Tag Archive for: Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional

One Latin America Team – Fall 2024 Quarterly Update

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A snapshot of blessings during the past quarter:

1.  Annual meeting and new ten-year target
From October 11-14, 2024, the One Latin America team held its annual meeting at Divine Savior Academy in Doral, Fla. The meeting centered on establishing a ten-year target, a three-year picture, and one-year goals. At this meeting, the One Latin America Team set this new ten-year target:

  • 10,000 have finished at least one Discipleship Level course
  • 1,000 church plants (Grupos Sembrador) started
  • 100 church plants (Grupos Sembrador) have become congregations of Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional

2. Baptisms in Argentina
Luis Bello and his wife, Karina, from Baradero, Argentina, joined the Lutheran faith through Academia Cristo. They began hosting a small group in their home, gathering 15-25 people regularly. One evening, after a lesson on Jesus’ baptism, a young couple asked if their daughters could be baptized, inspiring six others to request baptism as well. Over the next two weeks, Luis and another leader, Jorge, baptized a total of ten people, including adults and children.

3. Church planting in Ecuador
Henry Isidrio, a church planter from Guayaquil, Ecuador, continues leading three groups through a Bible information course to prepare members for confirmation in the Lutheran faith.

4. Church planting course implementation
The instruction team is leading the writing and implementation of new courses for the Church Planting Level of courses, This advanced level, following the Discipleship Level, is for students in doctrinal agreement who have committed to starting or supporting new groups.

5. Discipleship Level capstone course
Twenty students successfully gathered groups and taught them a brief course on sin, grace, faith, and works. This was the final project for the Discipleship Level capstone course that wrapped up in early Sept. Several of these students are in doctrinal agreement and will continue their studies in the Church Planting Level of courses. Another session of the capstone course started on Sept. 30, 2024.

Fast Facts

  • 1.75 million average weekly social media reach
  • 25,800 total cumulative students have enrolled in online Self-Study Level of courses
  • 3,791 students have finished the Self-Study Level of courses
  • 542 total cumulative students have enrolled in the online self-study level in the U.S.
  • 1,132 students have completed one Discipleship Level live course
  • 105 students have completed the Discipleship Level (13 live courses)
  • 45 students have completed the Church Planting Level (ten live courses)
  • 35 active church plants (Grupos Sembrador)




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One Latin America Team – Summer 2024 Quarterly Update

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A snapshot of blessings during the past quarter:

1. Vicar program in Colombia: In August 2024, we welcomed new Vicar Matthew Rugen to the field. He will be serving his vicar year under Pastor Henry Herrera in Medellín, Colombia. Also in August, we said goodbye to Vicar Jacob Bitter and his wife Sofia Spiegelberg. They are returning to Mequon, Wis., for Jacob to finish his senior year at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary.

2. Continuing education in San Salvador: In May 2024, all missionaries traveled to San Salvador, El Savlador, where Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI) professors Allen Sorum and Skip Goetzinger led a workshop on Christian Counseling in the Mission Setting.

3. New admissions coordinator: Fabi Guamán from Ecuador has stepped in as the new Admissions Coordinator, replacing Jen Proeber, who has moved from Chile to teach at Arizona Lutheran Academy in Phoenix. We thank Jen for her outstanding work!

4. 1,000 new students enrolled: In the first eight months of 2024, 1,000 students enrolled in the Discipleship level of live courses after completing four self-study courses. Missionary Luke Beilke and the Student Services Team lead the charge in orienting and integrating new students. This quarter, 350 new students successfully finished their first Discipleship course.

5. Church planting classes launch: The second level of live classes, Discipleship Two, is being revamped as a Church Planting level to better prepare Confessional Lutheran church planters. Nine new courses are in development by the One Latin America Team in collaboration with Multi-Language Productions (MLP), with Missionary Nathan Schulte leading the project.

6. A diverse, team effort: We now have professors and support staff from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, the United States, and Mexico working alongside missionaries to deliver Academia Cristo’s mission.

