Hope Amid Death: COVID-19 Ministry in Latin America

Bethany DuVal • May 14, 2020

“Leche!” shouts a little boy. He grabs the can of milk out of a bag and starts hugging and kissing it.

Missionaries pitch in to buy a coffin so their friend can be buried in the cemetery instead of a mass COVID-19 grave.

Churches pool their money and start committees to provide food for the neediest families in their neighborhoods.

When the new coronavirus turned into a pandemic, many people wondered, “Will COVID-19 put global missions on hold?” And while missions does look a bit different these days, we’re happy to report that God is still working to transform lives.

We asked missionaries from TEAM and South America Mission how they’re still serving in the midst of COVID-19. Both ministries are founding members of Therefore Alliance, a mission collaboration created to increase Gospel impact and bring glory to God by working together. Here’s what their missionaries told us about COVID-19 ministry.

A local Christian give a bag of food to family as part of COVID-19 ministry

The pandemic is opening doors for missionaries and churches to get to know their neighbors better. Through COVID-19 ministry, they’re learning more about their communities’ needs.

Life and Death in Peru

Despite strict lockdowns, Peru ’s number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise. Hospitals have limited supplies — and limited space in their morgues.

When missionaries Stephanie and Todd Edgar lost a friend to COVID-19, the body was slated to be sent to a mass, unmarked COVID-19 grave by the highway. The family didn’t have money for anything else.

In that dark hour, the Body of Christ stepped in.

Stephanie and Todd helped buy a coffin for their friend. And with some help, the family got their loved one released and sent to the city cemetery.

But while death seems to be the unrelenting theme of the day, God is also bringing new life into the world.

Craig Gahagen serves in missions aviation. And in the midst of COVID-19, he says, “We have been averaging about one medical emergency flight per week. Most of these flights are for pregnant women in distress.”

One woman was 38 weeks pregnant in a small river town with limited medical resources. The SAMAIR team flew her to the city of Pucallpa for a potential cesarean section. Earlier in the quarantine, the team evacuated a young missionary family.

“When we fly, strict anti-infection protocols must be followed, including protecting passengers from the pilot and vice versa,” Craig says. “We are not carrying known COVID-19 patients, but since patients can be asymptomatic, we must exercise extreme caution.”

Everyone Needs Food, Scripture and Nature

For many missionaries in Latin America , COVID-19 ministry has been a bit less dramatic, but just as vital.

Los Cabos, Mexico , is a prime tourist destination. But with travel shut down, families are struggling to buy food . Thankfully, missionaries Art and Vicki Reyes and their congregation have been preparing for this moment.

For years, church members have contributed food items each week and given them to families in need. Now, they’re donating even more.

A man holds a large grocery bag he received as part of COVID-19 ministry

Missionaries and churches all across Latin America are collecting and distributing food to help meet the needs of people impacted by COVID-19.

“Some of these folks are rather poor themselves, so they give out of their poverty,” Vicki says . And though everyone expects the economy in Los Cabos to get worse, God is already answering prayers through donations from the Reyeses’ supporters.

Farther north, in La Paz, Mexico, Steve and Lois Dresselhaus would normally be taking groups kayaking. Being surrounded by nature makes it easy to turn conversations to the God who created it.

Now, instead of taking their neighbors out into nature, the missionaries are bringing nature to their neighbors .

“Our house church group … has started a food bank, which gives rather substantial bags of basic staples to families in three neighborhoods,” Steve says.

And with each bag of food, Steve includes a Bible text printed on a quality nature photograph . It’s a little piece of nature and a reminder of God’s faithfulness while most people are confined indoors.

The church doesn’t have enough money to help everyone in need, so they had to form a committee to decide who to serve. But with each delivery, they get to share who they are, why they’re helping and how people can join them after the curfew is lifted.

How You Can Pray for COVID-19 Ministries

Workers unload boxes of food as part of COVID-19 ministry

Your prayer support is vital as missionaries and local churches minister amid COVID-19! Pray for God’s guidance, provision and protection.

No one knows how long COVID-19, or the side effects of our fight against it, will last. Please stand in prayer with missionaries throughout Latin America as they serve those in great need.

