News and Updates

Two thousand years have passed since Jesus told us what He wanted us to do; “Make disciples in every nation (people groups). Even after 2,000 years, there are still over 6,000 unreached people groups. So what is the answer; how do we get from where were are to where we should be? 

We have to go back to the beginning; the Great Commission was given to the Church, and the way to reach the nations is when local churches intentionally send workers to these people groups. That is why mobilizing local churches is fulfilling the need among the nations. In Enfoque Global (Global Focus Latin America), we mobilize local churches in Latin America (now nearly 375 different churches, and 8 different evangelical denominations).

These churches are not only engaging locally in missions, but they are engaging globally in missions, and sending their own people to the nations. So the way to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, is by mobilizing more churches. That is why I am excited that we now have several Latin American Global Focus facilitators, and seeing how they are mobilizing other local churches in the same missional process that helped to engage their churches in mission. It is my joy every week to write about our mobilization efforts in different countries in Latin America, but also write about the missionaries that we are helping these churches to send to the unreached, and new candidates we are on their way.

So more mobilizers, = more churches on mission = more candidates and missionaries to the field = more unreached able to hear the Gospel and worship God!

Pastor Yovanny Alvarez is mentoring about 15 churches in Venezuela in the Global Focus process. He just started with a new church, FBC Barquisimeto. He was able to teach the leadership of this church the initial GF seminar. When you think of Venezuela, you immediately think of the economic crisis and the total collapse of their government, which is all true.

But the parallel reality is that God is raising up missional churches, and sending out missionaries from Venezuela to the nations! We have now sent our 8 families from Venezuela to the unreached, and this next week will take another family on a vision trip to the Middle East. Pray for Venezuela, pray for Pastor Yovanny, and all that God is doing in this country through the churches raising up even more missionaries.

Last week, pastors Pablo Carhuachin and Oscar Loyola (both have implemented GF in their own churches, and are now mentoring other congregations), were able to teach the initial GF seminar to a new church in Lima, Peru at Manantial de Vida B.C.

They were both able to teach the leadership of this church our initial GF seminar. The church is very excited about participating in this missional process. Praise God for Latin American Global Focus facilitators that are multiplying the impact that Global Focus is having on the churches of Latin America.

If I had to do this alone, I could not reach very many churches, but together we are reaching hundreds of churches throughout Latin America.

Last week I was in Bogota, Colombia after our time in Mexico. I was continuing to mentor Centro de Fe y Esperanza (Faith and Hope Center) in the Global Focus process. Not only did we help them develop their Purpose Statement in their church, but also to integrate missions into every single ministry of the church.

We also helped them develop a strategy where they are praying for missions and missionaries; Every Service, Every Small Group, Every Week. Their purpose statement that we helped them to develop is: “Centro de Fe y Esperanza exists to glorify God, by making disciples that are in the image of Christ, equipping them for His Mission from where we are all the way to the Ends of the Earth.”

This past week Xochitl and I were able to continue mentoring Getsemani Baptist Church of Puebla. We are half way through the Global Focus process with this wonderful church. Not only are they aligning their church around God’s Global Mission, now we are teaching them how to develop missional projects in their local area (Puebla) and all the way to the ends of the earth. I wish you could have felt the electric enthusiasm as they nearly 120 leaders of the church presented different missional projects of which they are going to be personally involved in.

One of the projects was to help woman and young girls that have been victims of sex-trafficking; another project had identified a Pakistani community of more than 250 families in Puebla! They are developing a missional project to build bridges of connection in order to take the Gospel to and unreached people group living in their won community!

There were many other projects presented, but I want to mention 2 more; Last year Xochitl and I were able to take a doctor from the church to work with Syrian refugee’s in the Middle East, a country where we are sending Latin American workers. This year, that same doctor is taking another 8 doctors and dentists with us to continue to work with the refugee’s in Sept! Another “Ends of the Earth” project is that now Getsemani is financially supporting one of our families serving in one of the most closed countries in Central Asia. A group of 5 -6 university students from the church are planning on visiting them in Central Asia this Nov. to do a special project. 

The churches that we mentor in Global Focus are not only sending their own missionaries to the field and financially supporting them, but church members are getting personally involved developing their own missional projects and participating with missionaries on their special projects! They are reaching the nations locally, and they are reaching the nations globally; they are on the move with God and what He is doing. These churches are truly becoming missional communities.

Also I was able to be with Pastors Luis Marti (from El Salvador) and Pastor Victor Velazquez (from Mexico City), both Global Focus facilitators in Latin America. The three of us were able to attend and participate in the annual meeting of COMIMEX (which is a large yearly missions congress in Mexico). Not only did we have a stand at the congress, we were able to teach some of the principals of Global Focus and show how our process is mobilizing churches all over Latin America.

Each one of our facilitators is a pastor that has implemented Global Focus in their own church, and they have mobilized their own people to the nations. It was wonderful to see both Luis and Victor  teach pastors in our breakout session, but also interact with them personally and share how Global Focus helped them to mobilize their own people to the nations.

Because of their testimonies we are now going to start the GF process with several new churches in Mexico, and participate teaching on the OM ship! Please pray for both of them as they mentor other churches in Latin America in the same process that mobilized their churches. Also pray that God continues to multiply our number of facilitators to mentor even more churches.

Xochitl just returned from Cuba where she was with our pastor’s wife, Suzie Hawkins, and several other ladies able to teach pastors wives from the Eastern Baptist Convention of Cuba. I was able to do the simultaneous translation of our pastor’s Men’s Conference with nearly 6,000 men present and tens of thousands watching the simulcast. It is my privilege to do the simultaneous translation every year for this great conference. Last week I was able to attend the Full Sail Leaders Support Raising Conference, where missional leaders from 110 different missions agencies and organizations came together to explore funding modules in order to send even more labores to the fields. This weekend Xochitl and I are in Puebla, Mexico and next week in Toluca, Mexico at the national COMIMEX missions conference with Luis Marti. Both of us will be representing Global Focus at this event. 

These are just a few stories that we receive on a weekly basis of how God is using missionaries that we were able to help send to the nations. Global Focus is making an indelible impact on the churches that we are mentoring, helping them to focus that the main purposes of being a church is not to just have Sunday services, but to be God’s instrument to extend His Kingdom to all nations. Praise God that the Sovereign work that God has done in Latin America over the last 100 years, is having fruit among the unreached people groups on the other side of the world. Please continue to pray for the 10 facilitators that Global Focus has in Latin America and the work that we are doing in mobilizing the local churches all over Latin America to the nations.