I received an interesting email in April 2023 from Dr. Eddie Moody, executive secretary of the National Association of Free Will Baptists. He forwarded an email he had received from Argentina and asked me to contact the sender and see how we could help. I must say, IM frequently receives non-credible requests from distant places offering partnerships, asking for help, or wanting to join Free Will Baptists. However, this message was different. I read it with great interest.
Pastor Nicolás Serrano succinctly and convincingly identified himself as a Baptist church planter in Argentina with a Reformed Arminian doctrinal position who wanted prayer, books, and other materials regarding Arminian doctrine, along with permission to translate and publish Free Will Baptist materials.
Having only his email, I responded on behalf of Dr. Moody, explaining who I was and my interest in initiating a conversation. For the next two months, Nicolás and I conversed almost daily. We progressed from emails to social media conversations. From long audio exchanges to phone calls.
In ministry for over ten years, Pastor Nicolás had served as a missionary to indigenous peoples in the Peruvian forests (with an organization started by a well-known Calvinist apologist) and as a church planter in Rosario, Argentina, his native country. His team planted three churches in Rosario.
About five years prior to contacting Dr. Moody, Nicolás began having serious doubts about his Calvinistic doctrine. He decided to put aside his studies of theological systems and read the Bible through again to understand for himself what Scripture teaches. After a thorough study, he came away with an Arminian position — one he classified as “Reformed Arminian,” although he’d never heard the term before.
When he informed the mission agency and his leadership team about his new doctrinal position, they tried to dissuade him. Seeing it was useless, many left him. He had to leave his mission agency. The leaders of two churches the team had planted broke fellowship with him. The church he pastored lost nearly half its members.
The next four years were a painful period of recovery from rejection, teaching the remaining members, and church reorganization. They knew of no other church in Argentina or abroad holding the doctrine they did. They felt orphaned and alone. They longed to belong to a larger church family again.
Once the congregation was healthy, they scoured the Internet, trying to find another group who believed as they did. Pastor Nicolás discovered an article by Dr. Matt Pinson explaining the position of Free Will Baptists — a position defined as “Reformed Arminianism.” They dug deeper into Free Will Baptists and finally decided to write Dr. Moody.
I was living in Brazil, serving as director of global partnerships for IM, when I received Dr. Moody’s email. I contacted pastor Nicolás, and learned his story and the journey of the church. We discussed doctrine, as well as Free Will Baptist history, practices, and programs. Mutually realizing we were highly compatible, we looked at various scenarios for working together. Convinced of their sincerity and interest, I asked to visit him in Argentina to become better acquainted with him and his church through face-to-face meetings. He was delighted I wanted to visit.
In June 2023, Brazilian pastor Daniel Gouvea and I took a three-day trip to visit pastor Nicolás and the Familia de la Gracia Church in Rosario. It was a wonderful visit. We held long discussions with Nicolás, his three closest leaders, and then his broader leadership team. The more we learned about them, the more impressed we were. They certainly were looking for a broader church family. They mentioned three major reasons they chose Free Will Baptists: our doctrine, our long and distinguished history, and our missions program. By mid-July, the Rosario church voted to join Free Will Baptists.
I invited Nicolás to visit the U.S., hastily arranging for him to attend the National Convention in Raleigh. I wanted him to meet his new denomination. I introduced him to as many people as I could, desiring our leaders get to know him. Following the convention, we visited various departments in Nashville, Tennessee. I also arranged specific meetings. Nicolás had read the writings of Dr. Robert Picirilli and Dr. Matt Pinson and enjoyed spending time with them. He even recorded short video interviews.
He was especially interested in knowing what D6 Family Ministry (formerly Randall House) had published in Spanish. He discussed the procedures for translating Free Will Baptist doctrinal and theological books into Spanish with them. They worked out a partnership and are currently finalizing their first book translation for publication.
Since last summer, the church in Argentina has grown. Their attendance has increased, forcing them to rent a larger meeting location in the center of Rosario. They began an outreach in a poor neighborhood in the southern part of the city. This outreach led to renting a building for regular Bible studies and to a children’s ministry at a second campus. In a neighboring province, a small unaffiliated church, which had followed their services online, petitioned to join them. After a period of teaching, they joined as a sister church. The network of Free Will Baptist churches in Argentina is expanding!
The Familia de la Gracia Church has a vision for even greater expansion, starting more churches. They hold evangelistic campaigns and plan to start a Bible school to train leaders for ministry. To that end, one of Nicolás’ associates, Leandro Galarza, is studying theology and ministry. He plans to dedicate himself to leading this training program.
IM, through Global Partnerships, has established a partnership with our new friends in Argentina. We assist them with outreach, publications, and setting up a leadership training program. We are excited about the opportunity the Lord has given Free Will Baptists to make a difference in this country amid their economic turbulence. Our prayer is the Lord will turn many hearts to Himself.
Your gifts to the WMO provide for partnerships in countries, like Argentina, with no Free Will Baptist missionaries.
About the Writer: Kenneth Eagleton relocated to Nashville,
Tennessee, after decades (1984-2023) working in Brazil and
Côte d’Ivoire. He has served as a missionary (medical doctor, church planting, leadership training) and is the director of global partnerships for IM, Inc. He and his wife Rejane have four adult sons and five grandchildren.
