We just finished up a three year project in Southern Brazil. During that time we led five Catalyst Communities, trained two teams to reproduce the Catalyst System, and supported them as they led two additional Catalyst Communities. We developed many precious friendships, walked pastors through challenging circumstances, saw churches planted, networks formed, and collaboration taking place in ways that accelerated kingdom growth. We will continue to stay in touch and help where we can, but our time on the ground in Southern Brazil has come to an end.
In a little over a year, since our last Catalyst Community here in Brazil, the leaders at our latest gathering started an additional eight new churches in this region!
This year we invited our friend David Putman from Planting the Gospel to help train our leaders on how to structure an intentional Disciple Making pathway in their churches. Dave is a brilliant systems thinker and a passionate disciple maker, and this unique mix was a real value add for our leaders at this stage in their journey.
Mauricio’s Story: Church in a Garage?
Mauricio developed his passion for ministry as a student leader in the Lutheran church. He was excited to see how God was using him to grow the student ministry in an old and static church. He began talking to the church leadership there about how he believed God was calling him to plant a new church, but he found no support or encouragement from the church. That’s when a friend invited him to attend Catalyst Community. Mauricio joined us for CC2 in Florianopolis last year. At that time he was alone, discouraged, and lost on what to do next.
Mauricio told me CC2 renewed his desire to plant a church, but it also gave him the tools and strategies he needed to do it. He felt like he had permission, clarity of calling, and the clear path forward he needed to make it happen. In June of 2022 Mauricio began his church planting journey with four people meeting in a garage. This year Mauricio returned to CC3 with a team of his own, and they now have 30 people in their church! They have moved out of the garage and are now gathering in a local restaurant, but they were recently gifted a new space where they will soon begin meeting.
Clayton’s Story: Multiplying Churches & Crossing Borders
Christian attended CC1 in Porto Alegre and came back the next year with Clayton. Clayton planted his church two and a half years ago. In the last year this young church plant started an additional two churches! They are fully funding one of those church plants and the pastors of these two new churches are full-time. So, Christian and Clayton now have three new churches that they have planted in the last 2.5 years in three different cities!
While I was catching up with their team, Clayton pulled out a picture of their five year Dream Pathway from last year (see below). They had a goal of five new churches in five years, but after only 16 months they are already at three! They started their second church in January of this year and their third in March. They are on pace to blowing past their five year goal.
In the picture above you will also see the Uruguay flag. It turns out there are cultural challenges for Brazilians planting churches in Uruguay, so the team is working on a different approach. They were invited by the leader of Free Baptists in Uruguay to help them revitalize five churches just across the border. They are using Catalyst Community resources to train and equip these pastors to become church planting churches in Uruguay! Clayton and Christian have also set their sites on Argentina!
Bruno’s Story: A Nine Year Journey
Bruno became a believer nine years ago and planted his church five years later! He has been with us from the beginning of our Catalyst Community journey here in the Southern Cone and he leads one of the networks we helped form. His dream is to plant 18 new churches in 10 years. He started two new churches since our training began, and those churches will soon begin to plant new churches of their own.
Bruno realized he had a passion for multiplication, but he didn’t have the time or energy to focus on it, while still leading his church. He began feeling bogged down. To overcome this, he’s developing an incredible team to care for the church so he can focus his energy on multiplication. Bruno now has the bandwidth he needs to train new church planters and help other churches develop their own church planting strategies!
Your Story: Partnering in Multiplication Around the World
We’ve just looked at three stories from Southern Brazil, but what is your story? If you are partnering with Taking New Ground, these are your stories! Your financial partnership makes ministry impact like what you see above possible. You may never travel to many of the places we work, but we would not be there if it were not for the partnership of many just like you. Thank you!
If you are not yet partnering with us, we need your help. Join us as we catalyze movements of multiplying churches around the world!
