The greatest highlight of the second semester of 2009 is that there will be around 30 young people from our different churches both in Santa Cruz (about 4 churches) and Cochabamba who will go to this missionary conference in Cordoba, Argentina, which is the South America version of “Urbana” in the States. There will be over 2000 youth from many different countries of South America. The conference will take place from the 16th to the 22nd of January. I am looking forward to seeing God work in the lives of these young people. In addition, there will be a two week practical opportunity for those with time and money to help in missionary activities. Around 10 of our young people will proceed to 6 different countries of South America at the same time (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay and Bolivia). If you want to know more about CIMA visit their website at www.cima2010.com.
• Thank God for CIMA! Thank Him for raising leaders who organize and put together such a big event. Thank God for the many people who anonymously support the event. I am part of it as a volunteer leader, and I cannot believe the huge amount of work and effort that is put into organizing it.
• Pray for the youth who will be challenged to change not just their lives but their perspective. Pray that they will trust God and decide to walk according to His will. Pray they will be part of a revolution bringing change to the Latin American societies. God can use CIMA to make big things happen. I strongly believe that!
Friday, January 15, 2010
Monday, May 11, 2009
High School Ministry
This year I have started helping at the Henry Prince High School which is a school run by our mission. I am a counselor having an opportunity to impact some youth especially those with problems in their studies and families. I am enjoying this ministry even though I am getting used to it because I did not know any students at the beginning of the year.
Since I knew I was going to work at Henry Prince I turned down my other ministry as a Christian Education teacher at the other school, named San Simon. However, the principal asked me a number of times to reconsider my decision and to make myself some room to help out with at least some classes. I decided, then, to help teaching just five classes and again this is something I really enjoy but it takes time from me because it is far away.
- Pray for the number of students I have the chance to be in contact with, many of them have serious family problems. There are so many that live without their parents because they left to Spain or somewhere else overseas.
- Pray that I can be of any help to them. That I can offer positive and especially godly advices to them. That they can see a good example and someone they can trust and be open with.
- Pray for my time managment, days go by really fast and many times I find myself with little time to prepare my classes. Pray that I do not perceive this classes as a burden or just a job commitment but as an amazing opportunity to influence these students to turn their lives to God.
Youth Gropus - Discipleship Courses
I am still leading, or trying to lead, both youth groups (Jesucristo Vive and Emanuel) and we have had some great meetings, we are more organized that in the past and we have year goals in every area of youth ministry. We are hoping, by the end of the year we will be able to perceive how far we were from the goals we had at the beginning of 2009.
There is a third youth group that wants me to lead them, however, that is obviously imposible for me. This church is in great need, therefore, I just committed myself to go some random Sundays to teach the youth some doctrine during Sunday School classes. On top of that, I included them to the two discipleship courses I have started.
The courses are “The Mind of Christ” by Hunt and King, and “Believing God” by Beth Moore. Both are wonderful studies and I have over 10 students in each course. In “The Mind of Christ” I have youth from 3 different churches something that I love because they can share and build relationships. Many of them are leaders in their churches and they will be the leaders of the mission in the very near future, therefore, it is essential they build strong bonds.
There is a third youth group that wants me to lead them, however, that is obviously imposible for me. This church is in great need, therefore, I just committed myself to go some random Sundays to teach the youth some doctrine during Sunday School classes. On top of that, I included them to the two discipleship courses I have started.
The courses are “The Mind of Christ” by Hunt and King, and “Believing God” by Beth Moore. Both are wonderful studies and I have over 10 students in each course. In “The Mind of Christ” I have youth from 3 different churches something that I love because they can share and build relationships. Many of them are leaders in their churches and they will be the leaders of the mission in the very near future, therefore, it is essential they build strong bonds.
- Praise God for the authors of both discipleship courses, the materials are amazing and they have everyone of us hooked and committed to continue our studies. We are all learning a lot and it is so neat to perceive the youth enjoy these studies.
- Pray for the youth that are studying with me, they are showing already a lot of potential and some of them are leaders in their own churches. I pray they can trust God enough to let Him guide them and lead their lives and future.
Teenstreet 2009
Last January I spent the entire month at my home, with family, in Uruguay. However, I did not travel by myself since we had 16 youth from three different grace churches going to the international Christian camp called Teenstreet. The name of camp this year was “Contagious” and the Bible character to study was Nehemiah. The idea was that passion is essential. When we are passionate for God we will be contagious to even an entire nation. This camp had people from Chile, Paraguay, Argentina, Uruguay of course, and our representatives from Bolivia. Every one of our bolivian left the camp being impacted by the speakers and the special times at camp. For most of them, it was the first time they were away from home, and the first time overseas.