7. New Academia Cristo website: The Promotions & Productions team, with Multi-Language Productions (MLP), launched a new website for Academia Cristo, led by MLP Producer Jon Gross. The updated site better serves church planters and is easier to maintain. Check it out: academiacristo.com

8. New materials completed: The Promotions & Productions team completed all essential materials for church planters in the Academia Cristo program and is developing more resources to support church planting groups, including Bible history, doctrinal, and practical Bible studies.

9. Specialist plan for church planting course: A plan is in place for an existing missionary to specialize in providing one-on-one support to students taking the Discipleship capstone course on church planting. In this course, students are equipped to gather a group and teach them a course on sin, grace, faith, and works.

10. New church plant in Ecuador: Henry Isidro Chonillo (pictured left in the above photo), an Academia Cristo student, has planted three groups in the Guayaquil area of Ecuador. Missionary Nixon Vivar serves as his mission counselor.

11. Mission Counselor Residency Program: A new residency program will see Missionary Luis Acosta spend a month in Mexico, working closely with church planters on a weekly basis.

12. Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional: Plans are set for Pastor Henry Herrera, president of Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional, to visit church plants in Colombia, Mexico, and Argentina to discuss the process of becoming members of this international synod.

13. Diaspora Ministries: Team Leader Andrew Johnston is serving as the Diaspora Ministries Facilitator. Mr. Angel Otero, a WELS member from Deltona, Fla., and Academia Cristo graduate, has been hired to assist in this work.

Fast Facts

  • 1.7M average weekly social media reach (user looks at the material for over three seconds)
  • 23,693 total cumulative students enrolled in online self-study level
  • 3,619 students have finished the online self-study level of courses
  • 457 total cumulative students enrolled in the online self-study level in the U.S.
  • 1056 students have completed one Discipleship level live course
  • 104 students have completed the Discipleship level (13 live courses)
  • 40 students have completed the Church Planting level of courses  (Eight live courses)
  • 35 active church plants




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Latin America Mission – Spring 2024 Quarterly Update

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During the last quarter, Latin America missionaries engaged in several projects beyond their usual teaching duties and visits to church planters (sembradores) and the groups they are leading (Grupos Sembrador).

Plans were set in motion for mission counselor (consejero) residencies, a program designed for missionaries to work in-person with church planters over an extended period. The “guía de metas”, a resource that facilitates goal-setting sessions between mission counselors and church planters, underwent an update to align with the five habits of a church planting group. Concerted efforts were made to provide extra support to students taking the Discipleship One capstone course, including the introduction of a capstone course specialist role. Calls were extended to new church planters and Academia Cristo professors. A system was established to announce all acceptances via video to the student body. A pilot program was launched to provide weekly sermons to church planters. A proposed revision to the Discipleship Two curriculum has been drafted and is set for development. The team experimented with strategies to offer support and encouragement to non-group gatherers who do not have churches nearby.

Most importantly, God’s Word was taught to thousands of students, students received training in church planting, and two new church plants were formed. Below, find a summary of key statistics and a snapshot of specific blessings from the quarter.

A Few Quick Stats:

  • 2.2M average weekly social media reach (user looks at the material for over three seconds)
  • 16,369 students are enrolled in self-study courses
  • 3,259 students have finished the four self-study courses
  • 232 students are enrolled in self-study courses in the U.S.
  • 911 students have completed one live course in Discipleship One with an Academia Cristo professor
  • 104 students have completed Discipleship One (13 live courses)
  • 39 students have completed Discipleship Two (8 live courses)
  • 34 church plants (Grupos Sembrador)

A snapshot of blessings during the past quarter:

1. New student orientation
Missionary Luke Beilke, in his role as Dean of Students, implemented a new student orientation program. All new students participate in a welcome session where they learn more about Academia Cristo. For their first course, they are enrolled in a course with other new students. This allows the instructor to ensure they have a positive experience. At the end of their first course, the students participate in a wrap up session which is intended to ensure clarity on how to continue their studies. Jenny Proeber, the Academia Cristo Admissions Coordinator, helps welcome the new students. She also helps coordinate and carry out these sessions. In the past quarter, three courses had over 60 finishers.

