Marshall Hispanic group inaugurates new building

Just five years ago, Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana was a preaching point in Marshall County. But in December 2000 it inaugurated its new church building in Albertville.
   
Kenneth Munn, a member and treasurer of the Hispanic church, estimated that 200 people — Hispanics and Anglos representing different denominations — attended the Dec. 3 inauguration.
   
Richard Alford, an associate in the associational and cooperative missions office of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM), spoke at the inauguration, which was conducted primarily in Spanish. English translation was provided for the Anglos in attendance, with the exception of Alford’s address, which was translated into Spanish.
   
The ceremony marked the Hispanic congregation’s growth from a preaching point to a church meeting at another church, to a church in a mobile chapel, to a church in its very own building.
   
The new building is about 95 percent complete, Munn said. The approximate 7,500 square feet in the structure is divided into a 2,500-square-foot sanctuary that will accommodate 300-plus and a 5,000-square-foot educational area.
   
To this point, construction has cost $115,000, he said. “Almost all of the funding has come from three different families who saw the need” for a church for the Hispanic community. “The Lord has provided.”
   
When it was a preaching point, the congregation had 15-20 members, Munn said. Now, it boasts as many as 40. “We usually have in attendance somewhere in the 30s.”
   
The current pastor is Saul Cruz, who also serves as pastor of Iglesia Bautista Cristo Viene in nearby Boaz.
   
Munn explained that Sunday School meets in the Albertville location, followed by morning worship at the Boaz church. At 5 p.m., services are held in Albertville.
   
The congregation envisions many opportunities for ministries within the new building in Albertville, reported Munn. Among them would be English As a Second Language (ESL) classes, health fairs focusing on prenatal care and diabetes, a mission site for a medical clinic, food distribution, a clothes closet and Spanish classes for Anglos and Hispanic children who haven’t yet learned to read or write in the language.
   
“We want it to be full-time use,” Munn said of the new building.
   
“There are other needs,” he said, explaining that several ministries  such as citizenship classes, driver education in Spanish and assistance completing tax returns may come about later on.
   
Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana began in January 1995 as a preaching point. The next month, members voted to form a church. For the first few months, it met at Chapel Hill Baptist Church in Albertville, which provided space for the ministry. In July 1996, the Hispanic congregation secured a mobile chapel from the SBOM. The mobile unit — and the new building — were situated on donated property at 900 Kilpatrick Road in Albertville.
   
Even before the preaching point was established, Munn — who had observed a growing population of Hispanics in the area — had been praying for a ministry to be started.
   
He said James Nelson, a former director of missions for Marshall Baptist Association, was instrumental in getting the ministry established. Nelson was able to find a pastor — Ramon Campos — to work initially with the ministry.
   
Munn, who had been considering going to an overseas missions field, said he came to realize that the missions field was right in Marshall County. His wife, Melinda, also works with this Hispanic ministry, as does Lisa
   
Nesmith of First Baptist Church, Albertville. Nesmith works with 28 children between the ages of 4 and 12 in the Hispanic congregation.
   
The Hispanic people, he said, do not have a hardness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. So often, when Hispanic people hear for the first time that Jesus died to pay the price for all their wrongdoings, they’ll respond by asking Christ to come into their heart and be their Savior.
   
“Most of our folks are very new in the faith,” Munn said of the Hispanic congregation. For that reason, as it is with any new believer, discipleship becomes the need.
   
It is difficult to formulate figures on how much the Hispanic population is growing in Alabama and nearby states. Yet, it is a trend that Christian churches must take to heart.