Paraguay: gathering for meetings

Pray for CMS staff and partners from around the world currently gathered in Paraguay for meetings and an exchange of learning. Pray for relationships to be strengthened as people eat together, worship alongside each other and learn from each other.

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Paraguay: the gospel moving among Southern Énxet and Northern Enlhet speakers

After over 40 years of service in Bible translation for the Southern Énxet and Northern Enlhet languages, Tim Curtis has returned to the UK permanently and is finishing as a CMS mission partner. He may however return to Paraguay for short-term spells in the future. Tim asks for prayer for Asunción Rojas, who continues to offer his skills to The Diocese of Paraguay and has shared their work on the Southern Énxet dictionary with the Ministry of Education. Pray for Christians as they continue to proclaim the gospel, provide Bible teaching and upskill the indigenous members of the Anglican Church of Paraguay. Pray also for Tim as he looks for a place to live in the UK. 

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Video transcript

Hello everyone and welcome to Hope from the Edges. I’m Andy Roberts, CEO for CMS.

In the next few minutes, we’ll bring you inspiring news from three edges in our world. Stories that you are making possible through your gifts and prayers.

First, we will go to South East Asia for the story of an inspiring woman who is reaching her village with the love of Jesus.

From there we’ll go to Paraguay. And celebrate one mission partner’s remarkable 44 years of service and a linguistic legacy that will live on for generations to come.

Finally, we’ll go to Tanzania and zoom in on places where it’s tough to be a Christian, and we’ll meet our newest mission partners who are preparing to serve there.

First, meet Grace, whose name we’ve changed for security reasons.

Grace grew up in a remote village in a jungle area of South East Asia. When she was seven years old, Grace’s grandfather told her about Jesus. At age 14, Grace left school to help her family farm rice. A few years later, she signed on with a housekeeping agency and went to Malaysia to work for a family there. Though the housekeeping agency tried to take Grace’s Bible away from her, the family she worked for fought for her to keep it.

Over the next few years, she grew in her faith, through praying and reading her precious Bible. After several years of working in Malaysia, Grace felt the Lord telling her to return to her country for something new.

Back in her village, she worked odd jobs for the next two years, and looked for God’s purpose in bringing her back home. Grace got involved in her local church, and she realised how deeply the people in her district needed Jesus. She began praying that God would use her.

In 2025, church leaders offered her training to help her become more effective in her ministry. This is how Grace met Patrick, whose name we’ve also changed for security reasons. Patrick is an Asia-CMS partner who works with a local institute, training local mission workers and rural church leaders in discipleship, evangelism, and church planting.

Following her training, Grace returned to her village. Today, Grace is a pastor and is training 25 leaders in her church for mission and ministry. She also travels to other villages to share the good news of Jesus and work with local children and young people.

God is using CMS partners in Asia to transform vast numbers of lives across the region.

Now let’s go to the Chaco region of Paraguay where mission partner Tim Curtis is now retiring after an amazing 44 years in mission among Indigenous peoples.

Tim has spent 44 years helping translate the Bible into the Énxet languages and supporting the Indigenous Énxet people to interact with God’s Word. Tim first went to Paraguay in the early 1980s, teaching at Indigenous and Government schools.

He soon became involved in Bible translation, supporting a team of three indigenous translators to revise the Southern Énxet New Testament and translate the Old Testament from scratch. After many years’ hard work, the full Southern Énxet Bible was launched in 2016. In Tim’s words, “from start to finish it was surprising, even miraculous, how different people from different organisations, churches and institutions came together for the translation.”

In the years that followed, Tim and others worked to help people engage with the word through producing an audio version of the Southern Énxet Bible and dubbing the Jesus film into the language.

A related language group, the Northern Enlhet, also needed help translating the Bible into their language. In 2018, Tim joined their Bible translation team part-time as a consultant and continues support them from the UK even now. Northern Enlhet speakers hope to celebrate the completion of the Bible in their language in the late 2020s.

We’re so thankful for Tim’s hard work and the invaluable linguistic legacy that will live on among Indigenous peoples in Paraguay, empowering them for generations to come.

Now it’s my great pleasure and privilege to introduce to you our newly selected mission partners, Dave and Tricia Rollett, preparing to swap their life in the East Midlands for East Africa.

We believe God is calling Dave and Tricia’s family to Tanzania to support Christians who are in a minority to grow in their faith and work together to be a loving witness to their neighbours of other faiths.