  • Pray for good health and safety as missionaries and local churches serve — whether by delivering food, evacuating people or serving in medical facilities. Ask God to give them wisdom in every situation.
  • Pray for continued funds to buy relief supplies. As local communities run low on funds, global churches, from the U.S. to Germany, are stepping up. Missionaries are also applying for grants to fund COVID-19 ministry efforts. Please pray for favor as they submit these applications.
  • Pray for greater understanding of and love for local communities. Good missionaries always strive to understand those they serve, but a crisis bonds people in a unique way. Pray that this time of hardship won’t be wasted, and that relationships will be even stronger by the end.
  • Ask God to open hearts to Him. Pray that missionaries and local believers will make clear what motivates them to serve others. Ask that people will see their service as a demonstration of God’s love for them.
  • Ask God to show you how you can serve your own neighbors. We all know people in various states of need. Ask God to reveal who He would have you serve right now, and ask Him how to do it.
By Suzanne Pearson 08 Mar, 2024
Through God-ordained partnerships and creative connections, TEAM worker Keith Moore sees the global Church advancing in amazing ways. In the global missions landscape, a phrase that comes up often is “from everywhere, to everywhere.” God is calling His global Church in literal new directions, as He raises up cross-cultural workers to be sent from places that were once on the receiving end of missions work. We call this movement “polycentric sending.” TEAM workers Dawn and Keith Moore have seen first-hand this transition taking place. Their story involves the unlikely but beautiful intersection of Charlotte, North Carolina; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; and Memphis, Tennessee...and beyond. The Path to Honduras Keith and Dawn joined TEAM in 1991 and served as church planters for nine years in Bogota, Colombia. After safety concerns precipitated their return to the States in 1999, they knew they wanted to continue serving in Latin America. The Moores felt called to Honduras but wanted to connect with a strong missional church to help send them. The Lord orchestrated a collaboration with Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. “Some people asked, ‘Why Honduras? Missionaries have been there for 100 years. It’s already reached,’” Keith says. “But there’s a whole section of Latin America that had not been reached - the upper crust.” Keith goes on to explain that he and Dawn felt called to reach college-educated professionals in Honduras – a ministry vision that resonated with the missional goals of Bellevue Baptist. Impact and Growth With the support of this new church partnership as well as another sending church in Birmingham, Alabama, the Moores embarked on their next adventure. Keith and Dawn started Impacto Honduras Church from scratch, and in less than 20 years, the church grew into four locations with 1600 total members. The Moores and other TEAM workers also created a “Bible school” type training program to help professionals who feel a call to ministry to make that transition. Throughout this period of explosive growth, church partnerships played an integral role. “It’s such a different vision when you have a church that says, ‘OK, this is our deal, we want to make this happen,’” Keith explains. “They helped us with everything. They took away every single obstacle to growth. Every time we needed something, they were there.” In 2017, the Moores once again found themselves on the verge of another decision. Was it time to leave Honduras? “I had no desire to leave,” Keith recalls. “People were coming to Christ every week! It was just so amazing.” However, back in the U.S., Keith and Dawn’s parents were in their 80s and would soon be in need of more care. “We realized that either we would leave in a crisis, or we would leave strategically,” says Keith. The couple began to implement a careful succession plan. By the time they left, the four churches were established with strong, Honduran leadership ready to carry on the work of the Gospel.
By Suzanne Pearson 23 Feb, 2024
Justin Burkholder, pictured here with his wife Jenny and their daughters Isabella, Olivia, and Zoey, has recently been named as TEAM’s next International Director. On February 19, 2024, with much excitement and gratitude to the Lord, TEAM announced that Justin Burkholder will become our organization’s new International Director, effective July 1, 2024. Justin, who is currently TEAM’s Executive Director of Global Ministry, will assume his new role upon the retirement of the current International Director, Dave Hall. ( Read the full press release here. ) We sat down recently with Justin to learn a little more about his background, his family, and the journey that has led him to TEAM. Q: Tell us a little bit about your “origin story” - Where did you grow up? What was your family like? A: I grew up in Mexico City as a missionary kid. My parents were focused on church planting. We were very close as a family. Both of my parents are still alive, and my dad serves as a pastor in southern Florida. I have one brother who is a pastor in Wisconsin, and the most special individual in my family is my sister, Amber. She was born with a very severe case of cerebral palsy and is entirely dependent on my mother...who is extraordinary! The three most impactful forces that have shaped who I am (outside of God’s grace) are growing up in Mexico, having parents who loved and planted churches, and sharing life with someone with a severe disability. My parents belonged at the time to a church and denomination that came with quite a bit of legalism and performance-oriented Christianity. Grace was a challenging concept