sharing
the
journey
together
Shaped by our Past Driven by our Future
ISSUE
#581
|
FALL
2015
125TH
ANNIVERSARY
EDITION
Issue #581, Fall 2015 125th Anniversary Edition ISSN 2168-4200
Letter from the Editor
Editor: Phil O’Day Layout: César Augusto Díaz del Valle
Shaped by Our Past
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CAMINO
missionary sending organization must be forward looking. And a mission statement must define what an organization will do, not merely what it has done. This is perhaps even more true of vision. Vision is about the future. And Camino is more focused then ever before on an expanding global vision. But milestones on the journey are also vitally important. Understanding the past, taking time to reflect on it, and listening to lessons learned, are so critical and helpful in our attempt to chart a clear course ahead.
SHARING THE JOURNEY TOGETHETHER
CAMINO: Sharing the Journey Together is published by Camino Global to inform friends of the mission about the activities and impact of the ministries of Camino, and to inspire readers with opportunities for meaningful involvement in a shared global vision. Camino Global in the U.S.: 8625 La Prada Drive Dallas, TX 75228 214.327.8206 | info@caminoglobal.org
Camino’s 125th Anniversary theme has two equally-important parts. We are Shaped by Our Past and Driven by our Future!
Douglas Livingston, President Phil O’Day, Executive Vice President David Ruiz, Vice President of Global Ministries Dan Shotts, Vice President of Operations U.S. Board of Directors: Dr. Roger Raymer, Chair Juan Baldor Nadine Bracy Louis Cole Gary Coppinger Warren Davie
Aaron Farmer Sharon Geiger Dr. Oscar Lopez Debbie Sherling Julie Thomas
Camino Global in Canada: P.O. Box 37010 Stanley Park 1005 Ottawa St. North Kitchener, ON N2A 4A7 647.977.3226 | info.ca@caminoglobal.org Keith Elliott, National Director Canada Board of Directors: Rev. Fernando Ocampo Marvin Srigley, Chair Rev. Steve Paul Rev. Charles McCordic Camino Global in Guatemala: Calazada Roosevelt 33-86, zona 7 Edificio Ilumina Of. 806 Guatemala, Guatemala 502-2439-8552 Permissions: Camino Global grants permission for materials in this publication to be used for personal, non-commercial purposes, including in local churches and classrooms. The written consent of Camino Global is required for the reproduction, duplication, distribution, modification or transmission of any materials from this publication. When consent is granted, Camino Global should be indicated as the source. Requests for permission to reproduce content may be sent to our editorial team at communications@caminoglobal.org.
For an organization with such a long history, yet such a compelling global vision, it must be about both. We cannot live in the past. We cannot bring back the past. We dare not try. And yet, the past has so much to say to us. Camino Global can only be what it is today because of the many faithful servants, and faithful ministry partners, who have paved the way. 125 years is a long time. So long, in fact, that no one serving in the mission today was alive for its founding. And yet, the mission’s founders and early missionaries speak to us through well-preserved 19th century photos, letters and other documents. They speak to us through early issues of this very magazine which has been published under various mastheads since 1892. And they speak to us through the generations of their disciples, followers of Christ who comprise the churches which were established in our earliest ministries in Central America, as well as believers, church leaders and missionaries throughout the Spanish-speaking world. So this issue of Camino Magazine features a heavy dose of reflection, of history, of legacy! But it does so with expectancy, with a sense of seeking God for what He has in store next. We reflect on the achievements of a century and a quarter as God’s achievements, not our own. This is His mission, not ours. And the future is His as well. If He chooses to bless Camino Global with another 25 years, or another 125, it will always be His! I am certainly not the first person to pour through the Camino archives and find treasures from history. And as I spent time this year looking through the collection, it was obvious that many of the archive’s albums and boxes had clearly not been opened since at least the centennial in 1990, and perhaps much longer ago in some cases. But I believe there are new things to be learned each time we pause to give thanks to our Lord for past provision, while expectantly seeking Him for future guidance. I invite you to join me.
Subscriptions: This publication is distributed without charge to friends of Camino, and is sustained by voluntary contributions. Send subscription requests, cancellations and address changes to communications@caminoglobal.org in the U.S. and addresses.ca@caminoglobal.org in Canada.
Sharing the Journey Together,
Phil O’Day Editor & Executive Vice President
facebook.com/caminoglobal twitter.com/caminoglobal
© 2015 Camino Global. All rights reserved. Camino Global and the Camino logo are registered marks of Camino Global.
member
Contact the editorial team: communications@caminoglobal.org
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ta b l e of c on t e n t s
04 21 Bulletin Archives 123 years of God’s Work in Print
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39 Give125 Invest for Impact in 2015
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Our Samaria The Mission is Founded
Pastor’s Congress in Costa Rica 125 years in Camino’s 1st Field God Does All Things Well by LaVeta Sparks
18 Sailing on the Banana Boat by Carol Krause
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Longitude125 The Philippines Project
26 The Road of Life by Glenn Stewart
About the Cover and the Archives The collage of photos which comprise this issue’s cover are anchored by a 19th-century portrait of William McConnell, Camino’s first missionary, who arrived in Costa Rica with his young family in early 1891. Also prominent in the collage is the entrance to the Central American Bible Institute in Guatemala City. Known today as SETECA, this seminary is the largest among the schools, Bible institutes and seminaries established by Camino over the past 100+ years throughout the Spanishspeaking world.
