Sonnenberg – Badenhop family history

Sonnenberg – Badenhop family photo. There were two marriages between the families of my paternal great-grandparents, Henry & Eliza (Ludeman) Sonnenberg, and William & Henrietta (Haase) Badenhop. My paternal grandparents are Theodore Sonnenberg and Amelia Badenhop (2nd couple from left). Herman Sonnenberg and Henrietta Badenhop (fourth couple from left) are Theodore’s brother and Amelia’s sister respectively.

Timothy Two’s 24 Workshop Groups in Latin America: A Photo Essay

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

From 2016 to January 2020, International Missionaries and National Missionary Partners trained 211 pastors and ministry leaders and 72 children’s leaders in 24 different groups through 52 workshops in 15 different cities and 10 different nations throughout Latin America.

Below are pictures of all 24 groups in Central America, South America and the Caribbean.

For information about Biblical/theological training workshops for pastors, ministry leaders and children’s ministry leaders, contact us:

Topics in the workshops for pastors and ministry leaders.

Topics in the workshop for children’s ministry leaders.

Timothy Two Project International website

CENTRAL AMERICA

Independence, BELIZE

Santa Tecla, EL SALVADOR (Group 1)

Santa Tecla, EL SALVADOR (Group 2)

Managua, NICARAGUA

SOUTH AMERICA

Llanquihue, CHILE

Osorno, CHILE

Continue reading “Timothy Two’s 24 Workshop Groups in Latin America: A Photo Essay” →

How Timothy Two Project International Helps the Church to Honor God: Workshop Participant Testimonials

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

Timothy Two Project International began in 2011 by sending one missionary to one nation in response to one pastor’s plea from Mindat, Burma. By the end of 2019, Timothy Two had more than 24 missionaries serving in 43 nations of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Timothy Two exists to serve a critical need around the world. We are committed to equipping and training indigenous pastors and ministry leaders with the essential truths of the Christian faith so that they can train others.

Mission

Paul instructed Timothy to teach others to teach (2 Tim 2:2). This is at the heart of our mission. So, we not only teach the pastors; we teach them how to take what they learn and teach it in their churches and communities, as well.

…what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also…”

~ 2 Timothy 2:2

This way, the mandate from Christ in the Great Commission to “make disciples” can be accomplished in areas of the world where there is little or no formal biblical and theological training available.

Methodology

First, we provide study materials that teach important doctrines from the Bible. Next, we use these materials in intensive workshops in the field. These workshops have two parts: training the indigenous leaders, and training them to train others. Then, workbooks and resources are given to the indigenous leaders to help them to teach others – and to train those people to disciple others, too! 

​Finally, we are committed to the long-term success of local churches. To this end, ongoing support is provided to insure the vitality of the local church. ​​

Honoring God

Perhaps the best way to illustrate how Timothy Two helps the church to honor God in their lives is through the testimonies of some of the workshop participants. I work primarily in Latin America. So I will draw the testimonies from there.

Testimonials

Francisco

“I want to share what this workshop has done for us. It brings a lot of knowledge in the Word of God to every student. These are some of the things I have learned:

  1.  I have learned to worship God, to be in love with Him, and that causes me to be more willing to obey and to praise Him.
  2. I have learned how to guide a group of people under my charge. It has caused us to put in order the work of God in our church, and it has taught me the requirements that every leader must have.
  3. I have learned how to evangelize non-believers, and also about the spiritual gifts we have received from the Lord. This workshop challenges me with the help of God to serve others with love.
  4. I thank all the sisters and brothers – my fellow participants in the class – because by being in the workshop together we have learned from each other.”
Continue reading “How Timothy Two Project International Helps the Church to Honor God: Workshop Participant Testimonials” →

COVID-19 Wreaking Havoc in Peru, Quarantine Extended until October, Urgent Prayer Needed

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

On June 14, I received a passionate request for prayer concerning the current conditions in Lima, Peru from Pastor Reynaldo Rubio. Reynaldo is one of our Timothy Two workshop coordinators and national missionaries. He wrote these words (translated from Spanish):

