wfn.org | Methodist groups gain strength in Latin America

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Jan. 14, 1999	Contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-32-71B{024}

NEW YORK (UMNS) - During the past decade, fledgling Methodist groups have
been nurtured in several Latin American countries.

These groups now are strengthening ties with larger Methodist bodies,
according to Douglas Ruffle, an executive in evangelism and church growth
with the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries. He spoke during a Jan.
12 board staff briefing.

In 1990, for example, the board and the Council of Methodist Churches in
Latin America and the Caribbean (CIEMAL) established a relationship with the
Christian Methodist Community of Colombia.

This group, led by Luis Castiblanco, established itself on a corner of
once-vacant land in the capital city of Bogota where people had built homes
and established a community. The church currently "is being a spokesperson
and negotiator for the entire community" with a private company interested
in purchasing the land, Ruffle said. With a good settlement, the community
would move to the San Luis neighborhood, where another Methodist mission
exists.

Castiblanco has been a part of the Methodist family since an earlier attempt
by CIEMAL to establish a church in the late 1970s, Ruffle said. Another
group from that period now relates to the Mission Society for United
Methodists, an unofficial organization.

The work of the Christian Methodist Community of Colombia has included
workshops in theater, puppetry, tailoring and silkscreening, both for
artistic expression and skill building, and a recreational program aimed at
moving youth away from gangs. "They organized a whole league for soccer,"
Ruffle said.

The community also engages in ecumenical work and has a strong relationship
with the Roman Catholic Church.

In western Colombia, a separate Methodist group has started four
congregations in the Cali area, all led by Colombians. The resident pastor
and leader is Carlos Anibal Betran.

Originally begun by another Colombian who had moved to Chile and become a
Methodist, the community has five men and women studying at the
International Baptist Seminary in Cali and has seven more seeking to be
candidates for the ministry.

The group's goals for the coming year include starting a new congregation
north of Cali; establishing a women's group; and beginning constructions of
its own facilities. "Presently, they are renting most of the places where
they are holding worship," Ruffle explained.

Other fledgling Methodist communities connected with CIEMAL and the Board of
Global Ministries have been started in Venezuela, Nicaragua and El Salvador.

"Many of these groups are self-started," he said. "In some cases, they
didn't even know about Methodists in Latin America or other parts of the
world."

The board's assistance has included paying salaries of pastors for the past
six months in those countries. 

"We want to be facilitators of the mission of God," Ruffle added. "We're
trying, in our way, to link people with other people."

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