Tim and Christa Simmons Prayer Letter: Working Toward Starting a Church

Making Contacts

We made multiple trips to a neighborhood on the western side of our city known as Cerro, which means “hill” in Spanish. This is an area with no Baptist churches. We’d like to at least have a children’s class and/or a small-group ministry there in the near future. Our goal for these trips was to pray for that area and ask people questions to gauge their openness to church and the Gospel. We also wanted to see what people’s thoughts were on doing Bible studies. We went to a number of plazas and parks to find people to talk to. Of course, our kids are a great icebreaker at parks, and everyone loves our five-month-old daughter Elizabeth! We expected a lot of rejection, but only one individual didn’t want to talk to us. We had many great conversations with people about their experiences with the church. I asked a young father named Mariano what he thought about the church. He replied, “I’ve never been to church since no one in my family goes.” He also told me he doesn’t know much about the Bible. He told me he was very interested in looking at the Bible further with me and gladly gave me his contact information. Christa was also able to talk with some ladies, who also agreed to meet to do a Bible study. We are seeing a spiritual hunger there! Please pray for the Lord to work!

Ministry Opportunities

We are thankful for the opportunities to minister to others. Christa’s children’s class has grown to where the small room they meet in is almost at capacity! We are thankful for several children putting their faith in Christ for salvation! I also had the opportunity to fill in for a pastor for two weeks while he was visiting his family in Argentina. That church was so kind and welcoming to our family. We also enjoyed celebrating “Children’s Day” with them! We were able to witness to a number of people. With many, we were just able to give them a Gospel tract. We pray that the seed of the Gospel will be planted. With others, we were able to go further. I had a 45-minute conversation with a man named Michael. He believed in God but had doubts about his salvation. I was able to help clear up those doubts. He also liked the idea of meeting in his home for Bible studies! Please pray for the Lord to work in the hearts of those we met.

Making Plans

We are in a period of transition, as we are slowly backing off from helping an established ministry and beginning to do more to prepare to form a church. In order to meet in a building in Uruguay, you usually need to sign a five-year lease. Instead, we are focusing on starting to reach people and disciple them while meeting in our home or theirs. When we believe the time is right, we plan to find a building to meet in. Please pray for the Lord’s guidance.

Praise

• Several salvations!
• Opportunities to talk with people about the Bible!
• Growth of Christa’s class!

Prayer

• Open hearts as we witness to adults
• Salvation of souls
• The Lord’s leading in our church-planting efforts
• People to be willing to meet for Bible studies
• Our family to receive permanent residency soon—I have a meeting on October 6 regarding this
• Our Spanish skills

Thank you for giving and praying! We desire that you would have much fruit as a result. We love you!

Your missionaries to Uruguay,

Tim, Christa, Ethan, Evan, Emmalynn, and Elizabeth Simmons