Paraguay prayer calendar July 2008
The latest prayer calendar from Paraguay has just arrived. Download the PDF.
La Caldera team commissioning
Last night saw the commissioning for the BTN team from Down and Dromore Diocese. About seventy family and friends gathered in Holywood Parish Halls for a fantastic service to share what the team will be doing, pray for them and for Bishop Harold to commission the them. There was a lovely atmosphere and everyone is looking forward to going out to strengthen links between the Dioceses and serve the church there by improving their retreat centre. They leave for Argentina tomorrow, please keep them in your prayers.
Follow their progress in their blog.
Worship from last night
ps. Updates might slow for a while as the editor of this web-site is on the trip.
Drumglass-Fivemiletown team fund-raise for South America
The Drumglass Parish team are getting excited as the time draws nearer for departure to Argentina. We travel to Argentina on July 24th returning August 15th.
Harold Armstrong, Nigel Millar, Margaret Jackson and Kate Shrestha will join 3 other ladies from Fivemiletown to make up a team travelling to Salta to help with the Red Box Project there. We are all looking forward to meeting Cecilia again.
Over the past few months there have been many fundraising events in the Paris. There was a 6 hour Dance-a-thon resulting in tired feet for many and Nigel ran the Belfast Marathon in May in blistering conditions but still completed the run in good time. A more relaxed event of selling cakes and drinking coffee filled a Saturday morning at the beginning of June and a fun night with a Treasure Hunt and BBQ is planned for the end of June in Dungannon Park. All events to date have been really well supported by the Parish.
Two members of the Team have travelled abroad before, however not to South America and all are looking forward to this new experience. We also look forward to seeing how the Church in Salta fellowship together and trust God can use us in some way to serve there.
Teams leave for Argentina
A number of SAMS Ireland Beyond the Norm teams are leaving for South America this week. The team from Lisburn Cathedral leave for Argentina today, and the Down and Dromore Diocese team leave next Friday.
Here is a report from their last team meeting on Sunday.
The DDYC SAMS Ireland team to La Caldera met for their final briefing last Sunday. We now have details of the work on the retreat centre, church services, kids clubs and Irish fun night that we wil be involved in. Everyone is really looking forward to it all. The team are a really talented bunch and we’re really looking forward to this trip.
Last week in Argentina there were farmer’s blockades protesting over export taxes that they led to food shortages in Salta! The protests are thankfully now over and we hope there will be no problems.
Next Wednesday we have a commissioning service with the Bishop Harold Millar. He is keen that the historic link between Down and Dromore Diocese will be restored with this trip. The service is at 7pm in Holywood Parish church.
You can follow this teams progress on their blog.
Prayer line
Paul & Sarah Tester in Peru ask prayer for the young people of San Patricio Mission in the Lima neighbourhood of Ventanilla. Paul and another leader, Juan Carlos, are taking a group of them away for a Youth Alpha Retreat this weekend. Paul & Sarah write: “Alpha has been a way to start a youth ministry at the mission; we are praying for the young people to encounter God in a real and lasting way and to choose to follow Christ for their whole life.”
Events in the Diocese of Spain this weekend include a Pastors’ Conference on Friday and Saturday (27/28) in Madrid and a Youth Retreat from Sunday to Tuesday (29-1st) in Reus in the northeast. Please pray these will bring great blessing to the church in Spain.
Let’s continue to remember the 6 bishops from the Southern Cone (Venables, Zavala, Godfrey, Lyons, Cavalcanti, Apeleo) gathered at the GAFCON meetings in Jerusalem. Bishop Robinson Cavalcanti has with him a number of clergy from the Diocese of Recife, including Marcus Throup, so please remember that delegation in your prayers.
Farmers lift blockade in Argentina
Some good news from Argentina. Recent farmers’ blockades of main roads in Argentina have been lifted after the government agreed to debate tax levies on soy production. The protests had led to food shortages in some areas which would have made life difficult for some of the SAMS Ireland summer teams heading out soon.
Read more on the story from the BBC.
