Coming alongside HCJB Global and the Latin American Mission Movement

BY LES AND PRISCILLA HIRST

Sometimes a vision calls for quick action and a short-term investment. Other times it requires a long-term approach. Paraclete associates often come to help for the short-term, but this time God presented us with a ministry opportunity that was crying out for a longer investment that would see the vision of a ministry become a reality. And the project HCJB Global presented to us was no small vision to be sure. Our job was to come alongside HCJB Global’s historic mission work in Latin America to launch a bi-vocational, cross-cultural training program for Latino missionaries.

An on-site visit to Quito, Ecuador in 2007 confirmed our sense of God’s leading. We began to see that God had prepared HCJB Global, with their substantial communication and medical ministries, to have a unique roll in training Latinos to reach the least-reached. We immediately saw why this did not fit into the short-term ministry category.

We began to spend time with the people and learned about the history of God’s work in Quito. We listened intensely and broadly as scores of people expressed opinions, shared feelings and identified issues. While most people could pinpoint the roadblocks, few had ideas about how to move from the past to the preferred future. Yet one step at a time, from their observations and commentaries, the path forward began to emerge. A series of seminars helped people grow in commitment and identify with the project, while receiving valuable training. We decided to call the project “Corrientes,” the Spanish word for “currents.”

Uniting church and agency in continent-wide cooperation was a significant
challenge in itself. While mentoring people in Quito, we were also being mentored. Since Corrientes is a bi-vocational, cross-cultural educational program, we looked to mentors in non-formal education, organizational change, cross-cultural communication and mentoring to help us define and guide the project.

Working with expanded freedom and bringing in globally-recognized experts also helped reduce defensiveness, nurturing greater creativity among the group, while mitigating some of the normal resistance to change.

HCJB Global celebrated the official launch of the training program in October 2009. An international, bi-vocational Corrientes team and a team of partners led by Dr. Carlos Pinto coordinate a dedicated corps of mentors, who are experts in their own professions, and ready to come alongside others. An important part of the launch was the celebration of the first trainees completing their three-month course. The graduation of this young Costa Rican couple was another clear confirmation of God’s hand in this project. Their ministry today in one of the poorest and least-reached West African countries powerfully demonstrates the vision of Corrientes.

Do longer term projects involved greater risk and require a greater investment? Without a doubt! Yet when outcomes are exponentially multiplied, the impact far outweighs the cost in time and resources. Coming alongside HCJB Global and the Latin American mission movement has been, and is, deeply satisfying and rewarding. We were thrilled to see God multiply Kingdom resources as He extends His Kingdom. We sense we have glorified God by coming alongside the global mission community to enhance Kingdom effectiveness. As Paraclete associates, that is our mission.

How Long is Long Enough?

BY LARRY AND JEAN RUS

In the “missions world” a person’s time of involvement can be measured by different terms…short-term, long-term, interim, consultant, trainer…and perhaps other terms we have yet to hear.
Such is the case with our assignments with Paraclete. Since our goal is to “come alongside” organizations to help with their needs, the time to accomplish the task can vary, so the length of commitment needs to be flexible.

Our longest assignment was three years with Wycliffe Bible Translators in New Zealand working on a millennium-oriented project and materials or the director’s seminars. Our second longest term was for two years with the St. Paul Cultural Center in Turkey, where Larry developed a governance structure and financial accounting system while Jean helped administer a camp for Third Culture kids. For a year we served in Kyrgyzstan to establish an administrative position and accounting system for an organization that was in its early stages of development. Jean helped with personnel needs and produced orientation materials for short-term workers. Our shortest assignment was three months in Russia to help in team conflict resolutions.

Over a ten-year period we served the Baptist Haiti Mission several times for 6-7 month periods reviewing their organizational structure, helping to implement statistical gathering systems and assist with their medical records systems. Jean wrote an Operational Procedures Manual for their child sponsorship office and coordinated material for their website.


Currently, we are working with The Well, a member care center in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Both of us are involved in administrative areas. Larry is working on organizational development and financing projects and Jean is involved in the work of the director helping to set up an administrative assistant position.

Since our involvement is primarily in the administrative and financial areas, it is difficult to project initially how much time is needed for an assignment. We have found that when we are developing new systems or recommending changes, it is important to see how our suggestions are working and to make adjustments as necessary before leaving.

Because our stay is usually longer than just a few weeks, we have to find accommodations, set up housekeeping and make an effort to integrate into the community. We submit to the authority of the host organization and attempt to fit into their organizational culture and procedures. By doing so we try to become “one of them” to better understand their challenges. The language barrier can also be an issue. Our stay is not long enough for formal language learning, but some basic vocabulary and phrases are necessary in order to survive on our own. Fortunately, the offices of many host organizations use English as their business language.

One of our greatest rewards is the opportunity to build relationships with teammates and local people of the country and it is difficult to say goodbye when our work is completed. Some of these friendships have continued long after our departure. We are privileged to see what God is doing throughout the world through our service with Paraclete, and how He uses His people to carry out the Great Commission.