Multiplication Network Ministries (MNM) Founder and President Dr. John Wagenveld says,  'The Coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic is affecting us globally as national leaders in newly planted churches are having to find different ways of ministering in their communities.' Please note that all of MNM's leaders around the world have been cautioned to reduce exposure and be safe while following the regulations set by their countries' governments.

Elvio and Olga are church planters with the Assemblies of God in Villa la Victoria, Capiata, Paraguay. They felt a passion to serve God as a family. Their pastors motivated them to participate in the church planter training through Multiplication Network Ministries (MNM) and fulfill the vision of planting a new church in the area.

Olga remembers that when they came to Villa la Victoria, there was a great need in the people, spiritually, emotionally, and economically.

“Most children do not live with their parents. They live with their stepparents or grandparents and this makes their lives difficult,” says Elvio. Moved by this great need, Olga and Elvio at first wanted to give everything and even what they did not have in order to help these families out of their difficult situations. Their understanding of how to impact this community changed after acquiring tools from MNM that helped them focus their efforts.

“I can say that the topic of church planting has helped us a lot because at the beginning we thought we would do as we wanted but in the class we have learned to depend totally on the Lord and do things low cost and high impact. That helped us to see differently,” says Olga.

The transformation in Villa la Victoria is palpable. It went from being a place where the sale and consumption of drugs made it very dangerous to live in to a community where people can enter peacefully without being too worried about safety.

For Olga, the hard work of planting a new church has been a sign of what God can do but affirms that this is just the beginning.

“This whole area can come to repentance at the feet of the Lord and be totally transformed,” Olga says. “Until now we have seen a transformation of 90% but we want the whole place to be transformed. We want families to be restored because there are children who need to know the Word of God and can be healed. That is our mission in this place.”