They are hoping to move to Zanzibar this August so that they can get stuck into discipleship, partnership building and more as quickly as possible. We have faith that God will provide the money for them to move in this short time frame.

Could God be calling you to support the mission work they’ll be involved in? Dave and Tricia are featured partners in CMS’s Global Edge Church programme. This means if you sign up to support them, you’ll also be supporting other mission partners and local partners who are quipping and encouraging where followers of Jesus are in a minority. Go to churchmissionsociety.org/rollett to find out more.

And be sure to check the Trek for Tanzania sponsored challenge Dave will be doing, walking the length of Zanzibar to raise support.

Lastly, May is our recruitment month. Could God be calling you to go to the edges with CMS globally or locally? Go to churchmissionsociety.org/serve to discover more about how you could go to the edges with CMS.

Well, thank you all for joining me for these stories from the edges and for your prayerful support which makes them possible.

Please share this video with your church, small group or anyone you think could use some fuel for their faith.

Until next time, we are so grateful for your gifts and prayers as together we go:

With Jesus
With each other
To the edges

ENDS

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Mission partner Tim Curtis has spent an entire generation – 44 years – in translation work among indigenous peoples in the Paraguayan Chaco region. As he retires, we take a look at how God made a way for his Word to come alive in the wilderness.

Many indigenous people groups in the wilderness Chaco region of South America have long been marginalised by the majority society who are of European descent (criollos). Deforestation has all but squeezed out Énxet speakers’ traditional hunter-gatherer lifestyle and they often have limited access to healthcare and education.

There has been a Christian presence in the Chaco region for over 130 years, but even so, speakers of the Énxet languages haven’t always had access to God’s Word. But now that the Bible has been translated into their languages, they know that they are included in God’s plan.

Called back to Latin America

The son of missionaries, Tim was brought up in Chile and sensed God calling him back to Latin America after university in the UK. “A verse that came very clearly to me from Psalm 32 was, ‘I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go. I will counsel you with my eye upon you,’” he remembers. He also had a dream that confirmed that he would be working somewhere quite remote.

Tim first went to Paraguay in the early 1980s. In 1982, when visiting the La Herencia project in the Chaco, Tim recognised the place he’d seen in his dream. This project was the Anglican Church’s response to a plea for help from its indigenous members amongst the Énxet, Angaité and Sanapana peoples in the Chaco region who had lost their ancestral lands. (By 1985, nearly 45,000 hectares of land had been secured for them.) Tim joined the project and for the next few years, he served several indigenous and government schools, commuting between the more far-flung ones on horseback.

First steps towards Bible translation

Recognising Tim’s love for the local people and aptitude for languages, the project director invited him to prepare for work on the translation of the Southern Énxet New Testament.

Tim became a missionary with the South American Missionary Society (SAMS), which later merged with CMS. He trained as a Bible translator at SIL and prepared for mission at All Nations Christian College before returning to Paraguay to focus on the Southern Énxet language.

From a New Testament to a complete Bible

In the early 1990s, a team of three indigenous translators was ready to begin the translation of the New Testament in partnership with United Bible Societies and the Paraguayan Bible Society. Chaco churches waited eagerly to see God’s Word come alive in their own language.

At the end of 1997, the revised Southern Énxet New Testament was launched and began to be used in homes and churches. In 2003, a new team began work on the Southern Énxet Old Testament at a purpose-built office in Rio Verde (made possible by a donation from one of Tim’s link churches). Over the next 13 years, they meticulously drafted the Old Testament and further revised the New Testament.

The full Southern Énxet Bible was launched in 2016 with church leaders and visitors from all over the Chaco region and the UK attending a special dedication event.

From start to finish, it was remarkable how people from different organisations, churches and institutions came together for the translation – in Tim’s words, “It was like the Lord was arranging everything.”

Accessible Scriptures for the Southern Énxet

The goal of Bible translation for any language group has traditionally been to get printed Bibles into people’s hands. Today, for many people groups, audio Bibles can make a huge difference to how many speakers engage with God’s Word. In 2016, Tim and the team worked with 25 Southern Énxet readers and Bolivian technicians from Faith Comes by Hearing to record a dramatised version of the New Testament.

The audio New Testament was put on players called Proclaimers, which can be charged using electricity, solar panels or wound up manually. Proclaimers have proved particularly popular among people who don’t have the opportunity to meet with other Christians, or who don’t read.

