As you know, I will be transfering from twelve years as a church planter in Mexico to Central America (Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua) as a mobilizer. I wanted to share portions of the letter I wrote in May of this year to officially request this transfer. The assignment I accepted later on was expanded to Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. I will live in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and my son will live in El Salvador with my parents, 7 hours away from me (I will talk about this arrangement in a later blog).
May 29, 2010
I have been a church planter for twenty-three years; twelve of those years I have served in Mexico, not only planting churches but developing strategies for church planting. My place of service for the past five years has been Mexico City. I was the team leader for NW Mexico City and now I am part of the Mobilization/Missions Team. In the past year, I have planted a new church, developed a new mobilization strategy, established two businesses and left a network of house churches (that my team and I started four years ago) growing and multiplying. It has been a very productive year. I don’t mean to be prideful about my accomplishments, but I would like for you to understand that my desire to leave Mexico, is not due to failure in my ministry, interpersonal problems or lack of love for my precious Mexican people. My desire is more than a personal wish, it is a divine calling. I am aware that you do not know me personally, so I am taking the time to write these lines to explain my heart to you and give you a reason to trust my judgment behind this request...
... So, let me explain that I am not only a church planter, strategist and a mobilizer, but I am also a mother. In fact, I am a widow who has been able to raise three amazing children on the field and have also managed to have a successful ministry. I have learned to live a balanced life. I am definitely not taking credit for my success, I know that God called me to be a missionary, and He also chose for me to do it as a single mother. Therefore, God also equipped me to remain and thrive in the land He chooses me to serve. I am fully aware that if I have accomplished anything, it has only been because God has enabled me to do it, and because I have tried to remain obedient to His leadership in my life. Of course, my life and ministry have not been perfect or without flaws, but in all, God has been glorified and fruit has remained.
... I consider myself to be an American, El Salvador is very foreign to me, but I did spend 19 years there and I have a special connection to its people. Also, even though I am from El Salvador, I have earned the respect and appreciation of many in own native country. That becomes another positive aspect in my involvement in El Salvador. I have good relationships with many pastors and leaders in the country, and I am welcomed in churches where my influence could have an impact for missions.
Lastly, speaking as a strategist, I believe El Salvador has the potential of becoming a spearhead in missions in Central America and even Latin America. They have experienced a great revival, and they have received many precious gifts. It is important that we do not wait too long to stir them and lead them to share their blessings with the world, before they loose the excitement and passion of their first love (sadly, I am starting to see signs of that)... There are many churches in El Salvador with many human and material resources that are waiting to be led in the right direction. I would like the opportunity to present them with the right strategies, or help them develop their own, to fulfill our Lord’s Great Commission unto the ends of the world.
When my husband and daughter died in Chiapas (eleven years ago), Peggy Jones (Richmond Associate, then), told me “The Board is here to support your calling. We appointed you in basis of your calling. We are not the Holy Spirit. If you tell us that you are called to be in Mexico, the Board is here to support you on basis of that calling”. I trust that the IMB still operates in that same spirit...
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6, NKJV
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