THE CHALLENGE
God’s Heart for the Foreigner
There are still between 6,000 – 7,000 Unreached People Groups’s today. Most of these people groups reside in the 10/40 Window. 3,000 of which there are no known believers. There are over 2 Billion people who have little or no access to the Gospel!
For many years, the U.S. would send out more missionaries than the rest of the world combined. In 1998 the U.S. was sending over 65,000 missionaries to the nations, today we have fewer than half that number of missionaries on the field, and the numbers are declining every year. What do we do about the over 6,000 people groups who still either have absolutely no access to the Gospel, or very little access?
THE SOLUTION
Latin America is vital to reaching the unreached people groups of the 10/40 Window! Latin American missionaries are culturally suited for missions among unreached people groups because of cultural and physical affinities. And because every believer has the Great Commission!
• Historical Similarities: Spain, before conquering the “new world”, had been a Muslim caliphate for almost 800 years! This history greatly influenced the cultural dynamics of Spain, and thereby Latin America.
• Linguistics Similarities: Spanish has between 4000-6000 words of Arab origin because of the history of Islamic influence.
• Physical Similarities: The skin color and facial features of Latin Americans and Middle Eastern are very similar, and often difficult to distinguish one from another.
• International Relations: More than 1,000 agreements have been made with Iran and Latin America in the last 20 years. During the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, he made 7 trips to Latin America specifying negotiations with Bolivia, Cuba, Ecuador, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Venezuela.
At the turn of the century in 1900, there were an estimated 50,000 Evangelical Christians in Latin America. Today, there are over 100 MILLION! What if, instead of viewing Latin America as a mission field, we viewed them as potential missions partners to accomplish this daunting task of reaching these 6,000 unreached people groups? At Connect Global, we believe the mission field of Latin America is become the mission force!
What is an Unreached People Group?
Here’s a glimpse of what God is doing in Latin America!
Biblical Basis for Missions / God’s Heart for the Nations
MAKING AN IMPACT
100
Million Evangelicals in Latin America Alone
52
Units Mobilized to the Mission Field Since 2010
300
Churches are Being Mentored
6
Major Denominations are Being Mobilized
OUR PURPOSE
The expressed purpose of Connect Global is to “connect the dots” between what missiologists call the emergence of the “Global South” and the least reached peoples of the world. By engaging churches in Latin America to partner together with churches in the U.S., we can send out more missionaries and unite in reaching the 10/40 Window.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to engage churches all over the world, especially in Latin America and U.S. to embrace God’s heart for the nations. God gave His Church a defined purpose to accomplish, “go and make disciples of all nations.”
There is only one way to deliver the Gospel to groups who have not yet heard the name of Jesus; it has to be personally delivered, someone has to personally GO. The only way someone can go, is they must be sent. Romans 10:14 -15 says, “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him, of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear, without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”
Our mission is to empower local churches for Global Impact. To help them develop the resources that God has given them, their own people and finances, in order to impact the lostness of our world, especially among the unreached.
OUR STRATEGY
Mentoring Churches in Latin America and the United States
Through the Global Focus Missional Approach, we mentored hundreds of churches in Latin America and the United States to embrace God’s Mission to make disciples in their own Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even the End of the Earth. This process is designed with 6 modules that help the church implement paradigm shifts and strategies that help churches to involve their own people in much greater personal involvement in God’s Mission, both locally and globally.
Mobilize Missionary Candidates to Unreached Groups
Today there are over 100 million evangelical Christians in Latin America! Connect Global has been mobilizing many churches and families to carry out the Great Commission and engage unreached people Groups in the Middle East. As mentioned above, this is because Latin Americans are culturally well suited to bring the Gospel to many of the groups of people in this part of the world, and because each church has a mandate to make disciples on a local and global level. Since 2010 we have helped to facilitate the sending of over 50 families to some of the darkest areas of the world to show the light of Christ.
Connect Field Candidates and Sending Organizations
Once we mentor churches, and help mobilize their own people to fulfill the Great Commission, we help connect them with other churches in Latin America and around the world. We believe that we can do together that we could never achieve individually. We help churches form “networks” that focus on a certain group of unreached people by adopting them collectively. Not only do we help connect the churches in fulfilling the Great Commission, but we connect the missionary candidates to the field. We take vision trips by exposing them and their church to need in the countryside, and the many opportunities to engage with people’s group. We also help connect these candidates to cross cultural training, fundraising, and a sending organization.
Partner With Them Once In The Field
Not only do we pastor the candidate and his church throughout the process until they reach their new service field, we associate with them once they are in the field. We take your church and other churches in Latin America to work with them on specific projects that involve the church in working with your missionary in the field. Not only do church members personalize missions by participating individually, but their churches maintain healthy lines of open communication with their fellow countrymen. Another important benefit is that in these projects, God calls for more workers to join them as collaborators in the ministry, thus creating a missionary force in Latin America.
State of the World / The Task Remaining
There is not a ministry on the planet that has helped our fellowship engage in international missions like Global Focus. My good friend, Dr. Larry Reesor, is passionate about seeing the peoples of the world come to know the Lord Jesus personally. He and his staff are leading the charge in attempting to penetrate the lostness of the world. I shall always be indebted to Larry and Global Focus for giving us the tools to help us prioritize reaching the nations for Christ. They have been key instruments in the churches of our denomination in implementing and prioritizing Acts 1:8 local/global ministries. I commend them to you and the churches of your country.
Dr. Johnny Hunt
Senior Pastor, First Baptist Church Woodstock
Former President, Southern Baptist Convention
Woodstock, Georgia, USA
After attending the Global Focus Leadership Seminar, I was so blessed with the content and the tools that I came back to Brazil and applied the principles and dynamics in my church here in Brazil. We are attempting to implement their ministry model in our local church in order to set the example for our churches in Brazil. Our country is a developing country, yet we are making a significant impact financially, in prayer, in sending missionaries, and in developing partnerships all over the world. I believe this ministry can be a valuable and critical tool for pastors and churches in every country of the world.
Edison Queiroz
Senior Pastor, Primera Conexion
Santo Andre, Sao Paulo, Brazil