The Free Methodist Church in
Latin America
FMWM IN LATIN AMERICA
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Praise for New Beginnings!
A new beginning! That was the sensation when 44 leaders from 16 countries met for the Latin American Leadership Summit in January 2022. The pandemic kept us physically separate. And although Zoom meetings helped keep us united, being face-to-face again was energizing and a great addition to a season full of new beginnings.
Praise the Lord for a new beginning in Argentina!
Forty people in attendance at the Argentina annual meeting in December 2021 agreed it was a new beginning. They are rebuilding with a clear vision and excitement to participate with God in the restoration of Argentina! And they are off to a great start as they participate in pastoral care, ministry to children and initiate The Harbor ministry for college students.
Praise the Lord for a new beginning in Uruguay!
The Mission District of Uruguay held its first annual meeting in 2021, and what a great start it was! The youth are on fire for Christ, and the children, inspired by the faithful ministry of the church, are leading their families to Christ. Ministries that began with a few children on a soccer field are becoming established churches as committed disciples are multiplied.
Praise the Lord for new leaders, new mission districts and new relationships!
There are new mission district leaders in Nicaragua, Argentina and Honduras. In March 2022, Bolivia will become an official mission district, and Guatemala hopes to join that list in August. Likewise, the Latin American Area is nurturing a new relationship with the Mexican Provisional General Conference to inject the vision for kingdom participation and growth!
Praise the Lord for new life in Christ and new ministry opportunities!
Best of all, nearly 4,000 Latin Americans began personal relationships with Christ in 2021. There were also 252 new community churches, giving us a current total of 742 groups multiplying committed disciples! Raíces, the translated, expanded and adapted version of the Roots children’s curriculum, is being introduced across the region to begin developing healthy leaders starting at age 3. CenForMe, the online Center for Ministerial Formation, is developing nearly 1,000 healthy leaders. And a new medical clinic is opening in a creative access country. This clinic will amplify transformational ministry currently providing a home for the elderly and a substance-abuse recovery ministry.
It is undoubtedly a season of new beginnings as we participate with God in the restoration of Latin America by developing healthy leaders, multiplying committed disciples and empowering transformational churches. Please join us in praising the Lord and praying for God’s continuing restoration of Latin America!
─ Ricardo and Beth Gómez, Latin America Area Director
Countries
Latin America Area Director
Ricardo Gómez
YO SOY UNO (I am One)
Missionaries
Guy & Betsy Crawford
Guy and Betsy Crawford provide pastoral care and support to FM missionaries in Latin America. Their role includes encouragement and spiritual nurture via emails, phone calls and field visits; special care in emergencies or times of crisis; and organization of prayer networks.
J.R. & Becky Crouse
Based in Quito, Ecuador, the Crouses assist the Free Methodist Church in Ecuador and the Latin America Area (LAA) through leadership development, education and transformational development.
Daniela DaCunha
Daniela DaCunha is passionate about Community Church Planting (CCP). As a successful CCP trainer in Paraguay, she moved to Maldonado, Uruguay, in 2021 to form and train new CCP teams. She is a mentor for the CCP network leaders in the southern cone.
Kay Stotts Godoy
Kay Stotts Godoy serves as Latin America regional coordinator for International Child Care Ministries (ICCM). Based in Santiago, Chile, she works alongside ICCM national coordinators with their teams of FM children’s workers and elementary school teachers.
Ricardo & Beth Gómez
Based out of Medellín, Colombia, Ricardo Gómez serves as area director for Latin America. He oversees the U.S. missionaries and national leaders in 17 countries as they implement the shared vision to participate with God in the restoration of Latin America by developing healthy leaders, multiplying committed disciples and empowering transformational churches. Beth serves alongside him in the areas of administration and communication.
Shane & Katie Jewell
Shane Jewell was called to full-time missionary service as a young boy. He and his family are now preparing to transition to Bogotá, Colombia. They hope to deploy to Colombia in August 2022.
John Jairo Leal & Susana Castro
John Jairo Leal and Susana Castro are ordained pastors in the Colombian Mission District and have served as pastors and church planters in Medellín. Currently, John is director of Community Church Planting with Impact Latin America. Susana is the pastor of Camino de Vida church and facilitates pastoral care in Latin America.
Dennis & Kyle Leon
Dennis and Kyle Leon moved to Esterillos, Costa Rica, with a vision to see everyone in every community have access to a living church by multiplying disciples, workers and churches. God has used them to lead to Christ and disciple many new believers, resulting in a multiplying network of churches and home groups now called the 360 Mission District. They also help communities improve their physical wellbeing through counseling, job training, microfinance, tutoring, scholarships, medical assistance, emergency aid, work opportunities and children’s centers
David & Ginegda López
David and Ginegday “Yeya” López are international missionaries who relocated to their home country last year. David is an ordained elder with a successful track record of multiplying disciples, leaders and churches. He is the coordinator for multiplying committed disciples in the Free Methodist Church of Latin America and promotes church planting throughout the region.
