The music in the church is doing very well thanks to your continued support in finances and prayer. The band, the violinists, and cellist are getting several Christmas presentations ready and they're working hard to do their best. We know that Christmas and New Years are times when some people are more open to the voice of God in their lives because of the yearly reminder that God became one of us. So we're believing God, interceding, and taking full advantage of the holiday season to bring more people to the joy of knowing Jesus Christ personally as their Savior.

Within the next few weeks I will finally be moving out on my own closer to the church building for greater convenience. I've already started looking at several different apartments in the area. We believe that this is the next step God wants me to take at this point in my life. I have a lot of big plans for next year. I thank God that he has blessed me in many ways already, and I believe He has yet to bless me in new ways.

Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead our people in the paths of righteousness, and that, through our evangelistic outreach, our passion for worship, and skill in music ministry, He will draw people into the life-transforming presence of God to recognize His goodness and infinite love towards them this Christmas season.

So this month both my parents have traveled up to the northeastern states and Canada to raise funds while I stay here to manage the church. And it has gone very well. I thank God He provided us with a pianist to help out in the services. His name is Bernabé. He's from Chile; he's talented, and he knows how to minister. The first weekend of October we had a team come from a neighboring church to do music and preaching; then on Tuesdays we had a great friend of ours, Mercedes, give the word. In these services God has been doing some supernatural things. Sometimes the altar call has stretched to about 11 pm as people are filled with the Holy Spirit and a new empowerment to do His will. The second weekend our own band played, complete with guitar, bass, piano, backup singers, and violins, and they truly did an amazing job in creating an atmosphere of worship. I believe they are ready to do a service every weekend with me and my mom. Pray that God continues to supercharge our people to extend His kingdom.

God bless.

This past month has been great. We had another group class and presentation in the church as we do every month, and this time we were able to get a picture of everyone together. I thank God for everyone He's given me to build this music ministry. They're really an inspiration. 

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Katia, our drummer in training, has been taking classes for several months now, but recently it's been a bit complicated since she had no drum set to practice on. So thank God I found a good deal for a practice drum set online. We bought it and set it up in her apartment. She was thrilled. Depending on when we can get an acoustic set for the church, I hope to have her playing in the church band by December or January.

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A girl in our church named Luciana celebrated her 15th birthday party last Saturday. Raquel and I made it even more special by playing Happy Birthday for her on our cellos. It was her very first presentation in which she played melody, and it turned out very well. Due to my experience on violin, I have advanced on the cello rather quickly and hope to start teaching beginners by next January. Pray that we will be able to afford instruments for those who want to learn since prices are drastically increasing because of the inflation.

May God richly bless all of you

Jeff

After several months of saving church funds we were finally able to get a new sound console. We´ve had our old one since we started the church in Apr. 2005, and now it's way too small to amplify the sound of all the musicians in the band God has given us—2 guitarrists, a bassist, violinists, 3 singers, and of course my mom on the keyboard. We bought it with room to grow in mind—through the eyes of faith—that we will soon have cellists and saxophonists on board with us. I really believe that this is the sort of thing that catches the attention of people and opens their hearts to discover what God's Kingdom is really like. It's really encouraging to see God providing our every need as we go along.

The last saturday of July we had our first group class with cellos. It was a lot of fun playing together. In the service that night we also did a simple presentation of a worship song we had all learned.

I've made a brochure of my ministry to concisely show people what I'm doing and inspire them to get involved. If you don't have my brochure, let me know and I'll send you a copy.

This month features an exciting new development! After a lot waiting for the right time and resources, CPC Ministries has finally expanded its range of musical education and minstry to include cellists. God has brought into our church someone with a passion for Him and a real desire to learn cello and use it in His kingdom. Her name is Raquel Reyes. She's 18 years old and is the cousin of Stefanía Landín, one of my violin students at the church. I'm studying cello with her so I can help her along, make musical arrangements for her, and to learn how to have the cello work well with the rest of the band. We got 2 starter cellos and have already started classes with a registered Suzuki cello teacher in the area!

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Our guitarrist and bassist have also begun classes with a professional guitar and bass teacher who has played for Marco Barrientos, a big name in praise and worship in Latin America. Our short-term goal is to have an excellent music presentation ready to play in the plaza on the first day of Spring. That day is a real opportunity because students get that day off from classes, and parks are full of people. It´s probably a lot like Spring break, but shorter. Pray that we work hard so God can use us to our maximum potential. Pray that He'll really cultivate our talents, make them grow, and use them for His glory.

