Prayer Request /
Vision cast
The Church in Latin America has tremendous potential
in world evangelization, as is widely recognized
today by mission leaders across the globe. However,
countless members of the Latin American Church
are unable to realize this potential to accomplish
their destiny in world evangelization because
of the lack of support of the church and its
leaders. The normal tendency is to be refused
financial assistance to go into cross-cultural
missions for several reasons:
- The
Church does not have vision for the ends
of the earth.
- Most
churches do not have sufficient finance to
send people.
- Churches
have too many other programs.
- The
going persons need more finance to go than
the pastor needs to stay.
Faced with this reality they end up staying in Latin
America, often drifting into a routine lifestyle
and losing their vision for the un-reached nations
of the world.
The Nomad Project was born with the aim of giving an
opportunity for those that are committed to
the cause of world evangelization but cannot
afford to pay for the training.
The idea itself is very simple. There are certain requirements
that are necessary to be a good caliber missionary
to work in some of the most difficult places
in the world; a person who meets those requirements
is the one who we will train. What is written
here will explain how this is possible.
Nobel Prize Peace winner, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,
defended and gave his life for a cause he considered
worth fighting for. His book was given its title
from a comment he made: Why We Can't Wait.
The Nomad Project has the same conviction.
We are living in world that is divided into two parts:
one is where is there is hunger for the Good
News of Jesus Christ, and the other is where
the church is growing rapidly with people willing
to go and tell the un reached that Jesus is
alive but are unable to do so often simply
because they lack the necessary financial support.
Is there an answer to this problem?
It is our belief that Operation Nomad is one answer.
The Challenge and the Opportunity
Let us first consider the worldwide challenge of the
Un reached Peoples:
· Of
24,000 people groups in the world, 8,000 still
do not have the Gospel.
· Of
251 Brazilian Indian tribes, 103 still do not
have a missionary.
· Of
7,158 languages in the world, 4,215 still do
not have a bible translation.
· Saudi Arabia, Western Sahara,
The Maldives and Qatar have no known national
believers.
· Of
Indias 600,000 cities and villages, 500,000
do not have any Christian workers.
· 500,000,000
in China have not heard of the name of Jesus.
· 85,000
people die every day without the knowledge of
Christ and His saving grace.
The other side of this story is the potential that is
in Brazil and Latin America, which can be an
answer for the challenge of those that are without
hope.
· The Brazilian Evangelical
Church is the third largest in the world with
around 35,000,000 believers; the Evangelical
Church in Latin America, with its estimated
70,000,000 believers, is five times bigger than
its counterpart in the whole of Western and
Eastern Europe together.
· 6,500 estimated conversions
occur every day in Brazil that is around 2,000,000
per year.
· In Brazil there are more than 180,000 evangelical churches and double
that figure in Latin America.
This information reinforces the fact that there are two
worlds, but the reality is that there are only
400 Brazilian missionaries working in the 10/40
Window, where 97% of the Un reached Peoples
lives; that works out at 50,000 Brazilian believers
for each missionary in the 10/40 Window.
We believe that these statistics are
changeable with help from outside of our organization.
That such change is possible was proved it in
minor way when we recruited, trained, sent,
and pastor ally supported 96 Latin Americans
from 4 countries and 16 different denominations
to the 10/40 Window with the Radical Project
that started in 1999 and continues today as
a world recognized model. The Lausanne Committee
on World Evangelization has prepared a book
about six different models of training from
around the world, one of which is the Radical
Project is one. The book is written by Dr. Paul
Pierson, PhD, of Fuller Institute and was distributed
to each of the 1800 delegates in the Pattaya
Congress in Thailand in September 2004.
Several leaders of our global organization have asked
for more workers to work with them in the 10/40
Window. Luis Bush, coordinator of the now extinct
AD2000 and Beyond Movement, wrote two very significant
e-mails to the worldwide network of supporters
to inform them of the success of the Radical
Project. This led us to receive further requests
for workers from different organizations, such
as International Mission Board, Global Sports
Partnerships, China Harvest, Cornerstone in
Asia, SIM, Send International, Assemblies of
God of Italy, SIL in Burkina Faso, Wycliffe,
etc.
