Partnering with Latin American Churches to
Complete the Great Commission
By Steve Nolen
Steve Nolen is CEO Director, of Conexión 10/40, a missions
organization that works alongside of Latin American churches sending
missionaries into the 10/40 Window. He served, along with his wife Ruth and
their children, as missionaries for 18 years in church planting in
My wife, children, and I served 8 years as missionaries in
Through that process we learned some key issues being
addressed by the Latin American leaders, and in 2003 God once again called us
to return to the
Currently, the needs we are addressing are 1) to facilitate
strategic partnerships between
First, there are pragmatic reasons to partner with a Latin American church. It is commonly recognized that many Latin Americans and others coming from the a non-Western background may have certain advantages. Various people have identified several of these advantages. They can be categorized as political, economic, cultural, and spiritual.
The political image of the
This sentiment has been much
verbalized by President Hugo Chavez of
Dr. Ergun Caner, a
Muslim-background believer and author of the
study Collision of Worldviews, stated in the introductory video that as
a Muslim teenager coming to the
Meic Pearse provided a strikingly honest observation on this subject when he wrote:
The truth is that Westerners are perceived by non-Westerners…as rich, technologically sophisticated, economically and politically dominant, morally contemptible barbarians….
For the moment, we simply note that they do, in point of fact, generate resentment – a resentment that can, as with the man driving the truck-bomb, amount to hatred.[2]
This is a world-wide reality for North American missionaries that gives Latin American missionaries more of an advantage in reaching some people groups. In fact, there are Latin Americans who also share the view stated by Pearse.
As stated, in some places this
emotion surfaces in hatred and at other times it may only be revealed in
passive prejudice. But it is a reality for North American (particularly
By economic advantage, what is referred to is not the economic resources of Latin Americans, but rather their economic identification with those to whom they minister. Jenkins stated, “For the foreseeable future, members of the Southern dominated church are likely to be among the poorer people on the planet, in marked contrast to the older Western-dominated world.”[3]
Urbanization and the urban
poor play a role in this advantage as well. Namely, a Latin American from
Laure Heikes also listed “standard of
living” as an advantage of Latin American missionaries. She stated, “The
missionary movement in
She observed that an additional
advantage of Latin Americans was that many were familiar with migrant work and
noted that the Latin migration to the
While these observations may be true, extremes should be avoided. For example, the statement, “Latin American missionaries are cheaper to send than North American missionaries” is not a valid reason and may very well be offensive. It shows a lack of biblical understanding in missiology.
Dwight Smith referred to this as “lackeyism.”[7]Lackeyism says, “You can support a national missionary for one hundred dollars a month, or a North American for $3,000 a month.” Likewise, “You can support a Latin American missionary for $1,000 a month, or a North American for $3,000 a month.” The inference in either case it is cheaper. But if we are consistent and think like that, why send any Latin American or North American missionaries?
While it is known and accepted that biblically solid, well-equipped, Spirit-filled, national believers are the key to reaching any people group, that does not mean that God has ceased to call cross-cultural missionaries to train and equip national believers in reproducing churches among their group. Cost is not the primary issue. The Great Commission is the primary issue. Likewise, it is illogical to say that our motive for partnering to send Latin American believers is because it is cheaper.
Third, Latin Americans in some areas are more culturally similar to those in the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist worlds. Such statements refer to the personality of cultures and not to individual personalities as people are different. The offense (or lack of offense) comes because everyone thinks that everyone else thinks like them.[8] The advantage of Latin Americans is that they do think like many of those living in the 10/40 Window.
One area of similarity is the concept of time. Whereas the Westerner will be more task-oriented and sequential in their thought pattern, the non-Westerner tends to be more people and event oriented. Lanier stated, “being structured, planned, and time conscious go hand in hand. Being spontaneous, unplanned and event oriented do, too.”[9] The Western missionary can learn this, but for the Latin American missionary it is natural. Two other cultural areas mentioned by Lundy that are advantageous to Latin Americanmissionaries are the degree of formality expected in different contexts and the manner of resolving conflicts.[10]
Heikes added to this list of cultural and worldview similarities
the political climate of
Two observations should be noted regarding these last two advantages. One, it will also be seen later as a need that the Latin American worker be able to contextualize methodologies. This is important in that just because Latin Americans have witnessed the mistakes of North American missionaries this does not insure that they will not make the same mistakes as it relates to Latin American culture. Two, in some places Latin Americans are becoming known for missionary work and receive the same scrutiny that North Americans receive due to the internet and ease of information flow it provides.