Extreme blessings,
Jeff

Hey everyone! We´re doing well, although unfortunately the music ministry in the park has been put on hold for a while, firstly because it´s been soooo cold outside, and also because we are looking for a guitar and bass teacher. However, I plan to have the music ministry in the park up and running in September when Spring rolls around. There´s a girl in our church by the name of Katia who has a real hunger and passion for God. She wants to be the drummer for our band, so she´s taking lessons from a friend of ours. The church is paying for it in exchange for her general help.

Several of my students are busy with their midterm exams. Pray that they´ll get good marks. Joaquín is a violin student who is very dedicated to the things of the Lord, but his living circumstances are complicated right now. The owner of his apartment building no longer wants to rent it out and will soon have Joaquín and his brother evicted. Pray that Joaquín can get a better job and have the money to move out. Also pray that his spirit be encouraged day by day and that God will continue to unfold His plan for his life.

Extreme blessings!

This past month has gone very well for me. Since my last update I´ve worked on a few violin arrangements that I played on my 2-week trip to the States to help my dad raise funds for our ministry. We visited several churches in west Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. After saving up for about a year, I am blessed to finally have an electric violin made by John Jordan. This my first chance ever to have an electric violin of such good quality. It sounds amazing. This along with a Boss effects pedal I got are key to developing the music ministry of our church here in Argentina. Together they will prove to be part of the unique praise and worship sound I´m going for.

When I was in Portales, New Mexico, the assistant pastor had me play my electric violin for a recording he was working on. I thoroughly enjoyed doing so, and it was a highlight of my trip. The recording engineer has a daughter who is interested in violin, so I let her try out my electric one. She was very happy, and I was glad to inspire her.

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We had great missions-inspiring services up there. The people were very kind-hearted and generous. Now that I´m back, I continue all my violin teaching and I hit the ground running preparing our church band for more evangelism in the park. God is good.

Easter

We've done a couple presentations with the band in the plaza. Then right afterwards it's been pretty busy getting the Easter presentations ready. The students have worked very hard to sound their best. On Tuesday, April 3rd, master church planter and an amazing man of faith, Ralph Hiatt came to visit us (http://ralphhiatt.blogspot.com.ar/). The sanctuary was packed. We showed him one of our presentations, an arrangement of Joyful, Joyful. He told me that the violins can attract a lot of attention in the plaza. I pray they will be used to bring many people to a new life in Christ. The sanctuary was also packed the following Saturday and Sunday when we did the rest of our Easter presentations. People were really ministered to. Here are some clips:

Joyful, Joyful based on the version by Casting Crowns

Salvation Is Here by Hillsong United

Pray that many will get to know Jesus personally through our music ministry.
God bless.

New band for evangelism

Summer has gone remarkably well in our church in the center of Buenos Aires. Several have gone on vacation, but we haven't had empty services. God has facilitated our evangelism in the central plaza right in front of the congress building by putting us in contact with Miguel Ángel. He's been evangelizing there for almost a year, showing movies and speaking almost every night of the week. He wants to support our church in any way he can, offering his portable sound system and projector for us to use in ministry in the plaza. This is motivating our church to take advantage of the warm weather in the plaza while we have it to evangelize more effectively. There will be drama; we will show movies; and we are putting together a band to play concerts in the plaza. We have a couple singers, 2 guitarists, and a bassist. We also have a few who are interested in taking up the drums, and several of my violinists will be participating as well. We have already started weekly rehearsals and one of my goals is for them to play in all of our regular services. We have been praying for successful evangelism through this music ministry, we want to reach the lost and bring about a new season in the development of the Potter's Hands Christian Center.

Extreme blessings,
Jeff

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone! The Christmas presentations went fairly well. Here´s a video of everyone playing together one of the first songs I put in the new Suzuki Method.

There were 3 students who were unable to participate. Stephany and Roxana prepared Silent Night almost entirely on their own only 6 months after picking up the instrument. They also played a little arrangement, and I played the violin with our band on one of Chris Tomlin´s songs. Presentations like these are important for the students since it gives them a challenge and a short-term goal to work towards. As soon as they´re done, they really feel the practice has paid off, and they realize that they can be useful in music ministry.

We recently had a meeting with members of the youth group to discuss evangelism for this year. We plan on playing music in the street and handing out coffee. I would like to get my students involved in this as soon as I can. Violinists playing something unique with the band could definitely draw more attention. Basically our goal this year is to reach more people than last, especially in these summer months. Pray for us to achieve this.

God bless and have a great 2012.