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Background Brief ing
Paper
Number
17
Lat in America Mission
5465
Vl
36th
St .
(33166)
P.O.
Box 52-7900
Miami,
FL 33152
- 7900
(305)
884 -
8400
August 13
.1990
I
This paper i s not an of f i c i a l document of the Lat in
America Mission-USA,
in
the sense t ha t i t . has not
been
approved
by any
l eg i s l a t i ve
body
of the
LAM-USA. t
has
been pr epa r ed by the Adminis t rat ion pr imar i ly fo r
i n t e rna l use. t
may
not be
quoted
or reproduced without
permiss ion. t i s
dated,
and subjec t
to r ev i s ion a t any
t ime.
CHRIST FOR
THE
CITY
A
Brief History
and
Current Sta tus
Background
The
Lat in
America Mission,
s ince
i t s ear ly
days
as the Lat in
American Evangel iza t ion
Campaign,
has focused on the
c i t i e s
of
Lat in
America.
I t s ear ly
campaigns
were genera l ly c i ty
-
wide
un i ted
campaigns
a t
a t ime when
such
interdenominat ional
e f fo r t s
were an
innova t ive
approach
Because
of
LAM's
i n t e r e s t i n rad io
l i t e r a -
publ ica t ion and d i s t r ibu t ion and 1.:heolog
i c a l
educat ion, i
t:s
personnel nave usual ly
loca ted in
Latin American c i t i e s .
After dives t ing i t s e l f of i t s minis t r i es in 1971, tu rn ing them
over
to nat iona l ly -
operated
boards and then coopera t ing with these
minis t r i es by loaning
them
missionary personnel through the Lat in
American
Community
of Evangel ical
Minis t r ies
(CLAME),
the
increas-
ing s t rength of these na t ional i n s t i t u t i ons
required
l e s s suppor t
from the Mission.
A growing sense developed
t ha t in
addi t ion to
loaning
personnel
to these autonomous nat ional
bodies , God had a
new dimension fo r t he
Mission
to
adopt
as
a
d i r ec t minis t ry .
Provident ia l ly Clayton L."Mike" Berg, J r . then
Pres iden t of
the LAM at tended the
In te rna t iona l Consul ta t ion
on
World
Evangel i -
zat ion in Pataya, Thai land.
He was
ass igned
a
room with
Ray
Bakke,
a l eading
promoter of
minis t ry to world-c lass
c i t i e s .
This,
along
with other f ac to r s re inforced a
growing
convic t ion t ha t a major
e f fo r t should
be made to reach the people of
Lat in America ' s
l a rges t c i t i e s .
Early
Developments
In May 1983
mendation by the
the LAM Board of Trustees approved
pres ident
t ha t
the Mission
become
1
a recom-
d i rec t ly
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involved in reaching unreached Latin peoples in
urban
areas .
There
was
ear ly concern
t ha t
adequate
research be
done and
t ha t the
minis t ry
maintain
a s t rong
re la t ionsh ip with ex is t ing
churches
as
new
churches
were
plan ted .
Paul
Pre t iz
was
named the
f i r s t
d i rec to r
of
the Chris t for the
City CFC) program. Four c i t i e s
were
i n i t i a l l y chosen:
Mexico
City
(est imated populat ion
metropol i tan
area,
1986:
19,305,000) Being
the world s
l a rges t
c i t y and
located
in
Lat in America, t h i s
urban
colossus
could
scarcely
be overlooked. Spi r i tua l ly t
i s
one of the
needies t
on
the cont inent .
There were al ready some L M
minis t r ies there with which the program could col labo-
r a t e .
MeqellJ_n_.._ Colombia (es t . pop. metro. area: 3 mil l ion )
The LAM-related Associa t ion
of Evange l i ca
l Churches of
the Caribbean had appealed
for
missionary personnel to
p lan t
churches
here
and
in
other
c i t i e s . At
the
t ime
we
were
not fu l ly aware
of the
s ign i f i cance
of
developing
a
program in what soon would be the un iver sa l ly recognized
drug
cap i t a l of
the world.
Caracas ,
Venezuela
(es t .
pop. metro.
area: 4.5 mill ion)
Samuel
Olson, member of
the L M Board
of
Trustees and
pas tor of t h i s l a rges t church,
i s sued
the
appeal
for Caracas.
Miami, Flor ida
(es t . pop.
metro. area: 1.9 mill ion)
There was a growing
consciousness
t ha t a
miss ion 's
respons ib i l i ty should include the community a t i t s
doorstep.
The
Miami
outreach,
because
of
i t s
d i f f e r en t
nature and the
c i t y ' s
var ied
cu l tu res , organiza t iona l ly
has re la ted di rec t ly to the L M adminis t ra t ion and not
the
CFC
di rec to r .
