Love God Serve Others

Agape Christmas Project

admin — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:02:13 +0000

On December 17, we will be sponsoring an event at the Genesis 7 church and feeding center. This center offers a hot meal to needy children, serving roughly 200 children daily. These children are living in some of the poorest and most desperate situations we have ever encountered here in Ecuador. The majority of them work in the streets and are unable to attend school. Most live in crowded, make-do shacks with dirt floors and no running water.

Genesis 7 is a church started by an Ecuadorian couple who were burdened for these children. They scrape and sacrifice to provide a meager plate of rice and whatever else they can afford for these children. This meal is frequently the ONLY meal these kids receive each day. The church tries to help however they can with their physical needs as they offer them the hope of Jesus Christ.

Our Agape Christmas event will be a special day for these children as they are invited to attend this celebration where they will receive a good meal and likely their only Christmas gift which will include a bag of candy, a toy, a shirt and pair of shoes. The event will also include a special service with clowns, drama, puppets, games, and most importantly, the Gospel message. This is sure to be a day the children will not soon forget.

Please join with us to help make this event possible. We need $15 per child to be able to provide these items.

Donate here

Here is a video highlighting this project:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Incredible Move of God

admin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:35:36 +0000

Kidfest Ecuador (or Festiniños as we called it) was everything we could have dreamed of and MORE! God shook our little campground and moved in life-changing ways among the teachers and the children.

We hosted a group of 45 people from Living Waters Christian Fellowship in Fountain Valley, California as we collaborated with the Church of God in Ecuador to host the first ever Kidfest event. The team from California offered intensive teacher training in Children’s ministry as well as a weekend camp for the kids.

We began the event with around 100 teachers. These are Ecuadorians who are currently teaching in Sunday school or have a desire to work with kids in their churches. The event was kicked off as National Overseer, Richar Mendoza, shared his passion for children’s ministry to become a priority in Ecuadorian churches. Then, the teachers spent an intense day learning creative methods they can use in their ministry. On the final day, we had a commissioning service where each teacher was confirmed in their calling and sent forth to do the work of the Kingdom.

Then the fun REALLY began as 300 kids arrived for a weekend of camp! For most of these kids, this was their first time to ever attend any type of camp like this. One hundred of these kids were from the local social ministries (ministries that reach out to street kids). This was a life-shaping weekend for sure.

There were lots of time for fun and games, but the most amazing part was what happened during the worship services. In the very first service, I could tell the teachers were getting frustrated because the kids were VERY restless and not listening well. Imagine, a room crammed to capacity with kids who are NOT used to this type of service. But as the altar time began, the Spirit of God moved in a mighty way and there was a sweet hush as the kids really plugged in. Many children came forward to pray with the team, but afterwards they began to huddle in little groups praying for each other! They were weeping as God touched them! The Ecuadorian adults were amazed, as they had never seen God move among children in this way.

Throughout the weekend, God continued to move like this in our services. Children were speaking in tongues and worshipping God in pure joy. One man, who heard about the service from a counselor, showed up 5 hours early for service so that he could be there (at this KIDS service) to receive the Holy Spirit. A little girl who lives in an abusive situation, prayed with the team and later told her counselor that she knows now that God is with her and loves her. Another child felt called to become a preacher. REVIVAL was sparked among the children of Ecuador during Festiniños.

The teachers are HUNGRY for more training, and we are going to help provide that. The pastors are beginning to understand the importance of children’s ministry and are working to establish that in their churches. The churches are DESPERATE for that type of worship. God is going to do some miraculous things!

We want to thank those from Living Waters who sacrificed to make this event happen. Also, thank you to our many friends and family members who gave to help sponsor the children from the social ministries. And as always, thank you to everyone who continually supports our family, allowing us to be a vessel for God’s blessings.

Here is our video recap:

Click here to view the embedded video.

When God asks you to walk the other way

admin — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 04:47:04 +0000

Have you ever had God to ask you to do something a little different? Arturo, one of our students at SEMISUD (South American Seminary), was challenged by God recently. He and his wife are experienced missionaries and church planters from Chile. They came to SEMISUD to study and prepare for future ministry. Maybe to even take a little time to rest as they reflected upon their past years in ministry. Yet God had different plans.

Soon after arriving at SEMISUD, Arturo and his wife participated in one of our church planting courses. During this course, they were challenged by God. They were challenged to put their hands back to the plow and get back to work. Now was the time for work, not the time for rest.

