Colombia Church Planting

Meet Diana. She is a native of Bogota, Colombia, and a graduate of the National University of Colombia. During her university years, Diana got involved in a local chapter of RUF launched with the help of MTW missionaries Peter and Lauren Dishman. As Diana grew in her understanding of the gospel and church, she and many of her classmates sought church homes where they could bring their friends and family to grow in grace with confidence that the authority of Scripture and the centrality of Jesus and His grace would be clearly preached, taught, and lived out. But there was a problem—there didn’t seem to be churches like this in her home city, especially in Spanish.

The deep need for dynamic, gospel-centered churches in Bogota is what moved MTW Bogota missionaries and veteran national pastor and planter John Sandoval to begin to work toward establishing Resurrection Presbyterian Church. The church began worship services at the beginning of 2024 and in October 2024 welcomed their first 38 members, including Diana and her entire family!

Resurrection Church is only the beginning of a larger vision to plant more RUF ministries among the 131 campuses in the capital and Christ-centered churches in the 20 localities of the city.

Bogota’s 10 million inhabitants are bombarded with three typical gospels—gospel of being “good” linked to the Roman Catholicism that was the official religion of the country until 1991, the secular gospel of finding the “good life” in this world, and the health and wealth gospel which offers an upper middle-class life to those who can muster enough faith to pull heaven down to earth. Many are hungering for something deeper—Christian community that provides real hope for the challenges and suffering experienced in this life rooted in the Bible, centered on the person and work of Jesus and His grace, and offering the hope of the gospel through deep and wide hospitality and service.

Bogota needs more gospel-centered churches. And it needs your help to make this happen.

The need for gospel ministry is great but the good news is that God is already growing His Church in Bogota and other parts of Colombia. Resurrection has members and connections interested in becoming future pastors and leaders for the new campus ministries and church plants that the city needs. But it needs the resources to disciple, equip, and send them out into the capital and beyond. These include funding for the church plant, a ministry center, RUF internships, and M.Div. training for cohorts of RUF campus ministers and church planters.

Diana just joined MTW’s church planting team in Rionegro to help Iglesia El Redentor (Redeemer Church) develop a college ministry on the outskirts of Colombia’s second largest city. She is excited to work toward the expansion of God’s kingdom on earth and in her own country!

Will you join her in this kingdom work? A gift today will go directly toward supporting the growth and establishment of gospel-centered churches in Colombia.