ELKHART, Indiana (Mennonite Mission Network) – Edgardo Sánchez invested his life in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ; beginning right where he lived in Neuquén, Argentina, as far north as Illinois in the United States, and literally “to the ends of the earth” where the southernmost tip of Argentina points toward Antarctica.
Sánchez, a leader in Iglesia Evangélica Menonita Argentina (Argentina Evangelical Mennonite Church), died Easter Sunday morning in an automobile accident. Sanchez and his daughter, Débora, were en route from Buenos Aires and Santa Rosa to Neuquén when the accident occurred around 3:30 a.m. They were returning from church meetings and from helping another daughter, Anita, settle into an apartment to pursue a study program.
Both father and daughter were taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital. After treatment, Débora was released, but Edgardo died several hours later. He was 52 years old. A wake and burial were held for Sanchez in Neuquén on April 6.
In addition to Sánchez’s leadership roles in the Argentina Mennonite Church, he served as principal in the Mennonite school, Fundación Vida (Foundation of Life), which shares its building with the Neuquén congregation. He was also a member of the Mennonite World Conference Executive Committee since 2009.
Sánchez’s missionary vision is greatly valued by Mennonite Mission Network. He helped to formulate some of the first North-South partnerships. In 1994, he was one of five Mennonite pastors in Argentina’s Patagonia region to make an exploratory trip that led to the formation of the Patagonia Mission Project (PMP). This partnership focuses on preparing and sending missionaries to areas where Christian witness is largely absent. By 1998, a partnership agreement was signed by the Patagonia churches, Arm in Arm (a cluster of churches and individuals in Illinois), and one of Mennonite Mission Network’s predecessor agencies.
Linda Shelly, Mission Network’s director for Latin America, said, “Edgardo’s humble, gracious spirit was evident in his ways of relating with missionaries, church members, and partners. He will be remembered for his deep commitment as well as his ready smile and desire to do all he could to build up the reign of God in Patagonia and beyond.”
Shelly also reflected on the untimely passing of two other Argentine Mennonite leaders, Nacho Soto and Daniel Galmes, who died of illness “way too young.”
“With Edgardo’s death, all three of the Argentina Mennonite church-planting mission partnerships in which Mission Network is involved, have lost one of their key leaders in the past two and a half years,” Shelly said. “Strong relationships are developed in partnerships, and we feel deeply the deaths of these Argentine leaders.”
Sánchez is survived by his wife, Erica, and three children, Débora, Anita and Pablo.
A video created during a Mission Network trip hosted by Sánchez highlights some of his wisdom on missional living:
http://new.mennonitemission.net/Multimedia/TwoWayMission/Pages/ByGodsSpirit.aspx.