As they were leaving the campus one day, they notice that everyone was walking through the main gate and turning to the right. This would be assumed normal and correct as the town, student houses, and buses are all located to the right of our campus. However, God stopped Arturo and his wife as they were exiting the gate and caused them to look to the left and ask, “What’s over there?”

So Arturo began to ask people where the road to the left went. The guard told him, “No where. There is nothing that way. Unless you walk for over an hour you will see only trees and cows. If you walk for an hour you will come to a little village inhabited by a people who don’t like visitors. Don’t go there Arturo. If you go, you will only find problems.” But Arturo could not deny that God was calling him to go to that town and visit the people. He knew that God was calling him to plant a church in that town!

Several local preachers advised Arturo against trying to plant a church in that village. They said, “Those people don’t want to hear about God. They do not want a church. You and your wife should work with us in our churches or try to plant a church in an easier area.

Don’t go to that village. If you go, you will only find disappointment and frustration.”

Despite the intense discouragement, Arturo and his wife could not shake God’s call to go to this village and share the Good News of Jesus. They had to go. And so they went.

As others had predicted, they did encounter many problems, disappointments and frustration. However, due to their faithfulness and obedience to following God’s call, within six months they successfully planted a church in that village. Today, a year after their attendance in our church planting conference, that church has over 50 members and that church has gone on to plant 2 other churches in two other villages. Arturo and his wife’s credit, our conference and training for giving him the inspiration and ability to plant this church in such a hardened environment. We praise God for men and women like Arturo and his wife that attend our training and use it to introduce more people to Jesus.

If you would like to partner with us in sponsoring one of these conferences, please contact us.

What an exciting first three months of 2011!

admin — Sat, 26 Mar 2011 04:55:59 +0000

Today as I am flying back from the beautiful country of Panama, I find myself reflecting on the exciting things God has done in the short span of three months.

January started with a blast as each country in South America, along with Brazil and Mexico, appointed a person to be a part of my church planting team. These ten team members met me in Quito, Ecuador where we worked together for five days. Together we evaluated several church planting resources and developed strategy plans. Each team member built a strategy plan based upon their country’s needs and desires.

For example, Ecuador is planting 200 churches in the next five years and selected the Indigenous people as one of their target groups. While Columbia is looking to plant more 300 churches and identified several major cities as targets. This event has sent a spiritual shock wave throughout Latin America of which we will not know the full impact for years, but I can assure you that God will be greatly glorified as a result of their hard work and passion.

February was marked by several countries training their local teams and launching their new plans. In Argentina, our coordinator trained his team and formally launched the plan to focus on urban areas and plant 800 churches. While in Costa Rica our coordinator was surprised by his local team when they questioned his desire to plant 200 churches and challenged him to increase Costa Rica’s goal to over 500. We praise God for the vision and faith of this team!

By March, we also launched our first church planting initiative in Brazil. In one small region, our first conference yielded over 100 men and women recognizing that God was challenging them and calling them to be church planters. And today I am flying back from the beautiful country of Panama where I met with the church leaders of each country in Central America. Together we began the process to plant over 5000 more churches. Praise God, every leader has caught the vision and pledged their full support and participation to plant churches in their regions. Very soon you will be hearing reports of the great success we are having in Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, El Salvador, and others.

Thank you again for your partnership in this church planting initiative. As a result of your faithfulness in prayer and giving, thousands across Latin America are hearing the Good News and experiencing New Life in Christ.

Video Update – March

admin — Sun, 20 Mar 2011 04:49:12 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

New Year Reflections

admin — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:56:03 +0000

2010 was another blessed year to be serving in God’s Kingdom. We hope each of you experienced God’s love and blessing in your lives this year. Looking back on our year, it is almost impossible to believe ALL these events happened in just one year!

January began with Bobby attending a conference in Lima, Peru where he was asked to direct the planting of 2000 new churches throughout South America! We were amazed at the magnitude of this task, and humbled to be a part of it. (more later) Here, Bobby also met several ministers who are already planting churches and was inspired by their stories.

The whole family had the opportunity to spend some time in California while Bobby was working hard on his PhD at Fuller Theological Seminary. This was a great time of refreshing as our family was fed the Word and refueled. As only God can do, he divinely connected us with a new church family and we made lifelong friends. This time was especially beneficial for Jonathan & Jordan as they were able to participate in a pre-teen ministry team that helped them to grow by leaps and bounds in their faith. Thank you to the folks at Living Waters Christian Fellowship (Fountain Valley, CA) for pouring into our lives and accepting us as family.

