Ayelen´s parents accepted Christ shortly before she was born. Upon here birth they committed themselves to raising her in the fear and love of God. Ayelen at an early age also committed herself to love and follow God with her whole heart. Our youth ministry is the happy recipient of the fruit of both of those commitments, and of the genuine, heart-filled ministry of Ayelen.

 

Ayelen is a 22 year-old college student who is finishing up her thesis and graduating with a degree in communications this year.  She speaks four languages and volunteers for a children's home in a small town about 2 hours from Cordoba.

Ayelen is a combination of an exuberant faith, a sensitive heart, and an unflinching commitment to do God´s will.  She began working on and off with the youth group two years ago, and has always had a one-on-one ministry with various girls from our group. She proactively and intently seeks out conversations with kids every time she is in church.  This year she formalized her ministry by joining the leadership team.

 

She is currently leading a group of girls from our youth group in preparing a theatrical presentation for the children's ministries "Kid´s Day Festival", and has led other drama presentations in the last year which have greatly enhanced and benefited our ministry.  She is also recruiting and training girls in our group to help out in our newly formed (by her) nursery ministry. Most importantly, she is always looking for opportunities to invite the girls to her house, spend time with them, and have conversations with them which point them towards the Savior.

 

Please pray for Ayelen in her ministry and for her desire to one day go on a missions trip to Germany to take what she has learned here and apply it to the post-Christian youth culture of Germany.

A steady stream of new visitors continues to frequent our group. On July 18th we had a record attendance of 45 kids and 5 adults.

At Long Last

At the very end of the Argentine summer, from February 26th to March 1st, we organized and held our much anticipated camp. By the time everybody got up to the remote hideaway, nestled in the crook of the mountains near Córdoba, we numbered 64 including campers (adolescentes, and young college kids), leaders, and cooks.

 

Our theme for this year was "Without Excuse" using Romans 1:20 as our theme verse.  We focused on God´s majesty and power communicated to us through His creation.  We contemplated His glory, character, and love communicated to us through His word.  At the end we assessed our position of being without excuse before such a glorious, wonderful, and loving God.

 

Camp was a success in every measurable way, and in some ways impossible to measure.  We had 11 first time visitors go to camp with us, 5 of which were from an orphanage in a nearby town.  We had no major problems or safety issues, well at least none that were out of the ordinary for the camp experience! Our team worked in beautiful unison and harmony at every point in the process from planning to execution.  While there were no official hands raised, we sensed that God had worked and couldn´t wait to begin the follow-up to find out how. 

As I said there are some things impossible to measure, and the depth of change that God has affected in someone´s heart is one of those.  The one sign that is left for us, and that we are encouraged to look for, is the fruit that heart-change inevitably produces in peoples lives.  Since camp, Mikaela and Melina, two girls who had not previously accepted Christ as their savior started going to evangelism events and PRESENTING THE GOSPEL! We were floored!  They went from attenders, to committed believers almost overnight.  Not long after camp another kid, Alejandro who had gone to camp accepted Christ at another evangelistic event.  Many of our back-row kids, got off of their seats and began getting involved and serving in the group.  Many of our committed kids began inviting their friends to youth group.  We have seen steady growth since February, and I attribute much of that success to our Camp!

 

Your giving made it possible for Maria Silvia and I to be here to plan, encourage, recruit, counsel, teach, and preach at camp.  In that way you have already been a part.  But, I also wanted to emphasize that your giving made it possible for the kids from the children´s home to attend camp. Thank you for standing in the gap for Argentina´s lost generation!

(Click on the picture to see more pictures from camp)

Through my Sister in Law Sirley I was invited to speak at two different college camps this summer.  One took place in a town an hour and a half from Córdoba called Dean Funes.  I was asked to preach 13 messages.  By message 13 my Spanish was beginning to feel lucid and second nature!  God used the camp to bring at least two of the 80 college students to himself.

 

I was also invited to speak at a camp of 60 college kids in the province of Mendoza over Easter Weekend, in the town of Mendoza which lies at the foot of the Andes.  I was able to help lead a young man, a physical therapist, to the Lord, and counsel many of the other college kids in their lives with Christ.

 

Both experiences served various purposes.  The immediate purpose of proclaiming the gospel, and teaching and counseling college kids to glorify and enjoy God was obviously paramount.  However, another long term goal of mine is to form communities of youth and college ministries which serve as sources of education, support, and resources.  These camps helped me to form invaluable connections in that effort.

Along with much of the spiritual growth we are seeing there have also been two kids who've wanted to get baptized.  Both are kids who have known the Lord for a long time, but neither had understood, or made the decision to become baptized before.  There are few things more joyful than baptizing kids from your own ministry.

Perhaps even more joyful is baptizing your own niece and nephew.  On a short trip to the States (see Youth Center) I was asked by Nataya and Traece Rasmussen if I would be willing to baptize them.  It was my HONOR to take such a special part in their obedience and Love for their Lord.

Youth Center 

Many of you may remember that one of our strategies and dreams here in Córdoba was to start a community youth center.  Through a facility with a multi-use gymnasium, multimedia classrooms, a game room, and offices we envisioned a safe place for kids, and a meeting place for the community.  We purpose through this center to serve our community, and find ways we can have more contact and influence with the kids from one of the 10 high schools in a ten block radius of our church, kids who may not typically enter the doors of an evangelical church.  Through our newly formed relationships they could hear and experience the gospel.  The possibilities are limitless, but here are some of the ideas we have: tutoring, drug and alcohol counseling, sport workshops (mainly soccer, basketball, volleyball), game nights, concerts, English institute, values training, and leadership training.  I had placed this goal under the "Five Year Plan" column, but as has been my experience up until now, it seems as if God wants to move that time-line up a bit.

 

We are in contact with donors who are taking a serious look at the project.  For this reason we made a video showing the need of Córdoba´s youth, and how we are striving to meet that need. Because of a presentation we had hoped to make in May to the primary donor, and some other meetings in the states, we made a short trip in the month of May to the States. We were unable, however, to personally make the presentation due to scheduling difficulties. Sarah Jeffries, Sam Master's daughter who works for the Crecer Foundation (a foundation Sam has set up in the States), was able to make the presentation, and she as a result was able to schedule another presentation with a group of donors in August. Please be praying that God will move the hearts of His people for this project, and above all that His will be done, and that we would be able to follow Him whatever the outcome of these meetings.

If you or your church are interested in the project and want more details please contact me at sasharasmussen@hotmail.com.

 

For a look at the video click the picture in this article.

For more information on the Crecer Foundation check it out in the "Links" section of our newsletter.