BRAZIL — The indigenous church leaders nodded in agreement at the consensus: Now is the time to take ownership.

“It’s easy to rely on foreign workers and doubt God’s power in us,” one of the leaders said, “but it’s not good to be dependent on them. We must take responsibility for our own church.”

“How will we do that?” someone asked.

“My church could raise chickens to sell,” another leader said. “From the money we earn, we could fund our outreach to the community and other villages.”

“That’s a good idea,” chimed in others, adding to that idea their plans to sell cattle or fish with their churches.

“This is something our churches can do together. And if the foreign workers ever leave, the spread of the gospel will continue.”

Crossworld worker Brian listened to the conversation among the men and smiled.

Just a few days later, eight of these church leaders rode off on motorcycles to visit a nearby village. The chief of the village had been hostile toward the gospel and Crossworld workers in the past, but he now granted permission for these indigenous believers to come. 

After the men returned, one of them said to Brian, “We were afraid because you weren’t going with us. But I realized it’s up to us now to take the gospel to this village. We can’t depend on you or other foreign workers to do it for us. We have to depend on the Lord to use us.” 

As Brian listened to his story, he remembered the conversation from a few days earlier. Oh, yes, the spread of the gospel will continue.