He had overheard the message about Jesus many times and had watched Him change his wife, father-in-law and children.)

That night after the children fell asleep he told Lucia, “I want to give my heart to Christ, but it’s too dirty.” He asked her to forgive him for all the things he’d done to her throughout their marriage. She assured him she had forgiven him long ago, and he replied, “Yes, I know, but I need to ask for your forgiveness before I ask for God’s.” Later, in the still of the night, he opened the shuttered window of their wood plank home and looked up to heaven. Unbuttoning his shirt, he bared his chest, and said, “Jesus, here is my heart. Forgive me for the evil things I have done. Come inside to live in me.” He and Lucia were baptized, and later he helped baptize six of his own children.

Britez, Lucia and their family are helping to build Christ’s body, His church, in Naumby. And the church in Naumby is part of the larger church Iglesia Bíblica de Caazapá (Caazapá Bible Church) in southern Paraguay, which gathers all the cell churches together once a month for an all-day encuentro (“gathering”). Some believers stand in the back of a pick-up truck for one or two hours in hot summer sun (or icy winter wind) to get to Caazapá where the encuentro is held.

The encuentro begins with singing, accompanied by guitar. Then the children move off for their own study time under the partial shade of a tree, and the preacher for the day brings God’s message in the Guaraní language. God has prepared a fine group of elders and pastors from Caazapá and surrounding towns. They have been intentionally discipled for leadership, and they are passionate about winning other people to Christ and helping them to mature in Him. After the message, an elder explains how to become a Christian and extends an invitation to all who wish to do so. Next comes a break to drink tereré (a strong, bitter liquid served in a cow’s horn and sipped through a metal straw).

All morning some of the women tend a pot of food cooking over an open fire. The children eat lunch first, then the other adults, and finally the cooks. After clean-up and a short rest, the afternoon service begins. They discuss church business, baptize new believers in the nearby river, and hold a simple communion service. By mid-afternoon, the trucks fill with passengers for the return trips to the surrounding communities. During the next three weeks, believers will meet in their own villages for Christian fellowship. We pray that they will multiply so that each village will have several cell groups. And for many villages, we are still praying for the beginning of an evangelical group.

Ephesians 1:23 The church is His body; it is filled by Christ.

Pray

SIM is asking God for many more workers to plant His church in Paraguay. One of our dreams is that the growing mission movement called “SIM Latino” will provide a highway for workers to come from other Latin American countries to join us here.

Go

Workers are needed for children’s and youth work, music and worship training, camp ministries, church planting (urban and rural), primary education, women’s ministries, and evangelism.

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Church Planting Paraguay Project # PY 82065