Church of God and Social Ministries in Latin America
LATIN AMERICA– The church in Latin America is not only experiencing great numerical growth and expansion, but it is experiencing a wonderful revival of social action, as well.
By Rick Waldrop
My primary mission assignment is to serve as Latin American Coordinator of Social Ministries for the Church of God. When we had the vision for building a home for children (Casa Shalom) in Guatemala in 1986, social ministries were a novelty and many times misunderstood; at best, as diverting the cause of the gospel from evangelism to social work or, at worst, an expression of subversive political movements. Now, everywhere I go I am finding new ministry outreaches to impoverished children, battered women shelters, rehabilitation centers, medical clinics, and hospitals.
The Church of God in Honduras, where we also served as missionaries in the early 80s, is illustrative of this development. Today across that nation, over 4,000 children are being tutored, fed, and given medical attention, in the name of Jesus, in the midst of gang and drug-related violence in some of their most impoverished neighborhoods. In Honduras, the Church of God sponsors a home for children, two hospitals, and many medical clinics. Similarly, across the region, the church is taking its social responsibility very seriously. This year, I’ve been given opportunities to preach and teach on this subject in youth events, seminary courses, prisons, mission conferences, and local churches in Costa Rica, Honduras, Ecuador, the United States, Bulgaria, Spain, and the Dominican Republic. We also have the opportunity to be directly involved in social action in the new Agua Viva Ministry Center right here where we live.
Rick and Janice Waldrop, Missionaries to Latin America
Project Number 060-0046
© 2013 Church of God World Missions