After camp they went for a week to a missionary trip to some poor and needed neighborhoods in the outskirts of Montevideo, the capital city of Uruguay. They were splitted into groups of eight to ten and were sent to different churches where they spent the week. They had some incredible experiences to the extreme of robbery and witchcraft at the front of the church where they were staying. However, they were protected and guided by our Lord, and nothing bad happened to any of them, and there were testimonies of people that heard the gospel and accepted the Good News.
- Praise God for the amazing experiences and the protection He gave us during such a long trip (remember is a two day bus ride each way).
- Praise God the youth were challenged to live for God, and they also experienced unique situations, they shared their testimonies, and God´s love to the world. These practical ministries for some of them was the very first time they even talked to others about their Savior!
- Pray for the youth that traveled to Uruguay as they came back and now have to face daily life. After experiencing Teenstreet and missions they come back enthusiastic, pray they can build on this so they can pursue the Christian life in spite of the adversities they might have to confront.
Camp in Beni
Beni is a state in the north part of Bolivia. It has a lot of vegetation and wildlife since it is in the amazonic region. My brother, Gusty, pastor of the grace church in Uruguay planned a trip to Bolivia with Ricki Anne our missionary there, and three uruguayan teenagers. We had a unique opportunity to minister at a camp in Beni and over 30 youth from our churches joined the team to lead the camp at Beni. Camp was a great experience and we enjoyed ministering to over a hundred teenagers and youth who enjoyed meeting our international group. After camp we were able to experience a bit of the wildlife in Beni, having the awesome opportunity of touching an Anaconda of 31 feet long! (9.5 meters).
- Praise God for the awesome trip we had, and the fun we had as we ministered in Beni.
- Pray for the youth from Beni, who have very few opportunities to progress and many of them have to leave their houses at a young age to come to Santa Cruz to study. Many of them are very poor but it was so neat to experience their worship times. It was uplifting! We honestly had a wonderful time in Beni!
Camp Ministry:
Pics of the Anaconda:
In Beni Taxis are motorcycles:
Saturday, September 20, 2008
September News
Hi everyone,
I hope and pray these lines find you full of blessings, enjoying the richness of His unconditional love. I have to admit I have not communicated with you as I should but I am slowly trying to change that. I strongly believe you are essential in my ministry and I very much appreciate your efforts and dedication in supporting me. I realized I haven’t seen you in a long time, but your faithfulness astonishes me. God bless you for that. At this moment I would love to let you know a little of what is happening in my life and ministry as I am serving in Bolivia.
High School Blessings
As you may know by now this year I have had the great privilege and challenge of teaching Christian Education at a school that was not a Christian school until the beginning of 2008. The name of the school (San Simon) clearly demonstrates that it used to be catholic. The school is located very far from my house and in a poor, complicated neighborhood. It is so neat to have ten groups of students ranging from 6th to 12th grade. I have the opportunity to build relationships, show them that being a real Christian is different from what they think, and to help and support them. I see it as an evangelistic field that opens to me every week, in which I can plant the seed of the gospel and then wait for the Lord to do the rest.
· Praise God for this school year, for the magnificent opportunity I have to share God’s word with some many unchurched students.
· Pray for their hearts, that they would be ready to listen to God’s word.
· Pray that I would be sensitive to God’s word and to the students so I can take advantage of every possibility there is to speak the truth of God.
I hope and pray these lines find you full of blessings, enjoying the richness of His unconditional love. I have to admit I have not communicated with you as I should but I am slowly trying to change that. I strongly believe you are essential in my ministry and I very much appreciate your efforts and dedication in supporting me. I realized I haven’t seen you in a long time, but your faithfulness astonishes me. God bless you for that. At this moment I would love to let you know a little of what is happening in my life and ministry as I am serving in Bolivia.
High School Blessings
As you may know by now this year I have had the great privilege and challenge of teaching Christian Education at a school that was not a Christian school until the beginning of 2008. The name of the school (San Simon) clearly demonstrates that it used to be catholic. The school is located very far from my house and in a poor, complicated neighborhood. It is so neat to have ten groups of students ranging from 6th to 12th grade. I have the opportunity to build relationships, show them that being a real Christian is different from what they think, and to help and support them. I see it as an evangelistic field that opens to me every week, in which I can plant the seed of the gospel and then wait for the Lord to do the rest.
