
With the vision of reaching 250 cities, South American countries have united in pursuing this goal by sending missionaries to new mission fields in the region. Perhaps the greatest advancement in strengthening the Pioneering Plan in South America has come from strategic planning in each country, achieved by dividing territories into presbyteries. Subdividing impact areas at the presbytery level has allowed national leaders to work with greater focus and better measure progress and outcomes.
This national-level strategic planning involves the natural or political division of territory and selecting the main regions of the country as starting points. For these regions, we asked three important questions:
Which cities in this region have the largest populations and the most youth?
Which cities have the top five universities in the region?
Which cities in the region concentrate the economy, government, education, and culture?
After this exercise, we identified the main cities in each country, selecting five per region or presbytery.
Subsequently, we developed a plan for presbytery-level progress and establishment. This plan consists of selecting the main city in each region and sending a team of four missionaries (two focused on evangelism, one on enhancing Bible studies, and one on administration). From there, they work to reach the other cities in the region. Through this process, we have learned that mission planning starts at the central level but is evaluated and contextualized at the city level. Together, we progress through this process of CONSOLIDATION or ESTABLISHMENT following pioneering efforts.
PHASE I: Presbytery Pioneering
Step 1: Define regions and cities based on their importance.
Step 2: Strategically group missionaries into teams.
Step 3: Send the team to the mission field in the main city.
Step 4: Expand the mission from the main city to the other four regional cities.
PHASE II: Regional Consolidation
Step 5: Train members to become mature and healthy leaders in each city.
Step 6: Create regional teams to evaluate and plan the mission.
Step 7: Send members to the training center (OC) to prepare and return to their region.
Step 8: Establish missional communities of 24 members as staff.
At this point, we have systematized these steps. We ask the Lord for strength and wisdom to continue this arduous journey of building His Kingdom. We request your prayers so that, by God’s grace, we may reach the last three countries in South America still to be pioneered (Guyana, French Guiana, and Suriname), as developing missions in these areas has been particularly challenging. With great hope, we trust that God will grant us this grace in the year 2025.