The Spearhead Vision

"Spearhead is an excellent program, with a rich history of creativity and excellence in service. What lies at the heart of its vision?

  1. It exposes young people to the church, the culture and the needs of various countries in Latin America.

  2. It works with national leaders, in "direct-contact" types of programs.

  3. It challenges people with a clear vision for developing a missionary career."

Miguel Angel de Marco
Latin America Mission, VP of Ministries

THE SPEARHEAD MISSION STATEMENT

Experiencing missions through serving with the Latinos

Spearhead is a missionary program, which utilizes young adults for short terms of service. Closely associated with the evangelical church in Latin America, Spearhead operates as much as possible within the language and culture of the people. As such, we seek to strengthen national churches and ministries, and in the process, expose the Spearheaders to a culture immersion program in the Latin world and to help them discover their ability to minister cross-culturally.

THE SPEARHEAD MINISTRY APPROACH

Cooperating With The Local Church

We place Spearheaders under the leadership and direction of national church or ministry leaders. Within this context we seek to encourage local believers in their faith, and to partner with them to proclaim the Good News, and to meet real human needs for the sake of the Gospel in Latin America.

Cultural Immersion

An incarnational approach to ministry is essential to effective communication of the Gospel. Spearheaders, therefore, live with national families, taking part in the day-to-day activities of Latin home life. Additionally, participants learn and minister directly in Spanish, study the host culture and interact daily with the people they intend to reach.

Emphasis on Evangelism

Without Christ, people are without hope and lost. We recognize that evangelism is the essential task for Christian workers. Whether through street or holistic approaches to evangelism we seek to add members to the local church and to the universal spiritual body of Christ.

Emphasis on Urban Areas

Spearhead seeks to minister within the major urban centers of Latin America. The focus is strategic. First, cities house the greatest concentration of people. Second, less than 5% of the inhabitants in most Latin cities are evangelical believers. The majority of the population of Latin America's urban areas comes from Catholic backgrounds yet live with modern, secular attitudes. Third, migrants to these cities are part of the urban poor and usually the most receptive to the Gospel.

Emphasis on Youth

Fifty percent of the population of Latin America is under 18 and 70% is under 27. Strategically, dedicated workers under age 30 are the best messengers to urban youth. Spearhead uses young adults to reach the general Latin population, specifically targeting young people.

Teamwork

Jesus developed a team of disciples and sent them into the harvest field two-by-two. The early church ministered as a community. Likewise, Spearheaders minister in pairs and teams. Experienced young adults who've served with Spearhead provide guidance, training, supervision, and mentorship.

Challenging Volunteers to seek God's Calling in their lives

Spearheaders and their churches benefit greatly from cross-cultural missions experience. As we cross-culturally train and mentor volunteers, we seek to deepen their understanding of the Latin American culture and of missions in general. We aim to broaden their ability to communicate their faith and to help them better understand God's call upon their lives.