South America Mission FrontPage, April 2016

REDEEMED LIVES | BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES | TRANSFORMED COMMUNITIES

Front Page APRIL 2016

Lima, Peru is the “new global culinary epicenter”, according to a recent article in Condé Nast Traveler. If you ask Julio Chiang what makes Lima so great, he’ll talk about the cuisine, confirming epicurean journalists’ opinions. But he’ll become more reflective, too, thinking about the greatness of the city where he was born and now lives as the founder and lead pastor of a new church—

IGLESIA DE LA CIUDAD. Yes, the ceviche is exquisite, but Lima finds its true greatness in its 10,000,000 people. It’s a fair question: “What’s so great about an urban mass of humanity?” For Julio, the heart of Lima is about millions of God’s image bearers, so close he can touch them, all needing the gospel of grace. Recently, Julio shared how Iglesia de la Ciudad is acting as a dispenser of grace in one of the world’s greatest cities: Mission Emphasis

Above: Julio Chiang (left) engages visitors and the worship team leads City Church’s first Easter service, March 27, 2016, in Lima, Peru.

Inside: > Iglesia de la Ciudad, Lima, Peru, cont’d > La Cueva, Bogotá, Colombia > Orphan Care in Colombia

Church Planting / Networks

|| The name of your church is Iglesia de la Ciudad.

You prefer the translation, “City Church”. Why did you choose this name for your church plant? || We wanted our name to actually include the word “Church” because we believe the only hope for the redemption and transformation of Lima is the Church of Jesus Christ. It’s the vehicle for redemption that God has chosen.

Also, we’re a church that is for the city, or “city positive”, a church that builds for the welfare of the city. Over the years the church in many instances has separated itself from urban life and culture, but God, just as he instructed Israel through the prophet Jeremiah upon entering Babylonian exile, has called us to be connected to and serve the city. cont’d Page 2

|| Tell us about your logo for City Church. What does the design communicate? || First, the vertical and horizontal lines represent city streets.

They intend to remind you of an urban map. Then the small circle layered over the “streets” creates the image of a cross, conveying the concept of Christ at the center of our city. And then the way the streets and the circle intersect, the effect is a reminder of stained glass, which for us is about tradition and history. We need to emphasize certain historical traditions of the church and contextualize them for our culture today.

|| How are you addressing the needs of the city? || I was talking to friends yesterday who commented that it is difficult to find a balanced church. I think what they mean by “balanced” is an emphasis on holiness and grace, belief and practice. We have three core values at City Church. I think together they make us “balanced”.

First, we value the gospel of grace. The city needs churches rooted in grace. The capacity to follow certain regulations has been emphasized so much that people are not experiencing the transformation and reconciliation that the gospel of grace brings. I think this is why many people reject Christianity, because they see religion and not the gospel.

Second, as a church we value being committed to the welfare of our society. The good news of the gospel is salvation from sin for those who believe, but the gospel doesn’t stop there. The good news is also that God’s Kingdom has come, and his Kingdom fights for justice.

When people see a community of Christians reflecting God’s character through love…defenses go down…

We are the ones to incarnate this Kingdom in real, tangible ways so that people will see and know we are his disciples.

We want people in Lima, even if they do not share our beliefs, to believe so much that what we are doing is good for the city that they will say, “I hope City Church never leaves because they are good for Lima. They are making a difference for good in our society”.

Third, we value culture and want to be relevant in the way we engage culture without forsaking truth and holiness. Culture bears the imprint of God because we make culture and we are the stewards of his image. Even those elements of culture that need to be redeemed, we shouldn’t run from them but engage them as God’s agents of redemption. But there is also much about culture that can be enjoyed and appreciated and finding these cultural connection points with those in the city whom we are reaching is important to our strategy. || Lima comprises 49 districts. How are you determining where to be active? || We are focused on being present in certain districts because of the influencers who live there but also because these districts are the least reached; less than 5% of the population has heard the gospel of grace. It’s interesting, in these districts there are churches but they are not reaching the people who actually live there in the neighborhoods.

We want to “move in” to these neighborhoods and reach those who live right there, next door. || What is your strategy to reach people, to bring people into fellowship and worship? || We definitely pray strategically, for God to direct us to where he is already working. We’re also intentional to be where non-Christians are. For me personally, teaching motocross and attending motocross events, going to the gym, they have been great for connecting. For our leadership team and core group, we emphasize presence in the communities.

We also host what we call contact events, we open up our homes to our neighbors and to those we meet along

Above: Alex Chiang, an internationally known expository preacher and member of City Church’s core leadership team, addresses the audience at the recent Easter service.

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…the cities are bursting with people, and there are not enough churches in the cities to satisfy this growth.

Dear Friends, James teaches us about pure and faultless religion (1:27). It involves action, doing. The verse specifies “looking after” two specific groups of people—widows and orphans—”in their distress”.

