What Is the Opportunity?

A new reformation is dawning in the Spanish-speaking church. From the south in Chile to the north in Mexico, and throughout the Caribbean, the historic Christian faith is spreading now more than ever. More than four hundred million people speak Spanish, so this represents a significant opportunity.

While there are significant variations from country to country, approximately 69 percent of adults in Latin America identify as Roman Catholic.¹ Some 84 percent of adults say they were raised Roman Catholic. But more people are embracing the truth of the gospel. God is raising up gospel preachers in their native lands, and hundreds of men are following their example and flocking to the ministry. In cities where there were once few believers, now congregations of thousands of people are gathering every week to sit under expository, biblical preaching.

Many of these Latin American leaders, such as Miguel Núñez, Sugel Michelén, Otto Sánchez, Salvador Gómez, and others, have been influenced by the teaching of R.C. Sproul and are now themselves spreading the doctrines of grace with an emphasis on the holiness of God.

Today, 19 percent of adults in Latin America identify as Protestant, even though only 9 percent of Latin Americans were raised in Protestant churches.² However, the prosperity “gospel” is making deep inroads, leading many people into empty promises of worldly success. Research shows that a majority of Protestants in every Latin American country say that God will grant wealth and good health to believers who have enough faith, from 59 percent in Chile to 91 percent in Venezuela.³

In Spain, about 71 percent of the population identifies as Roman Catholic, but the influence of secularism is widespread. Only 0.25 percent of Spaniards identify as Protestant (about 120,000 people). The largest minority religion is Islam. There are about 1.5 million Muslims in Spain.⁴

How Is Ligonier Meeting These Needs?

We strive to reach Spanish-speaking pastors, laypeople, and unbelievers from all walks of life through the following outreach efforts:

The Reformation Study Bible

Our Reformation Study Bible helps to deepen Christians’ study of God’s Word. As with the English edition, the Spanish Reformation Study Bible has more than 1.1 million words of verse-by-verse commentary and topical explanations, maps and visual aids, trusted contributions from seventy-five distinguished scholars, theological summaries from R.C. Sproul, and nearly two thousand years of creeds, confessions, and catechisms. As R.C. Sproul said, “The light of the Reformation was the light of the Bible.” The same is true today.

La Biblia de Estudio de La Reforma, the Spanish edition of this renowned work, was released on September 1st, 2020. Many pastors in Latin America lack formal theological education and prepare their sermons without the commentaries and other resources so prevalent in the United States. Ligonier, with the help of generous supporters and partner churches, distributed over 16,000 Bibles to pastors and church leaders in Spanish-speaking countries by September 2022.

Testimony from Latin America:

The Reformation Study Bible has been very useful for my life and ministry, as it contains, in addition to the Word of God itself, commentaries, useful references that help me to save time and be more effective in Bible studies, preaching, sermons. Furthermore, it is useful because it carries with it our historical heritage stemming from the Reformation itself and now we have it all in one volume, which is a great blessing. So, we thank the brethren who have made it possible for us to have this tool in our hands.

-Pastor Ulises, Cuba

Renewing Your Mind in Spanish

Along with Ligonier’s Spanish website, Renovando Tu Mente launched globally in March 2018. Renovando Tu Mente airs weekly in over 220 radio stations and on all digital platforms. The radio broadcast and internet podcast are reaching Spanish-speaking Christians in their native language. Like its counterpart in English, Renovando Tu Mente instructs listeners in the life-changing truths of historic Christianity.

The Ligonier Statement on Christology

Confusion abounds regarding Christology—the doctrine of Christ—in Latin America and around the world. As the church continues to grow, it is imperative that believers learn the truths of Scripture as summarized in the great confessions of faith. We produced The Word Made Flesh: The Ligonier Statement on Christology to help Christians know what the church has historically taught and regain clarity regarding the person and work of Christ. Our goal is to distribute this statement worldwide, and it has already been translated into numerous languages, including Spanish. A video in Spanish is available here.

Social Media

Ligonier’s dedicated Spanish-language website, Facebook page, Twitter account, and Instagram account have enabled us to reach further into Latin America.

There have been more than five hundred thousand views of our short video ¿Qué es la Reforma Protestante? (What Was the Reformation All About?), which was released online for the five hundredth anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Social media is spreading biblical truth far and wide, as the printing press did for the Reformers, and it is equipping hundreds of thousands of growing Christians throughout Latin America.

The two-minute Coram Deo video (Behold the face of God) is available in Spanish, so more people can discover what it means to be a Christian—saved by God’s grace to live humbly under His authority and joyfully for His glory. Social media is spreading biblical truth far and wide, as the printing press did for the Reformers, and it is equipping Spanish-speaking Christians everywhere.

