Latin America boasts massive cities. The music of urban life includes the screech of construction projects, aroma of bakery bread, roar of city buses, and laughter from children’s schoolyards. Missionaries in the cities catalyze churches to reproduce, striving to plant the gospel in every sector of every city. Some neighborhoods, however, are so expensive it takes creative thinking to build a consistent church presence.

This is the challenge that Redeemer Church,* a small, Argentine church plant, is currently pondering. Redeemer Church has space to grow in its own neighborhood, but its members are ready to plant a church in Recoleta, where evangelical churches are scarce.

Creative thinking is needed to reach the lost and plant churches in crowded urban centers.

This part of Buenos Aires is a blend of art, literature, fashion, tourism, high-end residences, and history. Former Argentine first lady Eva Perón is laid to rest in its grand cemetery, but the district itself is alive and well.

For a new church to thrive there, it will need to be economically sustainable. Redeemer Church, with a partnering church in the US, is looking for a space to establish a business that would cover rent, employ church members, and serve as a worship and ministry center during evenings and weekends. Tiago Fernandez,* Redeemer Church’s pastor-church planter, is confident the Lord will open opportunities.

Creative access in strategic, but costly, areas is a challenge in major cities across the Americas. Redeemer Church is prayer walking, strategizing, and working to reproduce in one challenging zone of one city. Other cities, like Bogatá, Lima, Mexico City, Santiago, and São Paulo, face the same need. These vast cities are dappled with dense neighborhoods and new shanty towns that need churches. The music of urban life plays on. As faithful churches proclaim the gospel, that music transposes into praise to God.

Your gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering^® and the Cooperative Program make it possible for Southern Baptists to live and work alongside leaders such as Tiago as he seeks to grow a healthy church. Thank you for giving.

*names changed