Barbour churches reach Hispanics

The first time Gabriel, a Hispanic man who lives in Louisville in Barbour County, was asked if he wanted to know about Jesus, he said he wasn’t interested. 
   
Months later, however, he showed up on the doorstep of Jeannett Macias, the Hispanic missionary for Barbour Baptist Association, and said he was ready to learn about Jesus.
   
“He and his family had been through a very difficult time,” said Macias, who is originally from Nicaragua. “Now, they are open to study the Bible.”
   
Macias has worked with the Hispanic community in Louisville since January 2004. 
   
She spends a lot of time meeting the needs of people — from accompanying them to the doctor to tutoring the children.
   
“Many doctors won’t see Hispanic patients without a translator,” she said. “A lot of women can’t drive or don’t have transportation so I help them.”
   
Macias said she does a fair amount of counseling, too.
   
“A lot of people know me and call me,” she said. “I listen to their problems and visit with them.”
   
Macias has also started four Bible studies that meet in various Hispanic homes.
   
“Once they get to know me, I ask if they would like to learn about Jesus,” she said. 
   
“Whole families are meeting at these Bible studies and people have received Jesus.”
   
Barbour Association owns the Emmanuel Mission, a building in Louisville where a Hispanic service is held each Sunday and English as a Second Language classes are taught weekly.
   
Louisville has a rapidly growing Hispanic population, and the association realized that this was a group that needed to be reached, according to R C Belcher, director of missions for Barbour Association.
   
“We had been praying for years that God would send somebody to work with the Hispanics here,” Belcher said. 
   
“The Lord has been working in a wonderful way through her and she’s doing an outstanding job,” he said.
   
Volunteers from churches in the association teach the English classes, help with tutoring children and the Sunday services, but Macias said she has more than she can handle. 
   
“We need more people to help,” she said. “Churches need to see that this is a missions field God has brought to us.”
   
Macias received her bachelor’s degree in Christian Ministry from Leavell College of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. 
   
A friend of hers from school came to serve as pastor of a church in Louisville and told her about the need for a Hispanic missionary there.
   
“I had been praying about where God wanted me to serve and go after I graduated,” she said. 
   
“I took this as an answer to prayer.”