Some years back, Humberto Medina planted a church in Louisiana, but he had the thought that one day God might move him somewhere else.
“We didn’t know where, so we were praying to go to Texas or Florida,” Medina said. “But then a friend invited me to come to Alabama, and I saw that this was a good opportunity to reach Hispanics.”
Now his new church plant in Huntsville, Iglesia Bautista Familia de Fe (Family of Faith Baptist Church), is growing — with nearly 50 attending worship each week. On Oct. 27, they celebrated their first anniversary and their seventh baptism.
“I’m so thankful for the support, because it is impossible to do alone,” Medina said.
Story of support
The story of that support began in 2020 when his friend Joshua del Risco introduced him to Dawson Memorial Baptist Church in Birmingham and their Spanish-speaking congregation, Congregación Hispana Dawson.
Those two churches had brought del Risco to serve as pastor of a new church plant, Iglesia Bautista Vida Nueva (New Life Baptist Church) in Fultondale. That partnership grew into a residency program centered on preparing Spanish-speaking pastors to plant churches around the state.
Learning and connecting
Del Risco now directs that effort, and Medina was the first one to take part in the program — he served on staff at del Risco’s church for a year before moving to Huntsville in 2023 to plant Familia de Fe.
“I was learning from him, and that was a good time to have more time with God and my family while we were waiting for the opportunity to move,” Medina said.
That time of waiting and learning also connected him with other resources and partners, such as University Baptist Church in Huntsville, which offered to host the new church plant in their facilities.
As Medina started making friends in the area and discipling people, he was able to pull them and others who were interested into a Bible study group in October 2023. In December, Familia de Fe held its first worship service.
“When I came here, I thought it might be too hard,” Medina said, noting that the influence of false gospels was pervasive in the Hispanic community. “But I prayed for God to provide people who are believers who are equipped with the word of God who can support us.”
And God has, Medina said. Dawson and del Risco have walked alongside him, as has the leadership at Madison Baptist Association and the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions. They’ve also found a ready support in their host church, which has found itself in a new season of ministry too — University Baptist Church merged with a collegiate church plant in January to become Church on the Hill.
To celebrate Familia de Fe’s anniversary, Church on the Hill gathered with them for a joint service Oct. 27.
Jon Hathcock, Madison Association associate director, was also present that day and said Medina is “genuine and kind” as well as “willing to sacrifice so much to serve God in this way.”
Robert Mullins, Madison Association executive director, said the opportunity for ministry and mission among Spanish speakers is “huge” in the Huntsville area as the population grows.
‘More churches needed’
Medina will also be partnering in the coming days with Samford University’s Ministry Training Institute to offer a course in Spanish, he noted.
“What Pastor Humberto and Familia de Fe are doing is wonderful to try to not only reach people but eventually plant churches out of their own church in the same community, because there are more churches needed here,” Mullins said.
For more information, visit dawsonchurch.org/iglesia-bautista-familia-de-fe.
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