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 Stage 2 Launch: Brazil, Chile, Argentina, & Colombia
By Sarah Jones, Director of International Ministries
Latin America is at a crucial time in its history. From changes in the political climate to the massive growth of the Church over the last decades, the time is ripe for leadership training in Latin America. In Brazil, the Church has grown from approximately 6% of the population to 15% in the last 10 years. The estimates are that it will grow to 30% in the next 10 years, which means that some 30 million people are expected to come to Christ in the next decade in Brazil. There is a desperate need for trained, servant leaders!
John C. Maxwell, along with EQUIP and Lidere team members launched the Million Leaders Mandate in the four influential countries of Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia on Feb. 26 – March 6, 2008. Lidere, founded by Marcos Witt and led by John Vereecken, is EQUIP’s regional partner in Latin America.
The team began the trip in Brazil. In Sao Paulo, John Maxwell spoke to diverse crowds from many sectors of society, including pastors and church leaders, business leaders, members of the press, and book-sellers. In Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, John spoke to 40 Congressmen. The Latin leaders were thrilled that John’s newest book, Leadership Gold, was released in Latin America prior to being released in the US.
From Brazil, the team traveled to the beautiful city of Santiago, the capital of Chile. John spoke to 1600 Chilean leaders and about 100 pastors and their wives. During the book signing in Chile, a leader who had attended the conference shared with John that he had made a huge mistake in his life and had been in despair. He was going to take his life, but then he read John’s book Failing Forward and realized that no mistake was insurmountable. He told John that because of his book he is alive today!
 In Cordoba, Argentina, the leaders were very receptive to the leadership training. John received a standing ovation when he came on the stage to speak to 2500 leaders at the Launch Event.
The last stop on the trip was Cali, Colombia. Marcy MacMillan, one of the Site Coordinators for Cali, shared that she believed it was God’s time for John to come to Colombia. A few days prior to the team arriving in Colombia, the head leader of the FARC (Colombian guerillas) was killed. Marcy said, “Those kinds of heads are coming down so God can raise up the true leadership for this nation.”
At the Launch Event in Colombia, 60-70% of the 3900 leaders who attended were corporate leaders, including executives from American Airlines and Johnson & Johnson. At the end of John’s teaching, he shared four pictures of God and shared the plan of salvation. Hundreds of hands went up to acknowledge that they had accepted Jesus as their Savior! It was a climatic end to a strategic trip. /
Since the Launch Trip, EQUIP & Lidere held the first TTT 1 conference for the Stage 2 launch in the city of Neuquén in the southernmost region of Argentina. There were approximately 350 leaders at the conference and Notebook 1 was very well received. John Vereecken, President of Lidere, said "The Launch Trip was a huge success. Besides being able to stand on its own as one of the most impacting times for leadership in recent history in Latin America, the trip created a platform on which we can build leadership in years to come."
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