with Langham Global Coordinator for Preaching Groups Development Dionisio Orjuela
“Without [the Escuelitas (preaching clubs)], Langham preaching becomes nothing more than preaching events. The preaching groups help make it truly a preaching movement.”
Dionisio Orjuela is the newly appointed Langham Global Coordinator for Preaching Groups Development. He lives and works in his home country of Colombia.
Dionisio grew up in an evangelical Christian home. His parents became followers of Christ when he was five years old, after hearing the gospel at a Luis Palau crusade in his hometown – Ibagué, Colombia.
Dionisio shares, “At that age I began to attend the church. However, it was only when I was fourteen that I consciously received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. This happened in the local church in which now I am its pastor.”
Invited as a partner in preaching ministry
It was 25 years ago that Dionisio first heard about Langham Partnership.
He reflects, “Jorge Atiencia, inspired by John Stott, invited me to be part of a group of pastors who became the first escuelitas (preaching clubs) coordinators. Then through Igor Améstegui, our continental director for Latin America, we got to know about Langham Preaching.”
After some time these two common ministries merged, and Dionisio was invited to be the national coordinator of the merged ministry called Langham Escuelitas Colombia.
Growth in ministry and responsibility
By the grace of God, this and the broader Langham Preaching ministry has grown. Dionisio reflects, “This ministry has been established in 10 [Latin American] nations, with only 2 missing to reach the entire region.”
In 2024 Paul Windsor, Director of Langham Preaching, invited Dionisio to take on a new role. He says, “I received a generous invitation to be the Global Coordinator for Preaching Groups Development in the Langham preaching family, starting July 2024.”
Dionisio has a particular passion for preaching group development, having seen it work powerfully in Latin America.
He shares, “Based on the experience in Latin America, for more than 20 years, we have discovered that one of the pillars to sustain, maintain and grow a preaching movement are the Escuelitas (preaching clubs). Without them, Langham preaching becomes nothing more than preaching events. The preaching groups help make it truly a preaching movement.”
Alongside his work with Langham, Dionisio is also the leading pastor of his church “La Comunidad Cristiana Shalom”, a local church of approximately 700 members, established 55 years ago in the city of Ibagué, Colombia. He has been part of its pastoral team for more than 30 years. He has also been a professor of different biblical institutes and theological seminaries.
Better preaching and faithful preachers
After more than 11 years of doing ministry with Langham Partnership in Colombia and Central America, it is extremely gratifying for Dionisio to see how God has and is working through his peers and the preaching participants! He has seen the fruits of pastors and leaders who are growing in Christ’s likeness, as they preach more faithfully to the Bible, more relevantly to their context and more clearly in communication.
Dionisio shares, “Personally speaking Langham Preaching has helped me to be a better preacher. I am preaching shorter messages, in which I make a loving effort to combine depth and simplicity, connecting theological truths with the needs of the audience and communicating them in such a way that they are not forgotten.
As a pastor, Langham has helped me to build a team of collaborators who have been trained in escuelitas and are the people who share the pastoral and preaching ministry with me. They are the ones who preach when I am out of town preaching or facilitating workshops at our events.”
Navigating challenging context
The need for well-trained preachers is great throughout Central America. While the region has the highest percentage of evangelical Christians on paper, the actions of people and conditions of life don’t reflect a life lived in response to the grace of Jesus.
Dionisio says, “In many churches, pastors are preaching fashionable theologies such as prosperity gospel, apostolic and prophetic movement, just the preacher’s opinions, simply motivational messages, and in the worst cases heresies born from lack of a healthy biblical interpretation.”
In Latin America, 32% of the total population live in poverty, and 13% are in extreme poverty. This statistic is reflected in people’s faces, especially in countries like Honduras, Nicaragua, and Cuba. There are families who survive on a dollar a day for example. This makes messages like the prosperity gospel popular, although since it doesn’t live up to its promise, it causes further issues and can drive people away from the true gospel.
Dionisio explains, “Many pastors and leaders who participate in our preaching movements minister in and are part of those contexts. Most of them would never have the opportunity to go to a theological seminary or Bible institute to receive training as preachers.”
The hope of Dionisio is that the Langham Preaching ministry might have a continued powerful overflow effect in his region. He shares, “A lot of blood has flowed through the valleys, mountains and roads of Latin America, as the result of political violence, drug trafficking, crime and social injustice. Through ministries like Langham Preaching, we hope that instead of rivers of blood and drugs, the blessed Word of God may spread, bringing true healing to our nations.”
Of his new role as Global Coordinator for Preaching Groups, Dionisio says, “My commitment and my dream in my new role is to inspire, support and accompany the national and continental teams. So that each preaching movement in the nations where they already exist and in those where they are going to be established, initiates, maintains and strengthens the ministry of preaching groups, which in turn, nourish and strengthen the preaching movements, all of this so that just as the apostle Paul longed for: “… the word of the Lord may spread and be glorified, just as it was among you.” (2 Thes. 3.1)”