The first Lutherans in Argentina arrived in the second half of the 19th century. German, Danish and Swedish immigrants built their congregations through their respective vernacular languages. The United Evangelical Church (IELU) resulted from missionary activities of the
General Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in the USA. The exploratory trip to Argentina in 1908, organized by the Mission Board and the Missionary Women's Society, visited the country. A pastor from the USA arrived in Argentina in 1919 to develop a ministry in Spanish. Other missionaries established the first congregations. At that time, the aim of the IELU was to promote the announcement of the gospel in Spanish. Subsequently, the focus was laid on lay leadership training, publishing of Lutheran literature in Spanish, and the establishment of parish schools connected to the Argentinean public school system.

Plans for Reformation 500

• Reediting and promoting Luther’s Works in Spanish: digital and printed versions of Luther’s writings (ongoing)
• Internet Mailing List and Facebook site (https://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/500reformaluterana/) where recipients receive daily fragments from Luther’s Works in Spanish (ongoing)
• Project Trafficking and Commercial Exploitation of Human Beings by the Ev. Church of the River Plate (2015-2017): This particular project underscores what the LWF wants to express with one of its subthemes for the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation (Human beings—not for sale): that every individual is unique, created in God’s own image and must therefore be fully respected in her/his dignity and integrity. This project addresses especially the following two aspects of human trafficking: a) sexual exploitation affecting women and adolescent girls, many of whom are from Paraguay; and b) trafficking of human beings for labor exploitation; this affects male and female adults and, over the last years, also increasingly teenagers and children, especially from Bolivia. The following activities are planned: a) strengthening the participation of the churches in the targeted countries (Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay) in the virtual campus www.caref.org.ar/campus and its expansion to other countries in Latin America; b) mapping and analysis of actors and diagnosis of labor exploitation of Bolivian migrants in factories; c) workshops with representatives of churches in respective countries; d) development of materials and radio spots developed by the Bolivian churches annually, etc. 

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