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What kind of work
are you doing there? Profile of the
Christian Church in Central America “The Need for an Evangelism
Institute” The Independent Christian Church, known in Central
America as the “Body of Christ,” has undergone relative growth throughout its
history in this Spanish-speaking region.
The significant growth that is needed to make an indelible impact on
the region (autonomous churches) and around the world (capable of sending
missionaries) has not occurred. An
analysis of the churches in each country shows some obvious reasons for this. First, when the Christian Church arrived in
Central America, congregations were typically established in rural areas and
towns instead of capitals and principal cities, where two-thirds of the
population resides. Secondly,
congregations have either a total or partial dependence on foreign mission
organizations and missionaries, with few exceptions. Finally, there has been very little emphasis
on equipping leaders to plant culturally relevant churches in urban
settings. As long as this is the case,
the Body of Christ will never have the impact it could and should have in
Central America. Consequently, we believe at least three things need
to happen to turn this harmful trend around: 1)
Central American churches with joint purposes and goals for the region, 2) The
creation of regional projects (youth conferences, training institute, etc.)
and 3) A focus on national and regional leadership. (These stated beliefs are based on
two facts: 1) we have lived in Central America and are eyewitnesses of the
work that has been done here during the past 15 years and 2) Central
Americans have similar cultures, the same geography, a shared history and common
racial origins.)
PUENTE Ministries believes it is time to address these issues and is
convinced that an evangelism institute is an important step in this process.
More About the International Evangelism
Institute Who do you work
with? At present our two families are
collaborating with leadership from the Christian Churches in Costa Rica. This includes Victor Hernandez, a
missionary from the Dominican Republic who has lived in Costa Rica for more than
ten years. We work with another family
that partnered with us in Honduras, Edwin & Jessenia Guerra. We also network with Churches and mission
agencies Stateside, like Christ In Youth, who bring groups down from the
United States for short visits. |
