Baptizing Individuals. Building Ecclesias.

I was blessed to have the opportunity to spend eight weeks in Jamaica from Sept 25 to Nov 20, 2017. During the first week, Bro Don Luff (link brother), Bro David & Sis Cassie Giordano and I did a tour around most of the island. After the first week the others flew home, and this was in a sense where my real Jamaica experience began, getting to know the local brothers and sisters, working to provide support with the difficult situations they faced and encouraging them to maintain a fervency for the remarkable hope that we have been called to in Christ.

In some parts of the island the focus was on building a firm foundation, while in others it was on ecclesial unity. Our ecclesia’s need to be a place where we can come for support and growth. It takes much more thought and effort to build up, carefully placing the building materials in the right places.

The following are a series of snapshots of my experiences in Jamaica.

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If we are members of a fairly large ecclesia, and some members are unable to attend ecclesial activities with regularity, weekly meetings continue.  However, in countries where transportation to meetings is not simply getting in a car for a relatively short drive, it is a completely different matter.  The members in La Paz realize that life in the Truth requires commitment, not just obtaining a ride to meeting by public transit in a very traffic-congested city, but attending meeting as often as possible.  Regular contact with interested friends and communication between members is also so important.  Read more »

During 2017, the CBMA and the CBMC received many inquiries regarding volunteer opportunities in both Latin America and the Caribbean.  It has been so encouraging to receive contact from overseas members planning vacations and wanting to visit ecclesias at the same time.  Brothers and sisters of different ages have also expressed interest in supporting the mission effort and a number have travelled to various countries on mission sponsored activities.  Approximately 25 members have assisted in Latin America and about the same in the Caribbean during 2017.  This does not include the regularly scheduled visits by CBMA and CBMC linkmen and other fieldworkers. Read more »

At a recent Bible School in El Salvador Bible, brothers and sisters went on camera to tell their stories of how they came to a knowledge of the truth.  We thought you might find their moving stories interesting and uplifting, as well as provide insight into the preaching efforts in South America.

Christ told a parable about a man starting to build a tower or a king going to war and not “counting the cost”. One lesson in life is that when you suggest an event you need to follow it through to completion. Many months ago we began planning a Bible School to be held in Chile for brethren in South America. The location in the mountains about an hour outside of Santiago is called ‘La Bella Durmiente’ – with cabins and outdoor recreational facilities in a quiet area away from the busy capital of 7,000,000. In the back of our minds we had a figure of about 20 attendees, assuming that many wouldn’t be able to make it due to other commitments or distance. Assumptions! In truth we were blessed with the best problem possible – too many people (40) for the place we had booked – maximum of ~30! We began with an idea of a gathering to support the brethren here in Chile, and ended with a landmark event for many in South America.

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