The Back Story

The Zacchaeus Project

A Ministry of Relational Evangelism and Discipleship in Latin America

The Back Story

The Zacchaeus Project is the culmination of numerous factors – history, relationship, a ministry approach with complementary ministry materials –  that are coming together at an opportune time.

How did “The Zacchaeus Project” come to be?

Richard and Margarita Houston have long-term, established friendships with influential people in Latin America before they were influential.  Meeting and later affiliating with Search Ministries provided them with until then missing pieces in order to reorganize and put into practice the necessary elements for a relational evangelism approach and strategy to take the Gospel to a previously overlooked segment of society – the upper-middle and upper class.

As they now continue their ministry under TMS Global they are training and mobilizing teams of business and professional Christians to reach out to their friends and family with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

• The Back story
  • Long-term friendships
    • Margarita
      • Margarita attended the most prestigious girls’ school in Bogotá. Her classmates were from some of the most established families in Colombia.  Her father was well-known in Bogotá and her uncle was the vice-president of the most powerful conglomerate in Colombia in the 1970’s and 80’s.
      • Her long-term friendships include multiple cabinet ministers in the 2010-18 government.
    • Richard,
      • Marriage to Margarita, was brought into some of those relationships.
      • His friendships include a high-ranking admiral and five brothers from one of the oldest families in Colombia that boasted of three bishops and a Monsignor in recent generations.

• Putting the pieces together
  • Before the Houstons met Search, they had the passion to reach others for Christ but hadn’t yet put together all the pieces of the vision, the skills, the approach and had yet to have access to any of the materials in order to effectively reach their influential friends.
  • After becoming part of the Search family, they learned the approach and the resources applying what they learned first to the Anglo then the Hispanic population of The Woodlands
  • Influential Latin American Christian friends – Upon learning what God was doing through the Houstons, their Christian friends in Latin America reacted in a way that said, “Wow, this is what we were waiting for!” It resonates with them.

• The Story – Putting approach into action
  • Authentic Relationships – An incarnational style of ministry focuses on authentic relationships.
    • In the human level developing and deepening friendships based on common ground
    • On a spiritual level introducing friends into an authentic personal relationship with God.
  • “Empty bottles
    • Howard Hendricks – “it doesn’t do any good to change the label on an empty bottle”
    • Their ministry is (letting God) to fill spiritually empty bottles not to change labels.
  • Insiders – The influential people in Latin America belong to the “insider club”
    • Only access to influential people is through or being an “insider”
    • Margarita and Richard are “insiders” (see biographic info)
  • Equipping others – The Zacchaeus project is one of equipping others to do the work of the ministry.
  • Incarnational Model. They have a “hands-on” ministry of doing, modelling, teaching, training, motivating and releasing others for ministry.  This is a guiding principle in TMS Global mission as well.
    • This is primarily a “lay” ministry in Latin America because of the negative associations with evangelicals and evangelical pastors.
    • They are implementing a three-year series of Vision and Equipping Retreats in Bogotá and Lima to raise other incarnational ministers.
  • What is the Plan? Refer to the Menu – The Zacchaeus Project – The Placemat.
  • In Progress – They have successfully realized the first Vision and Training retreats in both Bogotá and Lima. They work.  Given appropriate funding they may proceed with the three-year series of retreats.

The Continuing Story – How do they propose to accomplish this?

Personalized discipleship combined with vision and equipping retreats.

• The “product” is not that Richard and Margarita can practice relational evangelism – though they can – rather that they know how and are in the process of recruiting and training other people to practice effective relational evangelism with others, particularly with the influential.
• They also have connections and are highly respected in two continent wide networks of churches
  • The CMA/Encounter vision network
  • Danilo Montero’s network
• Richard’s experience in and instinctual knowledge of Hispanic culture is essential in minimizing the common mistakes and missteps of establishing a para-church ministry in another culture.

Bottom line

In His timing God has assembled and put into motion all the necessary elements – people, passion, vision, approach, and specialized ministry materials – to present an in-progress, doable plan to reach an overlooked segment of the Latin American population – the upper-middle and upper classes.