Why a School for Conversion-Latin America? Because we believe that the future of mission in the Americas is a joint mission - a two-way street of mutual service and learning. But for this to be the case, the church needs to reflect upon and live more deeply into two questions that were first posed some twenty-five years ago by Latin America missiologist, Orlando Costas:

  1. What is it about the Americas that presents a mutual challenge for Christians and their churches?
  2. And, further, as followers of Jesus Christ how are we to understand our mission within that reality?

Such “global” questions require “local” answers, and SFC-LA seeks to complement the work that SFC is doing in the North American context by providing the resources and the context in which Christians “in the Americas” can ask and answer these questions together.

What does SFC-LA do?

In the Latin American context, SFC-LA will organize its local work around three strands:

  1. biblical and kingdom literacy
  2. holistic discipleship
  3. Christian community development

SFC-LA offers three courses:

  1. “On the Road to Emmaus” is a Bible study designed for (non)Christians in the João Turquino slum on the outskirts of Londrina, Paraná, Brazil. It is led by SFC’s Sam Ewell and local Christian worker Rosane Fiore, and it is organized to “open the scriptures and the eyes and understanding of the participants” (Luke 24) by creating a space for group reflection upon the Bible and life in order to “read” the context of the favela/city in light of the biblical text and to cast a vision of discipleship as pilgrimage or being “on the road” with Jesus and his friends.
  2. “Introduction to Christianity as a Way of Life” is a adaptation and contextualization of the SFC 101 course offered in the U.S. and serves as a tool to network among and build upon the work already in place among partner communities, local churches, and renewal movements here in Latin America and in the North American context.
  3. In joining the local work to the more global activity of “border crossing” and facilitating the joint mission in the Americas, SFC-LA offers “Christian Identity and the Mission of the Church in the Americas” - a short-term, immersion-learning experience based in São Paulo and Salvador/northeast region. It is designed for university and seminary students, as well as other small groups (e.g., short-term missions and/or discovery trips for local churches) who are interested in a first-hand look at some of the challenges and possibilities for our understanding of world Christianity as both a global and local reality, taking the Brazilian context as a “marker” for understanding Christian identity and mission in the Americas.

How to get involved

SFC-LA is best understood not as a missions agency or a para-church organization, but rather as a pro-church theological initiative that joins local Christian groups in a network - a community of communities - that crosses national, continental divides for the sake of a “joint mission” that - as Orlando Costas once put it - “starts with the nearest neighbor.” At its core, SFC-LA depends on the involvement of local churches and other Christians communities both in South and North America.

Here’s how you can get involved:

  1. Email SFC-LA director Sam Ewell: s_ewell@yahoo.com
  2. Plan to bring a group from your church or organization to Brazil in 2008 on a short-term immersion exposure trip organized and hosted by SFC-LA. Click here for more information.
  3. If you are a student looking for internship credits or study abroad opportunities, click here.
  4. To support the work of the school financially, tax-deductible contributions can be made out to:
      5. School for Conversion
      917 Berkeley St.
      Durham, NC 27705