The Underwood Family

Missionaries to Argentina

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Signing on a building! Quick Underwood Update!

After nearly a three month search, looking at over a dozen locations for rent, and hearing from at least eight different real estate agents “no to a church,” we are finally signing on a great location!

I am so excited about the days, and weeks ahead, though this is all uncharted territory, I know that God has already begun working, and preparing hearts to hear His gospel message!

This garage (galpón) is roughly 78 square meters, has a small room to the side that will serve as our children’s church, and two bathrooms. One bathroom is unfinished, so we will be finishing that as soon as possible. Some work has already begun, such as adding a roof to an open air area, and sealing off a door to become a window. We will be giving this garage a major face lift when it is empty of the owner’s belongings, and preparing to hold services as soon as we can!

At signing, I will be paying a little over $2,000 just to be able to take possession officially. The owner has been so gracious to allow us to spend time there already, and says he will be one of our first visitors! He is a retired artisanal wood worker and has already built my first pulpit as a gift! The estimated cost for all that needs to be done to make this garage a functional church, (no bells and whistles), is roughly $10,000. If you would like to help and be a part, we would be grateful for anything the Lord moves you to give! Simply designate any special gifts as Church Plant and send it to:

Vision Baptist Missions
Attn: Stephen Underwood
P.O. Box 442
Alpharetta, GA 30009

Thank you all for praying with us and staying up to date with our family and ministry here in Argentina!

Your Missionaries to Argentina,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24

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May 2022 Prayer Letter

Underwood Family Prayer Letter PDFDownload

Dear Pastors and Prayer Partners,

April was a full month of blessings and encouragements and there are even more heading our way! We have finally started making headway on our church plant in Ezeiza. There were times I wasn’t sure what was going on, between owners not wanting to rent to a church, or paperwork for visas being delayed, but God is certainly in control and in His timing, we see results!

I believe we have found a good fit for our church plant; at least for the first year or so. There are two other places we will see before making a final decision, but I am encouraged either way. Each place is essentially a garage of sorts, but with a little TLC we can see it transformed into a sanctuary of the gospel to a lost and dying world! At one location, I have already priced what it will cost for some remodel and paint; roughly $10,000. I hope to have some estimates for the other options in the days to come. Please pray for wisdom in making this decision. We are so eager to get things going!

I’d also like to request prayer for our visa paperwork. In February, we were able to extend our visas without leaving the country for an additional 90 days. This time, it appears that we will need to hop across to Uruguay to stamp our passports. This will not be an issue anymore once we have our letter of invitation back from the governmental department that has it currently.

I’m so thankful for the opportunities I’ve had to preach, teach, and stretch my language ability. I was honored to preach/teach 1 Corinthians 13 at Iglesia Bautista Fe on a Thursday evening, and I believe the Lord used it to encourage folks. May my life be a reflection of His love to the world!

Thank you all for your love, prayers and support for our family! Your Missionaries to Argentina,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
argentinamissions.com

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April 2022 Prayer Letter

Underwood Family Prayer Letter PDFDownload

Dear Pastors and Faithful Prayer Partners,

March has flown by and we are only picking up speed! As we continue looking for the place that God would have us to start our church, we are narrowing down our options of buildings for rent. I’m truly excited about all the possibilities in the area of Ezeiza and believe God is going to do something great!

I’m thrilled to report that I had the privilege to preach my first entire service this last month. We are so humbled by the kindness and support of Iglesia Bautista Fe, and cannot show our gratitude enough to have them as our church as we learn and adjust to Argentina. Patrick and Leslie Henry have done an absolutely phenomenal job mentoring and teaching these believers and I know they are ready to have the Henry family home!

I am continuing to make contacts in our area as well. On three different occasions, I’ve been able to present the gospel to those asking questions about Baptist beliefs in comparison to Catholicism. Its amazing to me how God opens these doors of opportunity, then provides the words to say in the moment we need to say them!

It has been our privilege as well to host Jason Holt, missionary in Santiago, Chile for a few days. He helped me tremendously as we surveyed Ezeiza and showed me good locations to start our church. He was also a blessing to Matias and Eric, Patrick’s guys at Fe.

Likewise, Ashlee and I hosted another guest for a couple of weeks; Karen Patterson. I had never met her previously to this trip, but she reached out during covid, before
we arrived, and told us of her desire to visit and serve. She was a great blessing
and had a tremendous attitude of service to the folks while she was here!

If you are interested in planning a missions trip to Argentina, it would be our pleasure to host you and your church group! Please reach out any time with questions and I will do my very best to answer and help plan any future missions trips!

Thank you for your continued love, prayers, and support.

