This month my team and I are seeking out new contacts for Adventures in Missions in Argentina. We were told of a church in Mar Del Plata that would be able to house us during our search and could be potential ministry partners as well.
We arrived in Mar Del Plata and were immediately taken in by Alicia Balocco and her son, Ezequiel. Together they pastor Cristio Victorioso Jesus Esta Aqui church.
In 1990 Alicia’s husband began pasturing this church; that very same year their son, Ezequial was born.
When Ezequiel was a young teen-ager his father past away due to a brain aneurism and Alicia took it upon herself to continue the ministry here in Mar Del Plata.
For years now this small but powerful duo have been co-leading their local church.
It is not uncommon for Ezequiel to be found doing bar ministry work or visiting house arrest drug dealers and murders throughout the week. He encourages his surrounding Christian community to join him in the endeavourer of reaching out to those in the community that are hurting and lost in an effort to sharing the love of Christ.
Several different small groups are held at the church or in people’s homes throughout the week as a way to cultivate a godly, close-knit community here in Mar Del Plata that encourages its members to grow in their walk with Christ.
The main current ministry focuses of Alicia and Ezequiel are reaching their community for Christ, growing their church congregation, and expanding their church building.
The church is currently under construction but, due to a lack of funding, the construction is accomplished through church members volunteering. This means the progress is very slow going seeing as how the majority of the male community works on fishing boats and is gone for weeks at a time.
The Balocco duo also have a deliverance ministry and seek to help those around them walk in spiritual freedom with Christ.
The Lord is certainly at work in huge ways here in Mar Del Plata and is using this obedient and faithful family to draw others close to Him. My team and I are so blessed to be partnering with them this week and have felt very well loved and taken care of while in their home.
They would be a wonderful contact for future missionaries sent through AIM and we hope they get more willing hands soon because there is kingdom work to be done here!
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