In 2024, Jesus Film Project technicians from Peru came to help Tim and a group of 22 readers dub the Jesus Film into Southern Énxet at the CMS-supported Anglican Centre at Rio Verde – the two-hour dramatisation of Luke’s Gospel has led millions of people around the world to Jesus.

The technicians also invited a group to Lima to record the Old Testament with Davar Audio Bibles. The full audio Bible is still being finalised, but in the meantime, people are listening to the New Testament, and parts of the Old Testament are being passed around on pen drives – people are eager to engage with God’s Word!

Another Bible translation in the works

In 2018, Tim joined the Northern Enlhet Bible translation team part-time, as a consultant. Several years on, the team have finished drafts of the Old Testament and recently completed the gospels and Romans. They hope to celebrate a complete Bible in the late 2020s.

At the same time, Tim continued providing logistical support for Bible studies in Rio Verde and working with Southern Énxet and other indigenous pastors and church leaders. He is also a member of the CMS-supported indigenous synod which was set up after the indigenous Anglican Congress in Argentina in 2022.

A hunter-gatherer people on smartphones

The Énxet people are traditionally hunter-gatherers , but their culture is changing. These days, some work on remote cattle ranches and farms and others have jobs in the towns. Many Christians listen to the audio Bible on their smartphones, and use WhatsApp to share Bible verses or prayers, and often have two or three verses as their background screen. Having the Scriptures different formats helps them keep growing in their faith and connect with each other.

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Paraguay: protection and safety

Pray for pastor and archdeacon Gustavo Flores, who has pastoral oversight of a church in Asunción and supports indigenous leaders and churches across the country. Pray for spiritual protection for his family, and for safety in his frequent trips to the Chaco region in his role as archdeacon. Pray that as he travels God will bless his work and encourage him as more people come to know Jesus.

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Speakers of Southern Énxet, a minority language spoken in the Chaco region of Paraguay, can now listen to the Old Testament in their language.

In May, mission partner Tim Curtis and colleagues Asunción Rojas and Serafín Sosa travelled to Lima, Peru, to work with sound technicians from DAVAR Audio Bibles to record the final outstanding books of the Old Testament in the Southern Énxet language.

After three weeks’ intensive teamwork, the team had recorded Numbers, Deuteronomy, 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Ezekiel and Daniel.

The recording of these books marks the completion of the Southern Énxet audio Bible.

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For Hermenegildo Torres, education seemed a remote possibility – something for other people but not him. Yet now he is learning with confidence and helping to build bridges for his community.

Hermenegildo is a young man from the Angaite indigenous community in the Paraguayan Chaco, a region that is home to many indigenous communities. The region suffers from geographical isolation, lack of infrastructure and extreme weather.

Many parents in these communities long for their children to have an education, but getting to schools teaching at secondary level is very difficult. Like many young people from remote indigenous communities, pastor’s son Hermenegildo struggled to complete his schooling.

Insurmountable barriers?

Travel around the Chaco is not easy. The Chaco is a vast area. Routes are made impassable by heavy rains at certain times of year, and these long journeys are expensive. Yet connecting for education remotely is also difficult, as many in the Chaco simply don’t have access to online materials. This means that just a tiny handful of indigenous students from the Chaco tend to make it to university, and young people have fewer options for future employment.

Hermenegildo faced another barrier to learning – the educational and Christian resources were in Spanish, his second language. (Hermenegildo’s mother tongue is Guarani, the national language of Paraguay.) All of this meant that even when he could get hold of resources, Hermenegildo didn’t always feel able to contact teachers when he needed help or clarification.

After hearing concerns from parents and church communities, a CMS-facilitated indigenous mission team, Misión Indígena, has made education one of its key focus areas. This is important both for equipping young people and for ensuring that the next generation of church leaders do not face obstacles to theological training because of a lack of study earlier in their lives. Increasing access to education will also enable church members make use of Christian resources to help them grow spiritually.

Scholarship and spiritual growth

Through Misión Indígena, Hermenegildo received a scholarship to continue his secondary school studies. The grant covered the cost of study, materials and the availability of a phone to access online resources. This made it easier for Hermenegildo to learn Spanish, and he was motived by the reassurance that he had all he needed to complete this stage of his education.

