Begun in Faith

The Setup Ok, let’s back up. What is Extreme? Extreme Nazarene is an organization that partners with the Nazarene church to plant new Nazarene churches using teams of missionaries from the United States and the country where the church is being planted. Except it doesn’t because sometimes the teams have members from three or even more countries. The church in Ibarra, Ecuador has pastors from Venezuela and the church in Antofagasta, Chile has missionaries from Brazil and Peru. And really, Extreme doesn’t send missionaries but rather social workers, baristas, 4 th grade teachers, dog groomers, factory workers, and college students to be trained as missionaries on the field. So Extreme Nazarene plants Nazarene churches using teams of young people sent to make disciples and train their disciples to make disciples who make disciples.                          ...

On January 4, a team of eleven Brazilian missionaries came to Argentina to serve God and bless our church. We spent two weeks speaking Portuñol (Portuguese + Español) with them and laughing a lot. Each one has a talent—preaching, singing, acting, teaching; but their most effective evangelism tool is their incredible joy. It was wonderful to bask in the presence of God with them. While they were with us we prayed over the city, presented dramas in plazas, and hosted events for men, women, and teens. We, the 40/40 missionaries, also tried to include them in our daily work. A few weeks earlier, Ashley and I had started something we’ve termed a “plaza of prayer” where we have a Bible study and prayer time in a public plaza. One Thursday, three of the Brazilians were able to join us. They sat uncomfortably in the 85 degrees of dry, summer heat sipping on mate tea, a traditional hot Argentine drink. It’s interesting to watch a third culture experience some of the same culture shock ...