2. Teach n’ Go

New software called Teach n’ Go has been implemented to manage student records. It allows missionaries to track student progress, determine what courses a student has taken and needs to take, and has features to track which students are interested in doctrinal agreement and starting a group/planting a church. Lucho Herrera took the lead in setting up this software. He also helped all missionaries become trained in how to use it in instructional and multiplication work.

3. All-team, mid-quarter meetings

Last quarter, the Latin America mission team started having all-team, mid-quarter meetings. With expanded team size and multiple functions, several missionaries don’t interact with each other in a weekly L10 meeting. These all-team, mid-quarter meetings provide an opportunity for all missionaries to interact, share updates, review rocks, and discuss cross-functional issues.

4. 50th anniversary in Medellin, Colombia

The church in Medellín, Colombia, celebrated 50 years of worship services on Sunday, February 25. Retired Latin America Missionary Larry W. Schlomer and Latin America Missionaries Andrew Johnston and Matt Behmer attended the celebration, shared greetings, and participated in a question-and-answer session with the congregation. There was a worship service with record attendance, a meal, and fellowship time. There were also visitors from other congregations in Colombia.




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Latin America Mission – Winter 2024 Quarterly Update

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During the last months of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, our Lord of the Harvest continued to bless the work of the One Latin America Team and Academia Cristo. The team focused on the transition from using a mobile app to WhatsApp for its first tier of study. New groups were started in the United States and Latin America. Steps were taken to further reshape Grupo Sembrador en la Ruta Cristo, Academia Cristo’s church planting program and materials. A podcast on a Christ-centered life was implemented. The instruction function took steps to ensure the Academia Cristo curriculum is aligned around the team’s church planting goals. Missionaries continued to make visits to key students, leaders, and groups.

A Few Quick Stats:

  • 2.2 million average weekly social media reach (user looks at the material for over 3 seconds)
  • 2,767 finished the four self-study courses either through the mobile app or WhatsApp
  • 764 completed one Discipulado Uno course
  • 95 completed Discipulado Uno
  • 35 completed Discipulado Dos
  • 32 Grupos Sembrador

A snapshot of blessings during the past quarter:

1. Self-study through WhatsApp
Learning from TELL and taking MLP’s recommendation, Academia Cristo transitioned from the use of a mobile app to WhatsApp for its self-study courses. By delivering the four self-study courses through WhatsApp instead of a mobile app, Academia Cristo was able to reach more people for less money. At the end of January 2023, there were over 9,500 people in the self-study workflow (taking one of the four self-study courses). Approximately 50 people are finishing the self-study courses each week. Upon completion of the four self-study courses, students are invited to enroll in live courses with Academia Cristo professors.

For more information on the switch from the mobile app to WhatsApp, please reference this video available in Spanish.

2. New Grupos Sembrador
Three new groups became Grupos Sembrador. Grupos Sembrador are led by an Academia Cristo student. They meet weekly, have studied Los cuatro conceptos (a course on sin, grace, faith, and works), and have studied at least three lessons of Aprendan de mí (a course similar to a Bible Information Course). These groups are in Deltona, Fla., United States; San Jose, Costa Rica; and Lima, Peru.

3. Ministry Certification
Elise Gross completed her ministry certification, and her call was made permanent. Luis Herrera took a course towards his ministry certification.

4. Meeting with 1LA, BWM, BHM, CICR, WLS, PSI, and COP
A meeting was held with representatives from the One Latin America team, the Board for World Missions (BWM), the Board for Home Missions (BHM), the Commission on Inter-Church Relations (CICR), Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary (WLS), the Pastoral Studies Institute (PSI), and the Conference of Presidents (COP) on Oct. 25, 2023, at Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary. The group discussed a paper written by Professor emeritus Paul Wendland on mission and ministry in Latin America. The One Latin America Team visionary and leader, Andrew Johnston, wrote a follow-up paper on the missiology of Academia Cristo.

