Church Planting — Interviews

Interview | Preaching In A Different Culture with Pastor Alex Fuentes

Pastor Daniel talks with Alex Fuentes, missionary and church planter in Colombia, South America. Pastor Alex talks about how God called him and his wife, Inez, to come alongside an existing ministry in Colombia and what is happening in their life now as they have moved to another—and very different—mountain community there. As they are going specifically to sow the gospel in this community, how important is it to understand the local culture? God used both his Colombian background and his wife’s Cuban heritage to prepare them for their current ministry. The process of becoming familiar with a people and their culture can be challenging, but it is all about investing time in getting to know people personally. Because they know these people and what the particular issues are for them, they can address those from the word of God. From there it becomes about discipleship, which is rooted in love.

QUOTES:

“It doesn’t matter who we are or what our context is. Ultimately just understanding them helped me to be able to come alongside them and do life wherever it is that the Lord has us.” -Alex Fuentes

“I don’t need to know all, see all, or have all. I just need the Lord to show me where, how long, and who.” -Alex Fuentes

“God really does equip the called.” -Alex Fuentes

“Don’t get discouraged—just be faithful to continue to build that relationship.” -Alex Fuentes

Andrew Lundy, Solace Church, and Josiah Graves, The Exchange Church, are both pastors of churches planted this past year. They share about what that process has been like and answer a few questions you may have about planting a church. What have been the highlights and the challenges? How do we do conflict well? The difference between expectations of ministry and the realities of ministry. There are lessons worth learning.

QUOTES:

“We want to go to those who aren’t coming. We want to see people come into a real life-changing, life-giving relationship with Jesus.”

“When I look back at this year and I see what God’s done, I think a highlight is the way in which people who were not walking with God have now come back into a relationship with God and are serving in our church.”

“The lesson that I am constantly coming back to is not what I’m doing or how I’m doing it, by why? Why am I doing it? Is this something I’m doing heartily, as unto the Lord?”

“God’s had to rewire how I think. I’m a pastor. I’m feel like I’m doing a lot of paramedic work. We may want to go take the mountain, but our people are all down the hill and they are bruised and injured and hurting. And sometimes before we can do do something, we just need to be and to heal, to preach the gospel to ourselves.”

“It’s not about what we do, it’s about who we are in the process.”

Links:

Solus Church: https://www.soluschurch.com

The Exchange Church: http://theexchangechurch.cc