Can anything good come from a country still held in captivity by the weight of the brutal consequences of corruption?Bolivia, located in the very heart of South America, is the poorest country in its region. The causes of Bolivia’s relative failure to develop are the subject of intense debates. Popular explanations in the past have included: a difficult geography, the cultural legacy of Iberian Catholicism, the synchronism of Christian-ity, and the exploitation by outsiders. However, many serious scholars now blame persistent inequalities that went hand in hand with political instability, cor-ruption in different levels, folkloric worldviews, weak institutions, and the undermining of the rule of law. Despite the accurate and commendable explanation

of these causes; the question why? still resonates in my mind. How is it possible, that a country aware of these causes doesn’t change the course of its his-tory?

His Compassion Working in the development arena and teaching business for the last eight years, and having started a second masters program, I believe I have gained some experience and knowledge in order to begin to answer these interrogates. However, it is hum-bling to recognize that the depth of insight I have gained over the years is often not extensive enough and sometimes I am still naïve and ignorant in my appreciations; bringing me to my knees and crying out to God for wisdom. In 2007, while on a trip to Haiti and the Do-minican Republic, where I collaborated in an as-

sessment to implement a food insecurity program in those countries; Robert, a leader in a local community asked me, ‘Why (in my opinion) were they poor?’ And I, as a “serious technocrat” in development, referred him to the results of the research that we had done. Turning his face to the ground, he smiled humbly, and replied “we all knew those things before you ever came here; but my question is why those results?” His deep thinking and palpable wisdom made me uncomfortable for my “education and experience”. Without a word of reply, he continued on saying, “You (development agencies) have never been exposed to poverty, because you live life in abundance!” I left Haiti contemplating those powerful words; not just because of the amazing insights that I had received in regards to development, but overall for a forced reflection of my own identity. Haven’t I been exposed to extreme poverty? Was I truly living an abundant life? These questions took me back to a time, twenty years prior, when I was living in poverty. The vivid memories

came flooding back with tremendous force as I talked to this indigenous leader. Remembering brought freshness to an ache I had tried to forget, but it simultaneously brought an undeniable joy because I knew that I was poor no longer. I remembered my childhood, living in overcrowded conditions and sleeping on beds made of bricks in a house with dirt floors and tin walls. We didn’t have any running water in our home, which meant that I had to wake up early and walk nearly two miles every day in order to get it - I guess I was the running water. My father struggled to find work, being a refugee from Chile and a victim of dictatorial processes and persecution there. My mother was the one with the constant job but as the oldest of five children, it was also necessary for me to work. From the time I was 8 years old, I was washing cars and selling candies or

juice in the streets. In our spare time, my siblings and I often roamed the streets, playing in trash containers, playing soccer, and simply learning how to survive. Although we were often hungry and malnourished; our hearts were full of hope. So, what happened between my childhood marked by poverty and the abundant life I was experiencing now? Could my very own life shed some light on Robert’s questions? How did I overcome this situation? What was the most important thing that truly changed my life? I tried to remember the significant things that had really impacted me. A variety of options came to my mind: family factors, environmen-tal factors, and socio - economical factors. However, despite their great influence, I came to the realization that my behaviors and habits weren’t

influenced completely by those factors, but only partially. Hence, I was still left pondering, what was the thing that influenced me so deeply that it even permeated my family and changed my world-view of reality? I wholeheartedly believe that the answer is Jesus Christ!!! When I was 12 years old, I received Christ as my Lord and Savior. That decision completely changed the course of my life. Before that piv-otal moment, I lived in poverty. It was not only physical poverty, but economic, social and spiritual poverty as well. I didn’t understand the purpose for my life and didn’t have a vision for my future, other than hopelessness. I do not remember the date, the hour, or what I was wearing as many do. However, I do remember Mathew 6, after the beatitudes, when Jesus was teaching about the poor, how to pray and overall how to trust. I was struck when He said: 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body,

as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 “And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! 31 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’

I started to believe and trust in Him. So, my prayer was an expression of surrender to Him, a longing of hope, and a decision to seek His Kingdom first.

“I understood that the opposite of fear is not courage,

but TRUST!”

STRENGH & STAND - KNOXVILLE

32 “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:25-33, NASB 95).