On a spiritual level, Jenkins noted that the “Southern Christians are far more conservative in terms of both beliefs and moral teaching” and that they “retain a very strong supernatural orientation.”[13] Although Jenkins does not come from a conservative, evangelical background there is still validity to his statement, particularly concerning the “supernatural orientation.” This is because the Latin American spiritual worldview includes what Hiebert referred to as “the flaw of the excluded middle”[14] As Pocock observed, “Although Bible-believing Christians knew that the middle area contained activity of angels or demons, they paid little attention to it.”[15] Latin Americans, however, except for those trained in the Western world, do not exclude the middle. This allows them to connect with others who have this same worldview toward spiritual realities.
However, it should be recognized that the Latin American missionary has the same challenges as any other missionary in several areas. First, the religious barrier between any Christian and a Muslim or Hindu is the same regardless of the nationality of the Christian. Second, Latin American missionaries have the same challenges as any other missionary with regard to learning a second language, or understanding the culture of the host country or people group.Third, there is no respect of culture with spiritual warfare. Interpersonal conflict, temptation, and other issues related to spiritual growth are equal. Any missionary who does not maintain a consistent walk with God will not do well. Fourth, the same economic background that gives the Latin American an advantage also places them at times in a disadvantage due to the lack of or inconsistent financial support.
Finally, there are times when being
Latin American may actually work against the Latin
American missionary. For example, in most countries it is much more difficult
for the Latin American missionary to live near an embassy or consulate than a
North American. In some countries, it is much easier to obtain tourist
and business visas from the
Therefore, while it is pragmatic for
A second reason to partner with
Latin American church to see the Great Commission fulfilled relates to an
understanding of the history of missions. Andrew Walls stated,
“It is a feature of the Christian faith that throughout its history it has
spread through cross-cultural contact; indeed, its very survival has been
dependent on such contact.”[16] As the missions center in the New
Testament book of Acts shifted from
Walls continued, “For Christian expansion has not been progressive, like Islamic expansion, spreading out from a central point and retaining, by and large, the allegiance of those it reaches. Christian expansion has been serial. Christian faith has fixed itself at different periods in different heartlands, waning in one as it has come to birth in another.”[17]
Walls then goes on to show how Christianity started out in
He continued explaining that for several centuries Christian
presence was concentrated (principally, not exclusively) in
Over a long period Christianity in
What would have happened had the church at
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Rick
Warren opened his best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life with four words:
“It’s not about you.”[19]
Revelation 7:9 is not about an individual church, denomination, or
country. It is about the
If we are genuinely concerned with those who have never heard
the gospel the church must move beyond a position of everyone must believe all
the biblical doctrines exactly alike and realize that God’s hand is evidently
at work in
But the most important reason why
Phill Butler stated, “I’m convinced of one thing: The brokenness of the church, the divisions that abound, and our consistent resistance to the God design of restored relationships and practical unity is our (the church’s) truly great sin. It is the world’s roadblock of all roadblocks to belief.”[20]
But these divisions are not just denominational. Our
independent and individualistic
Can the Great Commission and the fact that so many who have never been exposed to the gospel unite continents of believers and overcome the cultural, linguistic, and denominational walls that separate Christians? Not without humility. Guthrie quoted an observation of Brazilian Alex Araujo, one of the founders of COMIBAM:
Westerners need, most of all, to get used to the idea that they are not the only ones who can do the job well. While this change in understanding may initially feel deflating, we can find scriptural grounds for being delighted with being only one of God’s many servants, and derive our motivations not from the relative impor-tance of our part but from the absolute mandate from God to make disciples of all nations.[21]
While it is true that the Latin American church may learn from the successes and failures of more than one hundred years of missions experience in the U.S., this cannot and should not be done out of arrogance or superiority.
If the Body of Christ is understood correctly, it means that Latin American missionaries will be able to develop relationships and share the gospel with people that might be closed to someone from the United States. However, it also teaches that North American missionaries will be able to develop relationships and share the gospel with people that would not be open to Latin Americans. The same holds true for Chinese, Korean, African, etc. God will use His Body, all of it, to communicate the gospel to a world in need.
Not only is the concept of the Body of Christ a valid reason to partner, but also the partnerships seen in the life and ministry of Paul provide a viable example to us today. One issue that repeatedly has surfaced from North American missionaries working in Latin America is the need for the Latin American Missions Movement to be indigenous. Normally what is meant by that is that there should be very limited funding if any from the North for the endeavor. In short, the Latin Americans need to raise all of their own money. While the fear behind this attitude is that financial support from other countries will create dependency, it does not appear to be the Pauline model.
