Like Paul and Barnabas, pairs of women scattered last week to reach internationals for Christ in a place foreign to them — Alabama.
Twenty-one women from Venezuela, mostly pastors’ wives and ministry directors, worked with Hispanic churches across the state June 23–July 1 in an effort to allow more of Alabama’s Spanish-speaking community to become involved in Hispanic Baptist churches. The women traveled to five locations working with Vacation Bible School (VBS), women’s conferences, surveying and evangelism.
Though women from Alabama’s Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) have traveled to help Venezuela’s WMU nine times since 1999, this week marks the first time since the partnership between the two organizations began that Venezuelan women have traveled to work in Alabama.
“I believe the Hispanic ministry in Alabama will grow by leaps and bounds as a result of this missions trip,” said Melissa Bowen, Alabama WMU consultant to adults. “Spanish-speaking women are very needed to minister effectively to our Hispanic population here.”
James Gentry Sr., who has traveled nine times to Venezuela on medical missions trips, said just as the promise of American medical attention draws people in to hear the gospel in Venezuela, the promise of Venezuelan women communicating in their native language draws Alabama’s Hispanics.
“If you’re not from the same culture, it’s harder to reach them,” Gentry said.
Gentry said five Hispanic women came to
talk with the two Venezuelan women working at Pickens Association the first night they were there, and of those five, two received Christ.
“Their being here is going to benefit Alabama Baptists and the Hispanic ministry by being a catalyst to change things and get better attendance and a stronger church,” Gentry said.
“It was a worthwhile trip for them if just for those two that received Christ as Savior,” he said, “but I expect the same experience is happening all over Alabama where those ladies are going out.”
Carlos Lemus, pastor of Mission Bautista in Chilton Association, said the first two days the four women were there, they led eight Hispanics to salvation while conducting surveys in Autauga County.
Better understanding
Lemus said the Venezuelan women know how to effectively share despite the challenge of the strong Catholic background of the Hispanics in Alabama.
“They’re Hispanics understanding other Hispanics,” Lemus said. “They used to be Catholic and understand the way of thinking of the Hispanics who are living here. It makes it easy for them to share how they became Christians.”
Larry Felkins, director of missions for Chilton Association, said having the Venezuelan women visit Alabama was also a good way to strengthen the ties between the two countries.
“Because of our partnership with Venezuela, it’s a good opportunity to build a fellowship between the two countries and the two Baptist conventions,” he said.
He added that in Chilton, the women have visited with the local Hispanic congregation, knocked on doors to promote the association’s Hispanic ministries and visited with workers in the association’s international ministries team.
“[We’re] showing them southern hospitality … [and] giving them a taste of our local Chilton County culinary delights,” Felkins said of the cookouts and dinners held to welcome the women.
The seven women serving in Calhoun Association had planned to do VBS, but God had other plans, said Shelby Parris, associational WMU director for Calhoun.
While on a missions trip to Mexico last week, the Hispanic pastor in the area resigned, and the church members scattered.
“The first day we didn’t have any kids because the fliers hadn’t been put up, so the second day we went out visiting door-to-door and had five adults make professions of faith,” Parris said. “That’s not what we had planned, but God taught us to be flexible. It worked out well. The witnessing and working in the community has been fabulous, and we’ve been working on a prospect list to build the little church back up.”
Parris said the women were so committed to the cause of sharing Christ with Alabama’s Hispanics they all decided to stay even after one woman found out her mother was near death.
“They just prayed and said they trusted the Lord to care for her until she got back,” Parris said.
One of the Venezuelan women, Oneida Oeiedo, called her trip to Alabama “a beautiful gift from God for us.”
Ed Ables, catalytic missionary for the North Alabama Baptist Hispanic Coalition, said three Venezuelan women in Marshall Association are making major headway reaching Spanish-speaking parents through their English-speaking children. Twenty-five Hispanic children from an all-Spanish trailer park in Abbeville attended the women’s first VBS.
“It’s doing well, even just getting started, and the kids are responding to it,” Ables said. “It’s also a really big encouragement to the adult Hispanics here who are believers knowing they have sisters in Venezuela willing to come here and help them — it’s all part of the bigger thing.”
Alabama’s WMU has worked to provide the women with tracts, Bibles, office equipment and other items not readily available in Venezuela to take back with them for use in ministry there. One woman was also presented with a special walker to take back to her disabled 7-year-old son.
In addition to the Hispanic community ministry, the women also have visited and experienced some of the Baptist work in Alabama, such as Shocco Springs Baptist Conference Center in Talladega, the Alabama WMU headquarters in Montgomery and the Governor’s Mansion.
Seven of the women attended WorldSong, Alabama WMU’s camp and retreat center, and sang a capella for the congregation at one point in the program.
“They love to sing, and they love to witness. It’s just been a joy,” Parris said.
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