Welcome to Mission Paraguay!

Greetings from Paraguay in the name of the Lord Jesus.

The Lord is leading the McKeithen’s out in new and expanding directions.  He is giving us new mission partners and showing us new lands fertile for gospel preaching.  He is building a strong team around us to accomplish His purposes of raising up a people of praise from among the nations.  We want to bring you up to speed on these developments and ask for a redoubling of your prayer and support.

Finishing the Nemby pastorate.  In November we end our work as local pastors in the Methodist Church here in Nemby, Paraguay.  We have given and received much in the Nemby ministry.  We were blessed to have been received and loved deeply by the Nemby people.  They are great partners in reaching out with the love of Jesus to the Nemby barrios.  They have been patient in teaching us Latin culture and and mentoring us in Spanish and Guarani.  While in the local pastorate we have seen God’s faithfulness in many ways.  We see fruit in strengthened local leaders, and lasting fruit in the new believers who are actively being discipled by the church.  With your financial and prayer support, we designed and launched Semilla de Mostaza (Mustard Seed), the Christian small business loan and discipleship program.  We have learned much through successes and failures of the businesses.  Four of our seven new businesses are thriving, with the business people continuing to use their businesses to support families and build evangelistic and discipling relationships and repay their loan.  We leave a capable Board of Directors in place for Semilla Mostaza, who have been trained to lead the program from its inception.  They will continue to receive loan repayments, train new business candidates and launch new businesses with the Semilla de Mostaza loan fund.  Our Directors are equipped to teach the model to partner churches.  The pastoral work will be taken over by a Latin pastor ready to lead the church forward. Pastoral ministry was most satisfying and we will greatly miss being apart of the day to day community life in Nemby.  Pray for the Nemby saints in this transition.

The Lord is calling us to new work:  Director of Mission and Minister Development, Latin American.  After 23 years in the local church pastorate we are beginning new work with Grace Covenant International, our mission association.  New doors have been opening for us and Grace Covenant around Latin America.  God has brought a number of gifted, Latin ministers and missionaries into our friendship circle.  We have come along side them in various ministry projects from short term mission programs, evangelistic campaigns, prayer and pastoral ministries.  As these friendships have developed we see that their hope for the nations, theology and hearts beat with our own.  Often Latin leaders need spiritual and organizational covering to move forward in ministry.  We are able to provide that with Grace Covenant.  Our missiological hearts tell us that when there are mature national pastors equipped and ready to lead out, we exponentially expand our own efforts when we empower them.  We will continue to locate Latin leaders, and release and support the call that God has placed on them.  At the same time we will recruit and train American missionaries to aide these new works.  All of this is moving along at a good pace, with God confirmations at many turns.  We are finding that the "joy of the Lord is our strength" in this new call.

OPEN DOORS, READY FIELDS, NEW LANDS:

I)  We made recent ministry trips to the rural interior of Paraguay, with Luis Orrego, new Grace Covenant Paraguay pastor/partner.  We stayed with 3 elderly folk who were the first Paraguayans to receive the gospel in their area.  They have payed dearly for their steadfastness over the years and now the Lord is raising up new believers under the leadership of Luis O and Nebo Ayala.

Blanca is a part of a rapidly growing Christian movement pastored by Nebo.  Luis has mentored him in planting this work over the last year.  Pastor Nebo is seeking fellowship, spiritual and ecclesial covering with Grace Covenant.

II)  New GC pastor Luis Orrego and his family and other family and close ministry partners, are planting a new church in San Antonio, Paraguay, the next emerging barrio not far from Nemby.  Luis’ team include a couple who have built a Christian school that serve 120 kids in the neighborhood.  They form a strong church planting team and will use the school facility for worship and continue with home cell groups which are already bringing light to the neighborhood.  Please pray this forward.

III)  Luis Fonseca (GC missionary from Brazil) and I just returned from two weeks in Nicaragua.  We met with with Grace Covenant partner, Wayne Barker who has been doing Kingdom seeding on the northern border with Honduras, out from a town called Somotillo.  In the last 5 years, this area has suffered devastations from hurricane, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.  It was also the seedbed of the Sandanista revolution.  The revolution succeeded on the battle field but has left a chasm of disillusion, as corruption and suffering grow. We found that news of the more profound revolution in Jesus and his way was eagerly received. We were given great favor with unchurched, at risk youth.  Each night the youth, who we played soccer with, came for Bible teaching and friendship.  Twenty five youth received the Lord Jesus and are now being discipled by Fernando, our new Guatemalan friend and ministry partner.  A number of rural villages where we were given the honor to tell about Jesus, received him with open hearts as well.  (See photo at top).  The McKeithen’s and Fonseca’s plan to move to Nicaragua in March of 2004 to launch a sports club that will include evangelism and whole life discipleship for unreached kids and youth in the region.

IV)  We are also looking for folks from home with a specific burden for Latin America.  We need new American missionaries who we can train to come along side the gospel work that our Latin national pastors and planters are developing.  Most of the training will be incarnational in that it will be, ministry skills development and cultural adaption, on-site in one of the Latin countries where the Lord is guiding these new works.  Pray for God to raise up the perfect people for this.

V)  We will be back in the states in November to welcome our first Grand-baby into the world.  Jaime and Lenny are expecting Matthew Real Bustillo, to be born in late November.  Pray for a healthy baby and safe delivery. We are excited!!!

VI)  After Matthew’s expected birth we will take some time to expand our support base.  We are finding that our financial support is stretched thin each month. With the new work our support level must increase.  Please contact us if you know of any church group, home group or individuals who have a burden for Latin America and want to hear of our work.

This is a sketch of some of the developments in our life and mission work.  We feel much like it’s Joshua time in crossing the river into new land.  Thank you all for the steady prayer base that you lay for us and the financial resources that free us for this growing mission.  We look forward to seeing many of you in the near months ahead.

Our God Reigns, Let the Earth be Glad,

David and Sandy


Grace Covenant International
P. O. BOX 588
PLATTE CITY, MO 64079