to grasp. While I had an awareness of my sin and need for redemption, it wasn’t until I attended Moody Bible Institute that I began to grasp the fullness of God’s grace and His delight in His children. I have continued learning and trusting in the Gospel through formal education, like completing my M.Div., and through spiritual practices in community. Learning the Gospel and believing the Gospel has been a daily exercise. The Gospel is as beautiful and multi-faceted as a diamond! At an individual level, it is simple enough for us to live convinced that “Jesus loves me, this I know.” At a corporate level, it becomes the foundation that forms and informs our life as a spiritual family. At a cosmic level, it is redemption that reaches as far as the curse is found. It is hard to even grasp the multiplicity of goodness found in the Good News. Q: Share a little bit about your family life now. What does a typical day look like in the Burkholder household? A: My wife Jenny is my high-school sweetheart! She brings joy and kindness wherever she goes. She’s the best listener I’ve ever met, and we love spending time together. We have three daughters. Isabella is ten, Olivia is seven, and Zoey is four. Each of the girls is unique and has taught us a lot in our process of following Jesus together. We like to go out on walks and go to the park together. Once a month I try to get some alone time with each of my daughters which usually includes bowling or trampolines. A typical day in the Burkholder house starts around 5:00am. Because of traffic here in Guatemala City, we have to leave early for school. After school, the girls come home to different activities - sometimes swimming class, sometimes piano lessons. Four or five nights a week we have dinner together where we usually talk about our high and low moments of the day. On weekends, we enjoy time together, playing outside, or watching sports together. Go Cubs and Go Buckeyes! Q: What are your interests and hobbies? If you have the day off, what are you likely to be up to? A: I enjoy physical activity, running, strength-training and following sports. I also love music and, truth be told, am a bit snobby about my taste in music! I also am a very curious person and love reading just about anything that passes through my hands. A day off is usually an opportunity for time with family. Jenny and I like to cook something interesting together on our days off. Often there is time for some reading and watching some type of athletic event. Q: How did God lead you to TEAM? A: My wife and I were working in the Chicago suburbs. I was a youth pastor and she was a Spanish teacher. When we got married, we had already sensed God’s direction to serve cross-culturally, but it was a matter of discerning when and where. There was a driving desire in me to see a church deeply love the Scriptures and at the same time, be deeply engaged in loving and serving their city and the most vulnerable among them. As God directed our paths, we visited a variety of places and made some friends in Guatemala who opened up the path for us to serve here. While we were exploring, we knew that the International Director of an organization called TEAM happened to go to our church, so I decided I should probably invite him out for breakfast - his name was Charlie Davis. Charlie was extremely thoughtful, passionate about disciple-making, and very gracious in creating space for us as we stepped into this endeavor. Charlie connected me with Steve Dresselhaus, a fellow TEAM global worker who was at that time serving as the Senior Director for the Americas. I cannot express the debt that I owe Steve. He walked closely with me in the transition, encouraged courageous thinking about the church and her role in society, and blasted open the doors for us to serve in Guatemala. After meeting Steve, we spent some days praying about joining TEAM. One thing I will never forget – one night during the process, I found myself wide awake in the middle of the night. A peace like I have seldom experienced passed over me confirming that we should join TEAM. There is no doubt in my mind that God tied all of these pieces together to bring us into the TEAM family and community. Q: What roles have you held in TEAM? What have been the milestones in those roles? A: The most important role I have held in TEAM is that of a global worker. God in His grace has allowed us to help plant two churches here in Guatemala, serve in leadership development, counseling, and discipleship. Our greatest joy has been found walking with those who are learning to follow Christ more deeply. I served as the Ministry Area Leader in Guatemala from 2016 to 2019. We helped to establish and lead this ministry area as it grew from just four global workers to over 15. I then served as Senior Director for Mexico and Central America from 2019 to 2021, Regional Executive Director for the Americas in 2021 and 2022, and then transitioned to the role of Executive Director of Global Ministry which I’ll continue in until the end of June. Q: What do you love most about being a part of TEAM? Why TEAM rather than other organizations or job opportunities? A: The TEAM community is full of people who have faithfully served God’s mission and have given up a lot to do so. It is a privilege to know many of our global workers and be counted among them. I am also fascinated by the fact that TEAM has existed now for more than 130 years! There is something to be said about the resilience and faithfulness of an organization that has continued to impact the world for so long. The rest of our conversation with Justin will be coming soon on blog! We’ll hear more about how God called Justin to the role of International Director, and what Justin sees for the next chapter in TEAM’s work in the global Church.
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