Dominican Republic (MNN) — Evangelical Free Church Mission has watched the number of evangelicals in Latin America grow from 16 million in the late 1960's to 60 million
today. Some of the growth is the result of effective partnerships, such as one established recently in the Dominican Republic.
ReachGlobal staff members Clyde and Rebecca from Mexico are taking on the role of relationship coordinators for the Dominican Republic. Rebecca visited the island recently and found that there was an open door to help a church who sponsors grace groups for people needing support and encouragement.
Grace groups are a ministry of EFC churches which encourage adults through teaching, prayer and outreach under the supervision of a trained pastor.
The church Rebecca visited has eight locations that appear to be healthy and grounded with strong leadership. The goal is to establish small groups in other churches as well.
Clyde is planning a trip in the near future to visit the church and to discuss with the leaders how short-term teams could assist them. Clyde and Rebecca's goal through ReachGlobal is to empower the leaders by coming alongside them with encouragement and support.
Latin America's Christian believers often get burned out or have little training to prepare them for pastoral ministry. There are as many as 800,000 of these kinds of leaders. With ReachGlobal's help, they can get the preparation and hands-on experience they need to take on leadership roles in their churches without getting emotionally and physically drained. In this way, the number of mature leaders will multiply as new leaders are added, not to replace old ones but to join the cause alongside experienced leaders.
Pray for the work of Clyde and Rebecca as they assist the church in the DR. Pray that they will be able to offer support and encouragement to leaders and strengthen their effectiveness for Christ.
