“I feel so stagnant right now, like something is missing. I have a good job, life seems good, I enjoy serving at my church and I can’t complain about anything. But I feel empty. It’s hard to explain, I have this passion for missions in my heart that started during my time in Vida220 (discipleship school), and now that I’m back home I can’t stop thinking about it. I know there is great need in my country, but I feel that God has something else for me,” Carlos reminisced one afternoon.
Then came the whisper of a new program at VidaNet, Vida Global. What drew him to Vida Global? The feeling that God opened his eyes to the need for Latino Missionaries and he wanted to be among that number. The hard reality of this dream: Carlos is from Honduras and it is rare to see Latinos being missionaries in other parts of the world. But he had this urge to go, “Why would God put this on my heart if He never meant for me to do anything with it?”
“One of the Vida Global opportunities to minister in Spain is with Muslims. I never thought I would be apart of this. I love the idea that God blew my mind by calling ME and preparing ME, of all people He chose me. One of those things God was using to prepare me was doing Vida220 this past year. During the school, Steve Shank, spoke about wanting to bring a group of Latinos to Spain to work with Muslims and upon hearing this I didn’t think much about it. Who am I that I could go? It was crazy and I put it out of my mind. In Latin America, it’s difficult to be a missionary because it’s hard to raise funds since it’s not a strong part of our culture yet, but here I am.”
“The word minister is unique and special to me. For me, if I can reach one Muslim, just one, then maybe they will reach others around them. That is how I can make my impact by simply reaching one. In the words of my team leader, Nando Oneill, ‘Spain is the door to Europe’ and this is where we can start reaching immigrants and refugees. Whole groups of people where if just one person is reached, then the gospel can spread from sparks to a wildfire.”
“I want to work with Muslims and learn Arabic at some point. All my life I want to emphasize the gospel, and I want to follow the call.”
“In Spain, part of our time there as a team will be planting a church and helping it grow. Many people feel called to work with children and while I love children, my real passion is discipling adults. It will be difficult because our team is all Latinos but what we are doing is following a call to do something that is more than ourselves. To go with the gospel, even if it is not the norm in our culture. For me, I simply want to follow the call.”
Carlos is part of Vida Global, a new program at VidaNet with the initiative to send more workers into the harvest locally, regionally, and internationally! The program is beginning with two teams: Spain and Ecuador
It is our heart cry to walk as Jesus walked, to take every path, road and highway. Living out what it truly means to be a disciple, living with arms wide open sharing life and grace that was so freely given to us. We are excited to continue planning, and developing this program, and would love to invite you to be involved! Stay tuned for more developments and updates!
Carlos Mulato from Tegucigalpa, Honduras did Vida220 Discipleship School in the 2018-2019 school year with his outreach team based in El Salvador. He is currently training with Vida Global on a team going to Spain in March.