I just received this following E-zine from Marc van der Woude. As I read it quickly I found myself saying, "yes! God this is what you have called us to for Mexico City." As you read it pray that God would pour out this same fruit in Mexico City.
IN THIS EDITION:
1. Explosive growth in Brazil will make 250,000 churches a reality 2. Eight insights from the Brazilian church
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Explosive growth in Brazil will make 250,000 churches a reality
Brazilians are proud of their country. It is one of the few nations in Latin America with a sound economy, it produces some of the world's best coffee, and Brazil's soccer team has triumphed at World Cup soccer for five years in a row. "God is smiling on our nation," Brazilians often quip. "In fact, he loves us so much, God must be a Brazilian."
One remarkable statistic not much quoted in the national media is the explosive growth of the Evangelical church. In 1991, government statistics indicated that Evangelicals made up barely nine percent of the population. The 2000 census has revealed that Evangelicals in Brazil have exploded to more than 20 percent in barely 10 years!
This sudden burst of growth has bewildered many, but there is a substantive explanation for it. Looking back to the 1980s, the Evangelical church in Brazil enthusiastically launched its own missionary movement. Churches and denominations began to send missionaries to nations all over the world - many of them in the 10/40 Window. These missionaries were Brazilian nationals sent and paid for by their home churches. This movement of genuine concern for the lost around the world was something akin to the sending ethic of the South Korean church, and it clearly pleased God. It became abundantly apparent that a sending church is also a growing church.
In 1993, at the First Brazilian Congress on Missions, church leaders started thinking about strategic church planting in their own nation as well. It was here that leaders from different denominations and para-church agencies adopted a DAWN project titled 'Brazil 2010' with the goal of seeing a church within easy access of every Brazilian. Initial research showed that by the end of 1994, there were about 63,000 Evangelical churches, while 250,000 churches would need to be planted by 2010! This challenge was taken to all five of Brazil's major regions. Churches and denominations were encouraged to respond to the challenge and to plant new fellowships of believers far and wide. Church planters and strategic coordinators were trained and church planting strategies were launched.
As new churches began to appear all over the nation, a new saying was gaining in popularity: "There are three things you can easily find in any town in Brazil - a bradesco (bank) a guarana (Brazilian soda) and an Evangelical church."
Further research showed that while in and around the cities the church had been growing rapidly, in Brazil's Amazon jungle more than 30,000 villages were still completely unreached. The challenge of the unchurched jungle communities has evoked a strong response in many churches in Brazil. Teams of church planters have been dispatched from over 40 cities to the Amazon with the goal to plant riverbank churches. In Manaus, the hub in the Amazon region, some large churches have developed fleets of riverboats to take medical teams and church planters up the Rio Negro and the Amazon to the many hundreds of tributaries and smaller rivers of the region.
Recent research shows that the growth of the Evangelical church has more than trebled since 1994. It is estimated that by the end of 2004 there were 209,000 Evangelical churches in Brazil. At this rate, the goal of 250,000 churches will be surpassed before 2010.
Source: http://www.dawnministries.org/
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Eight insights from the Brazilian church
The Brazil 2010 saturation church planting movement has offered many insights and lessons over the past decade. Berna Salcedo of Dawn Ministries summarizes these:
- The success of this national church planting movement owes much to the powerful prayer support undergirding it. From the beginning, regional prayer coordinators rallied and mobilized intercessors behind Brazil 2010.
Many of these prayer movements have continued faithfully to support this project. The current national prayer coordinator, Anna Maria de Castro, leads and networks an amazing prayer movement of more than 10,000 intercessors. - Brazil 2010 has liberally shared the research findings as widely as possible, to encourage and motivate the Church to continue to plant more fellowships of believers.
- An apostolic team of gifted men and women have kept the vision alive.
Their passion and commitment to Brazil 2010 has provided the quality leadership necessary for a national movement to go the distance and succeed. - The movement has maintained its focus on saturation church planting.
From the 30,000 jungle villages flanking the rivers of the Amazon to the 5000-plus municipalities including mega-cities such as Sao Paulo with more than 21 million people, Brazil 2010 has sought to include every community in the nation. - Many denominations and ministries have cooperated in partnership.
Without this synergy the shared goal would never have been attained. - Research findings have provided direction and the sense of urgency that has driven Brazil 2010. Currently, the church planters are focusing on 1000 cities in Brazil where the population is less than five percent evangelical. Their goal is to initiate church planting movements in these urban areas and they are aiming to see 30,000 new churches in these cities in the next five years.
- The core vision of Brazil 2010 sees the local church as the key agent of transformation in society. With such an explosion of new Evangelical fellowships, the potential for a massive transformational surge in Brazil is high.
- The growth of the Church is now outpacing population growth. If, by God's grace, the current rate of growth continues, Brazil's population will be at least 50 percent Evangelical by 2020.
Source: http://www.dawnministries.org
Categories: MexicoCity, SimpleChurch, Church
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