Meet Mike Gunderson -- Leadership Interview Series (Part 4 of 6)

Although he's been part of ReachGlobal Latin America for years, Mike Gunderson doesn't speak as much Spanish as his colleagues -- but he speaks great Portuguese! Learn more about Mike, his role with the ADT, and how you can lift him up in prayer.

Name
Mike Gunderson

What is your history with ReachGlobal?
We served for 20 years in Brazil. We went as church planters and then moved into leadership development, working with German and Brazilian teachers and trainers. In the past year, I have transitioned into the role of Church Planting Coach for Latin America.

What is your position on the leadership team?
Church Planting Coach for Latin America

What does that mean? What do you do?
I train church planters in Latin America, train coaches of church planters, and lead the RG church planting team.

What makes you a good boss or leader?
Who said I was good? I love Latins, training, and coaching church planters!

What do you want to/need to work on as a boss or leader?
I need much better Spanish, and more experience in various parts of Latin America.

What has God been teaching you lately about being a leader?
I learned (from Keith Anderson at our ADT meetings in August) that my identity as a leader, from a biblical standpoint, is not just that of a servant, but also that of shepherd, priest, and steward.

Why do you love Latin America?
I love the warmth and passion of the Latin people.

What excites you about the ministry we're doing in LA?
I believe we are on the cusp of greatly increasing our impact on the people of the Latin American Continent.

How can people contact you?

• Email: michael.gunderson@efca.org
• Text or call: 952-715-2589

More Personal...

Tell us about your family.
My wife Linda has been a discipler and teacher of women and youth for many years and in many contexts. She has given great energies to raising and coaching our two kids:

• Nicolas, 19, is a sophomore at Bethel in St. Paul, MN. He's majoring in chemistry and on one of the University worship teams, playing acoustic guitar.
• Ali, 17, is a freshman at Northwestern College in St. Paul. She's majoring in psychology.

Where do you currently live?
Minneapolis, MN

What's the last book you read?
Humility by Andrew Murray

What do you like to do for fun?
Play games with my family.

Prayer requests:

• Pray for our kids, Nick & especially Ali, as they transition to America and college life...
• And pray for their empty-nest parents!

A Snapshot from Venezuela

By Mike Gunderson

On the way to preach in one of the churches in Valencia, Venezuela, I had the privilege of worshipping with the Emanuel EFC, also in Valencia. On the surface, the church is not highly impressive, and there were only about 50 people in the first of two services.

I should have known that there was more beneath the surface, though, when I saw their church vision statement painted above the platform:

Una iglesia discipular, celular y misionera

(A discipling, cellular and missionary church)

It has a nice ring, doesn't it?

Pastor Abdy with his children & Mike

As I spent more time with the lead pastor of this church, Adby Perera and his wife, Paola, I understood that there is a lot more to Emanuel Free than meets the eye.

This church of around 150 members has 40 people in its music ministry -- and 15 of those are trained to lead worship! Every Sunday they send out at least one team to help lead worship in church plants and smaller churches in the community.

Abdy's church has a ministry called "volunteer missions training." Trainees receive basic training in preaching and evangelism, and they preach, evangelize, and do street theatre in public squares. If the police come, they disband (although, thankfully, most of the persecution in Venezuela today is mild and subtle).

The volunteer missions training is VERY hands on. Pastor Abdy shared, "I don't like cold-call evangelism, but I like what it produces in the 'missionaries' that go out." On five Saturdays during April and May 2010, Emanuel Free preached and shared in different public squares... and 48 people came to Christ!

The same training is being used in a number of churches and there are many new Christian converts. A once bi-vocational pastor started the program a few years ago, and today ten house churches have been born out of it. Now, he's a vocational pastor and just finished his "licenciatura" (bachelor’s equivalent). (Good thing he is qualified now!!)

Conference -- Missionaries & Pastors

We heard similar stories from other pastors, too, although with a curious twist to the story... No one really knows how many new churches there are in the association! They know that the number of official churches has dwindled (a story for another time), but the number of unofficial churches has grown dramatically in the last half decade or so. Praise the Lord! Some spoke of 80 unofficial churches and church plants, others of 100, and still others spoke of numbers over 120.

The number is not the most important thing. What is exciting is something that we see in church-planting movements around the world (not just in Venezuela) -- the movement becomes decentralized and growth grows beyond control.

• There is a growing number of house churches led by bi-vocational pastors.
• The ADIEL of Venezuela is now offering an accredited bachelor degree program in a local church-based training format.
• And we were thrilled to see that they have two missionary families in India and two families in the process of being sent to Europe.

So many exciting things!

We all left Venezuela very encouraged by what God is doing through our Venezuelan brothers and sisters. We are proud of the faithful missionaries who God has used and continues to use for His glory in Venezuela.