On January 11, New Hope Community Church in Hermiston, OR, celebrated a joyous occasion. Not just another anniversary, but the birth of their Hispanic ministry. For the Spanish-speaking community, it is a new church. For the church, it is a new segment ministry. This is how it happened.
Several years ago, Genaro Loredo asked if he and his wife, Lolita, should leave Prineville Church to birth another Spanish-speaking congregation. This would mean leaving the congregation they began eight years before. We prayed. Though the idea never died, neither did anything develop. At last, in the spring of 2003, it became evident that a “pregnancy” was in development. This process would take the normal nine months.
Occasionally, over the last decade, I had challenged Pastor David Andrus and the elders of New Hope with the opportunity to minister in their local mission field. From the beginning, we agreed on the need, but felt the timing was not right. Finally when New Hope recently terminated phase one of their building program, they were ready to consider launching a ministry to the growing Hispanic community.
Meanwhile, the Loredos sensed an urgency to birth a new ministry. When a friend asked them to share the Lord with a family member living in Hermiston, Genaro seized the opportunity to scope out the area. They sensed the Lord was finally calling them to move on and start over there. The seed of a new Spanish ministry was beginning to grow.
On August 11, 2003, I did a prenatal check up between the mother (New Hope) and the prospective church planter (Loredo). We know that more than 3,000 Hispanics live in or near Hermiston. Though there are several Hispanic ministries in the area, all are very small and none are growing. We believe that less than 5% of the Spanish-speaking community has a living faith. If this birth were to develop properly and grow to maturity, it would need to be enveloped in and protected by a host church. The existing English-language ministry must make room for people whose language and culture are different.
In August, Pastor Genaro and Lolita by faith resigned their pastorate and secular employment in Prineville to establish themselves permanently in Umatilla County. They quickly made friends at New Hope and have become active members of the congregation, including teaching a Spanish Sunday school class. A small core group was established and many contacts made.
In January we celebrated the birth-day of the Spanish language ministry with a bilingual service. Pastor Dave Andrus presented Genaro as New Hope’s (Nueva Esperanza) Spanish-language ministry leader and introduced Lolita, Pedro and Gabriel. (A third child is expected in June.) Pastor Andrus signaled his backing of Pastor Genaro by requesting that he share the Word in Spanish with the joint congregation. I translated that into English. Following the service, the new congregation celebrated over lunch.
Remember that a new language ministry, just like any newborn, begins small, fragile and dependent on the mother for protection, sustenance and love. But if the birth-day of Nueva Esperanza was any indication of its future, they’re off to an excellent beginning. Now we’re seeking other new “sisters.”
