Autobiography of Tim GretschmannName(s): Timothy and Susana Gretschmann
Host Country: Uruguay

Vision
In 1975, Tim felt God’s call to serve Him as a cross-cultural missionary during a mssions conference at his home church. In 1983, while attending Moody Bible Institute, Chicago, IL, God confirmed this call. Tim’s desire is to see people in other countries won to Christ and effectively discipled in their relationship with Christ in fulfillment of Christ’s Great Commission. Susana was called to serve the Lord in missionary service at seven years old, shortly after giving her life to the Lord. Her desire is to serve the Lord in reaching a lost world for Christ.

Focus
Tim and Susana are currently serving in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay, working in discipleship, evangelism, teaching and preaching ministries.

Ministry
Tim and Susana’s goal is to reach people with the Gospel and disciple them with the goal of equipping them to make other disciples and carry the Gospel to other nations.

TESTIMONY
Background

Tim became a Christian at the age of eight while attending the People’s Church in Beloit, WI. At the age of 14 he sensed God’s call on his life to serve as a missionary. From age 18 to 22, he served as a youth leader in his church and was involved in the bus ministry and teaching Sunday school. He then attended Moody Bible Institute, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Education. From 1987 to 1991 he served in Southend-on-Sea, England in youth and children’s ministries with United World Mission.

Susana became a Christian at the age of seven through the ministry of missionaries who taught her how to love God and discipled her by way of their godly lifestyle and example. She attended the Baptist Seminary in Montevideo, Uruguay and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. She served on the MV Doulos, an Operation Mobilization (OM) ship, for three years in Europe and served two years in OM’s literature warehouse in Georgia. She has received diplomas from the Haggai Institute for Leadership Training, Hawaii; the Billy Graham School of Evangelism, Montevideo, Uruguay; the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Cochabamba, Bolivia; and Comibam International in Training, Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay.

In 1991 Tim & Susana were married. They studied cultural adaptation and anthropology for three months at the School of Intercultural Studies in Union Mills, North Carolina. They then went on to serve in east London and Coventry, England for four years in church planting and youth and children’s ministries with United World Mission.

In 1996 they transferred to Uruguay, South America where they were involved in church planting and discipleship ministries until 2004. They taught 27 different courses in fifteen churches and seminaries while in Uruguay.

In 2005 they transferred to World Partners and were involved in discipleship in Granada, Loja, and Nerja in Spain from 2006-2007. They moved to Fuengirola, Spain, in 2008 where they served in discipleship, teaching, and evangelism ministries until 2015. During this time they worked with some Spanish churches, a Finnish mission agency, an English church, a Nigerian church and a group of Spanish gypsies.

In 2015, the leadership of World Partners requested Tim and Susana to pray about moving back to Uruguay and in March of 2016 they returned.

Prayer Concerns:

Readjustment to life in Uruguay and documents.

The Lord’s guidance so we can best serve Him in equipping people of God to do ministry in Uruguay.

Wisdom to present the Gospel in a culturally relevant way without losing the spiritual impact of transformed lives

Strength and discernment to minister in a post-modern society

A humble spirit to serve God and His church