When we first arrived in Nicaragua in 2013, we found people eager to serve the Lord through their local church. Nicaragua, and much of Latin America, have been blessed by decades of missionary work. Churches had been planted and were growing. Some of these churches had caught a vision to plant more churches in Nicaragua. There was enthusiasm for ministry! But the vision ended with the need and call to Nicaragua alone.
We began to discover that the word “missionary”, for Nicaraguans meant “a gringo that comes to my country.” Nicaraguans viewed North Americans as the missionary. Perhaps the vision of the Great Commission fell short in its teaching. We began to share the call of Jesus to his church is not just for a certain group or nationality.
The Great Commission is for every believer, in every church, in every country around the world. The church is called to begin in Jerusalem, then Judea, then Samaria, and ultimately to the ends of the earth. The “ends of the earth” depends on one’s perspective. From the United States, perhaps Nicaragua looks like the ends of the earth. But what does the “ends of the earth” look like for a Nicaraguan?
There are certainly challenges that are different for a missionary being sent from Latin America as opposed to the U.S. Financially supporting missionaries is not something that is common in most Latin American churches, and resources are even more scarce!
However, over the last decade or so, we have seen young people from across Latin America respond to God’s call to fulfill the Great Commission. Churches have partnered with Servant Leaders to equip their young people through trainings like Ethnos Missions Academy. Young people are serving in local church internships with a vision for missions.
God is raising up his church in Latin America and preparing it to launch missionaries to the ends of the earth!
