12 countries, 3 languages, and more than 300 people (in the open plenaries), united by one Lord and one cry: Reaching the Americas for Christ. Caminemos Juntos, together with the Anglican Church in Chile and the Diocese of Recife, hosted this historic gathering under the theme: MOVE! Based on Acts 2:41-47. This text highlights at least key 5 aspects of every true MOVE of God: Multiplication, Prayer, Biblical Truth, Holy Spirit, Renewal. These were the themes each speaker and preacher spoke on and what the small groups discussed.
Of special blessing to this gathering was the presence of Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi, Archbishop of the Anglican Diocese of Jos in Nigeria. The desire was to learn from the incredbile growth that the Anglican church in Nigeria has experienced through the planting of thousands of churches.
Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi of Jos, Nigeria
Another highlight was the worship night led by singer/songwriter Santiago Benavides, who, through humor and gospel-centered songs, invited us to enter a “place called grace.” During the times of worship throughout the consultation we sang original worship songs composed during the United Adoration retreat, part of the Caminemos Juntos conference in North America.
Testimonies from Colombia, Mexico and the Diocese of Recife in Brazil were shared throughout the event.
What resulted from this consultation?
We called this a “consultation” because we were consulting God and one another: “what is it that God wants to do in the Americas through us?” These are some of the things we heard and received:
1) The vision and mission of Caminemos Juntos was clarified:
The vision of Caminemos Juntos is to “unify the Anglican church in the Americas, under the authority of the Word of God, to proclaim Jesus and plant churches through the power of the Holy Spirit, for the expansion of the Kingdom and the glory of the Father.”
There were 11 countries from the Americas (plus Nigeria) present but 24 other countries were not present such as Venezuela, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. We would like to reach these countries and extend this MOVE of God to those áreas as well.
2) Models and church planting resources were shared including: a church planting manual designed in Chile, the Greenhouse model, the cell group multiplication model used in Recife and a model for raising up leaders designed by Cristobal Cerón and used in various programs in Chile.
3) There was a strong sense of unity and fellowship. A common commentary of many was: “We are no longer alone!” We believe that this unity is essential for mission and church planting.
4) The leadership at a continent wide level was clarified: Bishop Tito Zavala, Bishop Miguel Uchoa, Rev. William Beasley and Rev. Jonathan Kindberg will serve as the leadership team to guide this movement which will also national teams with additional local leaders.
What’s next?
1) Our next gathering in South America will be October 5-7 in Recife, Brazil. Save the Date!
2) We will be starting a support network for starting new churches in regions where there aren’t many congregations or resources.
3) Continue to solidify the nascent prayer movement and we will continue with our monthly days of prayer and fasting the first Saturday of the month for a MOVE of God in the Americas.
4) Continue to deepen our Biblical and theological foundations for unity and mission.
5) Continue to explore models for equipping and training leaders and church planters biblically and theologically.
6) Promote short and long-term mission and church planting opportunities such as the missionary marriage encounter Chile is taking to Mexico and opportunities through the Greenhouse Movement (known as the Movimiento Misionero San Pablo in Latin America) in Chicago, Brownsville, Texas and Guadalajara, México.