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
argentinamissions.com

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March 2022 Prayer Letter

Underwood Family March 2022 Prayer Letter PDFDownload

Dear Pastors and faithful ministry partners,

February has been an exciting and busy month! God is continuing to open doors of ministry here in Buenos Aires, and we are striving to accomplish as much as we can for the Kingdom!

Ashlee and I had the privilege to help with Iglesia Bautista Fe’s Escuela Biblica de Vacaciones (Vacation Bible School), and decorate a large fish for the theme of Jonah. I was also honored to preach a couple’s meeting at the church, and had a wonderful time with some amazing couple’s on Iglesia Fe.

On the 22nd, Ashlee and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary! I cannot believe that she has been able to patiently love me the way she does for the last 14 years! 🙂 I look forward to many more years serving God together and seeing His work accomplished through the ministry.

Missionary Kevin White passed through BA on the way to Rosario to preach for Missionary Shawn Bateman. During his over night stay, he and I surveyed several areas for a potential church plant in Ezeiza. I am excited about the opportunity, as he was super helpful at showing me four strategic locations to reach as many folks as possible.

Please continue to pray for wisdom as we search for a place to rent this month. We would like to begin remodeling and cleaning up a building for when we begin services sometime in May! This is certainly an exciting time for us!

Thank you for your continued love, prayers, and support of our family!

Your Missionaries to Argentina,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
argentinamissions.com

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February 2022 Prayer Letter

Underwood Family Prayer Letter PDFDownload

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We certainly had an eventful month of January! Starting off the new year, finishing off an insane 2021, I thought for sure we might have a little break in the chaos, but I was mistaken. Here in Argentina, it is summer. The boys have enjoyed being able to play outside and swim, but we had several days of triple digit weather and my only escape was under an air conditioner!

Due to the extreme heat and dryness, twice in one week we had wild fires licking at our neighborhood. The second one burned five houses in the neighborhood across from ours, and several lost pets in the fire. Please pray for these families as they try to rebuild from the destruction.

In light of the heatwave, we decided to try to be a blessing to Iglesia Bautista Fe, and purchase an industrial air conditioner. The cost of this is somewhere around $2,000 and we will be doing the installation ourselves to avoid further costs. If you would like to help and be a part of this, please reach out. I know air conditioning seems like a luxury, but in 100+ degree temperatures, it becomes a necessity.

Also, I have been given several opportunities to speak and share during the church services here at Fe! It has been a great blessing and challenge to my Spanish, and God is using this time to stretch my skills and faith! Please continue praying for our language to increase and improve! I would like to be preaching full messages by May when we seek to start our church plant in Ezeiza!

Continue praying for Ezeiza as well. I have begun canvasing the area, making contacts, and searching for areas that would be good to rent for a church location. Pray for wisdom in this and for God to lead me to the place He has for me!

Thank you all for your continued love, prayers, and support! Your Missionaries to Argentina,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
argentinamissions.com

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January 2022 Prayer Letter

Underwood Family Prayer Letter PDFDownload

Happy New Year to all our faithful ministry partners and prayer warriors!

I am so thankful for God’s goodness to us as we begin a New Year of ministry and service to our precious Savior! I look back on the last year, and even beyond and know that regardless of our situation and circumstances, that God was, is, and continues to sit upon the throne of Heaven!

We are in the middle of summer, so that makes this season a little strange for us. But the boys sure have enjoyed swimming and riding their bikes all over! Christmas looked a little different, but we quickly adjusted, especially remembering the several Christmas’s we had in South Africa. 

After spending our first Christmas in Argentina, with a tremendous group of saints from Iglesia Bautista Fe; we are looking forward to continuing to minister along side them and branch out to start our own church this year! I have pretty well decided on the area of Ezeiza, on the south side of Buenos Aires to start our church plant. In this area, there are roughly 160k souls in need of a gospel preaching church, and someone to love them enough to tell them about Jesus!

Several of the young people from Fe, Patrick Henry’s church, will be helping us canvas the area and invite folks to church in Lanús as we work toward finding a place to meet in Ezeiza. Please be praying with us about this need and exciting opportunity to advance the kingdom of God, and advance global missions!

Continue praying with Ashlee and me for growth in the language. We are continuing to study and learn, practicing and living in Spanish! I believe the Lord is using this time to help prepare us for the ministry to come. I desperately want to effectively share the gospel in Argentina!

Thank you for all that have been so faithful to pray for us, support our ministry, and love us! We are eternally grateful for your investment in souls for eternity!

Your Missionaries to Argentina,

Stephen, Ashlee, Peyton, Eli, and Neyland
The Underwood Family
Acts 20:24
argentinamissions.net