By Pastor Oscar Gaitán

Iglesia Bautista Centro de Vida, Masaya, Nicaragua

Many were the tasks that Jesus left to the church, but one of the clearest tasks was to disciple. The way our church disciples is by taking one person at a time, women to women, men to men. They make a weekly appointment for twelve weeks and they share twelve steps after receiving Jesus. These lessons are complemented by the vital part of discipleship, which is the investment of one’s life in another person, just like parents to children.

When we started eight years ago in the Masaya mission, my wife, my daughter, and I began discipling three neighbors: I discipled Reynaldo, Tamy discipled Noemí, and Lidia discipled Cristina. After 12 weeks, each of them took another person and we continued with other new converts. This is how God has guided us in opening eight missions: Masaya, Las Flóres, San Marcos, La Dalia, Matagalpa, Sébaco, San Juan de Oriente and Cuba. 

Each mission carries in its blood the importance of discipling one on one and it has been the specific way in which God has used us to disciple person by person and that has led us to hundreds reached for Christ, as well as the beginning of the missionary work in different places.

Our church is a cell church and we have centralized the task of the church through each leader who directs a cell at home. Four years ago our country went through a political situation and we had to close the church building but not the church. Once the situation passed and we returned to meet on Sundays, we had multiplied from 12 cells to 18. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic and the same thing: We closed the building but not the church, and when we were able to come back together, we multiplied the cells from 18 to 27. 

We also work with children in small cells. We have 26 houses where we have dedicated Sunday to Sunday to teach and interact with them and their families and now average 240 children in these houses on Sunday with more than 60 people serving in this ministry.

Lifeword has been a part of our ministry for many years in our country of Nicaragua supporting different radio ministries, programs aimed at couples, and workshop programs for those who serve in the ministry of teaching children. In December of last year, we opened the new mission in Sébaco and we were going through difficulties for its continuity, but thank God for the assistance of Lifeword that allowed us to continue. 

When we opened the mission in Cuba, the presence of Lifeword was already in the heart of Bro. Jesús Martín. He had heard the message of salvation through the radio ministry that Lifeword had been broadcasting on the air for many years with The Christian Contact, a program by Pastor Richard Róbinson. Jesús Martín listened to this program and that seed sown came to germinate years later when we visited the country. We met Bro. Jesús and he shared with us the perfect plan of our God and how Lifeword was an instrument to reach his life. Today he is our missionary and is the leader of a beautiful mission in Cuba.The Centro de Vida church is celebrating in May her eighth anniversary with eight missions, but we are not stopping there; rather, it is our vision to establish cell groups in more cities. Thank you, Lifeword, for always joining efforts through our common goal, which is to spread the gospel of salvation as it is carried throughout the world.