Contact: Paola Segnini, 479-431-6401

CLARKSVILLE, Ark., Aug. 21 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Inter-American Missiology Ministerial School (IMMS) opened this month in Chota, Peru, a remote locale known only for its proximity to the Amazon jungle and pre-Incan ruins. The 13 students enrolled in the Institute's inaugural class are the start of a movement toward national/native missionaries and away from the traditional Anglo foreign missionary in Latin America.

"The Christian movement has sufficiently matured in Latin America so that we can prepare our own peoples as missionaries," says Pastor Narciso Zamora, IMMS founder and a Peruvian missionary for more than 30 years to his own country, Ecuador and Chile . Thanks to the support and direction of developed countries over the last two centuries, many thousands of evangelical churches with professional ministers and lay persons now exist. Prior to 1950, evangelical Christians were scarce in Latin American. Today, 20 percent of Latin Americans are born-again Christians and almost every country is experiencing phenomenal growth year after year.

Now the question emerges: Is sending foreign missionaries to Latin America still the most efficient and effective way to fulfill the Great Commission in that region? "Nationals have a distinct advantage in the mission field in that they are intimately familiar with the culture and language, something foreign missionaries may struggle with for years," says Zamora.

In a recent U.S. tour to promote his new book Walking Man: A Modern Missions Experience in Latin America (©2008 The Quilldriver), Zamora asserted that mission-minded Americans are valuable in short-term projects under the direction of national leadership, and the American mission dollar reaches more people if spent supporting national missionaries rather than sending long-term foreign missionaries. He noted the need for foreign missionaries in Arab and Far Eastern countries and the stagnant state of the church in the United States, suggests that Americans wishing to serve in missions are desperately needed at home and in nations hostile to Christianity.

"The role of American support in worldwide missions is important," says Zamora. "I have partnered with many American churches and hope to continue to do so. Nonetheless, the Great Commission applies equally to Latin Americans, and I started the IMMS to prepare nationals to fulfill it, effectively and efficiently. We must be good stewards of God's resources."

For more information on IMMS and Walking Man: A Modern Missions Experience in Latin America, visit www.walkingman.ws.