5. Grupo Sembarador en la Ruta Cristo
Plans to overhaul the Grupo Sembrador en la Ruta Cristo program continued. A temporary plan for providing sermons to groups was developed and an outline for a Bible study program was drafted. This program will include Bible history lessons, doctrine lessons, and practical lessons. Plans are in place to write these lessons during the next quarter.

6. El Sembrador de Hoy es el Consejero de Mañana
The team began preliminary work on creating a plan for today’s group gatherer to become tomorrow’s mission counselor. This is in anticipation of exponential growth of students and church planters in the Academia Cristo program.




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Latin America Mission – Fall 2023 Update

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As of October 2023, Academia Cristo has two million followers on social media. The social media platforms used by Academia Cristo include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok. Through these platforms, Academia Cristo manages over 30 million engagements every month. Over a million people have downloaded the Academia Cristo mobile app that launched in February 2020. 2,400 people have completed the self-led courses offered in the mobile app or through WhatsApp since March 2020 and are signed up for live courses. 696 people have completed one live course since March 2020 with a WELS missionary or national partner. 85 students in the Academia Cristo program have gone through a doctrinal agreement process designed for leaders and church planters. There are 29 groups that Academia Cristo leaders have taken through at least seven lessons of a two-year program of worship and study. One congregation formed through the program has joined Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional and several others will soon be reaching the criteria required to apply for membership.

A snapshot of blessings from August through October 2023:

  1. An alternative to the mobile app was identified and tested.
    • Through a platform called respond.io, those interested in studying with Academia Cristo are guided in WhatsApp through the same four self-study courses that have been offered in the app.
    • This alternative, self-study through WhatsApp, produced more students with less spending on advertising. It also offered several other positive features, such as the opportunity to engage with students while they are in the self-study process and collect their contact information.
    • Because of the success of the app alternative, it was decided at the 2023 annual meeting to use this alternative instead of the app.
    • Going forward, the “Self-Study Level” through WhatsApp will be the way for students to move from social media to participating in live courses.
  2. A music summit was held in Quito, Ecuador, with representatives from the Latin America mission team and Multi-Language Productions (MLP). Plans were adopted to produce more hymns and liturgical music for use by church planting groups.
  3. The instruction function of the Latin America team focused on incorporating course and lesson objectives into the Academia Cristo curriculum.
  4. An admissions coordinator was hired to help enhance the student onboarding experience.
  5. A program was started to identify and recruit volunteers and match them with needs within Academia Cristo and church planting groups.
  6. Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional held their first convention in Moca, Dominican Republic.
  7. The Latin America seminary program (Seminario Cristo) is wrapping up year two of test courses and has plans in place for 2024. Artemio Garcia from Mexico is currently teaching Old Testament Isagogics.
  8. Plans are set for Rev. Larry Schlomer to lead the Diaspora Ministry Program, continuing the foundation that was laid by Rev. Carl Leyrer through Hispanic Outreach Project in the United States.

 

 




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Latin America Mission – Quarterly Update

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As of July, 2023, Academia Cristo has 1.9 million followers on Facebook, 138,000 followers on Instagram, 18,400 followers on YouTube, and 2,121 followers on TikTok. Academia Cristo manages over 30 million engagements every month through their various communication platforms. Over a million people have downloaded the Academia Cristo mobile app that launched in February 2020. 2,090 people have completed the self-led courses on the mobile app since March 2020 and are signed up for live courses. 667 people have completed one live course since March 2020 with a WELS missionary or national partner. 79 students in the Academia Cristo program have gone through a doctrinal agreement process designed for leaders and church planters. There are 25 groups that Academia Cristo leaders have taken through at least seven lessons of a two-year program of worship and study. There is one official congregation from the program.