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Archives Project Credits: Gary Bauer: Historical Film Preservation Jonathan Deatherage: Camino125.org; Writer/Editor César Augusto Diaz del Valle: Magazine Layout; Camino125.org; Voice Talent, History Video Series Reg Grant: Voice Talent, History Video Series Nathan O’Day: Video Editor, History Video Series Phil O’Day: Magazine Editor; Camino125.org Content; Voice Talent, History Video Series Alfie Pfeifer: Historical Image Scanning; Printing Production Coordinator Joshua Scott: Camino125.org Webmaster Eric Weaver: Camino Archives
C A M I NO G L OB A L
1890
THE MISSION IS FOUNDED Born near Detroit, Michigan on August 19, 1843, Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was a lawyer, pastor, Bible teacher and author, best known for his Scofield Reference Bible.
S
cofield served as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Dallas, Texas from 1882-1895, and was D. L Moody’s pastor in Northfield, Massachusetts during the final years of Moody’s life. In addition to establishing the Central American Mission, he and Lewis Sperry Chafer were together instrumental in the founding of the Philadelphia College of the Bible, known today as Cairn University. In the summer of 1888, while attending the Niagara Bible Conference in Ontario, Canada, Scofield was deeply impacted by his fellowship with Hudson Taylor, who had founded the China Inland Mission nearly a quarter century earlier. Taylor’s influence and encouragement caused Dr. Scofield to study the importance of missions as seen throughout the Bible. The tremendous need for missionaries around the world began to grow in Scofield’s heart, and he became especially burdened by the need in Central America, beginning with Costa Rica. On November 14, 1890, Dr. Scofield, with the support of three Christian businessmen friends who closely shared his vision, took a step of faith and officially formed the Central American Mission. Scofield went home to be with his Lord on July 24, 1921, some 30 years after the founding of the Central American Mission. By then, the work of the mission had grown to involve several dozen missionaries serving in five Central American republics.
1890
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
“It is a fact of tremendous import, in view of the inspired plan in Acts 1:8, that Central America is the nearest unoccupied mission field to any Christian in the United States or Canada! We have passed over our Samaria!� C.I. Scofield, 1890
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
COSTA RICA
1891 D
uring the same time that C.I. Scofield was developing a burden to reach Central America, two businessmen from Canada had purchased coffee plantations in Costa Rica, and had taken up permanent residence there. Their wives, Mrs. Robert Ross and Mrs. Robert Lang, were discerning and prayerful women, and were moved and burdened by the spiritual darkness among the people of their adopted land. They began to pray faithfully that God would send missionaries into this needy and spiritually ripe harvest field in Central America. Their prayers were answered in February 1891, three months after the founding of the mission, when the William and Minnie McConnell family arrived in San JosĂŠ, Costa Rica to begin what would become decades of faithful ministry.
1891
From The Central american Bulletin, April 1892
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
CENTRAL AMERICAN CHURCHES
PASTOR’S CONGRESS 2015
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very couple of years, the pastors and leaders of churches from all over Central America gather for a congreso (a pastor’s conference, or “congress”). This year, it was more special than usual. The national church leadership held the conference in Costa Rica, Camino’s first mission field, highlighting the fact that the history of Camino Global and the thousands of Central American churches are intrinsically intertwined. The conference theme was Desafíos (Challenges), addressing many of the vital issues that the Church in Central America will need to face strategically, intentionally, and biblically in the coming years.
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
CONGRESO 1966 75TH ANNIVERSARY
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ifty years ago, much like the Desafíos conference held in Costa Rica this year, another large conference also happened in Costa Rica. It coincided with the celebration of Camino’s 75th Anniversary. Featured on these pages are the cover and page 6 from the April 1966 issue of the Central American Bulletin. The cover photo shows a part of the large audience that met in the grandstand of the ball park in San José for the VIII Congress of Central American Churches and the celebration of the mission’s Diamond Jubilee.
1966 10
1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
HONDURAS
1896 O
n May 6, 1896, Mr. and Mrs. A.E. Bishop and family set sail for Honduras, even before officially applying to the Central American Mission. They were sure of their call.