The Mission l eadersh ip
had
the expectat ion t ha t
ex is t ing
personnel
would
fee l
ca l led
to move to these c i t i e s and
become
- The misBionar ies with L M a t the t ime r because
of
t he i r
average
age
and
t he i r ac t ive
and fu l f i l l ing
involvement
in t he i r
current minis t r ies , were not
as
read i ly ava i lab le
as
expected.
Emphas i s
was
then placed
on recru i t ing
new
personnel
for CFC.
Meanwhile, to
keep i n t e res t
from
f lagging
in
Caracas ,
were re leased for a coa l i t ion of churches to employ two
zuelan
missionar ies to
begin
helping coa l i t ion churches
daughter
congregat ions in unreached neighborhoods.
funds
Vene-
plan t
Colombians
were
recru i ted to begin the Medell in pro jec t .
This
was
opportune in
view of
the
depar ture of
the
f i r s t North
American
CFC
missionar ies due to family and
heal th
problems.
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-
Each pro jec t began
with
research
and the compilat ion of
a
of evangel ica l work in t ha t c i t y . This
provided a
bas i s
upon which
to
compare the growth of
the
churches as a r e su l t of
the
program.
t
a l so included a
l i s t i ng o f
unchurched
neighborhoods
where LAM teams
or o the rs could
go and i n i t i a t e
church
-p lan t ing
e f fo r t s . The Mexico
City
research became p a r t of a l a rger i nves t i -
gat ion,
which
was
al ready
s t a r t i ng
a t
the
t ime
and
coord inated
l oca l l y by VELA, a
Mexican
minis t ry .
Similar
research
i s a major component of the
Miami
da ta i s
gathered
sec t ion by sec t ion from the c i ty . By
of t h i s
information,
churches can
become
aware of t he i r
commun i t i e s '
sp i r i t ua l and s oc i a l needs.
Local ly , t h i s
the
Community
Awareness
Program
(CAP).
program as
making use
respec t ive
i s
ca l l ed
The s t a t i s t i c s revealed
t ha t these
Lat in
American c i t i e s
conta ined some of the
grea te s t
concentra t ions of
11
unreached
peoples . Evangel ical Chris t ians
have
been presen t i n
some
of them
for over
a
century . S t i l l , the extremely low
percentages
of
evangel ica
l
bel ievers in
those we
surveyed--one
t h i rd
of
one
percent in Medel l in--confi rmed for us the need fo r major evange-
l i s t i c e f fo r t s
to help nat iona l
brethren in each place .
This
e a r l i e r
per iod was
dedicated to
def in ing CFC's approach
and the prepara t ion of the
CFC Principles ,
a
document
ava i l ab le
upon
reques t . These
pr inc ip l e s
include: a commitment
to
mo
b i l i
ze
every be l i eve r in witness , networking
with
churches ar.d agencic=s,
working
toward
the
uni ty of the Body of in a
given
c i ty , and
a compassionate care dimension
t ha t
in teg
r a t e s
concern for
phys ica l
and soc ia l
needs
with
our
evangel i s t i c
t h ru s t .
The CFC
in te rna t iona l o f f ice
was f i r s t
loca ted
in Mexico City ,
where
new
personnel
a r r ived for
or i en t a t i on
and
l
anguage
study.
Language
programs
there
were
disappoin t ing , and
eventua l ly
the
off ice
was
moved to
San Jose , Costa Rica, the t r ad i t i ona l f i e ld
headquar ters
of
the LAM
Recent
Developments
Since the
move
of th
e off ice to
San
Jose
in 1989 and the
appointment of John Huffman as di rec tor , var ious new elements
have
been added to Chr i s t fo r the c i ty :
1 .
A
modif ied Evangelism-in-Depth (EID)
program was
i n t r o -
duced in to the
Mexico
City
and Medell in endeavors , and
l a t e r incorpora ted in the
plans
for coas ta l Colombia
(Cartagena and
Barranqui l la ) .
EID was
the
LAM s t r a t egy
in the
60 ' s which
sought
to mobil ize
churches
to coor -
d ina te t h e i r evangel i s t i c e f fo r t s during
a
given per iod
of t ime, usual ly
one year ,
with spec ia l emphasis
on
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motivating and t r a in ing the rank and
f i l e
in personal
evangelism. MIL MEX
(Spanish
acronym for Latin America
Mission
of
Mexico) had been
promoting
EID
pr inc ip les
for
years
and
was en l i s ted
to carry
out t h i s component as
par t of the Mexico City ef fo r t .
The
EID
approach
in
Mexico
City
has
been
l imi ted a t f i r s t to Iz tapalapa,
an
area of
the
Federal Dis t r i c t chosen for
our in it
a l
th rus t .
Later ,
other
areas
wil l
be t a rge ted
fo r s imi la r
outreach.
To the
usual
elements of the
program
have been added
workshops to help
pas tors
and
leaders
disc ip le
new
converts ,
adopt
more ef fec t ive worship s ty les , among
other th ings .
