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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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!
PRAY for our ministry
