News from the Spradlins in South America

DECEMBER 2014
Vol. 6 No. 12

A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Andrea and I pray that each of you might have a very happy and prosperous 2015. A new year always brings
the excitement of new horizons full of possibilities. We believe 2015 will be a great year for the Lords church in
Paraguay and we invite you to partner with us in prayer for the work. Please pray that more souls will be added
to the Lords kingdom, that God will lift up more leaders from among the men, and that the body of Christ (His
church) will grow in spiritual maturity. Thank you and God bless! - Troy and Andrea

BAPTISM!
Walter Chavez obeyed that form of doctrine which
saves and put on Christ in baptism December 22. He is a
close friend of Alex Vargas (remember the young man who
received the flyer in his mailbox) and attended a local
denomination with him for several years. Alex recently
introduced him to some of his new Christian friends and
one of them, William Arzamendia, engaged him in a Bible
Study. At 12:30 in the morning, after going through the
steps of the plan of salvation, Walter made the decision to
put his life on the right path toward heaven! Praise the Lord!
DEVELOPMENTS AT AVE. SACRAMENTO CHURCH OF CHRIST
Circles of Encouragement We are the family of God and we are
commanded to love and encourage one another. With this in mind,
the church has developed a plan to help keep every member of the
congregation more informed and connected, but above all,
encouraged. Seven men volunteered to be leaders of what we
have named Circles of Encouragement who will call, message, or
go to visit each of the members on their list. We pray this will help
develop stronger, more personal relationships among the brethren.
End of Year Dinner. We enjoyed a lovely evening together of
great fellowship and food in order to reflect on all that the Lord has
done in 2014. We had all three congregations represented at the
dinner. Naty Mendoza prepared a wonderful photo presentation that
was very emotional to watch. There were certainly a lot of things
that happened this year!

DEVELOPMENTS AT EMBY CHURCH OF CHRIST

There have been many studies taking place among the brethren, Walter Chavez studying the plan of salvation
with William Arzamendia (top) and then
visitors, and friends in emby. Eliezer Perez has been busy with
many of these studies. We also enjoyed seeing some of the former obeying the Gospel through baptism (above).
members who returned for the holidays to see their families.
ASUNCION BIBLE ACADEMY
GRADUATION is drawing NEAR! Here we are in the last quarter of the two-year program and three
bright eyed students are almost ready to go out into the world ready to serve. William Arzamendia, Karen
Gimenez, and Ramn Paredes invite you to join them for a special graduation ceremony on Saturday,
February 7. The church will be hosting a special dinner for the students that night and then they will walk
the stage to receive their Diploma of Biblical Studies from Bear Valley Bible Institute of Denver and the
Academia Bblica - Asuncin. We are excited and looking forward to seeing our first graduating class
honored at this special event. It is going to be an emotional night!
Quarterly Report. Be sure and look for the last Quarterly Report that was recently published! You
can access it at: www.paraguaymission.com/asuncion-bible-academy/

Andrea hosted the monthly Ladies Tea in our home this past month. It has become somewhat of a tradition over the
past few years for her to host the special Christmas version and she always looks forward to the opportunity.

Contacts / Bible Studies / Activities:

We were excited to have Cody Westbrook, one of my former
colleagues from Southwest School of Bible Studies, teach a
class for us via our new video conference system. He did a
great job and the students responded really well!
Bible Studies
Weve had some great studies this month. Valeria
Suarez has returned to the church and is studying
with me, and Alex Vargas and I have been studying
Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible together. Adriana
Rodriguez is continuing her study with Andrea,
which is going well. After the holidays, several new
studies will be starting up along with many others which
will resume.
Cody Westbrook teaching class (via video) at ABA
New English students Andrea has been advertising a
new English class and is thrilled with the connections she
has made with three new students Alison, Sonya, and Nelly!
Member visit One of our newer members, Mikaela Jara,
has been struggling with some conflict lately and missing
services, so we went with our sisters, Delci and Nati, to
visit and encourage her. We pray that she, as well as her
non-Christian family members, were able to see the love
that her Christian family has for them.
Worship and Bible class attendance (Avenida Sacramento):
Sun am 64 (7th), 59 (14th), 62 (21st), 60 (28th)
Sunday Bible study average 48
Current members: 80 Baptized (49 Family Units)
Worship and Bible class attendance (emby):
Sun pm 19 (7th), 22 (14th), 26 (21st), 23 (28th)
Current members: 14 Baptized (11 Family Units)

End of Year Dinner at Ave Sacramento.

