Destino’s Next Location!

JameeAugust 1, 2018Uncategorized

New Church Building for Destino Cristiano,

A Christian Church in La Paz

The good thing about the current location of Destino Cristiano is that the building was able to accommodate our growth. Since we started our church plant with 3 people, and had a whopping 5 people at the first service, there was a lot of room to grow. When our church grew to about 40 people, we tore down the back wall for expansion, and we broke through another wall into a new area to create space for Children’s Church. Then, when attendance hit the 80+ mark, we broke through another wall and relocated the stage to make room for additional people. Well, we finally hit capacity with the next level of growth, with no more walls to tear down.

So, the search began for a new building to rent. We knew we wanted to stay in El Centro for this next season at Destino Cristiano, so the search team looked for something large enough and priced right. The search came up empty. When we located a place, the rent was either too high, or the building needed too much fixing up. So we looked at the possibility of purchasing a building, but wondered these things: How can we find a building that suits all of our needs, and how can we afford to buy a building.

What we needed was a space large enough for 300 people, and that had a kitchen, quarters for visiting pastors or other guests, several bathrooms, a shower, a lounge, office space and at least 2 classes for children’s church. Quite a list, but we found it in a building that is only 3 blocks up the road from our current location. And because it needs quite a bit of work, the building was priced right, but in addition, the price was negotiated down to the point where we knew it was a God thing.

So, we now have the right building at a miracle price and we’re starting our remodeling campaign titled Big Steps Only.  We’ll tell you more soon! ChurchInLaPaz@gmail.com.

How a Bilingual Church in La Paz Operates

JameeJune 19, 2018Uncategorized

When we started Destino Cristiano nearly 5 years ago, we didn’t know that it would organically evolve into a bilingual church. Like everything that has happened at our nondenominational church in La Paz, God has worked out the logistics of having a bilingual church in Mexico. At our first service in our downtown location, there were 5 Americans, so we had an English only church service.

But not long after, a Mexican family joined us. And while the mother (Esperanza) and 2 daughters didn’t speak a word of English, the teenage son could speak enough to help us all have a conversation. And when asked why she was coming to our church when she couldn’t speak English, Esperanza said that she felt the Holy Spirit was there, and that was good enough for her.  This family attended our church for 1.5 years before her husband, a marine, got sent to the mainland. Meanwhile, more Mexicans came, and after a while, a translator arrived. And the rest is history.

Today, Destino Cristiano is a bilingual church whose pastor is American (learning Spanish as she goes) and whose leadership is mostly made up of Mexicans, but with an American couple helping things to operate. And while there are many bilingual members at Destino Cristiano Christian Church in La Paz, there are also people who can’t speak a second language. But the beautiful thing about the family of God is that love is a universal language. And we have become a blended family!

Here’s how our bilingual church operates:

The music: We have one English song and 3 Spanish songs during worship. We usually learn both the English and Spanish versions.

The preaching:  The pastor speaks in English and has a Spanish translator. There are sometimes guest speakers whose first language is Spanish. In that case, the sermon is translated into English.

The fellowship:  It’s all about assimilation at Destino Cristiano. The Americans and Canadians who are members and visitors want the cultural experience of participating in a bilingual, bicultural church.

 

Destino Cristiano – Making Jesus famous in the city of La Paz.

Cabo Missionaries Minister at Destino, a Bilingual Christian Church

JameeAugust 7, 2017Uncategorized

In a July 2017 service at Destino Cristiano, pastors Randy and Luisina Mishler arrived from San Jose del Cabo with their four beautiful children to minister in La Paz. They are a dream team and greatly encouraged the congregation with the Word and worship. Luisina led our team in worship, teaching the band how to play a song they’ve never played without a track, “This is Amazing Grace.” They stepped up to the challenge and did a great job! Best of all, we got to lift up the name of our Lord together.

Randy shared a great word addressing the question of “how do we respond when affliction comes?” We all can identify with troubles, hard times, conflicts, you name it. Perhaps the reason why there are so many synonyms for ‘problems’ is because we pass through so many! For this same reason, God has a lot to say about the topic. However, what we read in scripture is not, “God will make your problems go away for you right now!” Instead, God teaches us that rather than directly taking away the affliction, He uses the affliction for our good and for His glory. Randy shared with us five blessings that come in these trying times.

The first blessing in affliction is that it draws us closer to God. The psalmist shares how his affliction turned his heart to the Lord, “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. (Psalm 119:72)” Second, affliction makes us stronger! Romans 5:3-7 describes how suffering produces perseverance, which produces character, and character, hope. Isaiah 40:31 completes the thought, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.” Fourth, affliction helps us put our eyes on Jesus. One of the first things Jesus told Paul about his new life in him, was that he would suffer (Acts 9:16). Not the most encouraging of conversions! But Jesus was the one who caused the scales to fall off Paul’s eyes, and there would be no one else he would set his eyes upon. Through this, Paul learned the secret of going through afflictions was going through them with Christ (Philippians 4:11-13). The fourth and fifth benefits are that affliction prepares us for greater things, and through affliction we bring glory to God. David, for example, first had the trial of defending his sheep from the lion and the bear. His next trial, was defending a whole nation against the undefeated giant Goliath. Talk about a hardship that prepared the way for a greater assignment that gave glory to God!

As a church we are so thankful for the Mishler’s ministry. We are encouraged that we can rejoice in the hardships, knowing that we are growing closer to God, becoming stronger, fixing our eyes on Jesus, being prepared for greater things, and ultimately, living out our purpose of bringing glory to God!