Iglesia Evangélica Hermanos Menonitas Maranatha (Asunción, Paraguay)

The “Iglesia Maranatha” emerged out of evangelistic vision of pastor Rodolfo Plett for a church in Asunción, Paraguay near Market 4. At that time there was no Spanish-speaking Mennonite church there. In September 1982, Luis Palau led an evangelical campaign at the Cerro Porteño soccer club stadium. At that campaign, many people received Christ and provided their contact details through cards. Because there was no church near Market 4, and therefore no pastor available to follow up with newly-converted people in that area, Plett requested the address files in order to start an evangelistic work in the area. Accompanied by students from the Instituto Bíblico Asunción (IBA), Plett started visiting the people who had filled out cards at Palau’s event. Following these visits, a small group of new believers started meeting in the basement of the building of the German-speaking Concordia Mennonite Brethren, a building later occupied by the Korean Presbyterian church.

Sometime later, a woman from the church offered the living room of her house for meetings. Her daughters, who were also Christian, attended the services. Plett and the IBA students continued house-to-house evangelistic visits. On 14 April 1984 the church celebrated its first two baptisms. In addition, more people began to attend the meetings and the group began to look for a church building. They eventually found an abandoned gym which became the site of the “Iglesia Maranatha.” The church became an independent congregation with 41 members on 6 June 1989.

In 2019, the Maranatha Church had 100 members. In addition, the congregation founded another church in the city of J. Augusto Saldivar, which became independent. Active ministries in the church included: youth ministry; prayer ministry; growth groups; and a praise group.

Bibliography

Zaracho, Rafael and David Irala, eds. Memoria Viva: Historia de las iglesias de la Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas. Publicado por el Instituto Bíblico Asunción y La Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hnos. Menonitas. Asunción, Paraguay: Impreso por YolySuitter, 2019: 23-25. Available in full electronic text at https://archive.org/details/memoria-viva.

Additional Information

Address: Brasil y Ana Díaz, Asunción, Paraguay (Coordinates: -25.297322 -57.630556 [25°17'50"S 57°37'50"W])

Phone:

Website

Denominational Affiliations:

Convención Evangélica de Iglesias Paraguayas Hermanos Menonitas

Pastors and Lay Leaders at Iglesia Evangélica Hermanos Menonitas Maranatha

Name	Years of Service
Rodolfo Plett	1982-1985
David Blumental, Emilio Olmedo, Héctor Alegre y Gregorio Valdovinos, with mentoring from Rodolfo Plett	1986-1997
Silverio Verón	1997-present

Author(s)	Rafael Zaracho
	David Irala
Date Published	June 2020

Cite This Article

MLA style

Zaracho, Rafael and David Irala. "Iglesia Evangélica Hermanos Menonitas Maranatha (Asunción, Paraguay)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. June 2020. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Iglesia_Evang%C3%A9lica_Hermanos_Menonitas_Maranatha_(Asunci%C3%B3n,_Paraguay)&oldid=168746.

APA style

Zaracho, Rafael and David Irala. (June 2020). Iglesia Evangélica Hermanos Menonitas Maranatha (Asunción, Paraguay). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Iglesia_Evang%C3%A9lica_Hermanos_Menonitas_Maranatha_(Asunci%C3%B3n,_Paraguay)&oldid=168746.

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