“Desperate Need” for the Gospel Among Latin American Political Leaders and Their Hearts are Ready!

While political leaders in the 21 Central and South American nations are ready for Capitol Ministries, the governments are not,” said Oscar Zamora, Latin America global director who is responsible for growing the ministry in that part of the world.

“The hearts of individual public servants are open, but governments are resistant, and this makes our ministry really uphill,” said Oscar, who is one of CapMin’s most prolific ministry builders.

Political unrest, corruption, the influence of organized crime, and recent encroachment of socialism and communism in many Latin American nations are some of the hindrances that have impeded building ministries.

“Political turmoil is usual in Latin America,” Oscar said. “But we have installed the right people and we are not going to stop or slow down because there is a desperate need for the Gospel and we see that God is moving in political circles.”

The nations may not be ready, but Oscar has been amazingly productive in building ministries to national leaders in nearly a third of the nations in that part of the world.

Through aggressive recruitment and strong networking since he was named to the position in 2017, Oscar has facilitated the launch of discipleship Bible-study ministries to federal leaders in Mexico, Brazil, Honduras, Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay.

And more are in the making. Bible teachers have already been trained and certified to launch ministries in Panama, Guatemala, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Peru, Chile and Nicaragua. Ministries to regional and local political leaders have also been established in several Latin American nations.

“Some ministries are ready, the ministry leaders have been trained and certified, but they have not yet launched for a number of reasons,” Oscar said. “Some nations have just had presidential elections and there has been some kind of turmoil which is so usual in Latin America.”

“Last year, for example, we were about to launch in Argentina, and there were political problems after the presidential election. I have to always be on the news to see what’s going on in every country.”

But efforts to recruit new ministry leaders have not slowed down and CapMin is hosting a Latin America Recruiting and Training Conference Oct. 28-Nov. 1 in Bogota, Colombia to train new recruits.

Nearly 60 ministry leaders are expected to participate in the conference where they will learn CapMin’s intensely biblical methodology that has been sharpened, refined, and seasoned over more than 28 years of ministry to public servants. The training is indispensable to successful, sustainable ministries. 

Ministry leaders will learn how to launch discipleship Bible studies, biblical teaching methods, the value of discipleship and relationship building, the priority of evangelism, the importance of leading public servants toward maturity in Christ, and why CapMin does not engage in political activism and lobbying, among many other topics.

Ralph Drollinger, president and founder of CapMin will lead the instruction with several CapMin team members also teaching specific topics. The lectures will be translated in real time from English into Spanish.

Attending will be a mix of new recruits and established ministry leaders who will be refreshing their knowledge of CapMin methods. Fifty-four ministry leaders will travel from Latin American nations and four, who were recruited by Alberty Reyes, Caribbean global director, will travel from the Caribbean.

Giving the opening welcome presentation on the first day, Oscar will speak about the importance of biblical leadership. Bernardo Affrachino, Argentina ministry leader, will also speak.

Ralph commended Oscar and Elizabeth for planning a well-organized conference as well as for their achievements in expanding CapMin across Latin America.

“The Holy Spirit is moving mightily throughout Latin America!” Ralph said. “Now that we have a ministry leader emerging in Santiago, Chile and other ministry leaders already trained and ready to begin, CapMin will soon be in the federal Capitols of 16 of Latin America’s 21 nations!  Praise be to God! Oscar and Elizabeth are doing an excellent job.”

This fall, CapMin led training conferences for existing ministry leaders and new recruits on Sept. 2-6 in Cape Town, South Africa and on Sept. 30-Oct 4 in Kathmandu, Nepal. After Bogota, upcoming conferences are scheduled for Nov. 7-11 in Brussels, France, and Dec. 2-5 in Florence, Kentucky.

Now an ardent champion, Oscar had not known about the biblical priority to minister to public servants until he learned about that biblical directive from Ralph.

Oscar met Ralph in 2017 through his father-in-law, Humberto Lay, a pastor and former congressman. Ralph had traveled to Peru to meet with Pastor Lay who Ralph hoped would become the ministry leader for that country’s national leaders. Pastor Lay asked Oscar to also attend the meeting.

Discussions soon revealed that Oscar was Biblically astute, had a wealth of experience and contacts in faith and political communities and had held significant positions in many international ministries. Ralph soon discerned that Oscar was the man he was looking for to be global director for Latin America.

Oscar and his wife and ministry partner Elizabeth had been praying for such a change and he accepted the position. In addition to working alongside Oscar, Elizabeth is the administrator of CapMin’s Bible Studies for foreign languages. She translates the Bible studies into Spanish and oversees the team that translates the studies into French, Russian, and Portuguese.

Oscar graduated with honors from West Coast Christian College in California with a bachelor’s degree in arts and theology. He has served as national coordinator for Equip, as executive pastor and director of the Biblical Seminary for Mision Cristiana Camino de Vida Mision, and as regional representative for South America and National director for the Willow Creek Association of Chicago. As a member of the Maxwell Leadership Certified Team, Oscar is a coach, speaker, and trainer. Oscar is also founder and president of Asociacion Lidere Global, Peru. Oscar and Elizabeth have three grown daughters and two granddaughters.

Ralph has challenged Oscar to establish ministries in every Latin American nation. And while growing ministries in spiritually rocky soil is not at all easy, it’s a mission Oscar is passionate about.

“God has chosen us to do the job so we’re in obedience to this calling,” Oscar said. “As I told Ralph, ‘Sorry Ralph, this is not your vision anymore, I mean, it’s not only your vision, but it’s mine also,’ and that is why I am dedicated to establishing Bible studies to reach the hearts of political leaders in every Latin American country.”

CapMin ministry leaders are self-supporting missionaries. If you wish to support Oscar’s ministry, click here.