Through attending church and the Compassion project, I learned that God was someone who loved me and walked alongside me every day. When you are poor you are always hungry and cold. You feel scared and discriminated against, and you do not think that you are worth anything to anyone. However, after receiving Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit inhabited me and I understood that the opposite of

fear it is not courage, but Trust!!! I learned with the blind faith of a child, to overcome my fears by trusting in God’s promises. I understood that He would take care of me and provide for my basic needs. I recognized that He had a plan for my life because I had value in Him. I started to believe and trust in Him. So, my prayer was an expression of surrender to Him, a longing of hope, and a decision to seek His Kingdom first. I also realized that my spiritual growth was the measurement of my development. Now I understand that human development was measured through personal growth with God which allows us to reach certain heights in our daily lives. I cannot express my gratitude to Compassion! The times that God worked in my life through people and Compassion are countless! I could list the numerous times they helped me with materials assets, such as food, education and other “things”. However, the greatest impact on my life during this time, beyond the material support, was that my biggest problem was solved: the problem of an ‘eternity without Him’.

His Divine Story God has made the universe for a purpose. There is an end to which all of history is moving. This end, this eschatological pur-pose, is the goal of all creation. Each individual has been made for a purpose that fits within God’s eschatological purpose. This is the anthropological purpose; connecting the individual person to God’s grand design. Part of the wonder of life is discovering that unique purpose and then walking in freedom towards that end. God’s purpose for our lives is revealed in our design. We are cre-ated beings, and the gifts we have reveal God’s unique purpose for our lives. The word design is related to the word designation, refer-ring to direction or appointment. There are no ordinary people. Or to put it differently, the wonder of the ordinary is that each person is unique; distinguished from all others in design, potential and purpose. Every person was designed for a purpose. Everyone has a name, a passion, and a personal story that connects to the Divine Story – HIStory. We all have a destiny. Mine was not framed by fatalism of an animistic poverty worldview, nor by my sheer determination, but

rather my life was framed within the context of His kingdom, on a journey to be made trusting God. My destiny was tied up with God’s mission; my quest was linked to the decision of the advancement of His kingdom. Coming back from Thailand last year, I stopped for a moment to reflect on how amazing, faithful and good God has been to me. I realized that God has given me the opportunity to travel to 29 different countries all over the world, sharing my testimony to more than 90,000 people. Most of these trips were related with advancing His kingdom, whether it was working with development agencies, lecturing in universities, training lead-

ers, or being trained. This reflection brought me to my knees, humbled, as I cried out to God for wisdom. I realized that my place in His story has been perfectly orchestrated by Him; using me to afflict to those who are comforted, in order to comfort to those who are afflicted. He has allowed me to serve as an emerging leader, putting me in different leadership positions since I was 8 years old. My place in His story is about Him and Him alone, using me as a witness to the power of His resurrection, and putting me at the same level with

‘... my biggest problem was solved: the problem of an

‘eternity without Him’.

Every person was designed for a purpose. Everyone has a name, a passion, and a personal story that connects to the Divine Story – HIStory.

I realized that my place in His story has been perfectly orchestrated by Him; using me

to afflict those who are comforted, in order to comfort

those who are afflicted.

EMERGING LEADERS - THAILAND

influential people just to show that He is able, and that He makes all things possible according His story. When I was 15 years old, I discerned in a prayer a word from the Lord that said, “I will lift you up from your poverty and make your life count!!! I will do this for two reasons: to bring low those who think they are wise, and to glorify My name because it is something only I can accomplish.” I saved that promise in the depths of my heart, just waiting on the Lord, and through the years people affirmed this and prayed over me the promise that I later found in 1 Samuel 2: 7 – 9.

7 “The LORD makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.

8 “ He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap

To make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor;

For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S, And He set the world on them.

9 “He keeps the feet of His godly ones, But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;

For not by might shall a man prevail.”

In this remarkable prayer, Hannah praises the Lord for His holi-ness, His omniscience, His sovereignty, His compassion, and His justice. In the surrounding context, the mention of hostility and barrenness reminds us of Hannah’s own personal experiences, but the prayer has a much broader scope. It is concerned with showing how God can, and often does, upset human values and estimates. Life and death, wealth and poverty, and the rise and fall of nations are wholly within His control for God’s authority and power reach-es to the ends of the earth. However, God does not exercise His control to overthrow the powerful and strengthen the weak in a spiteful or unjust way. So the poem expresses faith in our God, who is described as the Rock. My part in His divine story is defined in the context of my calling: a general call and a specific call. The general call is to salvation and the Christian life. We are called to the cross of Christ for our jus-tification and to carry our own cross for our sanctification. We live out the Christian life within the framework of God’s three great

