A first-generation Cuban couple living in the U.S. decided to leave the American dream for God’s calling to serve among an indigenous people group in Colombia. Their church, whose members are primarily first-generation, rallied behind them as partners in the Great Commission.
The couple’s pastor, Yoslier Brache, recalls the conversation he had with them.
“I didn’t come to this country to pursue the American dream, or to prosper. I came to this country to reaffirm my call to missions and to find ways to go,” Elian Álvarez told Brache. Álvarez and his wife, Aletha, are in the process of serving with the International Mission Board.
The couple left a country once known for volatility to serve among an indigenous people group situated in an area under the watch of two infamous paramilitary groups.
When the Álvarezes first arrived in the U.S., they began attending Iglesia Bautista Peniel in Ocala, Florida. The church is an immigrant church, and most, if not all, are first-generation Latinos. Cubans comprise the majority; other members include Puerto Ricans, Nicaraguans, Salvadorans, Colombians and Mexicans.
The couple told Brache, who is Cuban, about their calling to the nations. They began praying together. Even though he’d just met them, Brache quickly confirmed there was a strong calling on their lives.
Brache connected Elian and Aletha with Emmanuel Roque, the Hispanic church catalyst for the Florida Baptist Convention, setting the trajectory for their connection with the IMB. Roque connected the couple with Annel Robayna, the IMB’s Hispanic church mobilization strategist, who helped the couple navigate the missionary application process and provided training for the church.
One of the first things Robayna does with Hispanic churches that are new to partnering with the IMB is give an overview of the foundations of the missionary task and information on how to connect with the IMB and how the IMB works in various places around the globe. He presents needs on the mission field and shares that everyone has a place on the mission field and how to begin serving.
A church on mission
Two years ago, Brache and members of Iglesia Bautista Peniel had a vision to get involved in international missions. Brache started preaching from the book of Acts, verse by verse, to help the congregation live on mission in their community and the nations. The church caught the missionary vision. Now, two years later, the church will send its first missionaries.
They pray as a church from 6 to 7 p.m. every Monday through Friday. For the last 10 minutes, Elian shares about a people group, and they end their time praying for the group.
Once Elian and Aletha were approved to serve with the IMB, the church called the couple to the front of the church and told them, “You are our missionaries now, and we’re commissioning you to the nations.”
The congregation rose, applauded and gathered around the couple to pray over them.
Brache said it was a beautiful scene and powerful to see the church embrace and adopt the biblical perspective of the authority given to the local church to send missionaries from their pews.
Iglesia Bautista Peniel committed to praying and making yearly trips to minister alongside the couple. The church made its first trip this year.
Fearing no evil in the valley of the shadow of death
Brache said their trip was exciting and full of expectations. The team was thrilled to see the area where their missionaries will serve. The Lord provided many opportunities to share the gospel with people from the Indigenous tribe and Colombians.
Brache admitted that while there was excitement, there was also some fear. They knew they could be putting themselves in harm’s way, and especially as foreigners, draw attention.
On a rural road, the team found themselves surrounded by 20 motorcycles. Cartel members grilled them on who they were and why they were there. Brache said it was obvious from their questions and knowledge of their whereabouts they’d been tailed.
“We went with the power of God, and we know that He protects us, but we also know that it is a very dangerous place where we were,” Brache said.
Brache said danger and risk-taking are not hindrances to church members committing to travel to Colombia. His congregation took risks in traveling to the U.S. to start over and build a life and livelihood in the U.S.
“The fact that we are immigrants, we are prepared to work, to take risks, to not have so many conditions to serve God, because in our countries, we never had great resources, and yet we surrendered to God,” Brache said. “So, mobilizing the first generation to go to a place of danger, or to sleep in an uncomfortable place, or to go through a bit of need, is not a problem. People are willing to do it.”
However, he said many in his congregation work long hours to provide for their families, so asking them to stop earning money for a week to go on a mission trip presents a financial challenge. But it’s a sacrifice many have readily made.
Cost of gospel access
After the volunteer team left, the brother of their translator, Simon, was killed by one of the paramilitary groups.
Simon is also a local missionary. There is a cost to gospel access, and Brache said he was moved by Simon’s willingness to serve even with very real danger.
Brache said meeting and hearing the testimony of a missionary in the modern age who is willing to die for the sake of the gospel was the most impactful part of the trip.
Ideal partners
Last year, Iglesia Bautista Peniel dedicated March as a missions emphasis month.
Robayna led the church through a training that walks through the steps of the missionary task.
He said Iglesia Bautista Peniel is an ideal example of a Latino church partnering with the IMB.
“It’s our goal, our dream, that all of our Hispanic churches become sending churches and send out the called,” Robayna said. “By missionaries taking the step of faith, of applying and going through the process, and the church supporting their missionaries, having a mission emphasis in their church and a pastor who is biblical and preaches through the book of Acts and encourages the congregation to be in mission from the pulpit, all of this in combination, they are the ideal partners.”
Brache desires to continue enlarging their missions’ vision. Iglesia Bautista Peniel would love to join others who are going overseas because just as they’re sending this couple to Colombia, they hope that in the future, they can send other church members to serve.
For more information, email info@imb.org.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Tessa Sanchez and originally published by the International Mission Board.
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