Our organization in Brazil and in Latin America was led
to organize several campaigns to pray for workers
to be sent to the most Un reached Peoples of
the world. God has answered our prayers with
850 people applying to us. The reality is that
there is a great desire in young people, including
engineers, administrators, nurses, and others
professionals, to go into missions, but they
are suffering greatly because they cannot reach
their destiny. Every day we receive numerous
requests from people wanting to join us. What
should we do? Quoting Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. again: To wait on God and expect Him to
do everything while we do nothing is not faith,
it is superstition.
The Nomad Project
Low-cost Training for Latin American Workers
Martin Luther King Jr. is most famous for his phrase:
I have a dream. We too have a dream. This
dream is to see the task of world evangelization
completed in this generation and together stand
before the Master and hear his words: Well
done good and faithful servants, enter in to
the joy of the Lord.
We are convinced that God is looking for faith-filled
action, which is why we have decided to sound
a call not just in Brazil but also across the
continent of Latin America. Much of the theological
training that is offered in Latin America today
does not prepare believers effectively for mission.
In addition, many existing missionary training
courses designed using models that have served
well elsewhere but do not function well with
the present climate in Latin America are severely
hampered by lack of finance. We want to know
how many candidates would be willing to live
a very simple life like that of a nomad, to
live in tents, live like soldiers, eat different
food, learn new customs, wear different clothes,
and in essence live like the very people they
are proposing to reach.
In addition to this, we propose the setting up of a common
fund, where expenditure is decided as a team,
and the priorities are basic health and food,
and missionary training.
If you are committed to the missionary cause among the
un reached and are willing to be part of a project
like this, working in a team with everyone helping
each other to raise support, then join us. The
project is open to singles or married couples
without children, aged at least 17, and who
have completed basic education. Whether you
have some support from church or friends even
if its only a little or whether you have
no support and your church is not prepared to
invest in you, this could be your opportunity.
We are willing to help you to receive training
and get on to the mission field.
How will these works?
The Nomad Project is essentially designed to provide
cost-effective training that is focused and
relevant for Latin Americans moving into cross-cultural
mission, with the aim of providing an adequate
foundation for their long-term ministries. The
training is envisaged in three separate stages:
initial training in Brazil and Latin America;
field experience in target nations and conclusion
of the project in Latin America.
Initial training would take approximately three and half
years, with one year in Brazil, eighteen months
in another Latin America country, and another
year back in Brazil before going overseas. During
this time, candidates would receive preparation
in character, knowledge and skills relating
to cross-cultural missions. A major emphasis
would also be on raising the resources needed
for their long-term ministries. Candidates will
be trained to mobilize the church in Brazil,
Latin America and worldwide. The wider church
will thus also be impacted as it is challenged
and educated to support the project in prayer
and finance.
Those who successfully complete this stage of the training
would be sent in teams for a period of four
years to locations in the 10/40 Window under
the supervision of leaders experienced in local
ministry. This time would include language and
culture learning and on-going training in cross-cultural
ministry in the specific context.
The project would finish with 6 months in Brazil to evaluate
experience, provide de-briefing and adequate
re-entry counselling for candidates, to help
in decisions for future ministry, and to work
on raising support for the trainee to be able
to return to the mission field long-term.
Promotion will be carried out using the media that are
keen to promote the vision without demanding
finances. Those who respond to the initial challenge
will begin with a distance-learning course before
entering the project full-time.
Training will be situated in prosperous region of southern
Brazil with many strong churches and large population.
This will enable many churches and businessmen
to be drawn into this missionary project.
Working in Partnership
This Nomad Project is conceived as a macro vision which
will not belong just to one organization. Rather,
it is designed to unite various mission agencies
to work together. The aim is to have a project
with both national and continental impact that
will be supported nationally in Brazil and across
both the whole of Latin America and indeed worldwide.
When speaking of a worldwide impact, we are aware of
the potential dangers of dependence. However,
we believe that the time has come to join forces
and concentrate a maximum of resources through
a coordinated project such as this one to reach
the most un-reached. We are actively seeking
partnerships across the globe with churches
and organizations willing to invest to see this
vision become a reality.
