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Dear Ricardo and Beth,

The Paraguayan conference celebrated their 60th annual meeting this past weekend. Celebrating a milestone always reflect on the past and look forward to the future. That is exactly what we tried to do this weekend. Free Methodist ministry in Paraguay has been long and fruitful...but it has been on a steep decline in recent years. It is clearly time for a change, a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit to bring about exponential Kingdom growth. 

We are grateful for the two years that Juan Carlos and his wife, Yaneth, have already invested in Paraguay. They have been walking alongside them, learning the culture, earning the right to be heard, and creating effective ministry teams. (Juan Carlos has 8 years of experience as a superintendent in Mexico and he leads the team who mentors Mission District Leaders and Superintendents. Yaneth, in addition to working alongside him, is a key member of the Transformational Church team that serves the whole area.)

Pictured here, Ricardo is commissioning the pastoral team to step into this new opportunity for overall health and growth. He then turned around and asked the pastors to bless the lay people and commission them to fulfill the mission of God in Paraguay. Will you pray with us and with them, that God will clearly lead them, heal past hurts, unite them in Christian love, and do immeasurably more than we can ever pray and imagine?!

Indeed, turning the conference around will involve everyone’s participation; the superintendent, the pastors and their families, the people in the pews, and perhaps even you. There will be opportunities for VISA teams (short-term mission teams) to participate in the revitalization of this conference as existing church buildings need renovations and new churches will need buildings. Please let us know if you are interested in participating in that way. Or you may want to help financially as they relaunch the conference? A financial investment in either the Paraguay Annual Conference or the Missionary Support Account for Juan Carlos & Yaneth would be worthy investments in the restoration of Paraguay. (Use either button below if you would like to invest once or make a commitment to long-term support.)

Again, we thank you for your partnership in ministry with us. We are excited to be home in Medellin for two full weeks!!! Of course, those days are full of on-line meetings. The next away-from-home items on our calendar are:

March 21 - 23: Annual Meeting in Puerto Rico

March 25 - 29: Church Multiplication Seminar at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia

We deeply appreciate your prayers for us and for our partners in ministry. Pastor John Jairo's sister, Daisy, passed away on Saturday. On that same day, our ministry partner Tricia Mason's father-in-law passed away. One of the pastor's in Colombia and an important member of the Latin American team, Leobenyg Barreto, was diagnosed with breast-cancer recently. Your prayers for these people and for other situations that we cannot mention are greatly appreciated.

I'm sure we will be back in touch after the two meetings mentioned above. May God bless you richly during this Lenten season,

Ricardo & Beth