Oscar Romo, ethnic ministry pioneer, dies

ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Oscar I. Romo, a pioneer in ethnic evangelism and church planting for the Home Mission Board (now the North American Mission Board, NAMB), died Jan. 16 of pneumonia related to Parkinson’s disease.

A memorial service for Romo, who was two weeks shy of his 80th birthday, was held at Johns Creek Baptist Church, Alpharetta, Ga., Jan. 19.

Two years ago, during the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio, Romo was honored by Hispanic Southern Baptists for his nearly 50 years of strategy development and work with ethnic groups, dating back to his first pastorate in 1948 until his retirement from the mission board in 1995.

NAMB’s David Terry, who worked as an assistant to Romo for nine years back in the 1980s, said, “He was quite a visionary.

“He understood the changing nature of the United States and North America and had an awareness of not only the Hispanic culture but the cultures of Eastern Europe, Asia and the Caribbean countries. He believed you had to strategically prepare and plan ahead and cultivate relationships.”