2. The Par t ic ipa tory Missionary Prayer Program draws upon
in
through
prayer , as well
as systematized prayer for spec i f ic homes and people to
be
reached by
vi s i t a t ion .
3. National missionar ies have become
increas ingly
involved.
4 .
While Venezuelans and
Colombians
were al ready
involved
in
CFC Costa Rica
was a l so
tapped for missionary
personnel .
Many
of
these
volunteer for shor t - te rm serv ice (up to
a
month) fo r vi s i t a t ion . Others
are
pas tors who conduct
evange l i s t ic
crusades. Some (with
f inanc ia l
support f rom
Costa Rican
churches)
of fe r
longer
pe r iods
of
serv ice .
New ca teqor ies
of
service for
missionary
personnel have
been made
avai lable .
In
addi t ion to career cont rac ts ,
shor t - te rm teams
are being
used
and a
category
for
shor t -
term
volunteers
three
to
f ive
years)
has
created
broader
oppor tuni t ies
for
minis t ry
within
CFC.
The
Mission
i s
now explor ing another avenue for volunteers ca l led to
incarna t iona l ministry among
the
poor.
5 . The
development
of
Costa
Rica
as
a base has been taking
place. While
San Jose
i s
not
a major urban area,
models
minis t ry have - bequn th e
re
which make a
ccn t r ibu t ion
in
t h e i r
own r igh t . These
models
a l so provide t r a in ing
and
experience for new candidates while they are st ll in
language school regardless of t he i r f ina l des t ina t ion on
the f i e ld .
Curren t Status of the
Program
(June, 1990)
Mexico
Citv.
Church-plant ing i s
being
car r ied
out
in the
Gustavo
A.
Madero
area, with a
whol i s t i c approach to
a
squa t te r
set t lement
as \vell as an outreach in a middle
c lass neighborhood.
The EID program in Iz tapalapa enjoys
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the support of some 50
(out
of perhaps 110)
es tab l i shed
churches . A minis t ry involving smal l medical c l in i c s
c lose ly i den t i f i ed
with the
loca l
churches i s
being
s tud ied .
Medel l in .
This
c i t y a l so has a bvo-pronged approach: .
church-p lan t ing
with a
medical c l i n i c in
a spec i f i c
bar r io
and
the
ci ty-wide
EID
t ra in ing
coordina ted
by
the
loca l
m in i s t e r i a l
assoc ia t ion . A 40 i nc rease in church
a t tendance
was the r e su l t of
the f i r s t
t en
months
of
EID.
In t e r e s t on Colombia 's Caribbean coas t has l ed
to a
s imi la r program cur ren t ly und
e r
way
in Cartagena and
Barranqui l la . The
research
in Cartagena demonstra ted
t ha t only
1.5%
of
the popula t ion i s evangel ica l .
Caracas. Church p lan t ing with the Venezuelan miss ionar -
i e
s
under the Caracas coal i t ion cont inues . Non-
coa l i t ion
churches a re
encouragea
- - to
ca tch
-the
vis ion through
Vision
15000 . Given the
lack of
l eader sh ip
for the new churches to be plan ted , many of
the
LAM
personnel
are
involved
in the
Caracas
Evangel ical
Seminary.
Miami.
The above-mentioned Community Awareness Program
w i l l
have f in i shed
i t s
information-gather ing phase by the
end
of 1990.
The
team
w i l l
have personal ly contac ted 800
pas tor s , 250 school
principc. ls ,
severa l hundred soc ia l
and
parachurch agencies,
plus
hos
p i t a l s , po l i ce and loca l
governments,
e tc
. This
wil l
r e s u l t
in a se r i e s of
publ ica t ions and gather ings
to
enable churches
to more
e f fec t ive ly
min i s t e r
to
t he i r communities. Unity
a t
a l l
le
ve
l s of Chr i s t i an leadersh ip i s being encouraged in a
c i t y
t r ad i t i ona l ly
fragmented
along
r ac ia l ,
e thn ic
and
l i ngu i s t i c
l i ne s . Spec ia l programs to
reach Mid-Eastern
peoples and i n t e r na t i ona l s tudents a re under way.
San Jose . A whol i s t i c church-p lan t ing endeavor in a
s qua t t e r se t t lement , San Pedro de
Pavas,
i s c r ea t i ng a
model for s imi la r works
elsewhere .
The
resources
of
Costa
Rica ' s
l a rge evangel ica l
popula t ion
a re being
mobi l ized for shor t - and
long-term
se rv ice by Costa
Ricans in o ther count r ies . To date , shor t - te rm t r i p s
sponsored by CFC to Mexico and Colombia
have
involved
140
Costa
Ricans. Seven others
have
long-term
se rv ice
con t rac t s of
s ix months or more. Contacts are being made
fo r t he
extens ion of
Chris t fo r
the
City
to
other Lat in
American
metropol ises .
Paul Pre t i z , June
1990
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