Pastoral Training in Venezuela May 18-24

Left: Mario and Madilva Lopez /Right: Break out session

I met Mario Lopez in 2003 when he took the first offering of the Pro-Meta Church Planting Course (Latin America Training Network). Now he is serving as head of the Ministerial Association. His heart is for pastors and their preparation for ministry. When our team of trainers (church planting, church development and pastor training) offered to come he was excited. Twice we spoke on skype to prepare the event. He involved his entire team and did an excellent job preparing it. He said that last year they didn't have enough response to gather the pastors. This year they hoped for 25 and had 38 participate. The purposes were to encourage, equip, and build a long-term relationship. Here is the schedule in a nutshell:

• Weds May 19- Total Mobilization – Seven Steps toward Church Multiplication – Mike Gunderson and Gene Wilson
  
• Thurs May 20- Foundations of Church Health and Development – Part I – Mark Wold
  
• Friday May 21– Pastoral Training: A Biblical World view including a Biblical Understanding of Unity and Suffering – Al Lewis.
  
• Meeting with Association board. Report on the state of the churches, evaluation of training and plans for the future.
  
• Saturday – Visited Cata Bay and fellowshipped with Mario Lopez, his wife and Alexander Mora. Debriefing with Mario Lopez.
  
• Sunday – We preached and ministered in Valencia churches
  

During our debriefing he shared this evaluation:

• The training was on target and on level.
  
• Several pastors came who hadn't participated in any event for years. There was a hunger for this kind of training.
  
• It was timely. God has been stirring a growing interest for cooperation in church planting and leader/pastor training.
  
• In Maracay the pastors had not gathered for quite a while. They met recently and say "Perhaps we should plant a new church together." They took the training as a confirmation and decided to cooperate to start a new church in an unchurched region.
  
• In the Caracas region they decided to start a church in Los Teques, State of Miranda. It is the state next to Caracas. Mario said: "I had been praying for a while that God would lead someone to start a church there since we have none. When they announced that I said 'Praise the Lord' in my heart."
  

Saturday night it poured down rain and the Lopez home was flooded. It is the fourth time this has happened. The first time the water was 5 feet high and they lost everything. They had some work done to protect their home so this time the water only rose a couple feet. They have a terrazzo floor so no damage was done to wall or flooring but it will take time to get things back in order. And since the water is infected with garbage they have to disinfect everything. Their son Timothy (about 8 yrs old) who is experiencing some trauma every time there is a storm is calming down and people from the church helped them clean up. Life is returning to normal. Praise the Lord for Mario and his family.