Current Camino Ministries in Honduras: Evangelism, Community Development, Missions Mobilization, Training in Christian Education, Evangelism in Public Schools, Music Education for Church Leaders, Christian School Administration, Leader Development, Mentoring Pastors
1896
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
EL SALVADOR
1899
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s the work in Costa Rica and Honduras continued to strengthen and grow, El Salvador was established as the mission’s next field, led by Robert and Belle Bender. Today, by God’s grace, the Camino-related national Church in El Salvador seeks to plant 75 new churches and double in size in the next ten years.
H.C. Dillon led a 5,000 mile expedition through Central America from 1894 to 1896 known as the Arthington Exploration. He determined the location, number and condition of indigenous populations, and opened the eyes of the Christian world to their spiritual darkness.
1899
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
GUATEMALA
1899 H
aving worked for several years in Honduras, the Bishops moved to Guatemala in 1899 to begin the mission’s permanent work there. One of their first converts was a Quiche Indian woman who exclaimed, “I have come out of darkness into light. I am the slave of my blessed Lord until the day of my death.” Camino-related churches in Guatemala now number 1,300 with a combined membership of more than 100,000 people.
Current Camino Ministries in Guatemala: Theological Education, Radio, Training of Rural Pastors and Church Leaders, Global Missions Mobilization, MK Education, Camp Ministry
1899
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
God Does All Things Well By LaVeta Sparks
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n 1963, we returned to Guatemala to begin our second term of service. We had spent our first 5 years planting a church in San Rafael, and now we hoped to live and work in San Pablo because it did not yet have an evangelical church. But as we went visiting house-to-house in San Pablo, many doors closed in our faces. We wondered how the Lord would open that town to the gospel. One day as we were eating lunch, an urgent knock came at our door. Bill answered to find a distraught man there saying, “Help us! Help us! My brother has accidentally taken poison and needs to get to the hospital in Malacatán!” Having one of the few vehicles in town, Bill took the man and two of his brothers to the nearby town. While the doctor was working on Baudilio, the brothers and Bill were in the waiting room. Bill prayed out loud, and even before the “Amen,” one brother, Erasmo, prayed, “God, if you save my brother I will accept the gospel.”
good time when one of our eight year old twins got too close to the edge where the water flowed back into the river. She slipped in and was carried away. Our efforts to save her were futile. Yet her death was used by God to open the hearts of many more people in the town as they realized that these “rich Americans” also suffer. In witnessing our great loss, they were softened toward us, and expressed their compassion to us. They were deeply touched that we elected to bury our daughter in their local cemetery. A few months later, the first gospelpreaching church was organized.
As Bill cleaned up the car, he wondered if it was worth the effort and if the brother would honor his promise to God. But Baudilio did recover, and Erasmo kept his promise to accept the gospel. In fact, little by little, the entire family accepted the Lord and began to have Bible studies with Bill. Eventually, not only the older brother Erasmo, but even the children and grandchildren became leaders in the San Pablo church. 50 years later, in 2014, they held a celebration in the church to commemorate their years of walking with the Lord.
Today, San Pablo has a growing church with up to 200 people in regular attendance, and there are many daughter churches on coffee plantations scattered throughout the area. God does all things well!
Bill and LaVeta Sparks have been church planting missionaries with Camino since 1958. They have served in Guatemala, Mexico, and the USA.
Shortly after the poison episode, God used a tragic incident to help open the town to the gospel. A nearby river had a shallow pool in it where we would sometimes go to let our children play in the water. One particular day, Dec. 3, 1964, the girls were having a
See the Sparks’ story in the 1966 film “The Generals” vimeo.com/caminoglobal
1963
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
NICARAGUA
1900 T
he work in Nicaragua was started by Clarence Wilbur, who died from yellow fever only 16 months after he entered the field. Mr. A.B. De Roos, who initially labored in Costa Rica, relocated to Nicaragua in 1900 to continue the work Wilbur started. The first church was planted there in 1901. Today there are greater than 100 congregations throughout the country.
1900
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
PANAMA
1944
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n 1944, the Central American Mission expanded into Panama. This was a challenging field, referred to as “the white man’s graveyard” because of the scourge of yellow fever.
Congregations and organized churches today number 28. The church is growing, and a new generation of national leaders is increasingly taking the leadership needed to reach this needy, but resistant country.
1944
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I M PAC T S T OR Y
Traveling to the Field in 1941
Sailing on the Banana Boat By Carol Krause (based on “Jesus Led Me All the Way” by Charlotte Truesdell Marcy)
What was traveling to the field like in 1941? Not what you’d think!
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s support began coming in for their future work in Honduras with The Central American Mission, Sidney and Charlotte Marcy were looking forward to a soon departure. They wrote the United Fruit Company in New York and were able to get reservations to travel on the banana boat in May. About the middle of March, 1941, on their way back home to Massachusetts from a conference in Pennsylvania, the Marcys stopped in New York to confirm those reservations.
