Here is a short analysis of the mission work done by the International Churches of Christ in the last 20 years in Latin America. As a member of the original Mexico City mission team in 1987, I’ve been privileged to be not only an observer but also a participant of the ICOC’s mission work.

Editor's Note: This analysis was posted in The Mission Diaries, Jaime De Anda's blog chronicling "works, events and ideas in Mexico and Central America Missions."

Here is a short analysis of the mission work done by the International Churches of Christ in the last 20 years in Latin America. As a member of the original Mexico City mission team in 1987, I’ve been privileged to be not only an observer but also a participant of the ICOC’s mission work.

In 1987, the New York City Church of Christ planted our movement’s first church in Latin America, in the city of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Later that year, the Boston Church of Christ planted Mexico City and Buenos Aires. After this first “wave” of mission work, most church plantings in Mexico and Central America were originated locally. The notable exceptions were Belize and Guatemala City, planted by the South Florida Church of Christ, a church that also planted Lima (Peru), Caracas (Venezuela) and Montevideo (Uruguay) in the 1990’s and continues to be a great missions partner in Latin America.

A review of our mission work in Mexico and Central America allows us to divide the work into three phases or “waves”, each one with its own characteristics:

1. Initial wave of missions in Latin America had the following characteristics:

• Mainly anglo American team members, specifically the leaders
• Mixture of experienced and inexperienced team members, but highly experienced leaders
• Long-term financial support, specifically of ministers
• Sent to build not just mission outreach but also pillar ministry for region
• Targeted large, influential metropolitan areas (Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, Mexico City)
• Strong emphasis on campus and singles ministry, due to leadership training priority
• Preliminary period or “language internship” before the official planting

2. Second wave or second generation missions (Guadalajara, Puebla, Monterrey, Central America) had these characteristics:

• Mainly hispanics on mission teams, including some leaders
• Overall better trained mission teams, albeit less experienced
• Still long-term financial support, less full time ministry
• Sent with vision of still building pillar churches for countries
• Still targeted large, influential cities
• Less emphasis on campus ministry
• Shorter preliminary period; no language internship required

3. Third wave of missions:

• Mainly natives of first and second wave plantings on mission teams, including leaders
• Less trained, less experienced team members and leaders
• Short term financial support, sometimes none
• More localized vision in terms of church-building strategy
• Targeted secondary cities
• No specific demographics targeted
• Little if no preliminary period

I believe that understanding this process is crucial to our evaluation of mission strategies for the next few years. More about that next time …