Gustavo's Musings (2 of 10) - "Opening the Window From Below..."

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    Gustavos Musings # 2 of 10

    Nov 2003

    Opening the Window From Below

    This article was written during our language training in San Jose, Costa Rica. Costa Rica was the firstinternational stop in our cross-cultural missions journey.

    In actuality, our journey had begun in 1997 with a Perspectives Course. Shortly after that it was fouryears in seminary followed by an arduous application process with our missions agency and a long

    discernment period with our church to determine an appropriate ministry and country of service.

    Our eventual ministry was determined to be as a professor in a Bible Institute, just outside of Asuncin,Paraguay in South America. Prior to deploying for the field, my wife needed to learn Spanish and I

    needed to greatly improve my own. Thus, our first stop was the Spanish Language Institute in San Jose,Costa Rica where we planned to study for 8 months.

    My purpose for writing this article was to convey the importance of continuing to send missionaries to

    Latin America as opposed to only investing in the 10-40 window as some had argued.

    10-40 Angst

    As someone preparing for missionary service, I often suffered from 10-40 angst. This spiritualdiscomfort was rooted in conflicting emotions toward my place in the global missions endeavor. On the

    one hand, the gaping need for Christian workers in the 10-40 Window, stabbed at the heart of anyearnest follower of Christ, especially one who was entering cross-cultural ministry.

    At the same time, however, the nature of such hostile spiritual terrain (with the likelihood of

    persecution) was a task from which even the hardiest disciple would shrink. In the end, the pangs ofmoral responsibility could never quite generate the emotional inertia needed to minister under suchdemanding circumstances. Nevertheless, the struggle continued to wage on.

    The 10-40 Window

    The 10-40 Window was a term coined by the evangelical community to draw attention to the

    least evangelized portions of the world. Starting at 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator in theAtlantic, and stretching east through Asia, one could draw an imaginary window, which incorporated

    over90% of thenon-Christianpopulations of the entire globe. (See

    inset)Stop and ponder that for a moment.

    Within this dense geographic spectrum ofover 3 billion people, very few (on a

    percentage basis) had a viable witnessingchurch in their vicinity and many could go

    an entire lifetime without ever hearing thegospel. The statistics painted a grim

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    portrait. Morocco, for example, with 28 million people, had a Christian population of .1%. Algeria(with 31 million people) stood at .29% and Libya (with 6 million people) was at 3%. And the list could

    go on

    The Pull of Latin America

    But, no matter how hard we tried to envision ourselves in these geographic contexts, our heartswere always unmistakably and mysteriously drawn to one place: Latin America. Humanly speaking,

    this was a logical choice. I was of Hispanic descent having been born in Mexico, though now havinglived in the United States for 32 years. In addition, I had a pretty good command of the Spanish

    language. Finally, my skills as a teacher and instructor in the secular world could immediately be usedin filling Latin Americas needs for leadership development and theological education. But we were

    attracted to Latin America for much more than practical reasons. We were drawn to its beautifullanguage, its unique culture, its tragic history andits suffering people. As it turned out, there was one

    additional reason for this pull that only became clearer as time went on. As usual, God was working onmany different levels.

    Growth in Latin America

    The truth was that the evangelical church in Latin America had experienced unprecedented

    growth since the 1960s. The same was true of the Pentecostal and Charismatic wings. Not only hadthere been an explosion of new converts and churches (who needed to be discipled), but also, a new

    vision for reaching the world had also emerged from within Latin America.Here, within the countries that stretched between Mexico to Argentina was a powerful

    missionary force that was waiting to be unleashed. One might say that in response to the incrediblework of the Holy Spirit, Latin America had come to recognize its unique place within the global

    missions community. The time had come to make an impact, not only within its own borders, but alsowithinthe 10-40 Window!

    This desire and zeal, which was funneled into continent-wide missions initiatives, was aided byseveral unique connections to the least evangelized portions of the world:

    Latin American Missions Connections

    Spain conquered Latin America almost immediately after the Moors had occupied it for nearly

    1,000 years. While Spain did not export Muslim culture to the new world, there were many remnantsfrom this occupation that were suitable for ministry in the 10-40 Window and particularly the Muslim

    world:There was a linguistic connection Over two thousand words in the Arabic language have the

    same or similar cognates as in Spanish. Camisa for shirt and Ojala for hopefully, God willing,are two such cognates that come to mind.

    There was aphysical connection A typical Latin American had many physical traits similar tothat of many Arabs. In other words, their darker complexion, hair and eyes would be quite normal in

    countries like Jordan, Morocco or Egypt.There was a culturalconnection - Latin American culture was more closely aligned with Middle

    Eastern culture. This included an event vs. time orientation as in the West, a focus on relationships andthe importance of the family structure.

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    To these connections could be added economic andpoliticalconsiderations. Latin Americans (ingeneral) were largely accustomed to the living conditions in the majority world. They required fewer

    creature comforts than their North American counterparts. In addition, after September 11th, and the

    invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, anti-U.S. sentiment was high among the Arab world making it much

    more difficult for North Americans to live and work in these areas. There was no such bias against

    Latin Americans.

    Our Place in Global Missions

    Thus, we find ourselves serving in Latin America at the very moment that it is experiencing

    these historic shifts. And, were not alone in being called by God to serve here. Though our ministriesmay be different: evangelism, church planting, teaching, youth ministry, micro business enterprises, or

    working as technicians, doctors, engineers or architects, our ultimate task as missionaries is to contributeto the establishment, growth and maturity of Great Commission churches; churches that will commit

    themselves to make disciples of all nations. Latin America is rising up to meet the challenges posed bythe non-evangelized areas of the world, and God is allowing us to play a unique role in that great

    endeavor. Seen in this way, perhaps a little angst is not bad if it spurs us to maintain our focus onreaching the lost for Christ, whether here or in the 10-40 Window.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR

    Gustavo Karakey was born in Durango, Mexico and grew up in Southern California. Currently,

    he lives in Boston with his wife and three children.From 2004-2008, he served as a missionary to Paraguay, South America teaching at the

    Methodist Bible Institute just outside of Asuncin.

    In 2011, Gustavo and his family will be moving to Medelln, Colombia, where Gustavo will

    serve as a professor of New Testament at the Biblical Seminary of Colombia (www.fusbc.edu.co).

    Gustavos passion is to help develop pastors and leaders for the church in Colombia and LatinAmerica as well as to prepare missionaries from Colombia for the unfinished task of global missions.

    * * * * *

    To learn more about this exciting ministry in Colombia visit: http://www.karakey.com

    To sample or purchase a copy of Gustavos book Making Sense of the Bible which provides a step-by-step method to better understand the Scriptures visit: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/22475