Four Hispanics received Christ at the first Hispanic worship service held by Northside Baptist Church, Calera, in Shelby Baptist Association Oct. 1. The service, which drew 18 Hispanics and 10 Northside Baptist members, is the product of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes.
Tim Busby, director of Hispanic ministries for the church, and Hispanic co-worker Phillipe Angel, who is bilingual, have led the ESL classes and Bible studies for about a year. Busby began his missions work in the early 1980s by going to Costa Rica for Spanish language school. He and his family served as missionaries in Venezuela for five years before pursuing a migrant ministry in Georgia. He has been at Northside for about two years. “When I first came to Northside, our pastor (Joe Sizemore) and I were talking about how much we needed a Hispanic ministry,” Busby said. “I began to visit and hold Bible study. I had several families promise to come, but to make the effort a success, we needed a native speaker.”
Busby, who also works in pest control, said through his job, he met Angel, who expressed an interest in starting a partnership of ministry. Classes started on Sunday mornings, Sunday afternoons and Wednesdays, and the Sunday afternoon class gave way to the worship service.
Busby said the crowd for the classes grew from one or two people to around 10 during the year. The classes cover secular English and Bible study in English and Spanish. Busby said a lot of single people have been reached and the classes have even drawn some Hispanics from other areas.
Services are Sundays at 6:30 p.m. in Northside’s worship center.
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