I’m coming soon to start a church here," Jorge Camacho says, shaking the hand of a Spanish-speaking man he met outside an apartment complex in Hoover. "Maybe I will see you next time when I come."
Camacho doesn’t call Alabama home just yet, but in Hoover, he’s already got friends.
Called by a group of state Baptist churches to plant a Hispanic church in the Birmingham suburb, Camacho — currently a student at the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio — won’t move to Hoover until June 4. But when he visits, he’s wasting no time looking for potential church members at the apartment complexes that he sees as potential churches.
"I don’t know where we will meet — we are still looking for a place," Camacho said. "It will take a little while to figure out where to start. It may start as home Bible studies."
Ron Grizzle, pastor of Riverchase Baptist Church, Hoover, said the vision for the church plant came when his church and a group of others "felt that more was needed" to reach the growing Hispanic population in the area.
At that point, Riverchase Baptist linked with area congregations University Baptist, Montevallo; Crosscreek Baptist, Pelham; Shades Crest Baptist, Hoover; Baptist Church of the Covenant, Birmingham; Southside Baptist, Birmingham; and Vestavia Hills Baptist, Vestavia Hills. These Alabama Baptist churches partnered with Fellowship of the Valley in Hoover and other interested parties.
The project even drew attention from as far away as north Alabama as First Baptist Church, Huntsville, decided to donate toward the project.
"We like participating with other churches to start new churches, and we see the need for Hispanic churches in our state," said David Hull, pastor of First, Huntsville. "We were excited to help out."
A few meetings and $15,000 worth of pooled resources later, the group found Camacho, and he and his wife, Pueblo, began readying to move their three youngest children to Hoover and leave their 20-year-old son behind in San Antonio.
"One thing that thrills me is that there is a real energy and effervescence about them (Jorge and Pueblo)," said Grizzle, noting that Jorge Camacho, originally from Mexico, had already planted one church in San Antonio before accepting the call to Hoover.
Startup money from the fund will be used to move the family, assist with initial living expenses and purchase needed materials. A support team will be formed, led by Riverchase Baptist.
"My biggest hope is that the beginning of this new ministry in the Birmingham area will go so well that it becomes a model for … other ministries in the state," Grizzle said. "Frankly I think this is a God moment, if you will, in that He is at work bringing together a number of factors to make this ministry bloom." (TAB)
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