We also had the joy of traveling to many different states to teach and minister at various conferences in both English and Spanish. Spike & Sparkle did LOTS of clown ministry on this “tour”. We ministered in California, Arizona, Texas, Alabama & North Carolina.

Even though the time in the U.S. was a blessing, we were grateful to get back to Ecuador and back to the work there. We hit the ground running by working with a team to build a church in Quito our first week back! Amazingly, Bobby’s appointment to direct church planting in South America was expanded to working with ALL of Latin America (Mexico, Central America, South America & Brazil) with the goal of planting 8000 churches by 2020!!! This is definitely a God-sized goal but we are excited to report that ministers are responding to the call and are planting new churches each week.

We have a NEW blessing on the way! In April, Tamitha will give birth to a new little Lynch boy. This will be a big adjustment since the twins just turned 12 this December. The baby will be born in Ecuador, so he will be a dual citizen of both the US and Ecuador. Spike & Sparkle have already added the new one to their clown troupe and given him the name of Speckle (since he’s so tiny). Please join us in praying for a safe delivery & healthy baby.

Jonathan & Jordan are doing well. They just turned 12 but seem to think they are much older than that, of course. They are still attending a Christian school in Ecuador and are in the 7th grade. Many of their courses are taught in English at this school and some of the curriculum is from the US; however, they also have several courses in Spanish so their language skills are incredible. Although Bobby & I can communicate and teach in Spanish, we still take Spanish lessons because there is always so MUCH more to learn. In fact, the kids often become our teachers because they are learning the language faster and end up correcting us.

We had a unique experience in September as there was a political coop in Ecuador. A faction of the police actually attempted to hold the President hostage and make way for a political overthrow. They were unsuccessful and the situation quickly remedied, but it made for a wild few days. During this time we had to remain at home and on high security alert. Thankfully, things were very calm in our neighborhood.

There are many more exciting opportunities coming up for 2011. We will continue working in the church planting initiative, which requires more traveling to the various countries. Also, we are working with our local church in Ecuador to start a teen ministry team who will be learning to do puppets, clowns, drama, teaching etc. We would love for you to come and visit and see firsthand what God is doing.

People often ask us about our fundraising. Even though we are career missionaries appointed by the Church of God, we are responsible for raising all our salary plus project expenses. We cherish those who God calls to partner with us and are grateful for everyone who helps to keep us doing the ministry. Please prayerfully consider partnering with us financially and continue covering our ministry with prayer.

In Christ,

Bobby, Tamitha, Jonathan, Jordan & Baby J

Argentina

admin — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 21:37:08 +0000

God continues to give us amazing opportunities to share His love and disciple others. This past weekend was a great case in point.

First, Bobby was invited to participate in the First National Congress of Educators in Argentina. Christian educators from around Argentina converged in a beautiful touristic district of Cordaba to address the educational challenges that they are facing. Attendees ranged from Sunday school teachers to seminary professors. The Congress began by addressing the strained relationship between theological education and Christian education and the effect it is having upon our seminaries and local churches today. For two more days, the Congress grappled with issues like this.

Bobby presented several societal issues that should be considered when developing our educational programs and processes. For example, 91% of the people in Argentina live in cities and 2 out of every 3 people have access to and use the internet. Current realities like these challenge educators to adapt their methodologies to make sure that they are always doing their best to set-up their students for success in today’s world.

Through this time of teaching, reflection and discussion, this Congress confirmed their unique identity as Christian educators and designed a ten-year national education strategy plan to address the challenges that they are facing. The educators are now unified in purpose and committed to making great advances within the Kingdom of God as they return to their contexts and put their theories and tools to work.

Church planting:

While in Argentina, Bobby was also able to meet with the National and Regional Supervisors of Argentina. During this meeting they reaffirmed their commitment to plant 600 new churches by the year 2020. As part of this process, the leadership of Argentina appointed Armando Scevola as the National Coordinator of Church Planting and Revitalization en Argentina. He and Bobby will work closely during the next several years as they identify and train these 600 church planters.

Please remember to pray for Bobby and Brother Scevola as they prepare these 600 churchplanters. If you would like to be a part of what God is doing in Argentina and help sponsor one of the training workshops, please make a donation to our ministry.

No related posts.

