The Mission Society supports 38 missionaries to six countries in South America. Our work there began in 1988, during which time, the religious and political situation in these areas has changed dramatically. Here, meet your Mission Society team in South America. Note the wide variety of ways in which these men and women minister, addressing needs of body, mind, and spirit.

Bolivia
Year opened: 2006
Bolivia has endured a tumultuous history, including dozens of coups and long-term political unrest. The citizens of Bolivia also face a shortage of basic needs, as 64 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Despite the challenges Bolivians face, there is also great hope for the nine million residents. Mission Society missionaries, partnering with The Mission Society and World Gospel Mission, are providing leadership development training through the Bolivian Evangelical University in Santa Cruz. Through this ministry these missionaries desire to strengthen and train emerging church leaders who will in turn impact the future of Bolivia.

MISSIONARIES
Len and Betsy Philips
Len and Betsy and their three children work jointly with The Mission Society and World Gospel Mission in Bolivia. They serve in areas of church ministry, discipleship, leadership training, and theological education through the Bolivian Evangelical University and the Santa Cruz Christian Learning Center in Santa Cruz, Bolivia. Before moving to Bolivia, the Phillips family ministered in Honduras for 10 years.

Brazil
Year opened: 2006
The world’s fifth largest country is home to more than 188 million inhabitants, winning it the position of the largest and most populous country in South America. Brazil is also the leading economic power in South America, despite difficult circumstances that have somewhat crippled the nation since the 1990s. Seventy-three percent of Brazilians consider themselves Roman Catholic, and 15.4 percent are Protestant.

MISSIONARIES
Mark and Leslie Benton
Before joining The Mission Society, Leslie used her master’s degree in clinical psychology in her work in behavioral health centers. Mark worked as an account executive for Nova Information Systems. Mark and Leslie are currently raising support to join The Mission Society team in Brazil. The Bentons will be partnering with the Brazilian Methodist Church in northeastern Brazil, working alongside Brazilian national missionaries, initially to assist with church development and youth programs. They will be the first Mission Society missionaries to be working in northeastern Brazil, this nation’s most impoverished region, and hope to establish groundwork for many others to follow.

Rose Blank
Rose Blank is a retired illustrator for the Department of the Navy. She is trained as a Stephen Minister, taught Disciple Bible Study and developed the “Widows Walk” ministry in her local church. She will be going to Curitiba July 27 to begin serving with the Igresia Metodista in the areas of discipleship and leadership development.

Steve and Shannon Mersinger
The Mersingers are currently raising support to serve in Brazil, where they plan to serve in ministries of discipleship in partnership with the local Brazilian Methodist church. Eventually, they hope to also minister among at-risk children and assist in the training and mobilization of Brazilian missionaries.

Ecuador
Year opened: 2005
The more than 13 million inhabitants of Ecuador have seen seven presidents in the past nine years. Political instability has rocked the nation since the economic collapse of the 1990s that devastated the economy. Due to changing world market, petroleum prices combined with political instability, the economy of Ecuador was left demolished in 1999, and 41 percent of the residents continue to live below the poverty line.

Opened in late 2005, Ecuador is a new field for The Mission Society. The growth of the evangelical church in this nation has been astounding in the past several years, and the Methodist Church of Ecuador has extended an invitation for missionaries to help with the work. The Mission Society is currently recruiting families to work in pastoral training, leadership development, and other ministry areas in Ecuador.

MISSIONARIES
Tim and Daina Datwyler
After serving with The Mission Society in Mexico for four years, the Datwylers opened a new field in Ecuador. Tim and Daina work with short-term teams to build churches and pastor’s housing, as well as coordinate agricultural projects.

Graham and Sharon Nichols 
Graham and Sharon both worked in management for a number of years before joining The Mission Society team. They are currently raising support to move to Ecuador where they will minister through discipleship, evangelism, community outreach, and coordinating short-term mission teams.

Paraguay
Year opened: 1988
Paraguay has been ravaged by two centuries of war and governmental strife that continue to impact this nation. The War of the Triple Alliance from 1865-1870 wiped out two-thirds of the nation’s adult male population. Paraguay also endured a military dictatorship from 1954-1989. Due to these elements, 32 percent of the population lives below the poverty line.

From the beginning, the team of missionaries and nationals in Paraguay has been wonderfully diverse. Initially led by a Brazilian lawyer, the missionaries have come from Brazil, the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Netherlands. Servants of Christ from Chile and Argentina were also among the earliest pastors who led the growing number of churches. Strong in both evangelism and ministries of compassion, The Mission Society’s work in Paraguay is illustrative of the agency’s emphasis on holistic ministry. Ministries today includes vocational training, elementary and secondary education, a day-care center, evangelism and churchplanting, a Bible school, well-drilling, medical care, agricultural ministries and a variety of other endeavors. There are also outreach ministries to the Toba Indians, an Indian minority people-group that is largely unreached.

MISSIONARIES
Ed and Linda Baker
Ed and Linda Baker are “second career missionaries” in their seventh year of service in Paraguay. They serve in a remote area where there are a growing number of rural churches, and have assisted the local church leaders to expand from 6 to 11 churches. Through their primary ministry of drilling water wells and developing sanitation facilities, they are able to strengthen existing churches, reach new areas, and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Ed and Linda also help provide micro-loans and medical assistance and have administered the expansion of the Susannah Wesley School (grades 1-6) from 3 to 9 classrooms with more than 200 students from an impoverished rural area.

