Rivers of Life - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Rivers of Life is a group of approximately eighty evangelical

Evangelicalism

Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...

churches around the world.

There are currently Rivers of Life Churches in the following countries: United Kingdom, Spain, France, Netherlands, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Bolivia, El Salvador, Cuba, Panama and the United States.

As well as the churches previously mentioned, Rivers of Life has 4 Bible Colleges, 2 Children's Homes, a School with approximately 600 students and an FM radio station (FM Victoria) amongst other ministries set up to serve the churches purposes and in turn to benefit the local community.

For Rivers of Life's 40th anniversary, the mayor of Quilmes, Sergio Villordo visited the church in Quilmes; the first Rivers of Life church. The mayor expressed his solidarity with Rivers of Life and praised the church for staying faithful to the city even though the church had now spread around the world.

International

The following text is a list of all the Rivers of Life churches in the world. Unless otherwise stated, they are all known by the name "Rivers of Life" in the native language.

Argentina

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires Province

The Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...

: Berazetegui

Berazategui Partido

Berazategui is a partido in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. With a surface of 188 km² and a population of 320,224 , it is located at the southeast of the Greater Buenos Aires urban conglomerate, and its capital is Berazategui city.It was part of the Quilmes Partido until 1960.The...

, Capital Federal

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, El Pato

Berazategui Partido

, Hudson

Berazategui Partido

, Quilmes, Ranelagh

Berazategui Partido

, La Boca

La Boca

La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It retains a strong European flavour, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. In fact the name has a strong assonance with the Genoese neighborhood of Boccadasse , and some people believe that...

, Rojas

Rojas, Buenos Aires

Rojas is a town located in the north-east of the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the head town of the Rojas Partido....

, San Nicolás

San Nicolás de los Arroyos

San Nicolás de los Arroyos is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, on the western shore of the Paraná River, 61 km from Rosario. It has about 138,000 inhabitants . It is the head town of the partido of the same name...

, San Pedro, Wilde

Wilde, Buenos Aires

Wilde is a town in the Avellaneda Partido of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It forms part of the Greater Buenos Aires urban agglomeration.Wilde is the most populous district in Avellaneda, with 65,881 inhabitants. Originating with the estancia founded by Luis Gaitán around 1600, the settlement...

;

Chaco

Chaco Province

Chaco is an Argentine province located in the north of the country, near the border with Paraguay. Its capital is Resistencia on the Paraná River opposite the city of Corrientes...

: Fontana

Fontana, Chaco

Fontana is a village and municipality in Chaco Province in northern Argentina.-References:...

;

Chubut

Chubut Province

Chubut a province in the southern part of Argentina situated between the 42nd parallel south and the 46th parallel south , the Andes range separating Argentina from Chile, and the Atlantic ocean...

: Trelew

Trelew

-References:La Pasión según Trelew, Espejo de la Argentina, 1997, Editorial Planeta Argentina S.A.I.C.; Third Edition: April 2000, Buenos Aires, ISBN 950-742-859-3-External links:* * * *...

, Trevelin

Trevelín

Trevelin is a town in the Patagonian Argentine province of Chubut. It is located in the department of Futaleufú, south of Esquel, and had about 6,400 inhabitants at the time of the ....

;

Corrientes

Corrientes Province

Corrientes is a province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by : Paraguay, the province of Misiones, Brazil, Uruguay, and the provinces of Entre Rios, Santa Fe and Chaco.-History:...

: Curuzú Cuatiá

Curuzú Cuatiá

Curuzú Cuatiá is a city in the south of the province of Corrientes in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 36,000 inhabitants as of the , and is the head town of the Curuzú Cuatiá Department....

;

Entre Rios

Entre Ríos Province

Entre Ríos is a northeastern province of Argentina, located in the Mesopotamia region. It borders the provinces of Buenos Aires , Corrientes and Santa Fe , and Uruguay in the east....

: Concordia

Concordia, Entre Ríos

San Antonio de Padua de la Concordia is a city in the north-east of the province of Entre Ríos in the Argentine Mesopotamia. It has about 142,000 inhabitants as of the , and is the head town of the department of the same name.Concordia lies on the right-hand shore of the Uruguay River, opposite...

, San Jaime

San Jaime de la Frontera

San Jaime de la Frontera is a village and municipality in Entre Ríos Province in northeastern Argentina.-References:...

