During the last few years the WELS Latin America mission team wondered, “Will we see on-the-ground results?” In 2020, we got an answer. But before we share that answer with you, let’s back up a bit.

During the last couple of years, the WELS Latin America mission team has used the Academia Cristo website to distribute ministry resources. These resources are in Spanish, available online, and offered free to anyone interested in learning about the Bible. Furthermore, individuals can receive training to teach the Bible message to others, lead congregations, and access worship resources for in-person gatherings.

Academia Cristo quickly gathered a strong online presence. Today it has more than 1 million followers on social media. Every few months hundreds of thousands of Internet users download its biblical resources.

Thus, as a mission team, we could look at our computer screens and see a clear message: hungry souls in grace-starved Latin America were being touched with the Gospel.

And yet, under God, we wanted more than just an online ministry. We yearned to see real people sharing what they learned through Academia Cristo in their own neighborhoods. We hoped to find local leaders open brick-and-mortar churches. We longed to see the Gospel clearly proclaimed in an on-the-ground way in Latin America.

This year, to that lingering question of whether on-the-ground results would occur God has granted a “yes.” What’s more, that “yes” has resounded again and again, as locations continue to light up on our radar that indicate real-life Gospel proclamations. Consider these examples of what Academia Cristo followers have carried out in the last months:

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The list goes on…in every single country in Latin America, stories such as these are unfolding. Sharing them all here would require pages and pages. Simply put, God has provided on-the-ground results in Latin America. Through Academia Cristo, students are becoming leaders and training new disciples in their own real-world circles.

As travel resumes in Latin America, our missionaries are following up in person with individuals who have learned about the Gospel through Academia Cristo and shared it in their streets and cities. The missionaries are meeting with people like Santos, David, Artemio, Fabiola, and Pablo. During these visits, the missionaries are providing one-on-one instruction, mentoring, and encouragement.

Join us in breaking out in song to God, just as Paul did in the midst of his letter to the Ephesians. Like Paul, we praise our God “who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine!”