Pastor Reynaldo Rubio and his wife Nery in 2017

  1. Our country is becoming one of the most contagious and deadly in the world. Every day, hundreds die from covid, and hundreds more from other diseases that are not treated. My younger brother passed away last week not from covid but from a heart problem. No hospital wanted to receive him because of giving priority to covid patients. So he died on the way, trying to find care in a hospital. Thus, many deaths occur because hospitals have collapsed.
  2. Thank God the food supply exists, but food has become more expensive, which makes it more difficult to acquire because people no longer have economic resources. The medicines necessary to alleviate the pandemic no longer exist, they are only on the black market at an exorbitant price. There is corruption starting from the government that promotes all this and that does not help the country at all.
  3. Only 10% have resumed their jobs. Most of the Peruvians are informal merchants, these have not been able to resume work and have gone bankrupt, The few that remain are taking to the streets to work against the government’s orders, and that promotes more spread of the covid.
  4. 70% lost their permanent and temporary jobs. My wife had a small business selling items for school students. From this we could support ourselves and continue in the ministry. But it had to close and it went bankrupt. And because almost 100 days have passed, there is no longer the possibility of resuming the business. We are quarantined until the end of September.
  5. A month and a half ago my daughter had covid, but with quick treatment at home, she was able to overcome it. My wife and I suffer from various ills. My wife has still not recovered fully from her recent surgery and has other illnesses. Apart from my diabetes that I am trying to control, I am suffering from vesicular pain. I hope I do not need an emergency operation, because at the moment no hospital is attending to emergencies. The brothers in our church are going through almost the same thing as us.
  6. We ask our friends in Christ to support us by praying:
  • For our country. God have mercy on Peru. For our corrupt pro-communist rulers who only think about imposing their own politically and culturally liberal agenda, and who seem mostly disinterested in the well-being of the population. How could people be quarantined without financial help? And the worst thing is that there is no openness to the churches to start having meetings under threat of jail if the quarantine is violated.
  • For our church. Soon we will be deciding whether to start our meetings clandestinely. We cannot wait 100 more days to listen to what the government says. The church is not subject to the state but to Christ.
  • Provision. Only the grace of God is sustaining us in these times, not only for us but also for our brothers and families in the church who have very humble means. We are praying to start a limited soup kitchen, to serve them.
  • Protection. Hundreds of Christians have died from Covid 19, including pastor friends of mine. Many are fighting for their lives right now. Many of these pastors,  until recently, have been serving people and preaching the gospel, but ended up infected. It is the price to pay for being faithful to the call to ministry.

We are serving the Lord in Pamplona Alta, San Juan de Miraflores Lima-Perú. Your prayers will be very important to us, it will strengthen us to continue in the Lord’s work.

Pastor Reynaldo Rubio, Pamplona New Life Baptist Church

Reynaldo’s wife Nery (left) at her store in 2018

Reynaldo (top row, 3rd from right) serving as Timothy Two’s workshop coordinator in Pamplona Alta, Peru in 2018

Reynaldo Rubio (top row, center) serving as Timothy Two’s national missionary partner in Ica, Peru in January 2020

Timothy Two continues to send financial aid for food and medicine to our partners in Peru and other places of need around the world through our Family Fund during COVID-19. Donate here if you would like to help.

The Life and Work of Helmuth Aguilar, Timothy Two National Missionary in Chile and El Salvador

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

Update on Helmuth June 15, 2020:

Please pray for our national missionary partner, Helmuth Aguilar, who remains stranded in Chile since March so that he can return to his wife, Hilda, and their home in El Salvador when airports open up.

Article originally published May 25 continues below:

I want to tell you a story about a Latin American pastor-teacher-musician and a recent Timothy Two workshop for pastors and ministry leaders that he taught just a few days before the nation of Chile shut down because of COVID-19. And don’t miss his music video at the end of this post.

Helmuth (center) with his mother Detelvina (right)

Helmuth Zalathiel Aguilar Navarro grew up in the Los Lagos (“Lakes”) region of southern Chile (South America) and completed his theological training at the Baptist Seminary in Santiago, Chile during the 1980’s. His mother, Detelvina Navarro Cárdenas, age 88, still lives in this region of Chile where she and her husband, the late Blas Aguilar, served as pastors for over 60 years. His mother, also known as “Pastora Nina,” hosted a radio program “Opening Scriptures” for children on radio Colonia for many years. Now retired, she is still serving the Lord by facilitating a weekly home Bible study.

You may have noticed, like I did, that Helmuth’s first name looks and sounds more German than Chilean. That’s because this region was settled also by German immigrants as part of a state-sponsored colonization plan between 1850 and 1875 after the German revolutions of 1848-49. “[T]he Germans of southern Chile retained much of their German culture or Deutschtum.” So over the course of time, many communities in this region developed a “dual Chilean and German sense of belonging.” So it’s not surprising that Helmuth’s parents gave him a German-sounding first name when he was born.

Continue reading “The Life and Work of Helmuth Aguilar, Timothy Two National Missionary in Chile and El Salvador” →

Reformation Theology Reading Guide

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

Biblical and theological works (both contemporary and classic) that John Hendryx at http://www.Monergism.com believes best reflect the Scriptures’ teaching on grace and the Christian life. Includes recommendations and links to his top recommendations as well as works on Basic Christianity, Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Doctrines of Grace, Sovereignty of God, Covenant, Justification, Godly Life and Sanctification and The Five Solas.

https://www.monergism.com/blog/reformation-theology-reading-guide?fbclid=IwAR2mYHdT-7D3p_BIQl4IxYVIvPjlXmL_eGIwCaYXJf2w_JFq9QkLKdVCrf0