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What can we do together ?
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IDENTITY
MANDATE
VALUES
VISION
MISSION
STRATEGY
Latin America Mission
Introduction
This executive summary reviews and summarizes LAMs
mission model. It will allow you to interact with who we are,
what we do and why we do it, so that you may prayerfully
consider partnering with LAM and the Latin American
church toward the fulfllment of the Great Commission for
the glory of Christ.
Our Identity [Who are we?]
LAM isAn international community of men and women
who, motivated by our love for the Lord Jesus, and in
obedience to His commands, encourage, assist and
partner with Latin Americans in the task of building the
Church of Jesus Christ in the Latin world and beyond.
Were different from many other mission organizations in
that:
Weve been both a pioneer and a recognized
leader in ministry partnerships throughout Latin
America for over 90 years.
We enjoy an unparalleled credibility with leaders
and ministries throughout Latin America as a result.
Were committed to working alongside our
Latin partners to extend the Kingdom of Jesus Christ
throughout the reach of the Latin world, assisting
them in accomplishing the vision they believe God
has for them.
Were focused on building capacity and creating
opportunities for service for all of us, Latins and
We dont go it alone.
At Latin America Mission, we are GOING
W/ Christians across the Americas to
change our world together. Our passion
is to see every person transformed by
and living the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God is moving powerfully across Latin
America, and we are joining Him. We
dont want to do our own thing. Instead,
we work through a multinational network
of partner ministries, local Christian
organizations that are respected in their
communities.
We serve alongside the Latin church,
together healing communities and
equipping leaders to steer those
communities toward faith, hope and
love in Christ. Because well achieve
more together than we ever could by
ourselves.
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non-Latins alike, which result in effective and sustainable ministries that
are used by God to disciple the world for Christ.
In our partnering, we are reaching out together to meet peoples
physical, emotional and spiritual needs in a holistic manner. We believe
that the proclamation and practical demonstration of the Gospel are
inseparable, Therefore, we focus on partnering with ministries that are
committed to integral mission - sharing faith, offering hope and
expressing love.
We work with the entire Body of Christ, partnering with local churches
and ministries, respecting their leadership, structure and theology, even
if it should differ from ours.
Our international missionaries (Latin and non-Latin alike) serve in
submission to the supervision of our Latin partner leadership, while
receiving covering, respect and support from the Mission leadership.
LAM is a leader in networking - connecting key Latin ministries to one
another.
LAM has been a pioneer and is a leader in the support of women in
ministry leadership.
LAM is highly fexible and innovative in every way.
LAM allows Gods people to develop their personal calling from God in
the context of a family, not a hierarchical organization.
Our Mandate [What in Scripture compels us?]
Christs Great Commandment (Matthew 22:37-40) and Great Commission
(Matthew 28:19-20), and Micahs Mandate compel us to:
SHARE FAITH (Connecting others to a growing personal relationship
with Jesus).
OFFER HOPE (Contributing to the building of a better tomorrow).
EXPRESS LOVE (Meeting the physical, emotional and spiritual needs of
others) .
These three mandates arise from a study
of Micah 6:8, Matthew 23:23, and 1 Thessalonians 1:2).

Its important here to note that this mandate is our uncomplicated way of
communicating a deep commitment to Integral Mission, a term coined by LAM
missionaries and Board members and Latin Theologians Ren Padilla and Samuel
Escobar, among others.
Brazilian and Latin American evangelicals have labored to forge their own
contextualized approach to the theology of mission, which can be defned as misin
integral [holistic mission of the whole Gospel]. Padilla defnes the integral mission as
a real integration of the vertical and horizontal dimensions of mission. The belief is
that Scripture never teaches a dichotomy between the proclamation and practical
demonstration of the gospel the two are inseparable, one and the same.
Padilla adds:
The salvation that the Gospel proclaims is not limited to mans reconciliation
to God. It involves the remaking of man in all the dimensions of his existence.
It has to do with the recovery of the whole man according to Gods original
purpose for His creation.
Commenting with more color on these aspects of the Gospel, Van der Meer (2000)
states:
Mission is the fruit of the love of God, who so loved the world that he gave his
only Son in order to redeem human beings from their blindness, oppression,
captivity, and poverty, so that they can experience a new life of fullness given
by his grace.