Liz Boggess
Liz is skilled in a variety of areas concerning music and crafts and uses her talents for God’s glory and to build relationships with others. She is serving in Paraguay with The Mission Society team.

John and Sandra Carrick
John serves as a pastor and teaches in the Biblical Institute in Ascuncion, through which he trains pastors to serve in the Methodist Church in Paraguay. He also teaches in another Bible Institute in Coronel Oviedo. Sandra has been leading a multi-denominational women’s Bible study, coordinated short-term teams, participated with the United Methodist Women in Paraguay, tutored ESL students, and taught in the local school.

Christian and Angelica Dickson
Christian and Angelica minister in Paraguay through construction projects and children’s ministries. Angelica, a native of Paraguay, is fluent in the Guarani language, and she and Christian have ministries in the rural interior of the country.

John and Colleen Eisenberg
John, Colleen, and their three children have served as missionaries in Africa and South America since 1990. In Paraguay they work with the local National Methodist Youth Commission which organizes camps and retreats. They also have helped implement agricultural development programs for pastors in rural areas, taught in the Methodist Bible Institute, and developed a carpentry program for the Toba Indians.

Alicia Grey
Alicia is involved in the ESL program for elementary students at Escuela Nuevo Horizonte. Her other ministry involvement includes teaching Sunday school, coleading a youth group, and running a praise and worship dance group.

Jonathan and Amy Killen
Before joining The Mission Society, Jonathan worked in software development, and Amy was a preschool teacher. They are currently raising support to join The Mission Society team in Paraguay.

Donald and Carol Paige
Donald and Carol are currently raising support to join The Mission Society team in Paraguay. Donald has a degree in history and is a journeyman silversmith. Carol has a master’s degree in social work with a certification in school social work. She will be working with families and school personnel as part of the educational outreach of The Mission Society.

Ben and Jenny Reyes
Ben and Jenny have ministered in Brazil and Paraguay since their marriage in 1989. Jenny teaches at the Methodist Bible Institute in Ascuncion, Paraguay. She also works at the district level to teach ESL to Muslim children.

Ben serves as The Mission Society’s regional coordinator for Latin America; in addition, he teaches leadership development at conferences and seminars and assists in planting churches.

Mark and Johanna Waltz
The Waltzes have retired in the United States after serving several terms with The Mission Society in Paraguay, working with The Mission Society’s mobile medical clinic and founding the New Horizons Christian School in Lambare. They are currently still actively involved in the ministries on that field and are continuing to raise support for the school which they founded.

Peru
Year opened: 1997
Of the 28 million people residing in Peru, 54 percent live in poverty. Due to an unstable political situation during recent decades, the economy of Peru has been significantly damaged. Despite unfavorable conditions, the Church is growing in Peru as Mission Society missionaries – along with other Christian workers – reach out to the marginalized of this nation.

The Mission Society has ministered in Peru since 1997 in a variety of areas. Some ministries are developed to invest in the national leadership by providing pastoral training and lay leadership training. Other ministries focus on children and youth ministry and offer an alternative to gangs and street violence. Others provide medical care to remote areas that have little access to clinics. Evangelism, discipleship and church-planting are a portion of each ministry in Peru.

MISSIONARIES
Billy and Laurie Drum
Billy and Laurie are trained short-term mission project coordinators and have been leading mission trips to Mexico for several years. In Peru, the Drums work with short-term mission teams, discipleship, and community outreach.

Arthur and Mary Alice Ivey
The Iveys and their three children are serving with The Mission Society team in Peru. Arthur ministers in church planting, evangelism and discipleship, as well as in assisting short-term mission teams. Mary Alice is a former teacher and works in children’s and youth ministry.

Ash and Audra McEuen
Ash and Audra are currently raising support to serve with The Mission Society team in Peru. In Peru they will train pastors and church leaders from a variety of denominations. They also hope to work closely with the Quechua people living in the community.

Martin and Tracy Reeves
Martin is a graduate of Asbury Theological Seminary and an elder in the New Mexico Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. The Reeves’ vision is to train and disciple Peruvian nationals, equipping and empowering them for ministry. In addition, they are actively involved in the ministries of three local Methodist churches teaching, preaching, and participating in youth and children’s ministries.

Louise Reimer
Having taught in the public school for more than 20 years, Louise was led to begin a second career with The Mission Society in Huancayo, Peru. She has a master’s degree in elementary education and is a certified special education teacher. Her ministry in Peru will include teaching English to primary and secondary school students, thereby establishing relationships with them for evangelism. Louise also seeks to reach out to women by creating discipleship groups centered on Bible study and prayer, to share Christ, and to cultivate individual spiritual growth.

Venezuela
Year opened: 2005
Although slowly recovering from economic depression that has left 38 percent of the country below the poverty line, Venezuelans have hope that their situation is improving. Of the more than 26 million inhabitants, only two percent attend a Protestant church.

MISSIONA RIES
David and Carol Cosby
David is the academic dean of Wesleyan Seminary of Venezuela. He also serves as the director and professor of the Church Planting Institute with more than 40 students in two locations (Barquisimeto and Puerto Ordaz). Carol is in ministry to pastors’ wives and other missionary families, hostess to visiting professors, and treasurer of the seminary and institute. The Cosbys have been in missionary service full-time since 1975, having served previously in Colombia, Hungary, and Mexico.