The Cross Family
Ambassadors for Christ in Peru
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NASB®)
"Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God."
2 Corinthians 5:20 (NASB®)
Serving alongside of local Christians in making disciples of Jesus Christ
so
indigenous, reproducing churches are a continual reality
in
Puerto Maldonado, Peru and beyond
so
indigenous, reproducing churches are a continual reality
in
Puerto Maldonado, Peru and beyond
So, Kelly, what do you think about going to Peru?
Philosophy of Ministry for Peru
We thank God for the way he saved us and then specifically directed us toward missions over the years. Through this preparatory stage, he has laid a good foundation for the
cross-cultural Christian ministry in Peru.
We thank God for our sending church, Calvary Baptist, in Winter Garden, FL.
We also thank God for so clearly directing us to, IBM Global, the mission board we are partnering with, . We appreciate their doctrinal perspectives and ministry philosophy.
Ministry Mission
Our overall mission is to participate in God’s global mission
to redeem and reconcile sinners to himself through Jesus Christ.
Ministry Vision
(what is the end goal for the Peru ministry?)
Always Serving Alongside of Local Christians in making disciples of Jesus Christ
so
Indigenous, Reproducing Churches are a Continual Reality
in
Puerto Maldonado, Peru and Beyond
Scriptural Motivations for Missions are Essential
Love for people, the country of Peru, jungle life, the Spanish language, a sense of adventure, etc. will not be sufficient motivations for us to move to Peru and faithfully serve God there for any length of time. There has to be a greater reason. What God says in Scripture has to be the driving force behind everything that we do.
Why go to Peru?
Some might ask, “Why are you planning to go to another country
when there are so many spiritual needs in our own country?”
That is a valid question, and it has some biblical answers.
God is the Lord of the harvest – He decides where His workers should go.
Matthew 9:37b-38 (ESV)
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into his harvest.”
The Spirit of God directs through the local church to send
qualified, faithful workers out.
Acts 13:2-3 (ESV)
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said,
‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’
Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.”
Jesus Christ calls for his disciples to go and make disciples.
He promises his presence in every place and at all times.
Matthew 28:18-20 (ESV)
“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’.”
Jesus Christ makes the bold prediction that his Spirit-empowered followers
will be his witnesses across the entire globe. This must take place in every generation.
Acts 1:8 (ESV)
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.”
What are the primary needs in southeastern Peru?
To proclaim Jesus Christ as the only Savior,
and encourage Christians to gather as indigenous, reproducing churches.
Puerto Maldonado is a growing city of about 100,000 people in the southeastern corner of Peru.
The city is in the Amazon basin, so it is surrounded by tropical rainforest.
Over the years, the gold and lumber industries have attracted people to the city.
Spanish is the main language of the area. Some people from surrounding tribal communities have moved to the city looking for a better life and new opportunities. Their heart language is generally their tribal language,
and they often have some fluency with Spanish.
Like most places in the world, the city has a mix of religions - Spiritism, Catholicism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses, other works-based religions, and true Christianity.
The city, surrounding towns, and tribal communities throughout the jungle need a strong network of local churches that preach the truth of the Word of God. We pray that God will continue to raise up faithful men from these churches who can pastor the churches throughout the area.
How has God prepared us to help meet these needs?
Years of confirmatory preparation:
Guidance from local churches
Service in local churches
Counsel from godly mentors
Training in Spanish, theology, and missions
Trips to Central and South America
How is God directing us to meet these needs?
Again biblical motivations must drive our philosophy of ministry. Our desire it to . . .
Serve alongside of local believers
Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ
Fortify existing churches
Plant indigenous churches
Train faithful men for church leadership
Build up believers
__________________________
We enjoy serving God together as a family. We are praying that our girls will soon repent of their sins and believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation. We involve them in as many aspects of serving God as we possibly can.
1. Serve Christ alongside of local believers
Romans 15:14 (ESV)
“I myself am satisfied about you, my brothers, that you yourselves
are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge and able to instruct one another.”
Like the apostle Paul, we can have confidence that God is able to use his servants to do his work in the church. He does not need me to do all the work by myself. God is doing a work in Peru through the local believers, so we want to give them opportunities to serve in the church. There are many things that we will continually have to learn, so we will need to be servant leaders. God is able to accomplish his work through poor people, rich people, Peruvians, Americans, Brazilians, people from the city, people from the jungle, educated, and uneducated, etc. We can entrust church work to humble, Spirit-led Christians. We are enjoying complementing the ministry of Iglesia Evangélica Bautista Vida Nueva Puerto Maldonado and other faithful servants of God here in Peru.
2. Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ
1 Corinthians 15:1-8 (ESV)
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:
that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,
that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time,
most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
2 Corinthians 5:20 (ESV)
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
We go out under Christ's authority to make disciples. We plead with people to be reconciled to God through the salvation that Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, alone can offer. We proclaim Christ to everyone through
personal conversations, Bible studies, living a distinct life (I Pet. 2:9).
