EnfoqueGlobal

Brasil is pivotal in many aspects; it is South America’s largest country; one third of all Latin American Christians live in Brazil. God has done a tremendous work in this country in the last 100 years. Today they have more than 50 million evangelical believers, and many of their churches are already sending out missionaries. The difficulty we have had in Global Focus was the language. Last year I had the Spanish version of Global Focus mobilization process translated into Portuguese, so now we are able to work in this great country using the same process that is mobilizing hundreds of churches in the Spanish speaking world.

Since I do not feel that I am able to mentor churches in Brazil, because of the language and frankly time restraints. We have decided to from the beginning it is best to train facilitators that want to be able to mentor churches in Brazil in the Global Focus missional process. For that reason I was able to make a strategic alliance with OM, and train their staff. This past week I was able to spend an entire week training the OM (Operation Mobilization) team in Sao Jose dos Campos in the process we use to mobilize churches all over Latin America

Since Portuguese is similar enough to Spanish, and I had the material in front of me in Portuguese, and even though I had a translator next to me, I did not have to use him very often.

(Either the people of Brazil are very smart, and used to listening to Portuguese spoken badly, or God gave me the gift of tongues….. I think it was the first.) I am very excited not only about the possibility of helping the Brazilian churches mobilize even more their own people on mission with God, but very excited about this new partnership. I realize the only way to grow our ministry is to continue to train even more facilitators and work through partnerships like this one.

I was also able to spend half a day teaching future workers that are going out from OM to the nations. It was a joy to spend this time with these young people that have dedicated their lives to work in missions. I was able to share with them what God is doing, and a little on how to work in the mslm world, and how God could use them there.

rom the offices of OM in Sao Jose dos Campos, we were able to go to Sao Paulo, and there I was able to start the mentoring process (with the entire OM staff present as well) with the Redeemers Chapel of Sao Paulo, an Evangelical Free church.I will continue to mentor this church and teach the OM team at the same time on how to mentor churches.

This past Sunday I was able to preach at this great church as well, and challenge them on becoming an Antioch church. Pray for them as they are starting this missional process, and their interest in taking it to the rest of their denomination.

Yovanny Alvarez is another Global Focus facilitator, in Venezuela. He has been mobilizing several local church and baptist associations in Venezuela. This last week he was able to continue mentoring the Iglesia Bautista Jesucristo el Camino in the Global Focus missional process. Even though they are not a large church they have already sent two families to North Africa.

God is using Global Focus in an incredible way in Venezuela in spite of some of the most difficult economic situations, they are beginning to send workers to the field.

Pray not only for the churches involved in the Global Focus process throughout Latin America, but for our facilitators that are helping to mentor and challenge these churches to go far beyond what they thought possible.

Global Focus in Latin America has 10 facilitators that are mentoring churches in other parts of Latin America. One of them is Pastor Josue Villanueva of Oasis of Grace church in Santa Ana.

He is mentoring another church from his own denomination in San Miguel. This church has seen the transformation in the church in Santa Ana, and is now going through the same missional process in order to mobilize their entire church to be on mission for God, locally and globally.

Josue has also had the opportunity to mentor one of the largest evangelical churches in Latin America, ELIM.

He was invited to preach to the youth department, and because many of the young people surrendered their lives to be missionaries, now the missions department is going through the entire Global Focus course.

Pray for the entire church to catch the same vision and passion for God’s glory among all nations.

Two weeks ago I was in Lima, Peru mentoring Bible Baptist Church of Callao. They have now developed their missional statement which is a huge sign at the front of their auditorium that says: “Bible Baptist Church of Callao exists to GLORIFY God, by making DISCIPLES  that PREACH Christ here in Lima, and in all of the NATIONS of the world.”

That missional statement at the very front of their auditorium sets the standard that the reason why there church exists is to build the Kingdom of God. During the module I was able to teach them on this visit was how to form their Global Teams. I wish you could have seen pastor Oscar as he heard of the missional projects that his own people were coming up with as they were thinking of reaching their own Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Ends of the Earth.

Pastor Oscar told me that the people have never been more excited, and participative in God’s Mission.

Not only was I able to mentor pastor Oscar’s church, but I was able to meet with the leadership and preach in both Sunday am services of Vida Nueva (New Life Church). Pastor Thomas Pace has been the missionary pastor of this  great  missional  church  for  many  years,  and  now  pastor Fernando says that he believes that Global Focus can take them to an even more engaged level of missions. We will begin the process with their church in May of this year.

Along with mentoring churches and meeting with future candidates, I was able to have several very strategic meeting. One was with Antonio Pavon, the director of COMIMEX ( a large missions umbrella organization in Latin America). He has seen first hand how God is using Global Focus in Latin America, and we are currently working on a partnership agreement with COMIMEX to mentor even more churches in Mexico, and the first church from this organization Antonio’s own church he pastors. He said, Rafael, I want my church to experience how Global Focus helps personalize missions for every church member. We will start the process with them in May of this year.

Not only did I meet with COMIMEX, but I met with a couple of pastor friends of mine from the Mexican Baptist Convention. I told them how God is using Global Focus to help the churches of Baja California, and many of them are already sending workers to unreached areas. One of the pastor I was able to meet with was my good friend, Juan German Ortiz, pastor of Mexico City’s First Baptist Church. It is amazing how God has blessed this church of nearly 1,000 members in spite of not having adequate buildings, and being in the downtown area.