Discussing integral mission on a more practical level, Brazilian theologian Steuernagel
writes, What is the whole Gospel? Its putting ourselves aside and listening to the
needs of the people who are crying for help. Its following Jesus example. He adds
that mission and diakonia [service or ministry] are inseparable on both theological
and practical levels.
Illustrating the integral nature of the Gospel, Padilla concludes rather bluntly, There is
no place for statistics on how many souls die without Christ every minute if they do not
take into account how many of those who die are dying of hunger.
Finally, asserting that the whole Gospel leads to the spiritual and physical
transformation of communities, Steuernagel states:
[I] want to understand the mission of the church as intentional as possible and
as broad as possible in order that Christ is recognized and affrmed, for life to
be promoted, for community to be developed, and for justice to fow in Gods
river as a sign of Gods eternal obsession with shalom.
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In short, integral Mission seeks to bring everyone and everything under the
Lordship of Christ! Scripture has set a high standard for us. It isnt enough to
just evangelize the lost. We have been called to the greater task of making
disciples who have been transformed on the inside by His Word and Power,
and who, through His love and grace, selfessly give of themselves to meet the
physical, emotional and spiritual needs of their neighbors. Our values, vision
and mission grow out of this mandate
Our Values [Whats really important to us?]
LAM is biblical.
LAM is holistic (integral).
LAM IS empowering.
LAM is inclusive.
LAM is innovative.
LAM is committed to transformational partnerships.
LAM is committed to excellence.
Our Vision [What do we want to see in the future?]
Our vision is to see every person transformed by and living the
gospel of Jesus Christ as the fruit of partnerships that are initiated and
cultivated alongside Latin Americans.
Our Mission [What has God called us to do?]
To fulfll our mandate and vision
Our mission is to initiate and cultivate partnerships that build capacity
and create opportunities for service alongside Latin Americans.
The Latin American church has exploded in both size and capacity. Were privileged
to have relationships with leaders who have developed great vision, strategy and
approaches to reach and disciple their communities and the world for Christ. Our
mission is to come alongside these passionate, visionary leaders and see their God-
given vision accomplished.
We all know that we cannot act alone to accomplish Gods Kingdom purposes for
the world. We want to cultivate partnerships in which we frst learn, getting to know
each other, understanding each others needs. Then, based on that understanding
and relationship, we want to dream together about what we can do side-by-side
to selfessly serve others. We need each other in the Great Commission to see God
glorifed among the nations!
We focus on building capacity and creating opportunities for Latins and non-Latins
alike to serve that results in effective and sustainable ministries that are used by God to
transform communities and the world for Christ.
We believe that these transformational partnerships will lead to the increased capacity
of both partners to accomplish Gods purposes for His glory.
Our Strategy [How will we carry out our mission?]
Its really important to understand that everything we do is focused upon initiating and
cultivating partnerships alongside Latin Americans and the pathways of service that
support them!
When we talk about initiating and cultivating partnerships, we understand that LAM is
working alongside existing or emerging leaders to expand and maximize our infuence,
effectiveness and capacity. We want to concentrate on initiatives that are worth
developing and which provide opportunities for service for Latins and non-Latins (ST,
LT, etc.). We want to identify people and ministries with complimentary initiatives and
projects and resources, who are open to working together to further the Kingdom
work of Christ. By bringing existing and emerging leaders together to collaborate and
beneft from one another, we can further Christs cause and together build momentum.
As we bridge opportunities for service with our partners, together we are expanding our
infuence and effectiveness, leveraging our collective ingenuity, position and passion in
order to increase our common pursuit of discipling the world for Christ.
Our strategy for initiating and cultivating partnerships and opportunities for service is
four-fold:
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John 20:21
As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

How can we GO together?


Latin America Mission connects churches and people to the work God is doing around the world,
building the body of Christ and changing lives for eternal impact. Here are just a few of the ways
we partner together:
CONSULTING AND TRAINING
We would count it a privilege to assist you and your church in thinking about your missional
task both biblically and practically. We can help you strategically plan a meaningful short
term experience for groups of all ages. If youre looking for a long term partnership with a Latin
American church or ministry, we will draw on our 90 years of relationships to fnd a great ft for your
church.
SHORT TERM EXPERIENCES
LAMs short-term experiences allow your church members to serve for a week, a summer, a few
months or a year. Our team trips enable your church groups to serve for the time you desire. You
will partner directly with Latin ministry leaders and local churches, carrying out strategic Kingdom
ministry objectives in a local community.
PLACEMENT OF LONG TERM MISSIONARIES
LAM offers diverse opportunities for missionary service that ft your passions and a fexible structure
to make it sustainable.
INVESTING
LAMs Latin partners have dozens of key ministry projects underway year round. Depending upon
your focus and interest, we can match you to an opportunity that best fts your ministry strategy
and timing. There is also an opportunity to assist in the project fnancially. LAM and our partners
rely on the donations of individuals and groups to fund these projects on a one-time and ongoing
basis. When you give to LAM, you are investing in a network of proven ministries that are deeply in
tune with what God is doing in their communities.
Visit www.lam.org for more information.
EXPLORING initiatives that are worth creating, growing and expanding.
ORGANIZING the people and resources, setting a clear plan of action
or identifying a reproducible model).
IMPLEMENTING the plan according to mutually established guidelines,
being fexible to adapt to needed change.
EVALUATING the implementation of the plan in order to measure our
effectiveness and identify new opportunities and/or reproduce our
results.
On the basis of our relationship and interaction with recognized leaders throughout the Latin
World, we have chosen to concentrate our efforts on four key areas of focus. Each of these
areas offers several partnership and project opportunities throughout Latin America. These are
LAMs four key partnership focus areas:
Strengthening the Church, providing theological education, training and
mentoring of pastors and local church leaders to mutliply healthy churches.
Empowering the Vulnerable, providing hope for justice through awareness,
intervention, rehabilitation and community care for men. women and children
at-risk.
Raising up Future Leaders, educating and discipling children, youth and
students to become agents for spiritual and social change in their communities.
Mobilizing Latin American churches and believers to exercise their role in local
and global missions to fulfll the Great Commission.
These four represent the key areas of focused partnerships to which LAM will apply its resources
over the next fve to ten years.

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