Hispanic ministry coalition celebrates milestones

A feeling of brotherhood and fellowship filled the air as laughter and “Amens” in English and Spanish were exchanged during the recent meeting of the North Alabama Baptist Hispanic Ministry Coalition.
   
Associational leaders, Hispanic pastors and missionaries and their families gathered at the Marshall Baptist Association Baptist Retreat Center Jan. 28 to share encouraging words and reports of Hispanic ministry in north Alabama.
   
Made up of 14 associations in north Alabama, the coalition seeks to encourage and develop Hispanic ministries in the area, said Robert Fullerton, director of missions for Limestone Baptist Association. The coalition’s members are Cherokee, DeKalb, East Cullman, Etowah, Friendship, Limestone, Lookout Mountain, Madison, Marshall, Morgan, Sand Mountain, St. Clair, Tennessee River and West Cullman Baptist associations. 
   
Many of the members have Hispanic ministries of their own, but all support the Baptist Bible Institute, affiliated with the Baptist University of the Américas in San Antonio. Planning for the institute began in 2003, and in 2005, the school held its first full year of classes, reported Ed Ables, the North American Mission Board catalytic missionary who works with the coalition.
   
“It was a year of learning for me as well as the students,” Ables said. It was an encouragement for him when, at the end of the spring semester, the students insisted on holding classes during the summer. “We’ve laid a good foundation,” he said.
   
The institute, which holds classes on Saturdays in Guntersville, is open to Hispanic pastors as well as church members wishing to increase their Bible knowledge and become better lay leaders. Last year, three students earned the certificate in Bible study.
   
One of these, Cesar Ruben Garcìa, said he attended the institute to become a better leader in his church, Primera Bautista Iglesia Hispana Etowah. Sponsored by Etowah Association,  members of the church are members of East Gadsden Baptist Church, Gadsden.
   
With his pastor, Mario Saenz, translating, Garcìa said, “It has helped me to go deeper in my preparation and knowledge of God’s Word. I feel that I’m preparing to go and share the gospel with others.”
   
Saenz is also the Hispanic missionary for Etowah Association.
   
Ables said students are also able to attend the Baptist University of the Américas for further study. One student, José Manuel Moreno, is planning to do that this fall, after taking more classes at the institute this spring.
   
Spring classes began Feb. 4, Ables said, noting that students may enroll until Feb. 18. This semester, classes for both the certificate in Bible studies level and the next level — diploma in church ministries — are offered.
   
As the other Hispanic leaders shared about their ministries, they expressed hope that the work would continue to grow. 
   
“In all this, we never lose sight of our principle focus here, and that is that people need Jesus,” said Raul Tovar, pastor of Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana that is part of First Baptist Church, Athens, in Limestone Association. “No matter the ministry, the main thing is that God’s Word is there.”