June Update
- Benjamin George
- Jul 1
- 2 min read
Fellow Partner,
Unexpected Event
On June 4th, my father, Brian George, suffered a stroke. It was one of those unexpected events that life throws at you. On the 5th, I took a 17-hour bus ride from where we live to Tucumán, where my parents reside. I spent the next eight days caring for Dad in the hospital, helping with family needs, and translating in the afternoons for the Bible college. It was an incredibly busy week! We decided to bring Dad back to the USA and were able to secure tickets for June 22nd. We are deeply grateful to Marion Avenue Baptist for covering all the costs to fly the family back to the US! I returned home on the 14th and then went back to Tucumán on the 21st to help fly Dad to the US. I spent nine days with them before flying home.
Dad’s Health
Dad’s stroke was mild, affecting his left side. He can walk, talk, and eat, but his left arm is still not responding. We’re thankful he’s in the US, where he’ll receive better treatment and can relax. As long as he’s in Tucumán, he’ll focus on church work that needs to be done. We believe he’ll need about a year to fully recover and return to work here. I hope to see him focus more on teaching, preaching, and counseling. Much of the administrative work he’s done until now should be handled by a younger person, and he’s been training a bright young man for this role over the past several months. Dad is highly respected and loved by many pastors across Northern Argentina, and he could be more effective spending time with them, helping and guiding them. I believe God may be using this situation to help him transition to this new focus.
Church News
Here in Posadas, things have been running smoothly. Pablo has been covering the teaching and preaching while I’ve been away. It’s a true blessing to have someone trustworthy to handle the preaching in my absence! Attendance has dropped to around 20 on Sundays and 15 at Saturday Bible studies. This is partly normal for winter, and several people have been sick. We have a core group of four families and two individuals who are almost always present, which is exciting! Honestly, it’s more than I deserve, but God is working in these lives, shaping each one to do more of His will.
Catching Up
We’re also working to catch up on paperwork and tasks that were neglected over the past year due to the busyness of launching a church. We’re training Ani to take on more of these responsibilities to prevent falling behind again. She is such a blessing and exactly what I needed. God has been so good in sending us amazing church members and staff! We’re learning and growing as we prepare for great things in the coming years.
Church Facility Size
Please pray that God will open doors for a larger meeting location. As we move into spring, we’ll work hard to grow numerically, aiming to at least double our attendance by the end of the year. Our current location isn’t conducive to that growth.
For Christ Glory,
Benjamin & Berenice George
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