2003 Overview

Posted: May 05, 2017

Unity in Sarmiento

Wow! Is all that can be said about what the Lord’s doing through our ministry and throughout Argentina! In February 2003 in Sarmiento, eight pastors used an old movie house to hold their first monthly citywide church service and, without Greig’s knowing, picked Greig to be the speaker. Even the mayor of the town of 12,000 attended and pledged his support for this monthly event; which he said he can hardly believe is happening. The Lord gave Greig fluency and more words than he planned on saying at that historic event. There were people there representing almost all of the fellowships in town and all felt the love (Amor) of God at that gathering.

Without telling Greig, the Lord also blasted open doors for him to preach the unity message at the biggest church fellowship (2,000) in nearby Esquel, a ski resort town of 100,000 located about eight hours by bus from Sarmiento. The pastor, Juan Treccani, is from Italy and the nephew of Pope Paul the 6th. He is known throughout South America and parts of Europe, and has a book out in five languages called, From Religious Slavery to Liberty in Christ. He has given Greig an open invitation to speak at any of the 18 church fellowships he has started throughout Argentina.

The evening after Greig spoke, he received an invitation to speak at a 6:00 A.M. prayer meeting the next morning to a group of city pastors and other strong believers of several denominations dedicated to working together. Not his favorite time of day, but it was well worth it. This was entirely the Lord’s handiwork. Greig had never once asked or even hinted at a desire to speak before these large groups, but God, against Greig’s comfort zone, has given him platforms over and over that others with worldly credentials far beyond his have been denied. The Lord Jesus Christ wants to put his church back together so the world will know He was sent by our heavenly Father. And He is willing to use the foolish things to do it. "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," 1 Cor. 1:27 (KJV).

Greig headed back to El Salvador with Ed Araiza, who accompanied Greig on his first trip, to give some encouragement to the fellow brothers and sisters in San Juan Opico. It was a very fruitful trip. They spoke to the Aglow International group, who coincidentally had a speaker from San Salvador speaking on unity. They are an international, trans-denominational women’s ministry that has close to 3,600 fellowships participating in 151 countries worldwide. The Opico fellowship consists of about 50% Catholic women and 50% women from other denominations. If the pastors cannot drop their denominational pride, this group of women could be the most important force for unity in Opico.

While he was there, Greig asked the president of UNEO, the fellowship organization for pastors in Opico, to call a meeting with other pastors interested in unity. He called eight pastors, including two from the neighboring town. With only a day’s notice, all of them attended; which was a miracle in itself. Greig gave them many ideas on how to encourage unity of the church, ideas acquired from working with various groups in Argentina.

They planned to start having interdenominational services at selected different churches in town each month that will be open to everyone. Greig also encouraged them to form intercessory prayer teams who could come together to pray for their city. Thanks to everybody’s financial support, AMI was able to leave them some money to put in the UNEO account to be used solely for unification activities.

Greig was given the opportunity to deliver the unity message to the Assembly of God church where Pedro, the president of UNEO, is pastor. Afterwards, Ed and Greig prayed for all who felt God was calling them to be leaders in unifying the church. There can always be improvement, but overall, it is encouraging to see the body of Christ in El Salvador begin using all of its parts.

Bethlehem By Way of London, Belen

In August 2003, the Lord began giving Greig clear direction and confirmation that he was to go to Bethlehem by way of London. Belen (Bethlehem) is a city in northwestern Argentina located at the end of a paved road, right after a little town called Londres (London) in the state of Catamarca. He had incredible direction and encounters along the way and had such a strong word from God about working primarily with the pastor of the Church of God in Belen that he wrote it all down.

The Church of God didn’t seem correct since Greig knew them in El Salvador to be a very legalistic group who wanted nothing to do with the unity message. Three days after his arrival, while he was still getting to know the city, a young man came to visit him. He said he heard through someone at the hotel that he was there and felt he was suppose to seek Greig out. He was an associate pastor from…the Church of God!! Of course, Greig knew instantly that this meeting was God-ordained.

Greig got together with the pastor, Fernando Novoa, the next day. The pastor told him that he recently returned from Buenos Aires where he had a chance meeting, one on one, with Evangelist Carlos Anacondia, which to Fernando was like getting a meeting with the president. Carlos Anacondia’s Argentina-based, worldwide, ministry is known as the "sparker of revivals." He is even known among the Catholics who go to his meetings to receive a miracle from God. He told Pastor Novoa that he would come to Belen if God directed him there, but he was sure he would not be directed there if there was not unity in the church. (Pastor Anacondia usually does not even consider going to towns of this size, so it would definitely be an order from God that gets him there.) It quickly became very clear why Greig was sent to Belen at this time. Because of the timing of his arrival, Greig was accepted immediately as sent by God to bring the unity message to the body of Christ there. Thank you Lord!!!

Pastor Fernando Novoa, shown in the center with his wife Cristina and baby daughter, not only is the key pastor in Belen but also is the director of the Church of God for all the state of Catamarca, where Belen is located, as well as the state of La Rioja, which is south of Catamarca. Even though Belen only has a population of 10,000 people, it is the central market point for a dozen towns to the north. The percentage of non-Catholic Christians in this area is less than 1%, the smallest percentage in all Latin America, and the church in general has been shrinking in size here. Pastor Fernando is located in Belen not because it is the biggest town – it is actually very small in relation to the capital city – but because he says it is the spiritual key and stronghold for the entire region.

There is a tremendous principality against Truth over this region; it is known as the spiritually darkest land in all Argentina. Like the Belen River, which is stopped and canalled here, it appears God’s Spirit is also stopped here. There is a 50-foot statue of Mary holding the baby Jesus that sits high on the mountain overlooking the city. It’s a nice statue but unfortunately also an idol that the people climb the mountain to pray to. Belen is in the economically poorest area in the region, which seems to go along with spiritual darkness.

Greig spoke to the Church of God congregation in Belen and gave them the unity message. Thanks to almighty God – He showed up and confirmed it with signs. Greig has maintained a strong connection with, now bishop, Novoa and they have traveled preaching in many other towns and cities in Catamarca and the state of La Rioja.

A highlight miracle that occurred when Greig returned back to Belen was when the Lord healed Elinda Figueroa, who suffered a stroke two months before, and was wheelchair bound, totally paralyzed on her left side. After delivering a message at a service, she came forward for prayer and the Lord manifested his healing power by bringing functionality back to her left arm. Within three days, she was running around, completely back to normal. Elinda has testified on local pop radio and before many people giving glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Many people have come to Christ in the last three weeks, including some family members, after seeing the very obvious miracle that God worked in her body. She has now resumed her business and God has blessed her greatly as she has been obedient to give her amazing testimony to others.

An interdenominational service was put together in record time, and was packed. Greig delivered the message on the entire body of Christ working together as a whole. Afterward, everyone who came forward for prayer was healed instantly of their ailments. Deaf ears, heart and lung problems, arthritis, back problems, permanently constricted tendons…it was incredible! God healed people while they were walking up for prayer before there was even a chance to pray for them. Thank you Jesus for what you have done in Catamarca!