Summer Teams
This summer there are six BTN teams going from Northern Ireland to South America. The work will be varied, but wherever they are, the volunteers will have the opportunity to encounter South America within a supportive environment. Participants form part of a team within a local community working alongside local Christians in outreach and development projects.
“I’ve never been on a mission trip before, so this makes the idea of going to Argentina an exciting prospect but also quite daunting at the same time. I’m looking forward to exploring the Argentinian culture and meeting different Christians over there and seeing how they worship. I hope to gain a great experience from this trip and have a great time while I’m there!”
Two teams are going to the Red Box project in Salta Argentina where they will be helping Cecilla Valdiviezo with outreach through the soup kitchen and children’s clubs. Another team from Down and Dromore Diocese are linking up with the Diocese of Northern Argentina to refurbish a retreat centre in La Caldera and experience the life of local churches in the foothills of the Andes. A further two teams will be joining David Orritt in Mission Paraguay focusing on practical projects in Asuncion and Concepcion. Finally, the Love for Life team will again go into schools in Paraguay with their multimedia presentation on relationships.
Buena Vista magazine
The new SAMS Ireland magazine, Buena Vista! Has just arrived from the printers. This magazine will initially be published twice a year giving a view of the work in South America, Spain and Portugal from our Irish perspective. This edition highlights the Latin partners who are working here in Northern Ireland.
If you receive the SAMS GB Share magazine then Buena Vista will be included in the next distribution being delivered very soon. Please give us any feedback in the contact page.
Download a PDF version of the magazine.
Update on Mission Paraguay
David Orrit, the man behind Mission Paraguay 2008, has sent us an update. He leaves on the 30th June to make preparation for the teams that arrive in July and August.
David writes, “A new venture this year is to provide training workshops in the use of sewing machines, which were sent from the UK a few months ago, to enable mothers to make simple children’s clothes and develop this as a self sustaining cottage industry. ”
“The second August group will be based in Concepción a town of about 40,000 people where motor cycles, horses and carts abound, pigs and other animals wander the earth roads. Unemployment and social problems are high. The work here includes home improvements, extending facilities for the work of the church and a range of child based activities arranged through Claire Holmes who for many years Claire has worked tirelessly amongst the children in Concepción and the surrounding area. ”
You can read his full artlicle here.
SAMS prayer line
The prayer line from SAMS GB has just arrived. SAMS GB is in merger talks with CMS, as SAMS Ireland is autonomous this will not affect us directly, but please pray for our sister organisation.
Pat Blanchard in Lima, Peru, has requested prayer for an important meeting over the next couple of days. The local council are meeting with Pat to discuss the possibility of their donating land to her church of Jesús el Nazareno for their Shalom ministry to disabled people. This is a progressive ministry but does need a ‘good home’, so let’s join with Pat in prayer.
Please remember the Indian peoples of Northern Argentina, as Andrew Leake reports that some members of the provincial government of Salta have just presented a motion that could rescind the recently passed law limiting deforestation in the Chaco.
The Argentine Bible Society, meanwhile, hosts a long-awaited conference from Monday (23rd) on the provision of Scriptures in audio form. This involves the translations into Wichi, Toba, Chorote (Argentina) and Enxet (Paraguay).
Jonathan & Hilary Rowe thank us for prayers for the Gospel Choir evening in the main square of El Escorial in Spain on 7 June. Over 1,500 people attended, including the mayor. Let’s support follow-up work with our prayers. Meantime, Jonathan, Hilary and their children come to the UK on Monday (23rd) for a short period of home ministry, so please uphold them at this time.
Arriving this Friday from Chile is Bishop Tito Zavala. He and Assistant Bishop Abelino Apeleo are attending the SAMS General Council meeting this weekend before proceeding to the GAFCON gathering of bishops in Jerusalem. Pray for them … and pray too for the SAMS General Council who meet over 24 hours in London from Friday (20th) to discuss further whether the Society should merge with CMS or remain independent. Following this, the GB staff take a 24-hour retreat starting on Monday.