Since the ship would not set sail until 5 p.m., they knew they could leave home that same morning and still get to New York in time. When the day came, they hadn’t received many more support pledges, hadn’t heard from the mission, and didn’t have all the funds for their passage, but they felt they should go. Charlotte wrote, “So, something like Abraham, we started out with our three children, not knowing what we would do.” The children were ages 5 years, 3 years, and 8 months. When they arrived at the United Fruit Company’s office, they asked if any mail had come for them and were told it was already on board. The Marcys were granted permission to go check their mail first before paying the rest of their passage. Waiting on the ship for them were a number of letters with enough money enclosed to pay what they owed, as well as a letter from the mission granting them permission to go!
To their surprise, they were told that because of a cancellation, there was room for them to sail the last week in March. That was only two weeks away! After finding a little corner where they could pray, they returned to the United Fruit Company’s office to tell them they would go. They had just enough money in their pockets to secure the reservations . . . with $2.00 left for gas to get back to Massachusetts.
The unforgettable day of their arrival in the port town of Tela, Honduras, was March 31, 1941. The Marcys soon heard that the next day, April 1, a law was passed saying that no more missionaries could enter the country. The Lord had given them faith to trust Him and provide for them, and they knew then why He had directed the details so that they could enter Honduras before that law was passed.
They quickly wrote a letter to the mission asking for permission to go without having all the required support, then sent postcards to interested persons, informing them that they were booked to sail, giving the name of the boat and departure date, and asking for prayer.
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I M PAC T S T OR Y
The Rest of the Story
Joining “Dr. Scofield’s Mission” By Carol Krause (based on “Jesus Led Me All the Way” by Charlotte Truesdell Marcy)
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fter Sidney and Charlotte Marcy were accepted with The Central American Mission in 1940, Charlotte’s father, Arthur Truesdell, told her “the rest of the story.” It began many years before Charlotte was born. As newlyweds, Charlotte’s parents had attended Northfield Bible Training School, a small school held in a hotel in Northfield, Massachusetts. One of the teachers at the school was Dr. C. I. Scofield, who at the time was working on the notes for what later would become known as the Scofield Reference Bible. Arthur used his secretarial experience to help Dr. Scofield with those notes. Later, when Dr. Scofield founded The Central American Mission in 1890, Arthur and his wife wanted to go to Central America as missionaries, but his health didn’t permit it. Even though they had no children at the time, Arthur began to pray that one of his children would someday serve in Central America under “Dr. Scofield’s mission.”
The Truesdell fa mily, Lev Charlotte is on erett, MA, Circa 1920. the lower right. Eventually the Truesdells had ten children. Two of the older daughters went to Africa as missionaries, but it seemed like the other children, except for Charlotte, were not interested in missions. Arthur told none of them about his prayer. After Charlotte married Sidney Marcy, they served a short time in Costa Rica with another mission, yet Arthur still said nothing and kept praying fervently. Charlotte wrote: “It would seem that my father had reason to complain to the Lord, but we never heard a thing. However, unbeknown to us, the Lord was working. After two years in Costa Rica, we returned to study at Moody Bible Institute. At the end of those studies, the Lord put Honduras and ‘Dr. Scofield’s mission’ on our hearts because He was answering my father’s prayer. Thank the Lord that my father had faith to wait on the Lord for His timing.”
1, August 31,201 n o s ra u d n o H away in ting her Charlotte passed /2. In this photo, she is seen wri 1 at the age of 97 005. Jesus led her all the way! book in 2
In March of 1941 Sidney and Charlotte Marcy began working in Honduras with The Central American Mission. 19
C A M I NO G L OB A L
HISTORY
View all three videos on this page in Spanish vimeo.com/caminoglobal
VIDEO SERIES Part One:
The Mission is Founded
1890
The story of C.I. Scofield’s vision. The prayers of two Canadian women in Costa Rica. The sending of a missionary family from St. Paul, Minnesota. A mission founded.
Part Two:
The Vision Expands
1891-1975
By the turn of the twentieth century, the work of the Central American Mission had expanded to include Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua. The ensuing 20th century expansion moved the mission well beyond Central America.
Part Three
Journeying Together
1976-2015
The Central American Mission was known as CAM International for 37 years, from 1975 to 2012. CAM became Camino Global in 2012. Today the scope of outreach is truly global. 20
1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
BULLETIN
1892 - 2015
ARCHIVE INDEX
More than a century of God’s faithfulness in print
The mission is blessed to have a well-preserved archive of bulletin and magazine issues dating back to the first edition in 1892. That’s 123 years of written historical record and nearly 600 issues of this publication spanning a length of time that included two world wars, the Great Depression, the information age, the turning of two centuries, and 9/11. It also is a span of time during which tens of thousands of Spanish speakers came to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and thousands of churches were planted.