mandates. The first mandate is the one given at Creation, the Cultural Mandate, to develop the earth. Christ gave the sec-ond mandate, the Great Commandment, to love one another and to love your neighbor as yourself. The third mandate is the Great Commission to disciple nations. This general call creates the context for God’s specific call on each believer’s life. The specific call is the unique purpose for which we have been made. It includes, but is not solely defined by, our voca-tion. We see this demonstrated in the life of the carpenter of Nazareth. Jesus’ vocation was carpentry, but His purpose was larger than His vocation. He had been made for the Cross. As for me, I began to discover my calling as a servant catalyst, act-ing as a vehicle to bring transformation and justice. I realized that my experiences, travels, and education were tools to fulfill my mandate. God in His grace allowed me to serve Him in different areas such as: advocate, speaker, teacher, and servant leader in order to activate programs and projects related with transformational development. Nowadays, as president of the Novus Foundation, I praise the Lord of the Heavens for this amazing time in His story because I am able to be part of what He is doing in a very innovative way. Established as a nonprofit, Novus is focused on emerging leader entrepreneurs. We embrace leaders of the next generation and we strengthen the potential that God has given them, training them in ethics for development and help-ing them to form a biblical worldview in order to innovate and to bless their communities through social or economical entrepreneurships as they seek to establish social capital and

God can, and often does, upset human values and estimates. Life and death, wealth and poverty, and the rise and fall of nations are wholly within His control for God’s authority and power reaches to the ends of the earth.

I really believe that God placed me here for this amazing moment in His story, to be a

catalyst to spread the Good News and make disciples of the Nations.

long-term self sustainable transformation. This is an amazing yet challenging journey for me, with many difficulties from political corruption to church bureaucracy, and from an old paradigm on how to do missions to new ways to disciple the nations. To be completely honest, it is impossible if I tried to do it in my own strength. There is no way that I can do it by myself and the times that I have tried, I had no success. But I am learning humility during this time, and I must constantly go to my knees every day asking for wisdom and mercy. In the midst of the difficulties I have encountered, God has taught me four simple words: “My Grace is enough” and those words shape my dependence and bear my pride every day.

His Infinite Grace

Last September, I was invited to New York to attend “The 4/14 Window Movement”, which was a mis-siological summit that focused on children and youth transformation. It was a rich and humbling experience for me; not only because of the caliber of participants which included 860 leaders from all over the world, but also because I was elected as a leader of one the 13 tracks of the movement in order to lead and promote this movement all over the world. Leading leaders from 86 different countries is not an easy task, but I trust in my calling and know that if God has brought me this far, He will not leave me here. I have no words to ex-plain how God was moving in that conference and how He spoke to my heart, but I now feel the weight of the huge responsibility on my shoulders and I only want to be obedient and do with excellence the things He has entrusted me to do. October was just as great and humbling as September. By God’s grace I had the opportunity to be a partici-pant in the third Lausanne Congress on World Evan-gelization, which is the most influential and impactful movement in Christian spheres, known for its decisions in every generation. It was so humbling to be part of that gathering of 4,000 leaders, strictly elected from 200 countries. Since the last congress held in Manila in 1989, this Lausanne was held in Cape Town South Africa and was more ethnically diverse, and included a more geographically varied consortium of evangelical leaders than ever before. I really believe that God placed me here for this amaz-ing moment in His story, to be a catalyst to spread the Good News and make disciples of the Nations. Cape Town was a confirmation of my calling because I had the chance to share and discuss the most important pri-orities for world affairs with the world’s most influential leaders. God’s faithfulness provided opportunities for cooperation and partnerships which will help define and execute the best strategies for His kingdom advance-ment for the next 20 years. I will never be able to understand the fullness of His grace nor the depth of His love. I cannot fathom how His faithfulness is unchangeable and unending. The very

God who has created the universe is the unchangeable One who is able to use us as instruments to make his-tory and change the unchangeable. My place in His story is simply a place of surrender and obedience; a place where faith opens the doors of eternity. The main purpose of this newsletter is to praise our Lord and Father for His loving-kindness and faith-fulness. Secondly, I would like to ask you kindly for a commitment to pray for my life and calling. If you are serious about making this commitment, I would love to hear from you. In the meantime, I would really ap-preciate it if you could join with us in prayer for: Wisdom in leadership in order to lead with a ser-vant’s heart and to do our interventions with Jesus Christ, and not just in His name.Right people, the right people to hire for Novus, right facilitators, right mentors, right partners, right friends, right donors.God provision for our budget next year. Novus is ex-pecting to start up projects in the Dominical Republic, Peru, and Kenya. For both physical and spiritual strength. I am in-volved as a catalyst in several different movements: Novus Emerging Leaders, Compassion international Advocacy, the 4/14 Window, and Lausanne. I need wisdom and grace to be able to lead with people from different cultures and ages. Please also pray for rest for my heart and mind as I will be traveling almost weekly within the US and internationally to Kenya (2 weeks), Bolivia and Peru (6 weeks) and Korea (10 days).

Prayerfully,

M.A. Figueroa Global CatalystNovus Foundation MAS Intercultural Studies (Moody Theological Seminary-Chicago)MBA International Business (Escuela Europea de Negocios-Madrid)