James assumes their distress based on the reality of their loneliness and heart-brokenness from losing love or never knowing it. Looking after widows and orphans fills a void of love in their lives. In this edition of Front Page, you’ll read about a SAM team in Bogotá, Colombia, practicing “pure religion” through a ministry called La Cueva.

In Lima, Peru, a dynamic new church called Iglesia de la Ciudad is doing more than proclaiming the gospel of grace in a city approaching 11,000,000; it’s dispensing it in truth and action by engaging the city for good.

Bogotá and Lima provide the context today for some of SAM’s most compelling ministry initiatives. Donors like you allow us to first of all go to these places, but moreover, to proclaim and demonstrate the saving grace that goes before us and gives hope to humanity.

You’ll enjoy hearing from Julio and about Cristal in this edition of Front Page. I’m available to help you get behind the ministries they represent with your prayers and resources.

Thank you for all that you do.

Ken Massey, Jr.

Director of Development ken.massey@samlink.org 3 |

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Julio riding at a weekend motocross event in Lima, and with his wife of 22 years, Olga.

the way. We invite them to come and hear our vision for the city. These events have so far birthed two house church gatherings that meet weekly, and once a month we host an open, public worship service. Those in our house churches are inviting their neighbors and friends to the monthly large-group gatherings.

Our March 2016 monthly gathering was also City Church’s first Easter service.

Our social outreach endeavors attract non-Christians as well; often they will work alongside us, building for social good before they are comfortable coming to a church service. We have begun regular visits to an orphanage in Lima.

We have also begun to donate blood and financial offerings to the Peruvian Association of Blood Donors. When we made our first financial donation, the Association told us it was the first they had ever received. || What does church-planting mean to you? || I’m passionate about it. It’s stressful and sometimes I wish for a ministry more stable or less risky, but it means everything to me because it’s God’s chosen way to reach humanity. When people see a community of Christians reflecting God’s character through love and their care for each other, defenses go down, skepticism falls away, and people are willing to explore what they see.

It can be confusing, with organic home group movements and wherevertwo-or-more-are-gathered-in-my-name churches, to understand church. But I do think the Bible is clear about what constitutes a church. A church is a community of people united around the gospel and around Christ. Also, there needs to be leadership—elders who counsel and teach, oversee and provide accountability. The community also needs to be oriented around the sacraments of communion and baptism. But for me, I am most in tune with the church as a community of people who are living life together with Christ at the center. || You planted a church previously in the Amazon jungle. Now, you’ve come to Lima, from the jungle to the city. What influence or experience gave birth to your vision for this urban-based project? || My vision for an urban church plant was really born out of my experience and cont’d on Page 6

LaCUEVA

T

he group lets out a whoop of praise and the soft-spoken girl in the corner blushes crimson with unmistakable delight. She hastily repeats her announcement that prompted the praise, making sure the right person gets the credit: “Gracias a Dios—thanks be to God, I found a job.” Congratulatory hugs and songs of worship follow—a celebration of God’s provision for Cristal, a fellow sister in Christ.

Mission Emphasis

Transformational Initiatives

Cristal is one of the countless twenty-somethings growing up in Colombia without parents. Abandoned as a child and having spent the majority of her adolescent years in the Colombian child welfare system, Cristal now navigates the murky waters of adulthood—except she doesn’t do it alone.

Amidst the dark landscape of cyclical abandonment and the resulting orphan crisis shines a beacon of hope in a house called La Cueva. La Cueva is a refuge located in the heart of Bogotá for orphans who have aged out of government care and are making the difficult transition into adulthood.

Those accepted into the house gain immediate access to a support network that normally would not be available to them: job opportunities, university loans, affordable rent,

spiritual mentors and most importantly, a faith community.

The latter is what makes this program so special.

Every Tuesday evening, upwards of 20 people arrive at La Cueva and pull together a hodgepodge of chairs and couches before settling in to a night of worship, prayer, Bible study, and of course, Colombian empanadas.

During this particular gathering, Cristal shares her news of having found a job. The announcement bears so much weight because her group of friends knows where Cristal has been.

Cristal came to La Cueva when she had nowhere else to turn. She spent almost two years battling a life-threatening brain tumor without help or support from relatives. Though doctors feared she wouldn’t survive, Cristal overcame the odds.

While searching for employment, Cristal faced rejection and disappointment because of a physical disability resulting from her illness. Yet God provided—not only a job but a community to celebrate it with.

Cristal’s faith community is just one in a larger movement of house churches called Ciudad Corazón (“Heart City”)

The skyline of Bogotá, Colombia, at sunset.

Above: Cristal (second from right) with the women of La Cueva.

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spreading throughout the greater Bogotá area. The Ciudad Corazón movement, under the leadership of Jorge Enciso, seeks to see the city, country, and continent transformed by the power of the gospel. While the movement comprises small groups of believers and nonbelievers alike who meet in the context of a living room, the impact goes beyond the four walls of a residence. That’s where programs like La Cueva come into play.