Wendy Lorenz
Wendy Lorenz serves the Latin America Area as the care coordinator for Third Culture Kids (TCKs), working with missionary kids and parents throughout Latin America. She also gives direction to the Free Methodist TCK global team. As an additional responsibility, Wendy serves as a member of the team contextualizing the Roots curriculum for use throughout Latin America.
After six years of serving in Latin America, Wendy’s husband, Glenn, began serving as the Africa Area Associate Director in October 2022. His role focuses on recruiting, onboarding, training and coaching missionary teams for Africa. Glenn and Wendy continue to base in Costa Rica.
Paul Olver
Paul is president and board chair of Impact Latin America (ILA), which plants God’s peace by mobilizing resources to equip Latin American leaders to multiply disciples, leaders and churches. ILA supports the Latin American Free Methodist Church through Community Church Planting (CCP) and introduces CCP to other associations and networks. Paul’s wife, Delia Nüesch-Olver, officially retired from FMWM, serves as ILA’s ambassador at large.
Dan & Hope Owsley
Dan and Hope Owsley have served in four major regions of Brazil over the past three decades, helping to start churches and organize conferences. Their ministry has included teaching Bible and theology to church leaders, mentoring men and women in ministry, sharing the gospel, and discipling new believers. In 2020 they moved to the state of São Paulo to help restructure the Free Methodist seminary. Both Hope and Dan are teaching there, and Dan acts as academic coordinator. They are both involved in their local church and are mentoring church planters (Free Methodist Venezuelan refugees) in northwest Brazil. Hope leads several Bible studies and is also part of a team adapting the Roots curriculum for Free Methodist Sunday schools throughout Latin America.
Juan Carlos Rodriguez & Yaneth Aguirre
Pastor Juan Carlos and Yaneth have faithfully served the Free Methodist Church in Mexico in various roles, including church planters and pastors. Juan Carlos also served as conference superintendent for eight years. The Lord has now stirred their hearts to serve at an area-wide level by joining the Latin American team. Based out of Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Juan Carlos will coordinate mentoring throughout the area, particularly to leaders in Bolivia, Guatemala and Creative Access Country-X. Yaneth will serve as a part of the “Empowering Transformational Churches” team while also pouring into local and regional ministry.
Casto Rojas
Dr. Casto Rojas is a pediatrician by trade who has served the FM Church for over XXX years. The church he pastored became the largest and fastest-growing church in Latin America. Pastor Casto has a track record of training, mentoring, encouraging and empowering leaders, resulting in the birth of more than 20 new churches within his own country. Now he serves as conference superintendent in his home country and as a mentor for the superintendents in Puerto Rico, Chile and Paraguay.
Thad & Nikki Roller
The Rollers live and minister in Cajicá, just outside Bogotá, Colombia. They are passionate about seeing leaders, disciples and churches multiplied in their community and throughout Latin America. Thad’s primary role is to help train, mobilize and support pastors, leaders and church planters in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico. Nikki’s main objectives include infusing the church-planting movement with a culture of deep prayer and working on multiple teams, including Third Culture Kid care and the translation and adaptation of the Roots curriculum for the Latin American context.
Rodrigo & Tanya Rosado
The Rosados live and serve in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where they lead a new project – The Harbor. The Harbor seeks to be a vibrant international community where there is biblical transformation and student leaders are empowered through holistic strategies leading to the multiplication of committed disciples. Their responsibilities include pastoring a multicultural church, overseeing university housing for emerging leaders in collaboration with ICCM and developing a Community Church Plant network in the city. In addition, Rodrigo serves as mission district leader for Argentina, and Tanya serves as transformational church coordinator for Latin America.
Rich & Laurie Sheriff
Rich and Laurie serve in San Pedro de la Paz, on the edge of Concepción, Chile. Rich is an elder in the Keystone Conference. After years of pastoring in the U.S. and leading short-term mission teams to various parts of the world, the Chilean Conference of the FMC invited the Sheriffs to come full time and plant bilingual churches. Along with church planting, they work in leadership development and encouraging local FM pastors, families and churches.
Dan & Dee Ann Snyder
Dan and Dee Ann Snyder currently serve as associate missionaries to Haiti. While involved in a Michigan medical practice, Dan raises funds and annually makes several trips to Haiti Claire Heureuse Hospital in Dessalines. Dee Ann works in support ministries
Andrea Tinsley
Andrea Tinsley lives and serves in Medellín, Colombia. She is an ordained elder in the New South Conference and a veteran youth pastor. Andrea is utilizing her passion for retelling the stories of the kingdom of God in her role as the Latin America Area communications liaison to the U.S. church. Along with communications, she serves on the Latin America Area Third Culture Kid (TCK) care team.
HEARTBEAT
Answering God’s Call
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Sickness to Health: Community Transformation
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Discipling: No Distance or Age Limitations
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Travesia, Honduras VISA Team: Completion of Child Feeding Program Storage and Office Space
The Travesia FMC is looking for help to complete the construction of a pantry to store food supplies for the child nutrition program, thus freeing up space that was originally planned as the pastoral office.