Tag: National Missionary Partners

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” →

Pray for Timothy Two Missionary Stranded in Chile

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

Please pray for Timothy Two Project International’s Latin American national missionary partner, Helmuth Aguilar (left). He is currently stranded in Chile [South America] trying to secure a humanitarian flight back to his home and wife, Hilda (center), in El Salvador [Central America].

Helmuth taught a workshop in Osorno, Chile in March, but became stranded by the COVID-19 lockdowns in Chile and El Salvador.

Helmuth has previously taught Timothy Two workshops for pastors and ministry leaders in Osorno and Llanquihue, Chile and Santa Tecla, El Salvador. More about Timothy Two national missionary partners.

Fundraiser for Timothy Two National Missionary Partners in Latin America

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

In every nation where I have completed teaching all four workshops – Cuba, Belize, Peru and El Salvador – God has called one or two pastors (and some of their wives) to travel to other villages, towns and cities in their own nation to train more pastors.

But now we need help to fund their work. All of our current donors are giving to the account called “Sonnenberg” to support our training the first generation of pastors and ministry leaders in each nation.

In order for these “National Missionary Partners” to train the second generation of pastors, we need a separate stream of donations flowing into the account called “Latin America.” 

Below I explain who they are, what they do, and the significant benefits of utilizing these indigenous pastors to help us achieve our goal of training pastors where there is little or no formal theological education available.

Support National Missionary Partners in Latin America

  • Cuba
  • El Salvador, Chile
  • Peru highlands
  • Peru coastlands
  • Belize, Nicaragua
  • Haiti

Latin American National Missionary Partners

Continue reading “Fundraiser for Timothy Two National Missionary Partners in Latin America” →

Advantages and Funding of “National Missionary Partners”

Timothy Two Project, International

by Daniel L. Sonnenberg

What is a “National Missionary Partner” and what do they do?

A Timothy Two “National Missionary Partner” is an indigenous pastor who has always lived in Asia, Africa or Latin America, who has completed the series of four Timothy Two workshops, and who is then sent to other towns and cities in his own country to teach those workshops to other groups of pastors. We call them “national” missionaries because they serve among their own people. By contrast, others of us would be referred to as “international” missionaries because we serve in many countries throughout a particular region. We call these pastors missionary “partners” because they extend our ability to reach other pastors within each country. They have contacts in other regions, cities and towns who also need these workshops.

The advantages of National Missionary Partners

There are three definite advantages to having National Missionary Partners work with us: 1) their travel expenses are lower than ours because they
are able to use local means of transportation instead of flying ; 2) there is no need or expense for an interpreter because they already speak the local language; and, 3) they are already familiar with the people and their culture so that the teaching is properly contextualized.

The funding of National Missionary Partners

You can now make donations online or by check for the work of our National Missionary Partners in Latin America (Cuba, Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Belize, Peru, Chile), East and Central Africa, North India, and Myanmar. These donations will fund all the Partners in each region on an “as needed” basis coordinated by the Regional Directors: Bryan Slater – Africa; Steve Curtis – Asia; and, Dan Sonnenberg – Latin America.

You can “adopt” a Region

Thus, you can virtually “adopt” a Region to financially support the work of all the National Missionary Partners there. It is much less expensive to send national pastors than it is to send someone from the USA. Thus, a donation of $45 provides one workshop for one pastor. $450 provides one workshop for 10-12 pastors. $1800 provides a complete series of four workshops for 10-12 pastors. With every donation, you are helping to train pastors in the fundamentals of the faith and providing the materials they can use to train others in their own churches, cities, and nation. We thank God for these Partners who are willing to put in the extra time and effort to train fellow pastors among their own people. And we thank you for your prayers and financial support on their behalf.

“And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”‘ (Revelation 5:9-10)