Alongside learning academically, Hermenegildo has grown in his faith. Now that he can access Christian literature in Spanish, he has come to know the gospel more deeply. He is moving into a leadership position, and is now a member of Misión Indígena, bringing the voice of young people to conversations about mission in indigenous communities.

Opening doors and sharing faith

Hermenegildo now has much better employment opportunities – his ability to speak three languages means that he can work as a translator. Hermenegildo can help others in his community get the information they need. This also means that Hermenegildo can share his faith with more people.

Hermenegildo’s comment on this transformation of his opportunities is to point to Jesus: “I have no words to express my gratitude; I thank God.”

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In October 2022, a landmark mission event took place in Salta, Argentina: one that could help safeguard the futures of indigenous peoples across Latin America – or Abya Yala,¹ as it should perhaps be known.

What happens when 80 followers of Jesus from multiple indigenous people groups gather together for five days of fellowship, food and dreaming and planning for a shared future?

According to Paul Tester, CMS regional manager in Latin America, who helped organise the Indigenous Peoples Mission Congress last year, it was “a little glimpse of heaven”.

Standing at crossroads

Daily life for women and men from the Aymara, Chorote, Énxet, Mapuche, Quechua, Toba and Wichí people groups is far from idyllic. These indigenous communities, who first encountered the gospel via Western missionaries a little over a century ago, now stand at a crossroads in terms of leadership, culture, relationships to wider society and the land they live on. This was not the first time representatives from these groups have gathered together, yet it was the first occasion where mission was the key focus.

Jeremiah 6:16 provided inspiration: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”

The congress began with a simple service of Holy Communion, combining elements from each culture represented.

Five days, five issues

Leading up to the event, participants identified five big issues to discuss: forming indigenous leadership, gospel and culture, creation care, the relationship between indigenous peoples and the government, and unity.

The group first looked at the role of education and theological training in raising up indigenous leaders. Against a backdrop of increasing interaction with Latino and Western cultures, the next generation is facing a fresh set of challenges, and the group discussed preparing young people for what lies ahead. There is an urgent need to find and train indigenous Christian leaders for the present and future. Bishop Mateo Alto, a CMS local partner, said, “We need training, to do our own theology, and to administer resources we have.”

Next, the group had lively conversations about the intersection between their cultures and the gospel. They were invited to ask questions such as, “Do we allow the gospel to challenge our culture?” And “Where does the gospel affirm our culture?”

On the theme of creation care, the men and women gathered discussed the huge challenges faced by indigenous groups all across Latin America – or Abya Yala, the preferred name for the region for many indigenous people. What can be done about the huge loss of biodiversity as well as contamination and climate change?

The indigenous cultures represented share deeply rooted values about caring for nature. Local partner Mirna Paulo, a member of the Wichí group and a CMS local partner, spoke about the traditional Wichí idea of “leaving something for nature” – not taking more from nature than you need. But as Western consumerism encroaches on these communities, traditional indigenous principles like this risk being eroded. The group meditated on their place in creation, made for and by Christ.

Many also found it helpful to examine the power and responsibility of governments. The theme of indigenous peoples and the government also invited discussion around education, including how Western-style education has changed the way people live, and in some cases, threatened indigenous cultures, and the question of whether children are taught in their own language.

CMS local partner Agustín Maidana issued a call to unity: for leaders to promote events and activities that foster unity, for followers of Jesus to unite across the Church and for the Church to work in unity with other community leaders. There was a strong desire to see more unity between the different indigenous peoples: to learn from one another and to stand together for the sake of their children’s and grandchildren’s future.

Sunday, the penultimate day of the congress, was a day of rest and rejoicing. Local churches joined for worship, food and celebration. The air rang with praise in different tongues and dialects.

Declaring unity

On the final day of the congress, working groups drafted a declaration laying out the good way that they want to walk in (Jeremiah 6:16).

The declaration urges a comprehensive process for training leaders for work in the local church, the promotion and use of indigenous languages to maintain cultural identity, and the creation of biblical formation centres for the next generation of indigenous church leadership.

The declaration also acknowledges the role of indigenous peoples as stewards of creation, and calls for improved links between local communities and regional authorities to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are protected.

“It’s been great to be here and to take back to my community our conclusions… [to] enrich our understanding and commitment to the Word of God,” said Alejandro Díaz, a Chorote leader from northern Argentina. He added: “I would like to thank all those who put together this congress for our people.”

¹ The preferred name for the region for many indigenous people, meaning “land in its full maturity”.

