Love God Serve Others

Sincere Passion for the Lost

admin — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 02:02:01 +0000

God continues to inspire our church planters in Latin America to abandon everything to win the lost. Recently in one of our church planting rallies, a university professor in Chile heard about a community that desperately needed to hear the Gospel message. At that moment, God laid it upon his heart to plant a church in that community. Out of sincere faith and obedience, that night he resigned his job as a distinguished professor and left his comfortable lifestyle to offer God’s plan of salvation with the lost. He, along with his wife and their small child, drove all night to get to this community. When they arrived, he got out of his car and immediately began walking the streets and preaching the simple message of a Savior who came and died for their sins. With nowhere else to sleep that night, this precious family slept in their car. They continued to preach the gospel by day and sleep in their car at night for several weeks. God honored their humble faith and obedience and within a short time, more than 100 people had come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. They now have property and are constructing a church.

In 2011, more than 850 Latin Americans have answered this call to plant a church. Many of their stories are similar. Pray for us as we coordinate this church planting initiative in Latin America and train these new church planters. Perhaps you would like to connect with one of our church planters and sponsor their training for $100 per month for one year. If so, please contact us.

Big News… Project M:25

admin — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:11:41 +0000

Throughout the history of our ministry, sometimes God’s plan has happened so fast it felt like a whirlwind just took over our lives. The end result has always been a beautiful advancement of His plan. Even though the whirlwind might feel wild for a bit, every moment is worth it.

Welcome to “Whirlwind M25!” We just got word this morning, that our offer to purchase property was accepted. Our ministry will soon include a 2 ½ acre campground. This campground will serve as an outreach center to its surrounding impoverished community. This community has NO Christian church – this will be its FIRST one to bring the light of Jesus Christ. We will offer meals to the children, tutoring and enrichment classes as well as children’s church services. We will also offer help for the elderly of the community and other outreach opportunities. The campground will also serve as a retreat center for the kids of our partner feeding ministries in the city. From time to time, we will invite these children to a special retreat to escape the harshness of city life while learning more and growing closer to God.

Here is a video that shows the property and talks more about our plans:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is truly one of those God opportunities! We are able to purchase the property at HALF of its appraised value. We have a couple of key donors who are working to help us raise the money for the purchase (PRAY for this effort). Truly EVERY door is swinging open as God shows His might to make this happen. It is ALL God (and it’s happening FAST)!

We feel it proper to call this expansion of our ministry, Project M25 (based on chapter 25 in Matthew), which will encompass all of our current and new benevolent ministry activities. From now on, as you hear us talk about Project M25, that will include the outreach activities at the new campground and it will include our work at other feeding centers. God has a grand vision for helping “the least of these” here in Ecuador.

We will have more details coming soon… as soon as we can catch up with this whirlwind! PLEASE keep us in your prayers because we NEED them. (This is all in ADDITION to Bobby’s current work in Church Planting throughout Latin America.) And please send donations to help make this project happen. We need operating funds quickly to get this up and running. We also need work teams to come and help improve the property. Every bit counts as God pulls His people together to accomplish amazing results.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Bobby, Tamitha, Jordan, Jonathan & James

Agape Christmas was Amazing!

admin — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 17:30:53 +0000

We hosted our first ever Agape Christmas project where we shared Christmas with 300 of the poorest children in Ecuador. This event was a joint effort with 2 different feeding ministries inside the heart of inner city Quito where poverty and desperation are rampant. Each of these feeding centers offer daily meals to children who often have no other food all day long. Most of these children work on the streets and many live away from their families in tiny, dirt floor shacks with other children. Those who do live with their families are often sharing a single-room shack with multiple families.

God placed these children on our hearts and, thanks to our generous ministry supporters, we were able to provide a special Christmas event for these children. We held a special kids service to share the true message of Christmas. God moved mightily in these services and we estimate that 50 children came to accept Christ for the first time. We also shared a meal with the children, making sure they each received a nice portion of meat since that is something the feeding centers can seldom afford. We ended the celebration with a special gift for each child which included clothes, shoes, a toy and candy.

The smiles on their faces were priceless. We were so blessed to be a part of this day and pray that the seeds of the gospel message will continue to bloom in their lives.

Thank you to everyone who had a part in sharing God’s love with these children.

Here is a video about the event

Click here to view the embedded video.

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.

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