123 years of Camino history digitized and searchable online. www.caminoglobal.org/archives
About the Numbering System
Until the late 1990’s, this publication utilized a sequential numbering system for each issue. When the publication name changed, the numbers were no longer used. But in a very real sense, Camino Magazine is a continuation of The Central American Bulletin, which has also been published under the names CAM Bulletin and Touch the World. And even with those name changes, it has been consistently published with the same ISSN, #2168-4800. So with this 125th anniversary special edition, we resume the sequential numbering, making this issue #581. 21
C A M I NO G L OB A L
MEXICO
T
1955
hroughout the years, missionaries had moved back and forth across Central America, establishing work in each of the republics. However, they had bypassed Mexico, which was, after all, the nearest “Samaria” to the United States. Following a five-week survey trip through Mexico, the mission made the decision to establish Mexico as an official field in 1955.
The work in Mexico was initially focused on leadership training and development, when the Bible Institute of Puebla opened its doors. Over the years, the mission recognized the critical need for church planting in Mexico, which has been that field’s primary focus for much of its history.
Current Camino Ministries in Mexico:
1955
Theological Education, Discipleship, Evangelism, Church Planting, Community Centers, Business as Mission, Orphan Ministry, MK Education, ObreroFiel Internet Ministry, Deaf Ministry, Mentoring, Coaching, Music Outreach, Leadership Training, Missions Mobilization, Counseling, Short-Term Field Internships
22
1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
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he tremendous need that had brought the Central American Mission into being was even more evident in Spain, a country with only .03 percent claiming to know Christ, and with an everincreasing Muslim population.
SPAIN
1971
When the Spain field was launched, Acts 12:10 was used to illustrate the mission’s move into Europe: “They came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened to them of its own accord, and they went out.” In response to the tremendous spiritual need, five families set out for Spain in 1971 to establish the mission’s first field beyond the Atlantic Ocean.
Current Camino Ministries in Spain:
1971
Bible Studies, Business as Mission, Children’s Ministry, Conferences, Conflict Resolution, Discipleship, English Classes, Evangelism, Leadership Development, Literature, Men’s & Women’s Ministries, Missions Mobilization, Music Outreach, Prisons/Hospitals, Theological Education, Youth Ministry
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
CANADA
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anada has been part of the Camino story from the very beginning. The wives of two Canadian coffee plantation owners prayed in the 1880’s for God to send laborers to Costa Rica. Meanwhile, at a Bible conference in Canada, God was answering that prayer by leading C.I. Scofield to form the mission.
1965
To strengthen the longstanding relationship with friends and ministry partners in Canada, the Central American Mission of Canada was incorporated in 1965. The immediate benefit was that Canadian donors would receive tax exemptions for their gifts. Today, a primary focus of activity in Canada is missionary recruitment, adding to the existing Canadian citizens serving as missionaries in other parts of the world. Camino Canada has also worked for years in Cuba with a focus on leadership development and theological training, The primary partner in this work is Los Pinos Nuevos, the New Pines Evangelical Convention of Cuba, which is a flourishing organization with its own seminary.
NAME CHANGE 1975 1965
By the mid twentieth century, ministries of the mission were no longer limited to Central America. Reflecting expansion to Mexico, Spain, and North America, the Central American Mission became CAM International. This name change made official what the mission had already casually come to be known as for many years.
1975
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
HISPANIC USA
1982 T
he mission recognized the growing number of Hispanics at its doorsteps, and kept its original purpose of reaching Spanish-speaking people by ministering to them as they immigrated to the Southwest United States. Dallas and Los Angeles became the initial centers for the mission’s U.S.-based Hispanic ministry in 1982. Everyone assigned to this project had to know the Spanish language, culture, and also have church-planting experience. Above all, they were called to encourage Hispanics to reach their own people. Southwest USA, the mission’s new Samaria, was initially focused on the Southwest states of California, New Mexico, Texas and Arizona. Later named Hispanic USA, this mission field has since expanded across the U.S., networking with English-speaking churches to plant Hispanic congregations and transform communities.
Current Camino Ministries in Hispanic USA:
1982
Church planting, Children’s Ministry, Discipleship, Leadership Development, Mentoring, ObreroFiel Internet Ministry, Prison Ministry, Radio, Theological Education
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I M PAC T S T OR Y
THE ROAD OF LIFE El Camino de la Vida by Glenn Stewart
We covered some 8,000 kilometers by bicycle and met hundreds of people along the way. We shared that Jesus is the only way, that He is the answer to life’s challenges, and that in Him life is eternal.
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here were you that fateful day, February 4th, 1976, when the last big earthquake rocked Guatemala? Thousands died and many more lost homes and family members. I remember that event vividly. I was sleeping in a hammock strung between two trees in Southern Mexico, near the Guatemala border. The 7.5 magnitude quake was felt even into Southern Mexico. Days later I saw the results of the devastation and was able to assist in various relief efforts. You see, I was on a journey that was to change my life forever.
to know missionaries in order to be better prepared to eventually join a mission, see some of God’s most beautiful creation, and share our faith. We wrote an illustrated tract that we shared along the way: “El Camino de la Vida” in Spanish and “The Road of Life” in English (for use in Texas). It introduced the reader to who we were and what we anticipated encountering during our journey. It shared that “Jesus is the only way”, that He is the answer to life’s challenges, that in Him is Life eternal.
