A Visit With Lifeline's Latin American Leaders

A few weeks ago, my wife Susan (Director of Short Term Mission Experience), Joel Augustus (EVP, Global Strategy), and I returned from a a visit to four of Lifeline's locations in Latin America: El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. We were able to spend significant time with Lifeline's leaders in those countries and see each of the ministries in action. There is some amazing Kingdom work happening in these countries! We are so excited to work more closely with these leaders in the future. I’d like to share with you a summary of our visits to each country.

EL SALVADOR
(Country Co-Directors: Dany & Lisandro)
We were encouraged by the churches in El Salvador. There seems to be good forward movement there. The brothers and sisters in El Salvador do gather together at the main location in their area for a Sunday service; however, the leaders in El Salvador have implemented a house church model in each community as well. Believers gather in homes during the week to encourage one another and pray together. The house churches also create a natural way to share the Gospel with their neighbors as they care for one another in their communities.

The church leaders are making moves toward more self-sustainable futures. At times, to some leaders, it can seem like when we encourage them to work toward self-sustainability, they fear that it means that Lifeline will abandon them. We assure them that it is quite the contrary. We are here to serve them and coach them as they grow into mature churches who are able to stand on their own two feet.

GUATEMALA
(Country Director: Deybee)
I was extremely encouraged and impressed by Deybee. He is very humble but definitely not passive. He is a Honduran who was sent to Guatemala. Even though his first language is Spanish, he still experiences many of the challenging things that a foreign missionary feels in the field. He and his wife have a healthy marriage, and they are truly partners in ministry.

Deybee has a very intentional strategy for discipling people. I was appreciative of his focus on helping people understand the Scriptures as a priority.

Deybee has made some very strategic moves to help his people move toward sustainability. In my opinion, he is one of Lifeline’s pace-setters for sustainability in our Latin American countries.

Although there are not a lot of churches in Guatemala, I am encouraged by the people that are leading those churches. I see great potential. More importantly, Deybee sees great potential.

HONDURAS

Latin America Regional Director: Darwyn
Darwyn has done a great job over the years! He is Honduran, and his bilingual abilities will be a huge benefit and will help me a great deal as I work with the leaders in Latin America. He has most definitely left a trail of empowerment and sustainability initiatives. He has proven to be a mighty leader.


Tegucigalpa Regional Leader: Antonio
Antonio is simply amazing! He is making disciples that make disciples. He is empowering leaders. He embodies Lifeline’s mission to "Mobilize, develop, and empower people and communities."

Omoa Regional Leader: Carlos
Carlos is a fun-loving, always smiling, long-time leader with Lifeline. He and his wife oversee the girls' home in Omoa. 

The container project in Omoa is just awesome! They have outfitted the container to be a restaurant that is doing great and generating income for an even more impactful ministry in the area. And did we say the food is delicious!? Wow! 

PANAMA
(Country Director: Jose)
The last country we visited was Panama. We were blown away by how developed Panama City is. It’s a beautiful city. 

Jose is leading the new church plant in Panama City, where his vision is to reach a new demographic of urban people. Like many church plants, it has been a struggle to get momentum because of the difficulties caused by COVID and the inability to gather in large groups. Panama still has some fairly strict regulations when it comes to COVID. Jose also leads a ministry to the indigenous peoples of Panama in and around the mountains of David City. 


Are you interested in coming alongside our Latin American leaders and churches? Click HERE to learn about the many ways you can take action to support ministry!

To learn about the many countries where Lifeline does ministry work, click HERE.