· Praise God for this school year, for the magnificent opportunity I have to share God’s word with some many unchurched students.
· Pray for their hearts, that they would be ready to listen to God’s word.
· Pray that I would be sensitive to God’s word and to the students so I can take advantage of every possibility there is to speak the truth of God.
Youth Groups
I hope as you read this letter you will start realizing why I don’t write you more often. I know I could and should do it regularly, but like so many other things I’m not able to do them as I would want. This year on top of the school opportunity which consumes a lot of my time, I am still in charge of two youth groups (Emanuel and Jesucristo Vive churches). As you can imagine I cannot work in either place as I would love to. I have no time to meet with some of them individually, I cannot teach as much as I want to in each church, and even organizing discipleship courses is very hard. I have so many things in my mind I would love to be doing with both groups but there is no time. I am limited to pretty much organizing activities with the core group and preaching one Saturday at each church. That is not what I really would love to do, but it’s all I am able to do as of right now.
Pray for new youth leaders that would be good examples, who the churches would consider as youth pastors. There is a huge need in the leadership area.
Pray that I could manage to organize my time better, and to concentrate in helping potential leaders among the youth groups so they will be challenged to grow spiritually and take more responsibilities in church.
Praise God for both youth groups, for so many wonderful lives that God has brought to Him, for the work many are doing to support my work, and for the privilege I have of working with them and teaching them God’s word.
University Professor
On top of all the work I have this second semester I will teach a modular class at our Theology students. The agreement with the Evangelical University is still running despite some hardships especially because of the lack of commitment of some students. Jerry Olson, our GMI field director will be in the States until June 2009 for deputation. This means I am the only one in charge of this deal with the Evangelical University. We have about 17 students and we need a minimum of 15. Starting on October 14th I will be teaching Homiletics.
Please pray that God will protect this blessing we have to teach our own students at a university level and in our own building. That we can continue this deal so we can have a good number of Bachelors in Theology in few years.
Pray for me that I could do my best to plan my classes and to give the students my best so they could take the best out of this important classes.
Costa Rica Mission Team from Bolivia
It is with great joy that I share the news about three youth from Santa Cruz that went on a missions trip with me to Costa Rica. The four of us visited the Grace Church in San Antonio de Belen, Costa Rica, and helped out for a week in construction of their building. We had an amazing time with our brothers and sisters there. What a blessing it was for me to see these Bolivians stepping out in front of the entire church to sing some specials, share their testimonies, and work very hard every day and always with a smile on their faces. I thank God for the hearts of Eloy, Darwin, and Patricia who have a desire to seek God in everything they do, and who are considering missions as an option in their lives. Darwin openly says he wants to be a missionary! I loved being part of this great group, sharing some incredible talks with them, getting to know them on a different level, and building stronger relationship with them.
· Praise God for the opportunity we had to take this trip. Praise Him for the people that had a desire to support youth missions from Bolivia without even being asked. There are so many wonderful people of God that support His ministries all over the world; they are moved by the same things that move God. I admire them because they have hearts that seek after God.
· Pray for Eloy, Darwin, and Patricia, that they will allow the Holy Spirit to grow in their lives. That they will continue to mature as leaders of their local churches and that they will realize that God can use them in mighty ways if they are just willing.
· Praise God for the beautiful church in Costa Rica, praise God for the many wonderful people He let us met. For the fellowship and especially for seeing the great work they are doing in Costa Rica. The church people as well as the missionaries (Befuses and Clarks) were so friendly and hospitable.
Political and social turmoil in Bolivia
Bolivia is in a state of uncertainty right now. It could be said that this country has been waffling politically since its birth, but what we're seeing now is probably the most instability in decades. This week, thousands upon thousands of Santa Cruz people are having a fabulous time at their infamous ExpoCruz! As they party and cheer, thousands upon thousands of indigenous, country people (supporters of the president, Evo Morales) are marching this way and prepared to enter the city to confront and provoke it’s citizens. It is this potential crisis that is causing some missions to send some of their people home. Bolivia is not immune to such unrest. More often than not, it's like a match that lights up and extinguishes itself quickly. The messages are mixed and it's hard to determine what will happen. It could end in a temporary peace or it could be the beginning of a civil war.
