The History of EVI

Juan and his wife Flora are from south Texas. They were sent by their church to a very poor and unreached Arab city we'll call Sandyland. They set up a business, but due to poor planning, the business was failing. They got to know several government officials, having many of them to their home for a meal. The locals loved Flora's Mexican cooking. Having to admit their business was failing, and they would need to return home, the officials encouraged Flora to open a Mexican restaurant. She did and now, years later, they are still living and working and sharing the Good News in Sandyland.

When I first met Juan and Flora, we had been asking the Lord how we might mobilize more Latinos into the unreached world. For the past 30 years, the Latino church has been one of the fastest growing in the world. Maturing churches have been trying to send out laborers since the early 1990s. As the South American churches are generally poor, many of those initial workers were under-supported and had to return home after just a few years of service. In the 1990s, in an attempt to assist the Latino church in sending out overseas workers, many American churches and individuals began supporting adequately prepared Latino workers. However, this strategy also had its problems. When it came time for furlough, the Latino workers returned to the United States and not to their home churches, as they felt the need to keep their supporters informed. This seems logical. Many even became U.S. citizens. However, the Latin churches felt, "The gringos stuck it to us again. They took our best workers for themselves." They questioned, "How can we build up our own sending tradition if our own workers do not return to share with us and build up our world missions vision?"

So how do we create a win-win situation for the Latin workers and churches?

In a word — jobs.

In 2005 a group of Christian leaders from Africa, the MiddleEast, North America, and South America met near London and formed Empresas Vida International (Business as Life) to equip and facilitate Latinos to the unreached — those places where the church of Jesus does not yet exist.

Since then a program of selection and training has been designed and implemented. The first training program was completed in February 2008. The second level of training for those who passed the first level was held in Mexico in the fall of 2008.