Innovation for me is when creativity and management come together to generate something new. I believe there are three types of innovation, the first is when something that already exists is improved in some way, the second is when two things come together to form a third new thing, and the third is when by chance or accident something better is obtained without having planned it.
For me the third is true innovation, which is not under our control and therefore I consider it to be God's work. I have explored innovation in different areas but mostly during my years of working in culinary innovation.
2. How did God call you to missions?
I was a missionary before I became a Christian.
I met a pastoral couple from Singapore who went to Quito Ecuador to start a church. This missionary church replaced their Sunday service once a month with service through a local foundation to people in extreme poverty. They invited me to serve with them and I did it because I have always liked to.
Seeing the need, I proposed that they start a ministry of cooking classes for mothers in extreme poverty, to teach them how to cook economical, delicious and healthy food. Both the pastors and the director of the foundation accepted that I started this ministry even though I was not yet a Christian.
The church organized a mission trip to Peru to serve in an orphanage. I signed up and went on the mission without knowing that there, in the Pacific Ocean, I would give my life to Christ and be baptized.
I returned transformed and continued the ministry with more seriousness that took the form of leading discipleship group for families of the mothers who took my cooking classes. Without even knowing it, my cross-cultural ministry began as I found myself preaching to Quichua-speaking people; who spoke very little Spanish and could not read or write.
From April 2016 to April 2017 I served as a missionary with the Pan De Vida Foundation and Samaritans Purse, bringing relief to people affected by the earthquake on the Ecuadorian coast.
In 2018 we received a call from SIL to serve in Southeast Asia in linguistic projects. We accepted the invitation and in 2020 we were sent as a missionary family by Allianza Norte church to be part of SIL and serve as missionaries in what for us is the other side of the world and where we continue to serve to this day.
3. Explain a little about your organization and the programs that you offer for Latino missionaries.
CENTRAL, founded in 2021, is the Latin American center for missionary innovation. It seeks to lower the barriers to cross by generating creative, innovative and cutting-edge projects.
Here are some other projects that are currently running:
LIBERTAD: Latin American movement of intercession in Spanish for the least-reached peoples.
MEMBER SUCCESS: Comprehensive care system for Latino missionaries.
LENGUAS: Linguistic and cultural translation and interpretation service into Spanish.
INNOV-ASIA: Cross-Cultural training and missionary project incubator.
4. How did you identify these programs?
Through long periods of prayer and discernment of the Holy Spirit, I listened to what God was sharing with me about each of the projects. Mainly by understanding the need and barriers faced by Latin American missionaries in the cross-cultural field in Asia and the need for the Gospel in the least-reached peoples.
5. What is the role of innovation in your work and programs?
In my work as Director of CENTRAL, I am in charge of managing the different projects that are already underway and promoting the generation of new innovation projects in Missions. For this purpose, I initiated a mobilization project with a focus on innovation within missionary projects, an incubator of missionary projects and an integral care system.
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