Paul collected and received cross-cultural offerings. He collected an offering from Macedonia and Achaia (Corinth) for the church at Jerusalem that was suffering economically (Romans 15:26). It is also known that Paul accepted aid personally from the Macedonians more than one time (Philippians 4:15-16) although he was not Macedonian. He did not tell the Macedonians not to send any more and that he was going to wait for his sending church at Antioch to send all that he needed. Instead, he told them that what they sent was “a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God (Philippians 4: 18).” Paul had created with the Philippian believers an effective partnership since the foundation of the church, as he did with other churches. Paul’s church planting created inter-dependent partnerships. They needed Paul, but Paul also needed them.
The U.S. church needs to be careful not to develop an attitude of “Let’s help the Latin American church. They need us.” The better attitude is, “Let’s work with the Latin American church. We need each other in the Great Commission to see God glorified among the nations!”
May God give us His heart and His motives for working with Latin American churches, as well as other churches from across the globe, to see the gospel extended among those who do not know Him. May we do it cooperatively in a spirit of humility and servant hood.
Therefore, our foundational philosophy at Conexión 10/40 is to serve the Latin American churches sending missionaries to the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist world. God has led us to do that in two ways. First, by connecting the U.S. church with the Latin American church and the receiving team in the field when possible in partnerships that can be reproduced as models are developed. Conexión 10/40 will conduct the third Strategic Alliance Summit this October near Atlanta, Georgia. From the first two meetings there are currently nine partnerships in process. As successful models are developed these will be multiplied in the coming years. This year’s event in October will have 18 Latin American missions leaders and pastors from 10 countries present to share various projects.
Second, by offering an alternative, niche training to train Latin Americans who will in turn train other Latin Americans in subjects that were defined by listening to the Latin American leaders and missionaries. It is not designed to replace the training already being done by Latin American agencies but to supplement their training in areas in which God has uniquely prepared us to contribute from 15 years of practical field experience.
Our vision is to train 500 Latin American missionary trainers in the next 10 years in second language acquisition, reproducible church planting in the 10/40 Window, and Pastoral Care of missionaries. Conexión 10/40 believes as God brings this to reality that He will continue to be glorified among the nations through Latin American churches and believers committed to the Great Commission.
Published, “Contextualization” in the October 2009 issue of the online journal
[1] Ergun Mehmet Caner, When Worldviews Collide (Nashville: Lifeway Press, 2005), Introduction to Course video.
[2] Meic Pearse,
[3] Philip Jenkins, The Next Christendom: The Coming of Global Christianity (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002), 7.
[4] This occurred in a conversation of author with Esperanza Rodriguez (not real name), 2001, in Calcutta, India.
[5] Laura Heikes, Úna Perspectiva Diferente: Latin Americans and the Global Missions Movement.” Missiology: An International Review, 31:1 (January, 2003), 72-3.
[6] Ibid., 74.
[7] Dwight P. Smith, “Slaying the Dragons of Self Interest: Making International Partnership Work,” Evangelical Missions Quarterly 28, no. 1 (January 1992), 20.
[8] Sarah A. Lanier, From Foreign to Familiar (Hagerstown, MD: McDougal Publishing, 2000), 27-28.
[9] J. David Lundy, “Moving Beyond Internationalizing the Missions Force,” International Journal of Frontier Missions 16:3 (Fall 1999): 148.
[10] Ibid., 151-152.
[11] Heikes, “Una Perspectiva,” 75.
[12] Ibid., 75-6.
[13] Jenkins, Next Christendom. 7
[14] Hiebert, “The Flaw of the Excluded Middle.” Missiology: An International Review 10 (January, 1982), 35-47.
[15] Michael Pocock, The Changing Face of World Missions (
[16] Andrew F. Walls, The Missionary Movement in Christian History: Studies in the Transmission of Faith (Maryknoll. N.Y.: Orbis Books, 2004), 256.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid., 257.
[19] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (
[20] Phill Butler,
Well Connected: Releasing Power, Restoring Hope Through Kingdom Partnerships (
[21] Alex Araujo, quoted in Stan Guthrie, “Looking Under the Hood of the Non-Western Missions Movement,” in Evangelical Missions Quarterly, (January 1995), 95.