I just walked through the door to our room and it's 12:32am Tico time. This evening Julie and I ministered to prostitutes in the city center for several hours. Our class partnered with a local church ministry called Nexus that delivers integral services to people involved in prostitution in San Jose. This ministry is 100% committed to transformation through relationships. The time we spent with young men and women on the streets was heartbreaking. Many of them were open to talking with us, although several cut the time short to return to their business. We prayed together, shared stories about life, and the church volunteers spent time ministering through Bible scriptures with the prostitutes with whom they have built relationships. I have never experienced anything like this before. Although I am still processing everything, I do know that I was privileged to be able to participate with this church in living out my faith with people on the margins of society.
Prior to our trip this evening, we spent the bulk of the day listening to lectures in the classroom here at the seminary. We learned that the evangelical movement has three broad themes. Rehabilitation ministries fix things that are broken, creative ministries create things that do not yet exist, and confrontational ministries name and confront powers. Most evangelical churches in the world focus on rehabilitation, but creativity and confrontation may need to be emphasized in moving forward if the church is going to survive and flourish. The church is always only one generation away from becoming obsolete.
We also learned more about heresies and cults in the Latin American church. One popular cult that has gained great influence is called Growing in Grace, which is led by a man who claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated. Another influential cult is called the Church of the Universal Reign of God, which demonizes everything and attributes all sin to Satan and demons. They perform mass exorcisms for random daily activities, such as driving a car or eating, which are supposedly possessed by demons. Both of these cults prey on poor people, but they thrive because they have a twisted prosperity doctrine which is filled with control and little accountability for its leaders. So called Christian television is also deceiving many believers in Latin America. Other forces shaping the church are secularism, feminization, and the third wave of Pentecostalism which is overusing power and prosperity while neglecting social responsibilities and brokenness.
On a more positive note, we learned about how some Latin American churches are becoming agents for social transformation by equipping the laity to engage broken systems. People are participating as Christians throughout the work week in areas such as urban planning, engineering, architecture, economics, politics, environmentalism, transportation, education, and all aspects of life outside the walls of the church. Similar to the examples of William Wilberforce and Dr. Martin Luther King, the church should become involved in formal political action, participate in social movements, engage in a strong fight for human rights, and stand up against unjust laws and oppressive systems. Still, many churches are still working over in a corner by themselves. We need to get involved in other sectors because this is a cultural mandate from God. He designed us as social beings.
I have much to apply to my context back in Pittsburgh and Homewood, but it is getting late and my writing will stop making sense at some point. Tomorrow we spend all day at a ministry that feeds the poor in San Jose. It should be another new adventure!
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