Financial Viability
of Project Nomad
Our commitment is to simplicity and choosing to live
at the level of income of the people we are
called to minister to. Latin Americans workers
can thus live much more economically than the
majority of their North American or European
counterparts. Living and working as teams also
reduces expenses considerably compared with
the cost of supporting individual missionary
families.
Candidates can be received onto the project with average
monthly support of US$ 40.00. After 6 months
of working in church mobilization we believe
that the support can increase to US$ 80.00 and
after a year can be raised to, US$ 100,00, which
would enable them to live in Hispanic Countries
of Latin America. US$ 200.00 per candidate would
enable them to live amongst the Un reached Peoples
Groups.
We believe that it is not unrealistic to aim to raise
this amount from Latin America. However, the
real need is for US$ 200,00 to live in Hispanic
Countries and US$ 400,00 in the Un reached Peoples
Groups. Our aim is to work with international
foundations and churches to help to complement
the other part.
What To Do Now
This is our proposed response to the challenge of cross-cultural
missions and the training that is needed for
this in the Brazilian and Latin American context..
We are asking people to register their interest.
If you would like to be involved in the project
and meet the following requirements, then send
an e-mail or letter to the address given below.
·
I am a committed member
of an evangelical church
·
I am baptized and I have
been a Christian for more than a year.
·
I am single / I am married
with no children.
·
I am in good health and
I have a basic level of education.
Estimated Initial
Budget for Project Nomad
The following equipment would be needed to see Project
Nomad operational. (This is based on each one
of the 1200 candidates bringing their own small
tent for personal accommodation.) All figures
are given in US dollars.
|
Finances for first stage of the project:
01 Farm of 30 Hectares
..
01 - Tent for 4,000 people- 3900m2. Including
visits for mobilizing them.
24 Tents for 50 people 50 m2 (classrooms)
24 Kitchens Tents
.
4000 Plastic Chairs
400 - Plastic Tables (For 1600 people
including visits).
1,600 Mattress
..
01 - Sound equipment for the big tent
.
01 Electrical System Installation
24 Containers for Toilets
24 Containers for Kitchen
40 Cookers
40 Pressure cookers (20 litters) ..........................
..........
80 Gas Supplies
...
40 - Sauce Pans -
40 Food processors
..
40 Big knives
40 Metal diverse for the kitchen
40 Fridges
40 - Freezers
40 - Water heathers (68 litters).................................................
1600 Forks.
..
1600 Spoons
1600 knives
Total for first stage:
Second Stage of the finances:
150 -
Lap Tops for coordination and promotion
150 Video Projectors
150 Vans for 8 people VW Kombi minibus
for mobilizing..
Overall total:
|
504,776
272,366
70,399
70,399
28,000
12,800
18,600
64,000
22,300
26,400
26,400
14,800
3,040
1,280
3,200
5,960
600
14,400
16,000
16,000
1,880
1,680
1,680
3,040
1,200,000
180,000
180,000
1,665,000
3,225,000
|
My aim is to introduce the challenge of the support for
the first stage of the Project to a church or
organization to partner with us in giving an
opportunity for 1200 candidates to be trained
and sent to the 10/40 Window and Beyond selected
of the 5,000 applicants. If we compare it with
the size of the Brazilian Church today is to
increase three times the actual size of the
Brazilian missionary force in that region.
We believe that if we have the resources for the first
stage in the Open Day of the Project we can
have hundreds leaders from different nationalities
and they can be inspired, encouraged and challenged
to support the project in investing for the
second stage of the project that allow the candidates
to help the Brazilian church to be informed,
inspired and challenged to support the Project.
For those that are neglected and forgotten,
David Botelho
Horizons Latin America
Director
d.Botelho@uol.com.br
http://www.worldhorizons.org/latinam.htm
Tel. 011.55.11.4996.5044
===============================================
Josimar Salum
Great
Revival Ministries
P. O. Box, 60,359
Worcester, MA 01606-0359 USA
Tel/Fax 508-852-3483
www.greatrevival.com
( Via_Comin em 6/2/2005
)