Conferences

• Beginning in 2017, Ligonier’s National Conferences in Orlando, Fla., are live streamed in Spanish on Facebook and YouTube, reaching thousands of Spanish speakers throughout the world.
• On Reformation Day in 2020, Ligonier hosted an online event in Spanish on Romans 8. During the online event, our Spanish YouTube channel had 1,500 connections and now has more than 36,000 views.
• Ligonier continues to partner with many conferences throughout Latin America to distribute key resources.

Books

Growing interest in the Reformed faith has sparked an eagerness for more resources from R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries. Our plans include translating, printing, and distributing the following titles:

• Crucial Questions booklet series by R.C. Sproul
• Chosen by God by R.C. Sproul
• Foundations of Grace: New Testament by Steven J. Lawson
• Lessons from the Upper Room by Sinclair Ferguson
• The Barber Who Wanted to Pray by R.C. Sproul
• The Knight's Map by R.C. Sproul

Recently Published Books

• A Field Guide on False Teaching
• The Reformation Study Bible
• Are We Together?: A Protestant Analyzes Roman Catholicism by R.C. Sproul
• Five Things Every Christian Needs to Grow by R.C. Sproul
• Everyone’s a Theologian: An Introduction to Systematic Theology by R.C. Sproul
• The Holiness of God by R.C. Sproul
• Moses and the Burning Bush by R.C. Sproul
• The Prayer of the Lord by R.C. Sproul
• Surprised by Suffering: The Role of Pain and Death in the Christian Life by R.C. Sproul
• What Is Reformed Theology?: Understanding the Basics by R.C. Sproul
• The Donkey Who Carried A King by R.C. Sproul
• The Lightlings by R.C. Sproul
• The Priest with Dirty Clothes by R.C. Sproul
• The Prince’s Poison Cup by R.C. Sproul
• The Daring Mission of William Tyndale by Steven Lawson
• The Expository Genius of John Calvin by Steven Lawson
• The Gospel Focus of Charles Spurgeon by Steven Lawson
• The Heroic Boldness of Martin Luther by Steven Lawson
• By Grace Alone: How the Grace of God Amazes Me by Sinclair Ferguson
• In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel-Centered Life by Sinclair Ferguson
• A Little Book on the Christian Life by John Calvin
• Final Word: Why We Need the Bible by John MacArthur
• Good News: The Gospel of Jesus Christ by John MacArthur
• None Other: Discovering the God of the Bible by John MacArthur
• Stand Firm: Living in a Post-Christian Culture by John MacArthur
• The Masculine Mandate: God’s Calling to Men by Richard D. Phillips
• What’s so Great About the Doctrines of Grace? by Richard D. Phillips
• Growing in Holiness by R.C. Sproul
• Moment of Truth by Steven Lawson

Teaching Series

Our video teaching series help promote theological education in the Spanish-speaking world, and the accompanying study guides encourage students to interact with the material. More than twenty-five of these series have already been translated into Spanish, and we plan to make them available through YouTube in the coming months.

Recently Translated Teaching Series

• Foundations with R.C. Sproul
• The Intimate Marriage with R.C. Sproul
• Pleasing God with R.C. Sproul
• Justified by Faith Alone with R.C. Sproul
• Dealing with Difficult Problems with R.C. Sproul
• Surprised by Suffering with R.C. Sproul
• The Christmas Message with R.C. Sproul
• The Drama of Redemption with R.C. Sproul
• Dust to Glory: An Overview of the Bible with R.C. Sproul
• The Holiness of God with R.C. Sproul
• What Is Reformed Theology? with R.C. Sproul
• Chosen by God with R.C. Sproul
• Foundations of Grace: Old Testament with Steven Lawson

What Is Needed?

• Renovando Tu Mente weekly program — $76,800 USD (annually)
• Translation, production, and distribution of select Ligonier resources, including the Long Line of Godly Men Profile series, the Crucial Questions series, audio books, and more — $66,000 USD
• Digital outreach — $84,720 USD (annually)

Funding needs reflect quoted estimates based on September 2022 foreign exchange rates and current translation fees.

How Do Your Gifts Help?

These are just a few of our many international outreach projects underway. We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting our efforts through your financial gifts and prayers for the Spanish-speaking and global church. Your generosity helps us translate, print, and distribute trustworthy resources, providing countless opportunities to reach people with the truth of God’s Word. You can donate here.

Our policy is to apply gifts given toward a specific program. If we receive more contributions than can be wisely used for a given project, we apply these funds to meet other pressing needs in our outreach efforts. We are committed to stewarding all gifts wisely toward the goal of proclaiming the holiness of God to as many people as possible. Ligonier Ministries is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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¹ See http://www.pewforum.org as at May 17, 2018

² See http://www.pewforum.org as at May 17, 2018

³ See http://www.pewforum.org as at May 17, 2018

⁴ See http://www.studycountry.com as at May 17, 2018