Argentina, with a population exceeding 45 million inhabitants, is not your stereotypical Latin American country. Most of the Argentines' forefathers arrived on ships coming from Spain and Italy instead of descending from the Aztecs or the Incas. Argentina, described as one of the more developed countries in South America, struggles far less with poverty and lack of education than most of her Latin neighbors. With its rich culture and fast-paced lifestyle, the capital city of Buenos Aires is often referred to as the "Paris of the Southern Hemisphere."
BIMI has had a missionary presence in Argentina since 1979. The sprawling city of Buenos Aires, whose population is just shy of 15 million, accounts for more than one third of Argentina’s total population, making it the largest metropolitan area in all of Latin America. Veteran missionaries Dana and Debbi Brosuis have been working in Buenos Aires for more than 30 years. Missionaries Justin and April Grinstead arrived in Argentina in December 2017. The Grinsteads are also located in the city of Buenos Aires.
The other area of Argentina where a BIMI missionary is working is in the city of San Miguel de Tucumán in the northern part of the country. Brother Larry Owens has been on the field for 30 plus years. In addition to planting a thriving local church, he has also founded a Bible school that is being greatly used of God to prepare not only Argentines for full-time Christian service but also young men and women from several other Latin American countries. The seminary has 70 graduates, most of whom currently serve all around the country in various ministries. Souls are being saved every week and new churches are being planted every year.
We urgently need more missionaries in this country so in need of the Gospel. It is estimated that in Argentina there are more than 30 cities with populations over 100,000 and 50 cities with populations in excess of 50,000 that have no independent Baptist church. Many of these cities have very little Gospel witness of any kind and in some cases none at all.
Argentina has one of the largest concentrations of Jewish people living outside of Israel than any other country in the world, with the majority of them living in Buenos Aires. Dana and Debbi Brosius have successfully planted a growing Bible-believing church in the city with a strong emphasis on Jewish evangelism.
In recent years, BIMI conducted large-scale Bible distribution projects in the cities of Ushuaia and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Many thousands of New Testaments were put into the hands of the Argentine people. Ushuaia, located in the region called Tierra del Fuego (Land of the Fire), is universally known as the "Southernmost City in the World." At the time of the Bible distribution, there was no independent Baptist church in Ushuaia to our knowledge. However, there is a veteran missionary family in Ushuaia
While it is true that Argentina is one of South America’s prosperous countries, it still has a critical need that can only be met by someone like you. Argentina desperately needs more missionaries who will go and establish fundamental, independent, Bible-preaching Baptist churches to reach this great, under-evangelized nation.