Latin American local leaders across seven countries experience comradery and unity in mission
Last December, 40 people–Servant Partners staff and local leaders–joined the first SP Regional Gathering in Latin America. People from Honduras, Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala, Republica Dominicana, and the United States gathered to learn about Servant Partners’ six values, share about their respective ministries, and cast vision for the future of God’s movement across Latin America.
“We wanted to bring together local leaders to see that they are part of something bigger than their local communities, and to also witness others doing similar work in their region,” said Beauty Ndoro, Co-Executive Director of SP Mexico. Beauty and Phillip Ndoro organized the gathering, which involved outdoor excursions, teachings, small group discussions, and prayer ministry. For many, it was their first time going to a prayer appointment with someone–and many experienced their prayer requests being answered.
“We had people from secondary-level education (middle school) to doctorate degrees, 10 different nationalities, and seven different countries–but we all gathered as one,” Beauty said. “We’re all Latin American, but every nation has its own culture. We worked hard to bring unity amidst this diversity, and there was a spirit of oneness.” A number of participants shared that they felt they were all one, like a family.
The gathering also created a space for leaders from every community to share about their local work. Colombians shared about their ministry with immigrants and refugees. Hondurans shared about sending missionaries abroad to the Middle East and North Africa. Nicaraguans shared about tutoring programs, Mexicans shared about church-planting, and Dominicans shared about community transformation. This was a profound experience of drawing connections, learning from one another, and catching a sense of God’s great work across Latin America. One participant said, “I realize that our work in Mexico is a small part of the global work God is doing.”
“We’re all Latin American, but every nation has its own culture. We worked hard to bring unity amidst this diversity, and there was a spirit of oneness.”
“We were witnessing a spiritual family starting to grow across Latin American nations,” said SP Strategy Coordinator Mark Cloherty. “There’s so much good stuff that comes from cross-cultural engagement through cross-pollination–like when a local leader from Mexico has lunch with a local leader from Colombia, and the insights they discover. It was incredibly valuable for local leaders to feel connected to a global organization.”
This sense of comradery in mission was infectious. Additionally, the diverse leadership of local leaders demonstrated the changing, global character of Servant Partners, and opened bridges between countries that could not have been achieved otherwise.
“When I first joined Servant Partners, most folks joining were middle-class, college-educated students, but these are all local leaders who have roots in their communities,” Mark said. “It was exciting to see local leadership owning and delivering the content. This was also really invigorating to my Colombian colleagues, to see local leadership centered and having an organizational voice. It felt like we Westerners were supporting, not leading.”
One of the Colombian participants said: “I came back to Cartagena motivated to continue doing the work of the Lord in the area of local and cross-cultural missions. I’m very grateful to be part of the Servant Partners family in Latin America.”
“It was exciting to see local leadership owning and delivering the content. This was also really invigorating to my Colombian colleagues, to see local leadership centered and having an organizational voice. It felt like we Westerners were supporting, not leading.”
Everyone left the gathering refreshed and encouraged about the sense of new work being catalyzed, and are continuing the conversation through WhatsApp. Since sharing with their teams back home, there have been 56 applications to the Spanish Certificate of Community Transformation program! We praise God for this work of transformation across Latin America and beyond. Learn more about our Regional Gatherings at www.servantpartners.org/vision2030.