Reformation Ministries International Corp

The Work of the Holy Spirit

The many Spanish speaking nations that make up the majority of all of the inhabitants of Mexico, Central and South America are strongly represented in the USA today.  Every major American city has a large contingency of these individuals.  There are also many from Brazil and other non-Spanish speaking countries of central and South America, but those from the Spanish speaking countries are having the greatest impact on America and American culture.

The origins of the greater majority, 75 - 90%, of these Spanish speaking individuals are a mixture of one or more European nationalities and native Indian blood and heritage from their respective Latin American country.  The impetus behind this ever growing migration from Latin America to the USA is primarily economic.  Certainly all of the freedoms and privileges of our great country are appreciated by these individuals but these historic core values of America are not the main attraction.  It is the economic blessings that come from our core values that drive these and many others to immigrate to our cities.

Because of the historical realities of the Spanish and Portuguese conquest of the greater part of Latin America, the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church have left an indelible mark on all who live in those countries.  Consequently, this same Roman Catholic cultural and religious impact is also part and parcel of those who arrive here in our cities.  As a direct result of this Roman Catholic heritage, the concept of salvation through faith and that as a gift from God without merit or religious works and rituals is almost non-existent.  As in the times of Martin Luther, John Calvin and John Knox, who were surrounded by millions who knew about God and His Christ but who did not personally know God and His Christ!

In the Latin America of today, as it was in the Europe of the early years of the Reformation, there is a great move of the Spirit bringing hunger for the truth of God's revealed Law Word and the gospel of His Christ.  There is openness and a desire to learn as never before.  Surprisingly enough, the greatest of these open doors comes in the thousands upon thousands of pastors and congregational leaders from many different denominational backgrounds who have little or no formal biblical training.

The fact that these immigrants to America are from third world countries struggling for survival should alert us to opportunities for teaching and for service that exists in these places.  Despite the small token representation of missionaries of reformation quality in these countries, the Holy Spirit has raised up thousands of young pastors, full of basic faith, energy and a vision for their people and their land.  The reformation congregations and individuals have not answered the call to disciple the nations so God is sending the nations to us.  Also, He is opening the doors of opportunity to go and to teach, to lead, to serve and to be His instruments for dynamic change and growth in His Kingdom through the operation of the Holy Spirit!

We who have been born of Christian reformation heritage are quick to forget that this country and our greatest values and strengths which we enjoy are products of the spiritual and cultural revolutions of the Reformation.  In spite of the decay of morals and reformation doctrine, of salvation through faith, and that of election by God without merit or works, the security of the believer, the adoption of the saints and the cultural relevance of the Kingdom for family, church and all civil matters and authority, the residue is still here and God is now calling forth a new wave of the redeemed, here and abroad.

In the early years of America, when the pilgrims of the reformation came to our eastern shores they brought all the stores and provisions with them that could cram onto those small sailing ships of the times.  Most important of all they brought their gift of faith, their gifts of trade, and their gift of work ethic -- treasures all from the Reformation.   The fruit of these gifts and their work ethic overcame the hardships of the new colonies and more.  Within a few short years there was a surplus that could be shipped back to England and to the lands of their origins.  The reality of this fruit and this productivity of pioneer families is one of the great hallmarks of the early American experience.   The impact of this experience continues on to this day.

There is a great contrast between the American experience of cultural growth and economic productivity through families of reformation descendants and the Latin American experience through conquest by soldiers of fortune born of the Roman Catholic heritage of salvation by religious ritual and works.  The former always ask God for wisdom and understanding to overcome present circumstances to be productive and to be relevant to their times and places for service.  The later ask God for power to overcome any and all who would stand in their way to conquer and to pillage.

The former, though totally without merit of the same, have been blessed in so many ways it is hard to describe, suffice it to say that our blessings, though not understood by many; are the greatest magnet to all people of the world that history has ever witnessed.  The conquistadores were given the desire of their hearts, but the Lord sent a great leanness into their souls.

Although many of these same Latin American countries still have great wealth in their natural resources, their cultures are weak and impoverished.  The Latin American immigrants, whether here legally or illegally, they all send money back to their family members who still struggle to survive in these impoverished cultures.

When we say the cultures are weak and impoverished we do not say that there are no opportunities or that there are not those who have money and who are educated.  What we are saying is that as a whole, is that the people of these lands who are weak and impoverished in their souls.  These cultures have not yet been given the gift of faith in numbers great enough to effect wide spread cultural and economic changes in the same way that our early pilgrims were able to do.  This is the current and real world situation throughout Latin America to this day, but the situation is changing before our very eyes.  If you cannot see it yet it is because you do not have the opportunity to know where and how to look to find it.  Dramatic changes are taking place at the grass roots level in all of these Latin American cultures and these changes are both being driven and being felt by our own American culture.  These dynamic changes are occurring within our borders at the core of every Latin American group represented in the USA and also at the core of these same cultural groups within their respective countries.  It is a dynamic that is flowing in both directions at the same time.

There are two basic parts to this dynamic flow of changes and both parts are the work of the Holy Spirit.

First: There is the more visible and tangible economic part.

Second:  There is the more powerful, invisible and intangible spiritual part.