Take part

From its beginning, South American Mission Society (later merged with CMS) has been committed to standing in solidarity with indigenous peoples of Latin America/Abya Yala. If you would like to join in this vital advocacy work, consider serving with CMS:

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A declaration issued by leaders on behalf of indigenous people in Latin America “shows clear intent” and charts a path forward for the indigenous peoples to work together with a new generation of leaders, says Paul Tester, Church Mission Society’s manager in Latin America.

The Declaration emanated from the ‘Indigenous Mission Congress’, the first such conference for 20 years. The Congress took place between 6 and 10 October in La Caldera near the city of Salta in northern Argentina and was structured around five key themes: Academic Education, Biblical Formation and Indigenous Leadership; Gospel and Indigenous Culture; a Theology of Creation; the Relationship between Governments and Indigenous Peoples; and Unity.

The Declaration made a number of key recommendations including putting in place a systematic and comprehensive process for training to prepare leaders for work in the local church, the promotion and use of indigenous languages to maintain cultural identity, and the creation of Biblical formation centres oriented to the next generation of leadership for the indigenous church.

The Declaration also acknowledged the role and responsibility of indigenous peoples as stewards of creation, and called for improved links between local communities and regional authorities to ensure that the rights of indigenous peoples are protected.

Timed to coincide with the ‘Day of the Meeting of Two Worlds’, a day which is celebrated in Spanish speaking countries on 12 October, the Indigenous Mission Congress was attended by over 80 delegates. The summit included representatives from the Aymara, Chorote, Enxet, Mapuche, Quechua, Toba and Wichí peoples, as well as leaders in mission from CMS and the Anglican Church in Latin America, and other observers. Organisers hoped the Congress will be important in shaping mission work in Latin America as leaders try to navigate between their own traditional indigenous cultures and the dominating wider influences of contemporary culture.

CMS’s work in the region dates back to the 19th century, when mission leaders such as Barbrooke Grubb and pioneers from the South American Mission Society [SAMS], transformed both Christian mission and wider society through the introduction of new methods in mission, Bible translation, education and healthcare.

Ahead of the Congress Paul Tester said mission had arrived at a ‘crossroads’ moment. “We have been inspired by a verse from Jeremiah [6:16] which says: ‘This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.”’ As we come to our current crossroads we are charged with discerning a good way to walk in, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and by the ancient paths and those who walked in them.”

Paul continued, “The relationship between indigenous peoples and the invading cultures remains one that both we, and the indigenous peoples need to learn to navigate well. We hope to discern how to join in with what God is doing today and believe that the key to that is walking alongside the new generation of indigenous mission leaders that God is raising up.”

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Bringing together indigenous Jesus-followers from Paraguay, Argentina and Chile in a unique event

Indigenous communities in South America stand at a crossroads in terms of leadership, culture, relations to wider society and the land they live on. Addressing these concerns is a unique event, the Indigenous Mission Congress, supported by CMS, which will take place from 6 to 10 October at La Caldera in Salta province, northern Argentina.

Gathering at the crossroads

The event is the culmination of two years of consultations with grassroots communities of Mapuche people in Chile, Southern Enxet and Angaité in Paraguay, and Chorote, Toba and Wichí peoples in Argentina.

All these people groups will send representatives to discern together the way forward, inspired by the Bible verse from Jeremiah 6:16:

Thus says the Lord:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
    and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
    and find rest for your souls.

Jeremiah 6:16 (NRSV)

The pre-congress consultations have developed five big themes which will be debated by 80 or so delegates, along with a handful of friends from companion organisations like CMS and Memoria Indigena, which works to capture and articulate the stories, testimony and theology of indigenous churches.

Big issues to face

The overarching theme is about forming indigenous missional leadership among the emerging generations of Indigenous peoples, explains Paul Tester, CMS manager in Latin America, who is helping to facilitate the congress:

“To be able to have significant impact beyond their own community, they have to not only navigate their own culture, they have to navigate the culture ‘outside’, the Latino culture, if you like. And so there’s that element of the meeting of two worlds.”

The second theme is about gospel and culture. Where some of the cultural elements have been squeezed out, are there good things that have been lost that are actually of God?

Thirdly, there will be discussions about the pressing issue of creation care and what indigenous people want to say around things like the use of land and deforestation.