La Cueva is just one facet of Fundación Comunidad Viva—a Christian community development foundation (founded by Enciso) that works to empower the local church to be an agent of change in broken neighborhoods through opening community centers and initiating tutoring programs, Bible clubs, sustainable agriculture projects, and Vacation Bible Schools.

The house church movement and foundation work together to meet the physical and spiritual needs of the communities across the city.

The momentum of Ciudad Corazón and La Cueva shows no sign of slowing down. The house churches continue to multiply and every month come together from all over the city to celebrate the work God is doing. And there is much to celebrate. Cristal’s story is one of many that gives testimony to lives being shaped and transformed by the gospel manifested through the local church.

—by Hillary Merwin, South America Mission MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR LA CUEVA THROUGH A DONATION TO FUNDACIÓN COMUNIDAD VIVA www.southamericamission.org/fcvcolombia www.fundacioncomunidadviva.com Like us on FB: FundacionComunidadViva

FUNDACIÓN

Comunidad Viva RESTAURANDO LAZOS • TEJIENDO ESPERANZA

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O

rphan Care in Colombia

Reports suggest that there are close to 1 million orphans in Colombia—some made orphans by

violence, others by lack of education and resources. In the southern regions of Colombia, many orphaned children ages 12 to 17 have to report as the head of household and more than 100,000 of these are reported as having married under-aged to survive.1 According to the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), approximately 408 children are born each day to underage girls, which the director of Children and Adolescents notes is the “problem that ties [Colombia] to underdevelopment.”2 They also project that one in five teenage girls, aged 15 to 19, is already a mother or is pregnant. Through their interior research, they have tracked that on average, 64% of teen pregnancies in Colombia are unplanned, and therefore largely unwanted.3 Colombian state initiatives, such as the ICBF, have attempted to create programs to benefit these children, such as providing subsidized housing and adoption programs. The current resistance to these efforts, however, is a lack of information and cultural stigmas on the issue. According to their research, orphanhood has become almost invisible to the public and it is often challenging to locate specific children in need. With the prevalence of teen mothers, street children are a commonality in urban areas, and without interrogating each child, it is impossible to know how many have homes.

Some of the most alarming data is linked to the need for documentation and protection of these children. There are at least 15,000 orphaned children currently listed as domestic workers, implying that they are hired to work for a family in exchange for room and board. The Code for Children and Adolescents in Colombia clearly states that the minimum age for employment is 15 years, but the study shows known cases of children as young as 5 years engaging in domestic work.

—by Melissa Weissenberger, South America Mission 1. http://www.semana.com/vida-moderna/articulo/pais-huerfanos/ 105840-3 2. http://www.noticiascaracol.com/colombia/cada-dia-nacen-408ninos-de-madres-adolescentes-en-colombia 3. http://www.eltiempo.com/estilo-de-vida/salud/icbf-alerto-sobreembarazo-adolescente-en-colombia/14573315

City Church cont’d from Page 3

interaction with other pastors. At Mil Palmeras in Pucallpa, pastors from other parts of Peru came to learn about what we were doing in the area of disciple making. As I interacted with these pastors, I realized they were mostly from urban contexts, and those who were not, they at least had to come through Lima to get to Pucallpa. God used these interactions to draw my attention to the city and to Lima, which is an important hub not just for Peru but for all of Latin America. I began to wonder if we could do something big here to impact the Kingdom.

I also became aware of certain migratory and socioeconomic realities. In Latin America, people have been migrating en masse to the cities from the countrysides. In our capital city Lima, one-third of the population of Peru lives here, more than 10,000,000 people. Another thing that compelled me is that of the 10,000,000 people of Lima, sixty percent live in shantytowns, and many are indigenous peoples. In fact, thousands of Shipibo now reside in Lima.

Shipibo is one of the main people groups we have worked with for decades in Pucallpa.

In part, it was a realization that the cities are bursting with people and there are not enough churches in the cities to satisfy this growth.

|| City Church is the first church in a churchmultiplication movement that you call the Lima Initiative. Tell us more about the Lima Initiative. || Our plan is for City Church to present a model for replication not only in Lima and in other cities of Peru, but in the cities of other Latin American countries as well. Ten years from now, I hope to look back to City Church as the spark that set fire to a movement of churches. Our vision is the long-term transformation of the cities and the nations, through the presence of the Bride of Christ.

So the Lima Initiative is not Lima-centric, although we are launching and learning how to do this here in this great city.

As we build our team of Peruvian leaders and international missionaries, we have scalability and multiplication in mind.

This notion of beginning a movement is built into the structure and values of City Church. We’ll do it with a wellbalanced team and through strategic partnerships.

JOIN THE LIMA INITIATIVE TEAM Inquire at www.southamericamission.org/join-sam MAKE IT HAPPEN Go to limainitiative.org, or www.southamericamission.org/citychurchlima PRAY WITH US www.firstofallpray.org

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For more information about planned giving to South America Mission, email legacy@samlink.org or call 803.802.8580.

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REDEEMED LIVES | BEAUTIFUL CHURCHES | TRANSFORMED COMMUNITIES

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