Please pray for this country and for its leaders, that God will give them wisdom as they try to bring peace and understanding to Bolivia.
Pray that the church will rise up in prayer and action during these difficult times.
Pray that God’s power and love will be clearly shown to the millions that live in this country.
Prayer is Power, blessings to all of you (1 Thess. 5:16-23),
Talo Vergara
Friday, February 1, 2008
January Newsletter!
Dear Partners in Ministry:
It’s my desire that this email finds you well, enjoying every minute of your lives walking with our awesome and lovely God. After a few months without communicating with you it is time to do so. So, here it is a brief highlight of what God has been doing in my life and ministry in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Leading a Church
What a great privilege has been for me, to lead a church and help in a congregation that has gone through a very difficult time after loosing its pastor. They asked me to help for a period in filling the pulpit to make the transition smoother and with God’s help everything has gone well. I preached on Sundays for a period of two months and I have been leading the youth. My idea is now to slowly step back from the pulpit so they remember they need to actively search for a new pastor. However, I want to continue leading the youth group there as well as the youth group of Emanuel Church.
Thank God for His help in taking the big responsibility of leading the Jesucristo Vive Church during a rough time.
Thank God for the privilege of being involved and help in two youth groups. At times I did not know how I was going to do both, but I loved the challenge.
Please pray that the search of a new pastor will be totally led by God. That the new pastor will be a great man of God who will help them and lead them to greater goals.
Please pray that I can organize myself and the youth agendas at both churches so that we can have a great year to His glory.
Back in Uruguay!
Those who know me a little bit, would know I am from Uruguay; a tiny little country in South America (actually the tiniest). Those who know me a bit more would know I love my country. Well, then, it is obvious that for vacation I would go to Uruguay. This last Christmas I had the beautiful blessing of spending Christmas at home with my family. I enjoyed my time with them, with my friends, and my dear brothers and sisters of my home Church. I even met my new nephew, Santiago. He is 8 months old and he is adorable. For those who know my brother, Gustavo (Gusty), Santi is his first child. Santi is my second nephew since I have Renzo (my sister’s first baby) who is two years old.
Praise God for giving me the opportunity to spend such a beautiful time with all my dear people in my home city.
Teaching at a Catholic High School
You are probably thinking, “Talo wrote a wrong title!” “He cannot start teaching at a high school, and a CATHOLIC one! NO WAY!” Well, you probably forgot I am a bit crazy and I like to take big challenges. A few weeks ago, after coming back from Uruguay, a brother from Emanuel Church (Angel Mendez for those that know him) asked me if I would be interested in taking this task. He has a Master in Education and he has an impressive career as school principal of various schools. A month ago one lady had bought a school and begged him to be the principal. The problem is that the school was, up to last year, a Catholic school. Its name is Saint Simon, however, Mr. Mendez wants to turn it into a Christian one and he can do so because it is private. So, he asked me to teach Religion or Christian Education to the students there. I prayed and thought about it and I see so much potential, such a huge opportunity to evangelize and teach the Bible to so many young people, that I love to be part of it! It will be a huge challenge to teach every morning to hundreds of high-schoolers (most of them Catholics) about our great God.
Thank God for another wonderful and difficult challenge to serve Him!
Praise Him for this great change in this school, pray for Mr. Mendez so he can take right decisions to make a great Christian School.
Pray for me as I will be dealing with many unchristian students, pray that I can be a great example for them of what Christ can do in a person that opens up his heart to Him.
Leading the Grace Youth Camp
Every February the Grace Churches in Santa Cruz organize a camp for youth. In my first year in Bolivia I participated as a group leader. Last year I did a workshop about “5 Love languages.” But this year, I was asked to lead the organization of the camp. Therefore, I started making many changes to produce a bigger impact on the youth. Some churches were not participating in this camp, however, this year they will. There is excitement among the youth because they believe there will be positive changes. Two preachers are coming from Uruguay (both pastors from my home church, one of them is Gusty, my brother). Then, the three of us have organized the spiritual aspect of it. There will be so many changes that I would need another letter to describe all of them to you. All of the changes are focus on making a much bigger impact on their spiritual lives and in making the camp more dynamic, entertaining and relaxing!
Pray for good weather! We have had about two weeks of rain and that could be negative to our camp.
Pray for a positive change at the grace camp this year. There is excitement about camp this year and we hope God will make a big impact on the youth.