A snapshot of blessings from May through July 2023:

  1. Academia Cristo follows an hourglass church multiplication strategy. They try to meet as many people as possible on social media, guide them through an intentional training program, and equip them to plant groups to reach more people. Implementation has begun on changes to the bottom part of our hourglass strategy. These changes focus on revisions to their church planter (Grupo Sembrador) program, where groups gather regularly around God’s Word using a two-year packet of worship and Bible study materials provided by Academia Cristo.
  2. Missionaries guided 39 church planters (sembradores) and four adjunct professors through the divine call process. This was done one-on-one. It included a review of the doctrine of the call, best practices for considering a call, and how to accept or decline a call.
    • All four of those called to serve as adjunct professors accepted their calls (three from Mexico and one from Ecuador).
    • 33 of the 39 who were called to be church planters have accepted (two declined, four are still deliberating). The 33 church planters who accepted are in 11 different Latin American countries.
  3. A plan is in place to start a student services team. It will focus on welcoming students into the Academia Cristo program, setting up live courses, and maintaining student records.
  4. On June 18, 2023, eight students graduated from the Discipleship Two portion of the program. These graduates successfully completed 21 live courses, each with a final project. Several of these graduates will be invited to study in Iglesia Cristo WELS Internacional seminary test courses.
  5. The new version of Aprendan de mí, our Bible information course, is almost ready to be sent to Multi-Language Productions (MLP) for production. A specific plan is in place to have the course (videos, teacher’s guides, and student handouts) published by October 2023.




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Unexpected blessings in Paraguay

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The Unexpected
It wasn’t a part of the plan. We weren’t supposed to be there. We were on our third move to another new country, with two kids under two years old in less than a year . . . this was certainly not on our radar.

When my wife and I were sitting in the Seminary auditorium for the vicar call service and we heard that we were assigned to Medellín, Colombia for vicar year, we could not have imagined what lay before us. We could not have imagined ourselves living with a wonderful family in Ecuador for two months and going from asking them what “dinner” is called to a tearful and prolonged goodbye as we left them to go to Colombia. We could not have imagined that in only the first two months of our time there, we’d get to know Pastor Herrera, and his wife, Eliana, well enough to leave our daughter with them so we could go to the hospital and welcome our son into the world on Christmas Day. And we could not have imagined getting to meet the mission team in Paraguay to close out the year.

With the help of missionaries, synod workers, lawyers, friends, and family, the plan was made to start us out in Ecuador for two months to learn Spanish full-time and get to know the Academia Cristo Mission Team based there. From there we would go to Medellín, Colombia for the rest of our time to work with Pastor Herrera and the wonderful congregation there. As we neared the end of our time in Medellín, we had some visa issues and so an impromptu plan was made to send us to Asunción, Paraguay, where another Academia Cristo Mission Team is based.

The Blessings
It wasn’t a part of the plan, and it certainly wasn’t on our radar. But it was a part of God’s plan for us. God put us there and we could not have imagined the additional blessings he had planned for us in Paraguay.

As we went from the city of eternal spring – Medellín, Colombia – to a city in the southern hemisphere in the dead of winter (it was still 50s and 60s Fahrenheit so not too cold) – Asunción, Paraguay – we were blessed with the opportunity to learn about another culture and people. We were blessed to learn some Guaraní words as we met with some local Paraguayans and blessed to worship together at the mission house run by a WELS church in Florida. We were able to see God’s wonderful creation at Iguazu Falls in Brazil right across the border from Paraguay. We were fortunate to travel with missionary Abe Degner to Bolivia and meet with church leaders there, in addition to preaching for the new church formed by an Academia Cristo student in Cochabamba, Bolivia. We were blessed to celebrate our daughter’s second birthday with the mission team and have a Paraguayan-style grill-out after church. I also was blessed to visit Academia Cristo students in Argentina, with missionary Joel Sutton, as they considered starting Bible Study Groups that will God-willing turn into churches someday.

Our experience in South America was filled with unexpected challenges and blessings start to finish. But it’s amazing to see how God turns those unexpected plans and challenges into unexpected blessings.

Written by Caleb Koelpin, vicar for World Missions in Medellín, Colombia during 2022-2023.

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