Fourthly the congress will address the relationship between indigenous peoples and the state. What are the issues, what are the challenges, what does the church have to speak into those areas, often around justice issues like land rights.

The fifth theme is unity. What does it mean to be united as indigenous people from very different contexts? What does it mean to be united between indigenous peoples and the wider church? How do we work together?

Declaration of intent

The Congress will issue a declaration to mark the Day of the Meeting of Two Worlds (formerly known as Columbus Day) on 12 October.

“The actual declaration will be shaped and presented by those who are from indigenous communities,” says Paul Tester.

“Separately, those of us who are outsiders will be having a conversation about how can we commit to working alongside Indigenous communities going forward.

“We would love to say, okay, this is what you want to work on, we’ll walk alongside you in that. So that means the way that we place our people in mission, the way that we make grants, the way that we support that work will be shaped by this congress.”

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With only four ordained priests in Asuncion, the capital city, and 10 in the Chaco region, home to some of the Original Peoples, Christians belonging to Anglican churches in Paraguay are calling for urgent action to train future leaders.

In 2020, indigenous churches presented an official request to work towards indigenous leaders in more senior roles. As a result the vicar general, CMS local partner Agustín Maidana, is working to train more leaders in indigenous communities and increase the numbers being ordained. Agustín is also clear on the need for urban and indigenous churches to work more closely together.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the majority of training had taken place at the Anglican church’s centre at Rio Verde, but this limited who could join due to the cost of travel to the remote venue and lack of space.

Taking training on the road

So this year, Agustín, his wife Teresa and another couple, Gustavo and Rebecca Flores, have been travelling to four different communities (Makxawaya, La Patria, El Estribo and Sombrero Piri) to run a range of training sessions. Rebecca trains volunteers to lead Sunday schools, increasing church engagement with the youngest generations where that had not always been happening. Teresa runs sewing workshops, to build income generating capacity for those who had no other way to earn.

Agustín and Gustavo focus on leadership training. Deacons, pastors and pastoral assistants participate in a three-year programme, with attendance recorded to ensure that participants have been in 95 per cent of the classes. Agustín explains that this is to emphasise the importance of commitment from those who seek positions of leadership – and those who attend regularly receive the most benefit.

One deacon, Gumercindo Torres, a candidate for ordination next year and member for the Chaco church on the diocesan executive committee, is working with younger people. He draws on study he has undertaken and uses the Abundant Life course to connect and share with younger people.

Open to opportunities

One significant factor in delivering the training programme is the high levels of illiteracy in the Chaco. Of those currently training, around 95 per cent did not finish primary school. This limits options for training outside the region or for widening perspectives.

In contrast, pastor Elvio Cabanas had access to a better education, giving him opportunities to work at the ministry of education with oversight for Chaco areas. During the pandemic he returned to the indigenous community of Sombrero Piri and has been sharing his experience. Along with Elvio came his son, who has grown up with the dual indigenous and urban influences, and who has a certificate in sports coaching. He has begun to use football to connect with young people. Through that contact, they have been invited to services at the church.

As a fruit of Elvio and his son connecting, there are a good number of young people involved in the church there. Music is a big thing for the younger people – so Elvio’s son started forming a group of singers, to help the younger people to engage.

Expanding vision

As Agustín observes, “Academic training as a base [can help] to bring about holistic change and vision for something wider.”

Agustín highlights that part of the challenge of developing leadership in the Chaco is sharing that vision among urban centres, “for them to have a view wider than their back yard – for them to see areas of the Chaco as place for ministry and mission.” He continues, “One of main things the urban church could learn from indigenous churches is in the simplicity and depth of their faith in the Lord… One of our challenges is how to link churches in the Chaco with churches in urban centres.”

And are there encouragements in the midst of this struggle?

Agustín reports: “Today, thanks to the Lord, we are reaching at least 240 people [with training], although not all are registered in the workshops.

Tears of gratitude

“There is greater verbal contact with everyone in the language that most of us on the team speak (Guarani), especially with women: young people, mothers, grandmothers feel included, they love to praise the Lord with songs. And despite the fact that many of them do not know how to read or write, they learn orally and understand the message of the songs, since many of them are precious hymns and Psalms full of biblical truths.

“These moments of praise and adoration are really very precious, where sincere prayers of repentance and renewal of faith arise in several of them amid tears of gratitude to the Lord. It is really a joy to hear them and see them sing with so much love despite their rather shy personality and the difficult situations that surround them.”

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