Wilderness Ministry Institute (WMI) wants EVERY young person in EVERY culture to have the opportunity to personally encounter Jesus Christ and have an opportunity to grow in their faith through transforming wilderness experiences.
That is an enormous task.
How can we imagine a way to achieve this goal? We invest in leaders who invest in other leaders who invest in other leaders. In other words, through discipleship. We focus discipleship on our roots with God, or our personal relationship with Him. Trees with healthy roots, bear fruit. As we patiently wait, we get to see the beauty of making disciples transpire. We are so excited to share this story about WMI in Latin America from WMI leader, Juan Carlos.
JuanCa on a wilderness trip in Ecuador.
God is Calling Leaders
For the past 20 years I been involved in intentional relationships in Latin America, pursuing the use of outdoor wilderness and adventure as an essential tool for discipleship. Less than a decade ago, I had the privilege to meet Esteban. As a very typical teen in Ecuador, he had everything in the world against him. But, he encountered Christ. I had the privilege to walk alongside him and his family in this time.
One very distinctive outdoor activity gave Esteban vision: backpacking the Andes. The Andes are right on the equatorial line and so have very steep mountains with intermittent with glaciers. Backpacking in the Andes means you need to be ready for 80-degree weather with blistering sun AND freezing temperatures with snow and brutal winds, all in one day’s hike. Not many people can do this over and over and love it. Esteban was one of those kids that could not only enjoy it, but also function as a leader, guiding others and teaching along the way.
JuanCa and Esteban
Roots Deepen
As years passed, I saw him grow deeper in his relationship with Christ. Many joined us on our trips, and today Esteban has joined efforts with a hand full of leaders who share not only his mountaineering skills, but his heart to make disciples of the next generations. Today, as locals, they are developing structures of care that can be presented to the local church to aid their efforts to evangelize and to disciple the next generation. After a decade of investment in one person, we are dreaming with many other leaders about how the next generations can go up into the Andes and be pointed to Christ by leaders who are willing to walk with them in their faith journey.
For the last three years, I have had the privilege to go back to Ecuador and do WMI trainings with Esteban and several others. This last February, I decided to ask Esteban and another leader, Byron, if they would be interested in leading the others in a more structured way. Since then, Esteban and Byron have led almost a dozen other Christian Outdoor leaders in the city of Quito. They are creating a space to have conversations about how to reach people who do not know Christ through the wilderness, how to keep each other accountable in life, and how to continue discipling the next generation. They have united efforts to move forward. Today we have a WMI community in Quito, Ecuador. They already have ambitions for one of them to go to a neighbor country to reproduce this community.
Discipleship Multiplies
Right now, there are efforts to start WMI hubs in Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Peru. We have leaders in each of those countries who are experiencing deep biblical content and applying it in their context. In Latin America, one of our desires is to connect these amazing youth outdoor leaders together, so that we can grow together…supporting, encouraging, challenging and empowering one another as we continue growing in our faith in Christ.
WMI Training in Ecuador in 2019
This takes time, and sometimes the efforts can be diminished by a fast-growing industry of eco-tourism, but we will see fruit in time. It is very easy to get distracted in this industry. So, we need prayer, but we also need leaders who are willing to walk alongside these leaders…literally, to hike alongside them.