, Chajarí

Chajarí

Chajarí is a city in the northeast of the province of Entre Ríos, Argentina. It has 30,655 inhabitants per the , and it is the largest city in the Federación Department...

;

Misiones

Misiones Province

Misiones is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamiсa region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes Province of Argentina to the southwest.- History :The province was...

: Posadas

Posadas, Misiones

Posadas is the capital city of the Argentine province of Misiones, located at the south of the province, on the left-hand shore of the Paraná River, opposite Encarnación, Paraguay. The city has an area of 965 km² and a population of 323,739 ....

;

Santa Fe

Santa Fe Province

The Invincible Province of Santa Fe, in Spanish Provincia Invencible de Santa Fe , is a province of Argentina, located in the center-east of the country. Neighboring provinces are from the north clockwise Chaco , Corrientes, Entre Ríos, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, and Santiago del Estero...

, Santa Fe

Santa Fe, Argentina

Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...

,

Tucumán

Tucumán Province

Tucumán is the most densely populated, and the smallest by land area, of the provinces of Argentina. Located in the northwest of the country, the capital is San Miguel de Tucumán, often shortened to Tucumán. Neighboring provinces are, clockwise from the north: Salta, Santiago del Estero and...

: San Miguel de Tucumán

Bolivia

Santa Cruz de la Sierra

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, commonly known as Santa Cruz, is the capital of the Santa Cruz department in eastern Bolivia and the largest city in the country...

Chile

Puerto Montt

Puerto Montt is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region. The commune spans an area of and had a population of 175,938 in 2002. It is located 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago...

El Salvador

San Salvador

The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...

France

Paris

Netherlands

Alkmaar

Alkmaar is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of Noord Holland. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination.-History:...

, Amsterdam, Den Helder

Den Helder

Den Helder is a municipality and a city in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Den Helder occupies the northernmost point of the North Holland peninsula...

, Zwolle

Zwolle

Zwolle is a municipality and the capital city of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands, 120 kilometers northeast of Amsterdam. Zwolle has about 120,000 citizens.-History:...

Panama

Panama City

Panama is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Panama. It has a population of 880,691, with a total metro population of 1,272,672, and it is located at the Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, in the province of the same name. The city is the political and administrative center of the...

Spain

Amposta

Amposta is the capital of the comarca of Montsià, in the province of Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain.It is located at 8 metres above the sea, by the Ebre river, not far from its end. Population 18,841 ....

, Badalona

Badalona

Badalona is a city in eastern Catalonia, Spain. It is located in the comarca of the Barcelonès, near the city of Barcelona and part of its metropolitan area. It is situated on the left bank of the small Besòs River and on the Mediterranean Sea, backed by the Serra de la Marina mountain range...

, Barcelona, Cartagena

Cartagena, Spain

Cartagena is a Spanish city and a major naval station located in the Region of Murcia, by the Mediterranean coast, south-eastern Spain. As of January 2011, it has a population of 218,210 inhabitants being the Region’s second largest municipality and the country’s 6th non-Province capital...

, Reus

Reus

Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...

, Zaragoza

Zaragoza

Zaragoza , also called Saragossa in English, is the capital city of the Zaragoza Province and of the autonomous community of Aragon, Spain...

Bangor Community Church, Bangor

Bangor, Gwynedd

Bangor is a city in Gwynedd, north west Wales, and one of the smallest cities in Britain. It is a university city with a population of 13,725 at the 2001 census, not including around 10,000 students at Bangor University. Including nearby Menai Bridge on Anglesey, which does not however form part of...

, Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

USA

La Familia de Jesus, Houston,

Churches in the UK

Bangor Community Church, Gwynedd
Gwynedd
Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated...

, Wales
Rivers of Life, Oxford
Rivers of Life, Oxford
Rivers of Life, Oxford is an evangelical church that meets in the United Reformed Church Building in Marston, Oxford, UK.Rivers of Life, Oxford is one of approximately eighty Rivers of Life churches around the world. It was planted in 1996. It began with just five members but by January 2008, the...

, Oxfordshire, England

History

Rivers of Life was founded in 1967 in Quilmes, a suburb of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

, Argentina by Jorge Pradas and Oscar Mirón both Spanish nationals along with others. Oscar Mirón had moved to Argentina to flee the persecution of evangelical

Evangelicalism

Christians in Spain under Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco

Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...