The lost and dying world needs someone to share the gospel with them (Rom. 10). No one, even the very young and strong are guaranteed another minute (Luke 12:20; James 4:14). Preach the gospel to all both young and old! We will encourage those that believe in Christ for salvation to identify with their Savior by being baptized by immersion (Matt. 28:18-20).
3. Fortify existing churches
Ephesians 4:11-13 (ESV)
“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”
God has given gifted men to the church to build up the body, so the church members can be equipped to do work in the church. My desire it to work alongside of elders in Peruvian churches to help strengthen
those churches by shepherding, leading, and giving providing oversight.
4. Plant indigenous churches
Matthew 16:18 (ESV)
" . . . I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Titus 1:5 (ESV)
“This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order,
and appoint elders in every town as I directed you.”
1 Corinthians 9:19-23 (ESV)
“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”
Knowing that Christ promises to build His church, we head out into the world to make disciples. As people become true followers of Christ we will encourage them to meet together to worship God and enjoy Christian fellowship. We look forward to helping the Peruvians plant more churches throughout the southeastern jungles of Peru and beyond. We must take care from the beginning of our work in Peru that we are striving
to leave behind churches that can develop and reproduce themselves without our help.
One key in this is to involve faithful local Christians in the ministry from the beginning.
Another key concept is Critical Contextualization.
This process will help us to avoid syncretism - a mixing of
biblical truth and error in individual and church practice.
Here are the steps in Critical Contextualization[1] :
A) We will strive to understand the Peruvian culture’s customs, forms, and practices.
We will gather information about the culture from credible sources (people, books, etc.)
and attempt and then explain the custom back to the national. We will be striving
to understand the relevance of the particular custom, form, or practice to such a degree
that the national agrees that we understand that part of the culture as well as he does.
B) We will do a biblical study of what that the Bible has to say about
that custom, form, or practice.
We will attempt to teach and explain that information to the national
and ask him to explain the Scripture back to us.
We want to see that he explains exactly what the Bible says about the custom, form, or practice.
C) We will then give the local Christian the opportunity to either keep, reject, modify,
or create a new form of the custom, form, practice based on the biblical evidence.
People must be taught the importance of doing something about what they see in the mirror of God’s Word (James 1:19ff). It is by gazing into the Word of God and seeing God’s glory that people are changed to become more like Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). We will give guidance in the process, but will desire the local Christian to come to a personal decision. This is how biblical discernment is developed. If we as missionaries force biblical ideas onto people, they may slip into syncretism and never fully embrace the truth.
D) We will then help the local Christian figure out how to implement the new practice
into his community of believers (the church) and monitor
how the adjustment takes place.
If a wrong decision was made, we will reinforce the biblical teaching and work back through the process. People should be warned about the dangers of intentionally or unintentionally twisting the Word of God to say something other than what God intended (2 Pet. 3:16; 1 Tim. 1:18-20). They must study the Word of God faithfully, so it can be rightly handled (2 Tim. 2:15). It will be important to preach about the importance of living a distinct life that is consecrated to God (1 Pet. 2:9).
One of the weaknesses of Critical Contextualization is that I always come with my own bias of what Scripture means. I might think I’m giving the pure doctrines of the Bible, but it is coming with a bias. I must consistently be in the Word of God and be praying for discernment to know what God’s Word communicates and seek
his help to apply it correctly.
5. Train faithful men for church leadership
2 Timothy 2:2 (ESV)
“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses
entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
We thank God for the work that is already being done in Puerto Maldonado to train the next generation of faithful pastors, deacons, and other men in the churches. I plan to begin training faithful men for church leadership through individual and group Bible studies. As the churches mature there may be a need for more a more consistent, formal way of training. I am praying about and strategizing toward the most effective way for long-term Bible training in that area. A Bible institute or seminary may be helpful. A modular Bible institute will probably be the best way to get things started. In either case, a strong network of local churches will be vital to the consistent training of the next generation of leaders. I thank God that I can receive insight from others around the world that are involved in this type of training. The long-term goal is to train qualified, faithful men how to accurately interpret and teach Scripture, so the churches are strengthened through clear, biblical teaching and shepherding.
6. Build up believers
Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV)
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up,
as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Our desire is to speak and live out truth to the believers
around us and encourage them to serve God with all they have. This is the responsibility that God has given us with professing believers whether they be men, women, or children. Our whole family will be continually involved in this type of ministry. In order for a person
to be transformed into the image of Christ he must spend time in God’s Word (1 Pet. 2:2).
We will teach people to depend on the Holy Spirit’s illuminating power to understand the Bible (1 Cor. 2; Ps. 1). The Word of God is capable of showing us the right way to live, pointing out when we are on the wrong path, correcting us so we get back on the right path, and giving us the wisdom to be able to stay on that path (2 Tim. 3:16-17; Heb. 4:12). We will teach Christians the importance of identifying themselves with a local church (Heb. 10:25). The accountability that a local congregation can provide is invaluable (Matt. 18).
And all of this matters so that God receives the glory that He deserves!
Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
[1] Paul Hiebert, Anthropological Reflections on Missiological Issues (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1994), 88-91.