From January 1st, 1976 through May 1st, 1976 my friend, Ben Bakker, and I covered some 8,000 kilometers (5,000 miles), by bicycle. We left Dallas, Texas and ended up in Ocaña, Colombia. Our route took us through Texas, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama (all of which were countries where Central America Mission missionaries worked at the time) and then on into Venezuela and Colombia. The goals for our four-month journey were numerous and varied. We wanted to learn Spanish better, get 26
I M PAC T S T OR Y
We met hundreds of people along the way. The majority of the missionaries who hosted us were from the Central American Mission. Church and mission leaders were sources of great encouragement for this project, undergirding our funding, contacts, events, meetings to hold and places to stay. Ben and I arrived at our destination on the very day that we had planned on months before. All of our goals and more, were met. We finished the “race.� It was a journey that changed our lives. Today, just as in 1976, when faced with challenges that are bigger than us, my wife Judy and I are spurred on by those who partner with us through prayer, gifts, support, encouragement, and ministry together. The journey continues. We have not been everywhere yet, but it is on our list.
Glenn and Judy Stewart serve with Camino Global in Guatemala. 27
C A M I NO G L OB A L
ALBANIA
2005
C
ooperación MAYA was established in 1994 as an alliance of churches in Central America which were convinced that the local church is responsible for fulfilling the Great Commission and that it should be done in the context of unity. Camino’s current President, Douglas Livingston, and his wife Gloria, were among the original team members sent from the collaboration of churches in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The mission’s first U.S.-based missionaries to join the team arrived in 2005. Today, the focus of the Albania team continues to be church planting in the capital city of Tirana.
2005
Current Camino Ministries in Albania: Church planting, Discipleship, Leadership Development, Mentoring, Sports Outreach
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1 2 5 t h A N N I V E R S A R Y E DI T I ON
Internet Ministry: Going GLOBAL!
O
brero Fiel means “Faithful Worker.” This online ministry was established in 2003 to provide free resources to Spanishspeaking pastors and missionaries. Today, the reach of ObreroFiel.com and its affiliated e-ministries is global, impacting Spanish speakers in 120+ countries. Ministries now include online evangelism, discipleship and focused online training.
2003
2008
2010
2014
MINISTRY RESOURCES
ONLINE EVANGELISM
ONLINE DISCIPLESHIP
TRAINING FOR PASTORS
This year, more than 8,650 free resources were viewed or downloaded millions of times by two million unique users.
125 trained “online missionary” volunteers give expert input to 45,000 new believers each year!
The e-magazine you send each week has been an important part of my spiritual formation. I share the devos with my co-workers each day before we start work. - Omar
Each year, more than 5,000 people from all over the world sign up for the free “New Life in Christ” courses to help them become healthy disciples of Christ.
I started my online studies with you one year ago and I’m excited to see how much I have grown spiritually. I teach these lessons to other God seekers each week. - Mabel
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Hundreds of students who would never otherwise have the opportunity for formal training at a “brick and mortar” seminary now study in various online ObreroFiel training programs.
C A M I NO G L OB A L
BECOMING CAMINO
View the “Becoming Camino” video series at www.vimeo.com/caminoglobal
C
AM International became Camino Global on May 21, 2012. The launch of the mission’s new identity was celebrated during a Convocation of the entire missionary body and staff two months later in Colorado, on July 15, 2012.
ABOUT OUR FIRST NAME Camino is a Spanish word that means journey, path or way. Our journey is with Spanish speakers, and Christ Himself is The Way (John 14:6 - “I am the way, the truth and the life.” “Yo soy el camino, la verdad, y la vida.”
Camino has always been focused on ministry among Spanish speakers. But the names Central American Mission and CAM International no longer reflected the global scope of minstry. A name was chosen that both resonates with Spanish speakers and describes the global journey of disciple-making and spiritual transformation.
ABOUT OUR LAST NAME Our last name is just as important as our first. If Camino describes the journey, Global provides the clear scope and destination for that journey. Serving the Church among and with Spanish speakers, Camino is taking the message of Christ’s redemption not only to our Samaria, but to the ends of the earth. We’re going global!
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CAMINO TEAM LEADERS
ANTIGUA 2015
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n September 2015, twenty-six Camino team leaders, representing nearly every Camino country, converged in Antigua, Guatemala for a week of prayer, strategic planning and training. On one afternoon in particular, they got just a little carried away strolling around the historic city of Antigua with Camino website banners.
