A Christ Movement in Latin America: Numbers and Testimonies of TRANSFORMATION

We have just finished processing the statistical report for the INSTAR project in Latin America for the end of 2014.  And we are standing in Amazement and Wonder as we look at What God has done in this last year!

BY THE NUMBERS

First, here are the total statistics for the Church Planting Movement so far.  Remember that this project began in May 2008, and had reached a total of 453 Discovery Groups and New Churches at this time last year.

Total Groups and Churches:  1,244  (510 DBS Groups, 734 Churches or Equivalent)

Total number of People attending: 10,444

Total number of people saved through the project:  5,594

Total baptisms in the project:  4,735

Groups and Churches by Generation:

1st Generation Groups: 288
2nd Generation Groups: 146
3rd Generation Groups:  246
4th Generation Groups:  181
5th Generation Groups:  215
6th Generation Groups:  136
7th Generation Groups: 32

Second, the last 3 months of the year were the single largest harvest since the outreach started 6 years ago.  Between October and December, 2014 the increase was amazing:
New Attendees:  2,281
New Believers:  1,808
New Baptisms:  1,378
Total New Groups and Churches:  385

There is no doubt, God is granting a Disciple Making Church Planting Movement in Latin America through the INSTAR Project.  To God be the Glory!

BY THE IMPACT ON LIVES AND COMMUNITIES

Here are just 2 testimonies of changed lives and communities that are a part of this project.  We want you to remember that when we report numbers....each number is a real place or a real person who's life is being impacted by the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Testimony 1:  A changed man

Gutillo  is a man from San Francisco De la Paz, Olancho who is greatly feared throughout all of Honduras. This man has had a terrible reputation especially in the state of Olancho. His wife had become very sick and could not get well. One day we were helping a family  in their coffee harvest. We were helping them the plant new coffee plants. One day Gutillo asked if we could go to his house and give his wife a Bible study. He said that she had been sick and couldn't seem to get well. So we went to his house and he would stay outside and listen to us from outside as we gave the Bible study to his wife. He would stand outside quietly while he carried his AK-47 and a 9 mm pistol. The man's wife would always invite her daughters and two of her neighbors to come to the DBS.  After six Bible studies Gutillo begin to listen to these Bible studies from the hallway of his home and he no longer carried his guns. It was on that day that he stood in the hallway the 22 November at 4 PM that he decided for Christ and he public handed over his weapons to me and he said brothers I no longer have need of these guns. Take them away. I told him I had no need for them and I didn't know what to do with them so I handed them to some of his brothers in the flesh and they pick them up and put them away. Today those brothers also have given their lives to Christ for the Glory of God. Hallelujah

Testimony 2:  A changed community-

Coyolar Tilapa is a community in the north of San Francisco de la Paz that is very violent and few people go to this community. The people there are very poor. Despite the poverty there is a lot of natural resources but no one had helped them to explore how do use the natural resources for their betterment. In 2011 we came to this community trusting God that he would take care of our lives and that just the way we came we would leave. This community was very religious and they would not let anyone else come into this community and teach the Gospel. There were a lot of people who were religious but not many people who had a relationship with God. There were many people who were just following the traditions of the Catholic Church. God gave us favor with one of the elderly women who did the reading of the Word for the church. This woman had the respect of the community and her family and her name was Dulce Rosales. I want to tell you a little bit about how these people lived before we came to this community and got open doors to do Bible studies.

The people lived in very simple primitive homes and there was a problem of a plague called Chagas that had taken over the community.

The houses had walls of dirt.

No bathroom.

No running water.

No lights or power.

They were living off a very poor diets.

No decent road to get to the community.

They didn't have a school and much less any higher education.

 Now I want to tell you how they live since they have had the opportunity to know God.

They have been able to make improvements to their homes and the plague has left them.

They have bathrooms in their home.

They now have running water and three other communities close to them also have running water.

They now have power with solar panels.

Every home now has a garden.

There is a good road that provides access to these communities.

There is now a school and in 2015 there are plans to install a computer laboratory to train them in computer basics in this town.

There are now many DBS groups in this community and in the communities adjacent to them. Many people are experiencing the power of God's Word and His Spirit and we are using the mega voices to do the Bible studies.

The glory is always for God!