Unified Vision for Reaching the Lost

admin — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:43:03 +0000

Throughout South America, the pain of poverty and broken relationships is impossible to ignore. Sincere needs and hurting people cannot be ignored because they are everywhere. Faced with this reality, precious saints and churches throughout South America began sincerely crying out to God for revival. They wept for their communities and the lost within their cities. They longed for those bound in the destruction and pain of the Enemy to experience the abundant life that only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ. These precious saints knew that the only hope for their communities and cities was that their neighbors and others experience the victorious life that comes from being filled and walking in the Spirit. And so they cried out to God … and today I am able to report from the frontlines on South America
that REVIVAL IS BLOWING THROUGH THE LAND! God saw their tears – He heard their cries and He is now answering their petitions. Not only are the churches growing and adding members daily, but also God has faithfully answered their cries of “Revive us, Lord!” by unifying them in vision and mission.

The vision and mission that God has planted within their hearts is for EACH CHURCH TO PLANT ONE NEW CHURCH BY 2020! This is HUGE considering that we have over 2000 churches within the Church of God in South America. If things were “normal,” such a vision would be overwhelming. But thanks be to God that He has also given us a plan and strategy to accomplish this grand task. First, God has connected us with other organizations that are providing us with resources, training materials and building materials. Second, each church has agreed to undergo a “health check-up.” We are “taking the pulse” of each local church in an effort to build upon their strengths and help them address their weaknesses. Our belief is that healthy churches will reproduce healthy churches.

These diagnostics are yielding tremendous results. Pastors and leaders have identified potential church planters within their congregations. These men and women have begun intensive church planting programs and are responding to God’s call. The local churches are also responding by ministering in their communities and effectively opening the doors for these new church planters.

Please join us in prayer and support as God continues to bring revival to South America. Pray with us that He send the laborers to reap this field that is white with harvest. Become a sponsor of this “health check-up” initiative or a church planter’s training conference. Be part of a construction or ministry team that comes to help us build and equip these 2000 churches.

~Bobby

Men & Women of Action Team impacts Ecuador

admin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:35:07 +0000

We had the joy of hosting a team of 18 people who came to Ecuador to build a church and do various other ministry activities. This MWOA team, led by Rich Tonti, included people from the ages of 13 to 82! Most people came from California, but members also represented Illinois, Michigan & Tennessee.

The main construction project was to break ground on a new church building for a congregation in South Quito. This church has been meeting for several years in a tiny shack in the corner of a big piece of land they purchased with the dream of expanding. After just one week of work from the MWOA team, this church now has a foundation, floor, support columns & walls!!! They were so inspired and motivated by the work accomplished and the realization that their dream is now possible. We can’t wait to hear about all the exciting things yet to happen in their community as they finish and FILL this building with people hungry for God.

While some were slinging concrete, other members of the MWOA team were involved in a mixture of ministry and helping at various other sites. We were able to hold devotions and have some fun time with the kids at FACES which is an outreach to kids who work in the streets. Also at FACES, we painted some walls, cleaned some floors and peeled a LOT of potatoes!

Our times of ministry also included a “sidewalk Sunday school” and mini-carnival with the children who live around the seminary (SEMISUD). We also visited a nearby orphanage and delivered many hygiene supplies. We had an amazingly fun time sharing and playing with these precious children.

On our last work day, all members of our team worked together at the Church of God Feeding Center in Atacucho. Many members of our team participated in the first construction on this project years ago. Now, they were able to see the center in full action, offering food and assistance to over 80 children that day. During this day of ministry, we were able to paint walls and hold devotion and craft time for the kids. It was great to see many of the “concrete slingers” have a chance to receive lots of hugs from the kids along with a few stabs with balloon swords.

Throughout the week, some of the team performed a drama to the song “Everything” by Lifehouse everywhere they could. One included an impromptu service in the largest park of downtown Quito. Here, the people circled around to see the drama and afterward, 21 people came forward to pray for salvation!

Click here to view the embedded video.

The days of this trip flew by so fast, but were so filled with blessings for the Ecuadorians as well as for all of us involved in the trip. Ecuador will never be the same and never will we.

Kidfest SoCal

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 13:06:46 +0000

We were blessed to be able to share about missions and minister at the Southern California Kidfest, held at Living Waters Christian Fellowship. We had such an awesome time as hundreds of kids were transformed!

Here are some videos:

Spike & Sparkle Band – everyone who bought an Ecuador instrument got to march in the parade and play their instruments.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fishing for Men – Skit

Click here to view the embedded video.

More Photos: