news article
From the Advocate: Hispanic/Latino church planters ‘connect like family’
March 1, 2016 / By Jose Rodriguez
Click below to read the full Advocate online.
I am a church planter who helps Hispanic pastors start new churches on American soil.
Before coming to the United States to work with Hispanic church planters, I spent 12 years starting new churches in Cuba. Church planters in Cuba never work in isolation. Established congregations are expected to be continually planting new faith communities. When I came to the U.S., I lived and worked for two years without my family nearby. I am happy to say that I was recently joined by my wife, Judy, our 17-year-old daughter, Ruth, and our 10-year-old son, Gabriel, who arrived in the U.S. on Aug. 22, 2015.
This is very personal work. Hispanic/Latino church planters often work with people who have never known faith before. It is important to be patient. You have to take the time to get to know people. Our job is to show them God’s love through how we live our lives, and this takes time.
To start a church anywhere is hard work. One of hardest things in starting a new Hispanic church is connecting with busy people who do not have a good job or salary and have to work extra hours. People do not have routines established. Often, they are waiting for you to call them, you have to invite them to events, and that means you have to remember them and keep them in mind.
Casa de Dios United Methodist Church in Solvay/Syracuse is a Hispanic ministry, which is more like a family for people, sharing time, resources, and emotional support. Many of our members have left their families behind when they came to the U.S. As you can imagine, they miss their families terribly. The planting team at Casa de Dios tries to be their other family and spend time with them, not just in worship, but also with brothers and sisters who are in the hospital or accompanying them to government offices when they seek services. We teach them how to drive, get a license, and get a job. We are connected together in every single aspect of life.
These Hispanic churches are growing through personal relationships – people to people. We visit members in the hospital because they don’t have family here to do that. I pray with them. For instance, recently I prayed with a single mother who was in the hospital with her 10-year-old son who had a fever. They come to church because they know that we will be there for them. It is really good to know that you are not alone.
Success stories
Almost every week, the planting team invites people to church. Many of them have never set foot inside a church before. Cuba is a Communist country where few people attend church. That means that sometimes people have to be taught how to pray in church. This is a good problem to have!
We offered car rides to two of our brothers who had no transportation to get to work. After that, we helped them buy a car, and now they are using their car to help other families that need transportation. In this way, we are empowering people to improve their own lives so they can help others to do the same.
On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we shared a meal with 55 people. Fourteen of them were visitors and six were new to the group. It was a joyous celebration. For some people, it was their first Thanksgiving meal.
Looking to the future
Here in Syracuse, Casa de Dios is interested in networking with Anglo churches in the city and suburbs. We want to continue to build bridges across cultures. Beyond that, we need help with getting jobs for the hundreds of new arrivals we expect from Cuba in the coming year.
In Rochester, the Rev. Carlos Rosa-Laguer, pastor at the Emmanuel UMC, is in the process of starting a new faith community. He and I are planning to train 12 new faith community leaders during the next year.
In the Albany area, Pastor Mariana Rodriguez, appointed at the First-Emmanuel UMC in Rensselaer, is helping a sister church that has been started in an assisted living facility. Though this new faith community is Hispanic, they are in ministry with a population that is largely non-Hispanic. Their dream is to serve everyone, of any culture.
Hispanic/Latino church planters are currently active in Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and in smaller cities and towns. We have drawn up a strategic plan for Hispanic ministries in Upper New York that calls for starting a new Hispanic church in every district in the Conference.
Our dream is to create a style of ministry that does not require many resources, yet is simple and powerful enough to reach new people through discipleship and household groups everywhere.