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C A M I NO G L OB A L
URUGUAY
2009
ordering Argentina and Brazil, and roughly the size of the state of Oklahoma, Uruguay is the only country in the western hemisphere besides Canada that lies entirely outside of the tropics.
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percent of Uruguay’s overall population. Although one of the most spiritually-needy countries in all of South America, few mission organizations have identified it as a ministry priority.
Uruguay is significantly influenced by postmodern Europe, and is the most secular and atheistic nation in Latin America. Evangelicals comprise less than three
This country needs cross-cultural servants who will apply innovative approaches to ministry in an environment where progress may be slow to come.
Current Camino Ministries in Uruguay:
2009
Evangelism, Discipleship, Church Development, Leadership Development, Marriage Enrichment, Coaching and Mentoring, Peacemaking and Global Missions Mobilization.
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COLOMBIA
2013
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espite its geographic proximity to Central America, the mission did not have a permanent presence in South America until the 21st century. Colombia’s history of crime and lawlessness has presented many challenges to its residents for more than a generation. Still, in the midst of chaos, the church is growing, and opportunities for ministry are tremendous.
Colombia is Camino’s newest ministry field, and currently also its fastest growing. Focussing their efforts in the capital city of Bogotá and surrounding areas, Camino’s new team is involved in church planting, theological education, sports outreach, crisis pregnancy ministries, and more. The team’s vision includes training 200 active Christian Colombian workers for ministry by the year 2020.
Current Camino Ministries in Colombia: Church Planting, Discipleship, Theological Education, Leadership Development, Prision Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Crisis Pregnancy Ministry, Internet Ministry, Radio, and Sports Outreach.
2013
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Beyond the Numbers
“I hope that through these coffee beans I am able to share with others, even those that I cannot see, that Jesus Christ is the one who changes lives.”
The Personal Impact of the Gospel
PHOTO: Saltbox - A Creative Film Co. - www.wearesaltbox.com
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he HOPE Coffee story begins with the coffee farmers who cultivate these phenomenal coffee beans. Juan, a Honduran farmer, shares this prayer, “I hope that through these coffee beans that I am able to share with others, even those that I cannot see, that Jesus Christ is the one who changes lives.” Our story continues with the many customers like Brandon Lopez, a staff member of Cross Community Church in Oklahoma. He shares his church’s experience as a partner with HOPE Coffee. “…Our church loves HOPE Coffee. We switched about a year ago from another company and have never been more pleased with the quality of coffee and the assurance that our money goes toward the gospel and reaching Honduras.” The culmination of the story is not in the hundreds of projects that HOPE Coffee has completed through our Honduran church partnerships over the past five years, but rather in the lives that are transformed by the gospel. Maria Ester, a single mother from Choluteca City in Southern Honduras, started a tortillería (tortilla shop) to provide for her family. When members of the Monte Santo Church met Maria and saw the poor condition of the roof of their home in which they cook the tortillas, they shared this concern with Pastor Victor. HOPE Coffee partnered with this church to provide a new roof for her family. As church members built the roof, they shared the gospel with Maria and her family. Maria was interested in learning more. Church members began a study (called “Who is Jesus Christ?”) in her home. Several months later Maria accepted Christ!
Julian is a Garifuna man who lives in Tela in Northern Honduras. He was befriended by a local pastor, Luis, who learned that Julian and his neighbors had little access to water. HOPE Coffee partnered with Luis’ church, Cristo Viene, to build Julian and his neighbors a water storage unit. Through the construction process, Julian accepted Christ in August 2015 and now attends Luis’ church. Pray for Julian as he learns more about God’s Word and grows in his walk with Christ. A simple cup of coffee takes nearly a year of cultivation as the beans are harvested, roasted, and brewed to become an enjoyable part of our daily routine. In much the same way, it takes time to cultivate relationships that lead to lives being transformed by the Holy Spirit. We encourage you to partner with us by drinking HOPE Coffee in your home, your business, and your church to help us advance the gospel.
F O U N D AT I O N
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Hope Coffee is a business initiative of the new Camino Global Foundation. The foundation was launched in 2014 to promote and further the purposes of Camino Global, providing new financial revenue streams to advance Camino’s vision in the years to come.
C A M I NO G L OB A L
The Philippines Project
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$50,000 is needed for this work in 2015, and another $50,000 in 2016. This investment will allow Camino not only to coordinate the effort, but also to provide matching funds for missionaries from Latin America who will be raising funds for their ministry costs.
n 2016, a multinational team from the U.S. and Central America will mobilize to the Philippines in order to serve alongside the Filipino church to reach people who have never heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. Longitude 125 is a reference not only to our 125th anniversary, but also to the fact that the work will be focused at 125 degrees east longitude on the map.