From their we were able to travel 2 hours away to Puebla, Mexico and meet with the leadership of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani. Pastor Bruce Bell is one of Latin America’s premier missionaries, having served nearly 50 years in Latin America.

He is the founder of Miramonte Baptist Church and dozens of other churches in Latin America. I remember as a 17 year old teenager hearing Bruce Bell speak at Berea Baptist Church in Monterrey, Mexico.

I still, after all of these years remember his sermon. I was honored to preach twice on Sunday am at this wonderful church. The entire leadership was so enthused at how Global Focus has helped Miramonte and other churches that we begin the process with them in May of this year as well.

I have the honor of mentoring Wesleyan churches in different cities of Mexico. God is doing a great work in this denomination and focusing them on His mission. I was able to preach and mentor the Pilgrims Evangelical Church in Cd. Valles, which is the oldest Wesleyan church in Mexico.

Not only did I preach twice on Sunday am and teach all afternoon their leaders, I spent 10 hours teaching their leaders again on Monday (which was a holiday in Mexico). Then I spent 2 hours with their Global Teams (Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and Ends of the Earth) helping them develop missional champions for each of their missional projects. They are now involved in planting churches in the Circle of Silence (which is the least reached area of Mexico), and in missions in Albania, and soon in Morocco. On Sunday we had dozens of people respond to God’s call of their lives for His Mission. Pray as this church seeks to engage even more of it’s members in God’s Mission.

From there I was able to teach Senda de Vida, the largest Wesleyan church in Mexico in Mexico City. I was able teach our last module, “Where do I fit in?”. This module is designed to help every member of the church find their spiritual gifting, their passion, life experiences, and personality in order to see where they fit into God’s mission. It was a great time teaching for 7 hours about 90 of their leaders. Pastor Alejandro is now sending out 6 families from the church to start churches in very need areas of Mexico, and they are also involved in helping to send a missionary to North Africa.

Last week my wife and I were able to be in Northwest Mexico, in Baja California, where I have been mentoring the BC Baptist Convention. Now we are mentoring Assemblies of God churches there as well. On Friday pm, we mentored FBC of Ensenada, where I am also mentoring Bethany Assembly of God. Not only are both the baptist and assembly of God churches being mentored, they are together sending their first cross cultural family to North Africa together! It is a joy to mentor both of these churches, and see that both are more interested in Jesus’s Mission to make disciples, than to even further their own denomination.

On Sunday am I was able to preach at Bethany where we had dozens of people respond to the invitation to obey Christ’s mission. After preaching at Bethany in Ensenada, my wife and left immediately and drove to Tecate, where I also mentor FBC there, and was able to teach our last module; “Where do I fit in?”. This module is designed to take the entire church through a process of personalization and for every member to find their Kingdom assignment in missions and in ministry. I love teaching this module, because this allows the church to literally mobilize every one of it’s members to intentionally live their lives on mission with God, whether it is in a missional project locally, or a national project or as a missional champion for a project in the ends of the earth. It helps every Christian to understand that our mission on earth is directly linked to Christ’s mission and what He wants to accomplish among the nations.

On Saturday we were able to be back in Tijuana at Camino de Salvacion, (Way of Salvation Baptist Church). They were very proud of their new Mission Statement sign that is in the church for all to see. Pastor Jose Antonio wants every member of his church to know why they exist, it is not to build a church building or even to hold services, but it is for them collectively to fulfill Jesus’s Mission on earth as His Body both by making disciples in Tijuana and in all nations at the same time. That is the reason that this baptist church of 50 members has now sent it’s first full time worker to Central Asia (I wrote about her in my last update). But not only are they making disciples in Tijuana and Central Asia, but they are making them among Haitian refugee’s.

They have been housing over 50 Haitian refugee’s in their very small church building since last Oct! Some would ask, why would this small baptist church send 75% of their offering to support a full time worker in Central Asia, and then use their small facilities to house refugee’s? It might have something to do with the purpose statement they have developed as part of the Global Focus missional process. It states: Camino de Salvacion exists to glorify God; being and making disciples that utilize their gifts to take the Gospel from Tijuana to every ethnic group on earth.

H. and L. are workers from Lima, Peru and are planting a church among the Syrian and Afghani refugee community in Germany. God has not only blessed their ministry with several refugee’s coming to faith in Christ, but now has blessed their family with the birth of their 3rd child which is their first daughter! Pray for this Peruvian family as they reach the unreached in Europe. I will be in Lima in 3 weeks, teaching and preaching at their home church.

Most churches have either their pastoral staff or missions staff develop, plan and prepare their Missions Conference. That is not the case with a Global Focus church; the pastoral staff or missions staff facilitates that the members not only participate, but help in the planning and preparation of the Global Celebration.

Why? Because an underlaying principal: “Participation creates a sense of ownership”, and a principal Truth: “Missions is not just the mission of missionaries or the church staff, but of every follower of Christ”.

After finishing up preaching at CIMA (Bolivia and Argentina) I flew back to Santa Cruz and La Paz Bolivia where I am mentoring Kairos. Both churches are getting ready for their first Global Celebration later this year. I was able to meet with the over 100 of their leaders and help them with the initial preparations for their Celebration.

These churches now have a combined total of over 50 missional projects, locally and globally! To say that they are excited about their first Global Celebration would be the understatement of the year.

I also had the opportunity to preach in the Saturday pm service of Kairos and in both of their Sunday am services. Pray for these churches as the prepare to invite the different missionaries to help them mobilize even further their people to God’s Mission.