. He fled the country after he had been a target in an attempted assassination. When the church began, he opened up his workshop for church meetings to be held there. Jorge Pradas was the main leader of the church at the time.

The church in Quilmes now has approximately 1,000 members. By the 1970s, churches had been established in Europe.

Beliefs

Rivers of Life holds to the orthodox Christian faith. It is a free, evangelical

Evangelicalism

and charismatic

Charismatic Christianity

Charismatic Christianity is a Christian doctrine that maintains that modern-day believers experience miracles, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and other spiritual gifts as described in of the Bible...

Church.

It practices believer's baptism

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

, the Lord's Supper

Eucharist

The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...

, the Spiritual gifts and the New Testament

New Testament

The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....

reality of Christ's Church.

It believes in Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Trinity

The Christian doctrine of the Trinity defines God as three divine persons : the Father, the Son , and the Holy Spirit. The three persons are distinct yet coexist in unity, and are co-equal, co-eternal and consubstantial . Put another way, the three persons of the Trinity are of one being...

; in the full divinity, atoning death and bodily resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It believes that the Bible is God’s authoritative Word fully inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Rivers of Life accepts and adheres to the universally accepted creeds of the Christian faith: the Apostles' Creed

Apostles' Creed

The Apostles' Creed , sometimes titled Symbol of the Apostles, is an early statement of Christian belief, a creed or "symbol"...

, the Athanasian Creed

Athanasian Creed

The Athanasian Creed is a Christian statement of belief, focusing on Trinitarian doctrine and Christology. The Latin name of the creed, Quicumque vult, is taken from the opening words, "Whosoever wishes." The Athanasian Creed has been used by Christian churches since the sixth century...

and the Nicene Creed

Nicene Creed

The Nicene Creed is the creed or profession of faith that is most widely used in Christian liturgy. It is called Nicene because, in its original form, it was adopted in the city of Nicaea by the first ecumenical council, which met there in the year 325.The Nicene Creed has been normative to the...

. (Where the word catholic is used in these creeds it means its dictionary definition of `universal` (i.e. Universal church).

Bible Houses

Rivers of Life believe that as well as secular preparation for life, e.g., a university degree, Christians need to be prepared in other ways such as service, living in community and studying the Bible. For this reason Bible Houses were formed. Bible House is a bible college

Bible college

Bible colleges are institutions of higher education that specialize in biblical studies. Curriculum is Bible-based and differs from that of liberal arts colleges or research universities. Bible colleges generally exclude the study of philosophy, unlike seminaries and theological colleges...

with the vision of preparing young people in areas mentioned above not just academically. The name "Bible House" highlights the fact that nearly all the students live in the same hall of residence. The standard course lasts for two years.

The following table give basic current information about Rivers of Life Bible Houses:

Location	Founded	Current Head	Number of Students
Quilmes (Buenos Aires Buenos Aires Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent... )http://www.riosdevida.com/casabiblica/	1970^†	Pablo Sparta	50
Santa Fe Santa Fe, Argentina Santa Fe is the capital city of province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It sits in northeastern Argentina, near the junction of the Paraná and Salado rivers. It lies opposite the city of Paraná, to which it is linked by the Hernandarias Subfluvial Tunnel. The city is also connected by canal with the...	1970^†	Jorge Leiva	30^*
Reus Reus Reus is the capital of the comarca of Baix Camp, in the province of Tarragona, in Catalonia, Spain. The area has always been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental importance at the time of the Phylloxera plague...	2000^†	Santiago Gilmartin	15^*
Mar del Plata Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...	2007	Diego Di Sabatto	10
^*Estimate ^†Approximate date

In Oxford

Oxford

, UK there are two community houses but no Bible House.

All the Bible Houses are situated closed to a Rivers of Life Church and the students attend all the church services. The Bible House students also serve the church in every way possible.

External links

Rivers of Life, Oxford
Bangor Community Church, Wales, Rivers of Life, Reus, Spain Rivers of Life, Argentina Bible House, Quilmes FM Victoria (Rivers of Life radio station, Quilmes Rivers of Life, Amsterdam Rivers of Life, The Netherlands Rivers of Life, central Buenos Aires

Familia de Jesús, – Church in El Salvador associated with Rivers of Life churches

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