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THE
LAND OF LATIN SECULARISM
BMW'S
HISTORY IN URUGUAY Then single missionary, Paula Wiebe, was added to the mission team. She had already worked in Uruguay with CEF, and she continued on the field working in the city of Rivera. In 1979 Jerry and Linda Glass arrived on the field and began working with Paula in Rivera and then later in a Montevideo suburb called San Fernando.
Dave and Pris Wile arrived in 1990 to work with the Lopez and Spilman team in La Union area. Keith and Wendy Hock arrived also in 1990 to work with one of the national churches. A few years later, the Hocks and Glasses formed a new team and began ministry in an area of Montevideo called Parque Batlle. Ron and Shelly Clipperton joined the Parque Batlle team in 1997. BMW-URUGUAY'S
FIELD STRATEGY The team has very clear goals set for autonomy, and experience has taught that this can take anywhere from 12 to 17 years. There is a healthy desire among the Uruguayans to reach out to their own countrymen. We have been involved in forming a fellowship of churches to strengthen this outreach. In the future this fellowship would like to support national missionaries to reach out to smaller cities of the interior where there still is no gospel witness. We look forward to participating on the front lines as the Lord continues to build His church in Uruguay. For more information about joining BMW's team in Uruguay, contact Tim Willoughby, Uruguay's Field Leader, via email, or Rob Heijermans, BMW's Area Director for Latin America. Home | About | Mission Fields | Opportunities | Support | Resources BIBLICAL
MINISTRIES WORLDWIDE Site
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Uruguay
is one of those "cemeteries of missionaries." There are
many reasons for this, some internal and some external, but the
very culture and mentality of the people towards religion makes
for a very slow and "marathon style" ministry. Over the
years BMW has felt its share of the sadness in seeing many missionaries
leave the field. Despite this, the BMW team has seen the work continue
to grow and has been instrumental in planting over a half-dozen
churches. Agnosticism and religious skepticism have forced the missionaries
there to work hard at winning the people's confidence. Over a period
of years people begin to open up and accept the message of love.
The
deplorable state of the family is also a challenge. Uruguay has
a 70% divorce rate, and the missionaries see dysfunctional homes
and their results in all ages and economic strata. Strong families
without major family "baggage" must almost be "home
grown." The missionaries are now seeing young people from many
years of ministry marrying in the Lord and forming strong Christian
families. This is having a good testimony and will continue to influence
the ministry!
In
the late 1970's and early 1980's two Uruguayan couples, Sam and
Ruth Lopez and Miguel and Miriam Garroni, came to BMW from a Bible
institute operated by a church in Uruguay. The Lopez family began
working immediately in the area of Montevideo and the Garronis headed
to the city of Corrientes, Argentina. Belinda Spilman arrived in
the early 1980's to work first in San Fernando and then in Montevideo
with the Lopezes. In the following years of the 1980's a number
of missionaries from Citadel Bible College arrived on the field.
Tim and Joellen Willoughby arrived in 1983, and worked with the
Lopezes in the Christ is the Way Church. After Joellen's death Tim
returned to Uruguay to work in the city of Minas with his new wife,
Kari.
In
their goal of establishing strong, Bible-believing churches the
BMW-Uruguay team realizes that their first task is to bring each
church in which they are currently working to the point where they
are ready to be independent. 
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