Uruguay is a nation virtually unknown by the majority of people beyond its borders. Situated at the southern tip of Brazil, Uruguay is Latin America’s smallest nation. But in spite of its diminutive size it is home to one of EHC’s most vibrant works, a ministry that has delivered the gospel message to nearly all of Uruguay’s 3.3 million people.
Under the leadership of Alfredo Peña, EHC/Uruguay is spreading God’s truth through literature distribution to homes, hospitals, prisons and anywhere else the opportunities may open. In a recent initiative, EHC teams presented schools of evangelism in 17 churches over a nine-day period. At one of the schools, in the northern Uruguayan city of Salto, Pastor Antonio Gonzales commented, “this instruction revealed that we must not wait on evangelists to visit our city when we already have evangelists sitting in the pews of our churches!”
In the city of Tomas Gomensoro more than 3,000 people received the Gospel through home-to-home outreach. Pastor Nelson Motta told EHC Director Alfredo Peña that EHC’s literature has made a huge difference for him. “Before EHC, I literally had to use a pencil and a piece of paper to draw a simple cross and tell people about Jesus. With these new booklets we are superequipped to spread the truth of Christ and counter the work of cults that are deceiving the people of our region.”
In Montevideo, the bustling capital city of Uruguay, EHC partners distribute gospel literature and conduct preaching services every weekend in the city’s largest medical center, Hospital de Clínicas. Before and after the services, workers visit the sick and pray with them and their family members. In the past year alone at least 45 persons prayed to receive Christ during these visits. In one instance a man with Alzheimer’s who had not spoken coherently to anyone for some time had a very lucid conversation with the EHC evangelists who came to his room. He understood God’s message and asked for prayer. His wife was amazed at God’s power to give her husband a clear mind for this all-important encounter. She, too, asked for prayer.
Whether in homes, in hospitals, in prisons or elsewhere, EHC workers are spreading the Good News to every part of Uruguay. Pray for them; and specifically remember their two-fold prayer request for a big harvest of souls and a big spiritual awakening in their small but very significant nation.