Prayer Focus: Central & South America

Our UBC EVERYWHERE August prayer focus is Central and South America. UBC directly supports four missionaries with our prayers and finances in the countries of Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, and Mexico.

Central America, the Caribbean, and South America have many nations with distinct beliefs, traditions, and cultures.

Central America from North to South including Mexico consists of Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Panama.

The Caribbean Islands are a strange mixture of paradise mixed with the poor. Whether politics, or the latest hurricane season there are many humanitarian mercy needs in this region.

South America has 10 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil; Chile, Columbia, Ecuador; Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. The main language of South America is Spanish except in Brazil where Portuguese is spoken.

Catholicism is the major faith group in these countries. This can lead to difficulties when sharing that salvation is by grace alone. It was estimated in 2020 by Statista.com that across all countries in Central and South America 57% identified as Catholic and 19.1% as unspecified evangelicals.

Mexico is ranked high for Christian persecution due to organized crime and clan oppression. The Joshua project lists 3 unreached people groups (UPGs) in Mexico with only 10% evangelical which is defined by Joshua Project as those who emphasize The Lord Jesus Christ as the sole source of salvation through faith in Him, personal conversion with regeneration by Holy Spirit, recognize Bible as the inspired Word of God and the only basis for Christian living, and commitment to Biblical witnessing and evangelism that brings others to faith. Argentina has 2 unreached people groups. UBC supports an indigenous pastor who is working with Quichua people who praise God are now considered superficially reached with still less 2% evangelical in the people group. This country is 11% evangelical. (The link below shows where the Quichua people group live). Costa Rica has 1 UPG and is listed as 18% evangelical. The Dominican Republic has 1 UPG and is considered 10.85% evangelical.

Please pray:

For great boldness and wide open doors for Christians to share the Gospel.
That those who do not know about Jesus will come to know Him as their Savior by faith.
Continued protection and provision for our missionaries in these countries
Christ’s light to overcome the darkness of cartels, gangs, drugs and violence.
More laborers called into God’s harvest work.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/996386/latin-america-religion-affiliation-share-type/

https://joshuaproject.net/people_groups/14744/AR

https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/2022/mexico/

Missionary Spotlight:

Welcome the McCutcheons!

Greetings, UBC! We are Joel and Krista McCutcheon and we are so excited to be one of your missionaries! Krista was born in Cincinnati and graduated from Cedarville University so she has a special place in her heart for Ohio. We met each other on the mission field in Belgium and for the past 16 years, we have been living and working in Costa Rica where we adopted our two daughters. They are now grown and living in the United States..

Krista and I have the privilege of serving missionary families around the globe through counseling and pastoral care.

Soon, we will be traveling to Turkey and the Republic of Georgia to counsel and teach counseling to groups of missionaries. Please pray that we will be properly prepared both in our lessons and in our hearts. We need the wisdom of God‘s Word to come alive to us and the creativity to communicate in a way that helps the missionaries connect the powerful principles of God’s Word to their personal lives and their ministries.

Prayer Requests:

That we will be well prepared in advance for these teaching sessions.
That we will walk in humility and grace that does not bring attention to ourselves.
And please pray for our marriage, that we will seek to serve one another above ourselves, especially during this time of travel and extra pressure, that we will be quick to forgive, and strong to encourage one another for His glory.

We'd love to meet you -- follow along with us by signing up for our Trekker updates at joelandkrista.com!

Mercy Highlight: Mercy Ministry - Listening & Launching

As the Mercy Ministry at UBC is still in its first months of getting off the ground, the Mercy lead team’s work thus far can be described as being engaged in listening and launching.

Listening

We seek to be humble and wise in how we grow the UBC Mercy Ministry work, which begins with being good listeners.

*Desiring to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading, we have spent time in prayer seeking God’s direction of where we should be focusing our efforts.

*We have spent time connecting with ministries already going within the church, such as the ProLife Ministry and the Called to Care/Foster and Adoptive family Ministry- to determine how we can support them in more meaningful ways.

*We have been connecting with other churches and agencies in our community that address needs of our neighbors- to determine in what ways UBC can come alongside.

*And we have also been listening to the UBC body- to discern what needs for acts of mercy are not being met in the church, but also how members can use their unique gifts and talents to serve others in merciful ways.

Launching

As a result of listening and praying, we are excited to be launching some new initiatives and ministries under Mercy Ministries. Be watching for details coming soon for the following new opportunities…

*ProLife Ministry’s addition of mercy ministry focused on the end of life journey. *Called to Care Ministry’s adding new foster/adoptive families to wrap around.

*Refugee Ministry’s roll out of some focused areas of ministry to

immigrants, refugees, and international students in our community.

*Two new ministry initiatives that will be launched in September. Be watching for Details

*Equipping Workshops that will be launched in the fall to equip followers of Jesus to be equipped and supported to use their gifts to show God’s mercy to those around them.

Please be in prayer about how YOU can be the hands and feet of Jesus through acts of mercy in your spheres of influence.

Opportunity: ‘Perspectives’ Grads Needed!

Have you taken the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course in the past as either a certificate or key reader student? If so, consider joining the Coordinating Team for the Perspectives Spring 2024 course happening right here at UBC!

Whatever your area of interest or gifting is, there are team roles for you to fill. We would love to have you join us!

For more information, please contact Sharon at skerestes4@gmail.com or stop by the Mission & Mercy Ministries table.

Interested in going on a mission trip this year? The following UBC-sponsored trips are open to UBC members and regular attenders.

Contacts to learn more:

Jim Corbin jim.corbin@ubcbeavercreek.com

Aldin Falfulovic aldin.fafulovic@ubcbeavercreek.com

To read past Mission Updates or to get more information about UBC on Mission, visit www.ubcbeavercreek.com/mission.

UBC Mission & Mercy Ministry Update - 2023, Issue 8

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