My dear friends thank you so much for your care, for taking the time to read this newsletter and for your prayers on my behalf. I wish He will reward you greatly for your kindness and faithfulness.
In His service,
Talo Vergara
It’s my desire that this email finds you well, enjoying every minute of your lives walking with our awesome and lovely God. After a few months without communicating with you it is time to do so. So, here it is a brief highlight of what God has been doing in my life and ministry in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.
Leading a Church
What a great privilege has been for me, to lead a church and help in a congregation that has gone through a very difficult time after loosing its pastor. They asked me to help for a period in filling the pulpit to make the transition smoother and with God’s help everything has gone well. I preached on Sundays for a period of two months and I have been leading the youth. My idea is now to slowly step back from the pulpit so they remember they need to actively search for a new pastor. However, I want to continue leading the youth group there as well as the youth group of Emanuel Church.
Thank God for His help in taking the big responsibility of leading the Jesucristo Vive Church during a rough time.
Thank God for the privilege of being involved and help in two youth groups. At times I did not know how I was going to do both, but I loved the challenge.
Please pray that the search of a new pastor will be totally led by God. That the new pastor will be a great man of God who will help them and lead them to greater goals.
Please pray that I can organize myself and the youth agendas at both churches so that we can have a great year to His glory.
Back in Uruguay!
Those who know me a little bit, would know I am from Uruguay; a tiny little country in South America (actually the tiniest). Those who know me a bit more would know I love my country. Well, then, it is obvious that for vacation I would go to Uruguay. This last Christmas I had the beautiful blessing of spending Christmas at home with my family. I enjoyed my time with them, with my friends, and my dear brothers and sisters of my home Church. I even met my new nephew, Santiago. He is 8 months old and he is adorable. For those who know my brother, Gustavo (Gusty), Santi is his first child. Santi is my second nephew since I have Renzo (my sister’s first baby) who is two years old.
Praise God for giving me the opportunity to spend such a beautiful time with all my dear people in my home city.
Teaching at a Catholic High School
You are probably thinking, “Talo wrote a wrong title!” “He cannot start teaching at a high school, and a CATHOLIC one! NO WAY!” Well, you probably forgot I am a bit crazy and I like to take big challenges. A few weeks ago, after coming back from Uruguay, a brother from Emanuel Church (Angel Mendez for those that know him) asked me if I would be interested in taking this task. He has a Master in Education and he has an impressive career as school principal of various schools. A month ago one lady had bought a school and begged him to be the principal. The problem is that the school was, up to last year, a Catholic school. Its name is Saint Simon, however, Mr. Mendez wants to turn it into a Christian one and he can do so because it is private. So, he asked me to teach Religion or Christian Education to the students there. I prayed and thought about it and I see so much potential, such a huge opportunity to evangelize and teach the Bible to so many young people, that I love to be part of it! It will be a huge challenge to teach every morning to hundreds of high-schoolers (most of them Catholics) about our great God.
Thank God for another wonderful and difficult challenge to serve Him!
Praise Him for this great change in this school, pray for Mr. Mendez so he can take right decisions to make a great Christian School.
Pray for me as I will be dealing with many unchristian students, pray that I can be a great example for them of what Christ can do in a person that opens up his heart to Him.
Leading the Grace Youth Camp
Every February the Grace Churches in Santa Cruz organize a camp for youth. In my first year in Bolivia I participated as a group leader. Last year I did a workshop about “5 Love languages.” But this year, I was asked to lead the organization of the camp. Therefore, I started making many changes to produce a bigger impact on the youth. Some churches were not participating in this camp, however, this year they will. There is excitement among the youth because they believe there will be positive changes. Two preachers are coming from Uruguay (both pastors from my home church, one of them is Gusty, my brother). Then, the three of us have organized the spiritual aspect of it. There will be so many changes that I would need another letter to describe all of them to you. All of the changes are focus on making a much bigger impact on their spiritual lives and in making the camp more dynamic, entertaining and relaxing!
Pray for good weather! We have had about two weeks of rain and that could be negative to our camp.
Pray for a positive change at the grace camp this year. There is excitement about camp this year and we hope God will make a big impact on the youth.
My dear friends thank you so much for your care, for taking the time to read this newsletter and for your prayers on my behalf. I wish He will reward you greatly for your kindness and faithfulness.
In His service,
Talo Vergara
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