Latin American Church Leaders Meeting in Panama City

Panama City, Panama -- Church leaders from 15 nations met here on June 8-11 for the 1st Latin American Leadership Conference, entitled "Lift Up Your Eyes". Conceived by Mexico City evangelist Josue Ortega, the meeting brought together, for the first time in three years, church leaders from the U.S., Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
Until 2003, mission work of the International Churches of Christ in Latin America had been overseen by the Central and South American World Sector (CSA). Since then, churches in Latin America have been paired with groups of churches in the United States: Mexico/Central America with the Los Angeles Church, Brazil and the South Cone with churches in Florida, and Northern South America with churches in the Southern U.S. Due to distance and lack of funding, some of the South American churches have had to face many challenges on their own, including staff reductions and turmoil within their membership. The Leadership Conference provided a great opportunity for the participating church leaders to reconnect with other Spanish-speaking ministers.

The Panama City church members were amazingly warm and hospitable. All the participants were welcomed at the airport and taken to the hotel. Throughout the Conference, there were always disciples in the lobby and hallways to help us with our needs. Horacio and Irma del Castillo, who lead the church in Panama, were excellent in their organization!

The main theme of the Conference was our need to seek God's will and power in our lives and ministries. The evening lessons by Kevin Mains and Pedro Garcia (Los Angeles), as well as the morning devotionals led by Steve Brown (Nashville) and Martin Bentley (Orlando), all pointed us toward our need to focus on God and be unified in our purpose. There were also classes for men and for women, and special presentations by Arturo Elizarraras about the Mexico City Bible School and Videoconference systems, and by Daniel Rojas about CSA Press, our self-supporting publications ministry. There was also great news sharing by brothers from the churches in Mexico, Central America, South America, Brazil and the Caribbean! All of this, plus the ample time given for fellowship, helped us to forge new bonds of unity.

The Panama City church joined us for Sunday service, where Josue Ortega preached on the theme, "Firm Convictions". Once more, the local disciples made it a memorable experience, with folk music and dances. The next leadership conference will be hosted by the Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic) Church in 2008!