Coming Up:
Interns Pablo Yuri and Italo Rocha will arrive January 8th from AME Brazil to work with us for one year.
A Mens Planning Retreat to discuss the desired direction of the church in Paraguay for the next five years
has been scheduled for January 10th. We are calling it Vision 2020.
Karen Bennett will be returning to Paraguay for the Annual Ladies Retreat, January 31.
Graduation for the Asuncion Bible Academy will be held on Saturday, February 7th, 2015!
A new class of students will begin their studies at the Asuncion Bible Academy on March 2, 2015.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACTIVITIES

Activities/developments:
Annual Christmas Tea - One of Andreas favorite events
of the year is opening our home to all the ladies of the
congregation for the Annual Christmas Tea! She makes all
the food herself and just asks that the ladies bring drinks
and a small gift to exchange. For the devotional portion,
Andrea issued the ladies the 1000 Gifts Thankfulness
Challenge, along with little notebooks and monthly
bookmarks to use for the challenge in 2015.
Las Amigas Cookie Exchange Andrea attended the
annual Las Amigas Christmas Party and it should be of no
surprise that she baked DOZENS of cookies for the Cookie
Exchange!
Date night We dont get out much to the movies, but we
just couldnt pass up the latest Hunger Games!
Las Amigas cookie exchange meeting.
Birthday We celebrated my birthday together with a night
out at a new restaurant that has now become one of my local favorites!
Nutrition and Cooking Class - After more than 4 years of requests for cooking classes, and 2 years of
requests for some lessons on nutrition, Andrea finally decided to combine the two and is now offering some
private small-group events in our home. They are learning about having a balanced diet with a visual
presentation to compare carbohydrates in various foods, how to plan ahead for success, and how to cook a
meal featuring one of Andreas own original recipes using a local Paraguayan product... Chicken with Cocido
Salsa. Then they eat a yummy, healthy, balanced lunch!!!
Christmas We enjoyed another wonderful evening with the Vera Family
in their home for Christmas Eve Dinner. However, being away from family
and friends back home is especially difficult during the holidays, and this
year weve been feeling more homesick than ever. So, we decided to
spend Christmas day and night on the river at the Paraguay Yacht & Golf
Club here in Asuncion. It was just the little get-away that we needed!
Personal study:
I have been reading (or, still reading):
Cover to Cover by Johnny Ramsey
El Desafio del Amor by Alex and Stephen Kendrick
Spiritual Disciplines by Adele Calhoun
I have also been studying and preparing lessons for an upcoming
Sunday Bible study series on spiritual development and maturity.
Preaching/teaching opportunities:
I preached one Sunday this month at Avenida Sacramento.
I finished up classes on Revelation, and Catholicism, in the Asuncion
Bible Academy. I also taught one Sunday morning class over False
Andreas cooking class students: Fabiola
Ideas About The Holy Spirit.
Fernandez and Silvina Gimenez

Discovering Paraguay: Christmas Fireworks

What are some of the biggest differences between Christmas in Paraguay

and in the USA? One, lack of snow the other, fireworks! Lots and lots of
fireworks! Paraguayans have a deep love for fireworks in general as they
will shoot them off at the end of a soccer game, when a political candidate
wins, for the current patron saints day, a birthday, a quinceera, or really,
any occasion. Yet, there is no occasion quite like Christmas Eve. Right
about midnight, all of a sudden, it sounds like a war broke out! It seems like
thousands upon thousand of fireworks are exploded all across town from as
close as your front door to as far away as you can possibly hear in every
direction. It is absolutely incredible!
For more information on all things Paraguay, visit this informative website: http://discoveringparaguay.com

OUR SUPPORTERS Thank you!

Margaret Street church of Christ (Sponsoring Congregation)
6745 Margaret Street, Milton, FL 32570
Central Avenue church of Christ Valdosta, GA
Dripping Springs church of Christ Dripping Springs, TX
Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ West Palm Beach, FL
Poolville church of Christ Poolville, TX
Families of: Clay Bond / Chet Brown / Virginia Guess / Joseph Markham
Asuncin Bible Academy Supporters / Contributors
Palm Beach Lakes church of Christ (Stateside Administrator)
Bear Valley church of Christ - Denver, CO
Broadway church of Christ - Paducah, KY
Carriage Oaks church of Christ - Bossier City, LA
Central Avenue church of Christ - Valdosta, GA
Jay church of Christ - Jay, FL
Poolville church of Christ - Poolville, TX
West Dyersburg church of Christ - West Dyersburg, TN
Anonymous Families / Individuals ( AZ, FL, TN, TX)

PARAGUAYMISSION.COM

iglesiadecristo.com.py

Troy and Andrea

Spradlin

Casilla de Correo 13092

Shopping del Sol
Asuncion, Paraguay
(595) 0981-630-886

conocerlapalabra.com