Kingdom Expansion in Mexico: Christ Greenfield partners with the Mexican Lutheran Synod

Christ Greenfield is partnering with the Mexican Lutheran Synod (MLS) through our relationship with the Pastoral Leadership Institute (PLI) International.

Alexa and I were blessed to spend four days with eight pastors and their wives, as well as the PLI leadership team, learning how to develop disciplines as a couple that will help them identify God's work in their home and community. We were impressed by their humility and deep dependence on the Lord.

This was the first of four gatherings over the next four years. Future years will focus on the pastors developing strategic plans to engage their communities with the Gospel. The pastors had Holy Spirit epiphanies that good Lutheran theology and servant leadership are needed to help their churches grow through community service. Alexa and I will be staying in touch quarterly with the couples via Zoom for prayer and encouragement.

The MLS is a 50-year-old church body that has experienced division and decline in recent years. They now have eight ordained pastors and forty deaconesses and around twenty churches. However, their time with PLI gave them immense hope for revitalization. They realize that they are not alone.

Christ Greenfield is uniquely positioned to help the MLS dream new dreams and grow their existing ministries, identify future church leaders, and start new ministries to reach the lost. I have been praying for this opportunity for many years, and God has answered my prayer.

• Pray for the MLS. Pray for unity in mission, the discovery, development, and deployment of more pastors, and for their Synod President Isaac.
  
  
• Pray for PLI International. PLI is empowering 20+ countries to start leadership and church multiplication movements. They are truly the largest church planting network the LCMS is associated with in the world.
  
  
• Give to the mission at CG! Your generous gifts will help us support PLI International and its work to expand God's kingdom in Mexico and around the world.

Here is what Scott Rische, PLI International Director, shared regarding international church bodies that are growing and those that are declining:

• Growing churches:
  • Maintain unity in mission to expand God's kingdom based on the Great Commission.
  • Maintain unity in confession while valuing contextual diversity of expression.
    
    
• Declining churches:
  • Are divided and internally focused.
  • Try to legislate theological unity through unity of expression. They have little care for contextualization of the never-changing Gospel message.

I pray that Christ Greenfield and the LCMS will learn from these international examples as we seek to start new ministries and expand God's kingdom.

Thank you for your support!