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Recently I returned to Colombia, our former field of service, to speak at two conferences of pastors and church leaders held in the cities of Cartagena and Monteria. More than 500 key men and women attended from churches throughout the north coast of Colombia. These missions conferences aimed to challenge the Colombian church with its worldwide responsibility of mission outreach. My topic was “The Biblical Basis of Missions.”

I shared the platform with Colombian colleague and longtime friend, Ramon Carmona, whose spiritual ancestor I had the joy of leading to Christ in 1964. Carmona specializes in mission to the cities and leads training seminars across Colombia on urban missions. He planted six churches and presently pastors a church of 1,200 in Cartagena. He spoke on urban evangelism, while I spoke on worldwide outreach.

Also present in Monteria was Victor Landero, a remarkable personal evangelist. An uneducated farmer, God used him to lead hundreds to the Lord and to start scores of churches throughout rural northern Colombia. Today at 80, he is still serving the Lord in outreach to a remote Indian tribe, the Epera/Catio of the Chocó area near Panama’s border. In many of my messages I described his ministry—many of the newer generations of believers had never met Victor. They knew little of how he had planted seeds that bore fruit now in their churches and lives.

When I lived in Cartagena (1958-1967) only six churches existed in the entire city, compared to 250 churches today. While the population of Cartagena has more than doubled, the church growth has far outstripped its population growth. In those days there were 12 organized churches in the Association of Evangelical Churches of the Caribbean. Today there are 633.

The mission outreach also impressed me. Churches are supporting their own missionaries in such widespread places as Guinea Bissau, El Salvador, Kurdistan, Cambodia and India. They plan to send workers to Uzbekistan, Cameroon, Myan-mar, Turkey and tribal groups in Colombia.

I was equally surprised by the people with cameras who grabbed me at every free moment, along with Ramon Carmona or Victor Landero, saying “Don (Mr.) David! A photo with my wife and children.” Or, “A photo with our church group.” Or, “A photo we can take back to our church.” If I had been given a dollar for every photo taken, it would have more than paid for my travel to Colombia.

Ubaldo Restan, who organized and led the conferences, humorously observed, “In the old days the missionary came to the field with a camera around his neck and took pictures of the nationals to send to US churches. Today, the missionary comes without a camera, and all the nationals want to take pictures of him.”

What did this reveal about the church in this part of Colombia? First, they are very grateful for the heritage they have in the Lord. I was deeply moved again and again as people spoke about themselves as grandchildren, great-grandchildren or great-great-grandchildren of the missionaries or national evangelists, such as Victor Landero, who first brought them the gospel. They realize their roots and are thankful.

Second, they hope to challenge their own churches with pictures of those who told them the gospel. The pictures will serve as a call to continue carrying the message of salvation beyond their own borders.

Third, the church is maturing by accepting its own responsibility to the world. As I listened to these people respond to the challenge of world missions, I could scarcely contain the tears that were welling and the lump in my throat.

So who is taking pictures now? It is the national church as they give thanks for their heritage and move forward with a challenge for the future. It is my prayer that those pictures, hanging on the walls of private homes and many churches, will be a small part of the ongoing work of fulfilling the Great Commission.

David M. Howard is former international director of the World Evangelical Fellowship.