Posted 157 days ago
Integral Mission in Latin America
by Tomas Yaccino
La Red del Camino para la Misión Integral en America Latina
In Latin America, a small but growing group of churches and Christian leaders are emerging. Their purpose is to live out the gospel holistically in their communities as a sign that the kingdom of God is present in the world.
Over the past several decades, the Church in Latin America has grown. Yet, in spite of the apparent numerical success, the Church has not had a significant influence and impact on society. Countries with the highest percentages of evangelical Christians paradoxically have the highest percentages of violence, discrimination, social and economic disparity and injustice. This inconsistency between the presence of Christ-followers in a given context and the lack of evidence of Christ’s redemptive and transformational power is the impetus behind the formation of the Red del Camino para La Misión Integra en America Latina (Del Camino Network for Integral Mission in Latin America or “DC Network”). The leaders of the DC Network are shaking the very foundations of Christian understanding about what it means to follow Christ in the new global reality and post-modern world with a passionate hope that others, too, will reclaim their responsibility to restore all things through Christ and His chosen agent—the local church.
Who we are
The DC Network is a continental movement of friends—first and foremost—who share a common dream to see and participate in the global restoration of “all things” by fueling the practice of integral mission through local communities of faith. As friends, we give of our lives, experiences, knowledge, and resources to bless those local expressions of faith throughout the diverse contexts of our Latin American continent. We are indebted to the theologians and practitioners of integral mission in Latin America and the Caribbean who over the last three decades have reflected on and challenged the church about her role and mission in the world. As such, we are committed to passionately and faithfully carrying out the call to be collaborators with God in His restorative purposes here on earth, recognizing that we are responsible for our generation. We believe this means a complete integration of the key elements that define the missional church: evangelism, worship, community, service (community transformation), discipleship, and a prophetic role.
Relatively speaking, the DC Network is a small movement. But, we find assurance that in God’s holy narrative seemingly small and inconsequential vestiges can do great things—the incarnation being the prime example that in a forgotten place, through a seemingly insignificant couple, God chose to raise a King. And through an unruly gang of eleven misfits, God chose to commence His upside-down reality of the Kingdom of God.
Likewise, we believe that God can use a haphazard community of friends, who gather in marginal places to challenge one another and attract others, to have a more consequential presence and impact through the local church in areas of need. We are committed to a biblical ecclesiology that recognizes the priesthood of all believers (women, men and children) and stimulates each person to discover God’s perfect design and unique purpose for them and to be a part of God’s restorative Kingdom plans together. We understand that all members of the family are on a mission to share God’s love, grace and true justice, which means that in any given country those seated around the table may be an oddball mixture of leaders from very different backgrounds and traditions. But, we are united by Christ and His mission to be salt and light to this dark and hurting world through who we are, what we say, and what we do.
Integral mission can thus be expressed in as many ways as one could imagine depending on the unique gifts, talents and resources in any given community and according to the particular needs and challenges of their respective contexts. Churches in the DC Network see their locality as their responsibility. All the needs and problems that exist in the community represent opportunities for the church to manifest God’s transformative power and to bring hope to situations of despair. Churches take risks and innovate with what they have to create jobs if unemployment is the crying issue, to bring healthcare in situations of sickness and disease, to foster reconciliation for broken relationships in families or between races and generations, and to advocate for better education for those in areas lacking fair and equal access to information and opportunity.
The DC Network’s structure is simple, yet functional. It is “virtual” in the sense that there is no central office or formal institution behind the activities of the movement. Resources are used only as necessary to further our vision and mission. The organization consists of a community of volunteer servants of participating local churches and pro-church organizations who are either active members in their national DC Networks or participating in the development of such networks in their own countries. Leaders meet once a year to share experiences, evaluate the actions of the network, plan events, participate in activities, and foster relationships to an ever-widening circle throughout Latin America and the world. All other connecting occurs through the internet. One of our challenges is to improve this area and create a more dynamic means of connection.
What do we believe? Christian mission is integral
The Bible does not dichotomize between soul-body, private life-social life, spiritual needs-material needs, and reason-emotion. The human being is an indivisible unity. It is impossible to satisfy the needs of the soul and ignore those of the body (James 2:14-17). The needs of the body are not foreign to those of the soul and vice versa, and redemption of the soul in Christ includes the resurrection of the body (1 Cor. 15). Christian mission is spiritual insofar as it is material and social insofar as it is personal.
We cooperate with the Spirit’s work in mission only as we understand the lordship of Jesus Christ over the wholeness of all creation.
Jesus is our model
His life choices, teachings, attitudes, and works are all part of His saving mission carried out with the Father and the Spirit. In perfect harmony with the Father and the Son, the Holy Spirit carries out His mission of establishing God’s Kingdom in the world and calls us to collaborate with Him in the transformation of all things “in the name of Jesus.”
Secular and Sacred
Church and society are not mutually exclusive categories. The church forms part of society and so its mission has a social dimension. The question is not if the church has a social mission but how the church relates to society. The church’s apathy toward social problems is destructive and harmful. The church cannot—and should not—be neutral. Created for community, we, the church, must respond to the needs of our neighbors and, as “salt of the earth” and “light of the world,” actively participate in public life. Holding firm to our identity in Christ, we must proclaim the good news about Jesus Christ and invite the world to approach God, the Creator of life, through our actions as His followers.
Integral mission is God’s tool for restoration
God desires to manifest His love in every corner of the world to restore all creation (Rom. 8:19-23). His plan is that human beings, who are created in His image and likeness, collaborate with His redemptive purpose. God demonstrated His love for us when, while we were still sinners, He sent His Son to give us His life (Rom. 5:8; John 3:16-17). And He wants us to give that same grace and unconditional love to others regardless of race, gender or creed. That God chose Galilee as a starting place is significant because it demonstrates that He often operates through this world’s excluded and seemingly insignificant populations to accomplish His purposes.
Integral mission is expressed through the community of faith
Integral mission originates in God’s heart. The church is a community composed of individuals redeemed by Jesus Christ that exists as evidence of God’s reconciling presence in the world. As did Jesus, the church announces the good news through its life choices, community life, work, and teachings. We love in the midst of diversity, as did Jesus, and express love through working for peace, mutual acceptance and justice. The church’s mission, starting with loving our neighbors (1 John 3:14; 4:21), is to invite everyone to become part of the body of Jesus Christ, with arms extended out to all creation and all people.
Integral mission is Kingdom living
Integral Mission is a call to love creation as God loves it. Life in the Kingdom is not merely “leaving Egypt” but “living in the Promised Land.” Justice, freedom and peace are essential dynamics in that Kingdom. Integral mission proclaims Christian love and peace (shalom) as necessary conditions for Kingdom life. Integral mission is not limited to merely searching for solutions to problems, but offers life-generating purpose from practical experience. The goal is to persuade others, through love, to abandon death and choose abundant life within the Kingdom.
The network finds its expression throughout Latin America and the Caribbean in small communities that are forming and developing in Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and several other countries that are in beginning stages of formation. Pray for us as we continue to learn and grow, challenge and be challenged, and try to walk humbly with our God, loving mercy and doing justice in order to bring hope to Latin America!
For more information on the movement, visit our web La Red Del Camino
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