Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008
Fernando and Brenda Larzabal
Indigenous of Colombia
From missions field to missionary force — that’s the dream of Fernando and Brenda Larzabal for the South American nation of Colombia.
“The gospel has been in Colombia for more than 150 years,” Fernando says. “Our problem is that the average Colombian Christian has the perception that missions belongs to somebody else. But missions belongs to the local church.”
That’s why the Larzabals are working to mobilize Colombian churches for the sake of evangelizing the country’s indigenous tribes.
Isolated from the gospel by remote locales, social prejudice, and insurgent armies, more than 60 of these tribes have no knowledge of Jesus Christ. Most are animists, spirit-worshippers who live in fear of failing to appease gods they can neither know nor love.
“Without God there is slavery,” Fernando says. “Without Christ there is fear and that’s what they breathe day in and day out.”
Pray that more Colombian churches will grasp their Great Commission calling and respond to the indigenous tribes’ need for the gospel. Ask the Lord to give Fernando and Brenda wisdom as they choose where to invest their time and energy.