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Ruben and Ingrid
DRIVEN BY OUR FUTURE Looking Ahead with Vision
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od is opening many doors for future ministry. Spanish speakers continue to move throughout the world, reaching into the most difficult-access places in a unique way. Camino aims to accomplish the following major goals in the next five years: • Open a missions training center in Guatemala to prepare hundreds for cross-cultural ministry from all over Central America. • Deploy ministry teams to serve in Europe, where millions of Spanish speakers live and work and where current world events are causing millions of people to migrate from the Middle East. • Grow the ministry of Obrerofiel with an online school of discipleship and leadership training. • Recruit 300 online missionaries to disciple new believers through our partnership with Global Media Outreach. • Launch a multinational ministry effort to reach Muslims in the Philippines. • Construct and launch a conference & training center at our Dallas headquarters to equip both Latin Americans and North Americans to reach the world together. • Grow the Quest Spiritual Formation program globally to support healthy spiritual and emotional growth of leaders who reproduce this growth in their congregations. 37
Ruben and Ingrid (names changed for security) are a young married couple from Honduras, where Camino has worked for over a century planting churches across the country. They came to know Christ as a direct result of the ministry of Camino in their community. As their faith grew, Ruben and Ingrid heard the call to missions. Where did they turn to find the support and training they would need? “Thanks to Camino Global missionaries,” Ruben says, “we had the opportunity to know the Lord and be taught God’s Word. In collaboration with the Honduran Bible Seminary and the Muslim evangelism-training program Manarah, Camino missionaries helped to prepare Ruben and Ingrid. They are leaving their home country to serve in Southeast Asia as missionaries to Muslims and are now a part of the growing wave of Latin American missionaries going out into the world.
“The call of all believers is to journey ‘with’ Christ to make Him known. Camino specifically sees that their mission is to journey ‘with’ Spanish speakers to accomplish this. I am thankful for their history, have great respect for their leaders, and believe strongly that God will establish their future.” Tom Hayes
Executive Vice President, International Ministries, Insight For Living
C A M I NO G L OB A L
INVESTMENT “But accumulate for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:20-21)
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ur world is filled with opportunities where God’s people — like you — can invest some of the treasure He has entrusted to them. And in this reality of so many options for investment, it is important to identify ministries that have proven themselves trustworthy, who align with your passions and vision, and which have the greatest potential for impact. Camino Global exists to make disciples of Jesus Christ,
serving among and with Spanish speakers globally. This one passion has driven the mission since its inception in 1890. Over the past 125 years, the gospel has been preached, churches have been planted, and leaders have been trained. Missionaries are going out from these churches to places of need all across the world, some of them to least-reached people groups. You can trust that an investment in Camino is a wise one.
HERE ARE A FEW WAYS YOUR INVESTMENT IN CAMINO IS USED TO ADVANCE THE KINGDOM:
Transform Communities
Equip Believers
Reach the World
Ministries that meet the need of the whole person and can transform communities through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Global partnerships aimed at providing theological training, spiriual formation for the Spanishspeaking church.
Expansion to new fields of ministry alongside Spanish speakers globally, often in areas with little or no gospel witness.
$150,000 needed in 2015
$240,000 needed in 2015
$100,000 needed in 2015
“Camino Global, while rooted in lengthy commitment to ministry among Spanish speakers, is a forward-looking mission family, concerned to make an impact with the gospel both among and alongside Spanish speakers who are part of the amazing Hispanic diaspora in our world today.” Michael Pocock
Senior Professsor and Chairman Emeritus, Dept. of World Missions and Intercultural Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary
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Give now using the Project # online at
www.caminoglobal.org/give
God has given Camino Global a legacy that inspires us to build for a future of even greater outcomes! Your partnership is an important part of building on that legacy. Our goal for the GIVE125 initiative is to raise $125,000 for Camino’s future vision. Would you help Camino in this year-end initiative? Your gift will grow the Camino Vision Fund for future global impact.
Project # 060110
QUEST LEADER
OBRERO FIEL
Quest conferences are designed to encourage, affirm, renew and help Spanishspeaking church leaders — many of whom work full-time secular jobs in addition to being pastors — learn how to more effectively balance their lives and ministries so that they truly might be joyful and fruitful in their service of the Lord.
The ObreroFiel Internet-based ministry faithfully serves Spanish-speaking Christian leaders around the world by providing quality ministry materials and services to Equip, Mentor, and Encourage. These resources help equip Spanish-speaking pastors and leaders to effectively minister in many areas around the world, including areas where Camino may never be able to establish a mission presence due to political or physical constraints.
FORMATION RETREATS
INTERNET MINISTRY
A $100 investment provides room and board for a pastor and his wife to have the blessing of attending a three-day conference.
Your contribution of $100 will help Camino to equip, mentor and encourage Spanish-speaking pastors and leaders globally via the Internet
Project # 010240
Project # 060178 39
8625 La Prada Drive Dallas, TX 75228
Journey with spanish speakers. transform the world. www.caminoglobal.org/go