Miguel Montenegro teaching BTCP to HFC leaders.
Four Hispanic for Christ leaders completed training this month in Sacramento for the Bible Training Center for Pastors course material. This is exciting because it allows us to offer formal, academic pastoral education in addition to our “as needed” training materials we have been using.Our leadership training is now full service from an apprenticeship model to formal classroom setting.
By this Fall we plan to begin offering the first of ten classes that will lead to a certificate issued by BTCP for those pastors who complete the entire course. Tony Campos will teach in Sacramento first. We look to be able to offer the courses in Portland, and Queretaro, Mexico by year end.
HFC team at Sacramento training.
pastor Ricardo baptizes Mario on Palm Sunday.
On Palm Sunday Eastside Community Church in Chicago celebrated two baptisms among the Hispanic congregation. Pastor Ricardo Ayala (HFC Field Coordinator) baptized Mario and Rosa in the evening service demonstrating the fruitful ministry of Eastside as they reach out to Hispanics.
They are also actively working to birth new Hispanic groups on Glen Ellen and Naperville.
Pastor Ricardo with Rosa.
Pastor Pablo and some of his leaders.
Pastor Juan Tun gathered the churches from Merida, Carrillo Puerto and Yaxley together in the village of Quintana to celebrate the 4th anniversary of Iglesia Bautista Ixoye. Pastor Pablo Borges planted this church four years ago with help from Vivos en Cristo in Portland Oregon and Hispanics for Christ.
More than 50 people came from the churches to celebrate and over 100 joined them from the village. They played soccer, basketball, worshiped and enjoyed a dinner together on their property where they are building their new church building. Pastor Fausto Ek May from Yaxley delivered a message and Pastor Pablo and his team led worship.
This July Randy Schmor will be bringing a Gateway team from Hillcrest Baptist Church in Sultan, WA to work with Juan and the church in Merida to help establish a new church in the village of Huhi, outside Merida
Youth eating at the celebration in Quintana.
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Prescott Valley meeting place.
We have begun planning and praying for a new group of churches in the Prescott area of Arizona. Pastor Luis Jimenez is working with us to plant five new Hispanic churches in Prescott, Prescott valley, Chino Valley, Mayer and Dewey-Humbolt. The first group is already meeting in Prescott Valley in Pastor Luis’ home. They will be moving into a warehouse building strategically located right on the main highway through Prescott Valley into Prescott. Last week they began identifying potential “persons of peace” through their existing social networks into the other communities.Pastor Luis has a vision for new churches as far north as Flagstaff and down south to Tucson!
Pastor Luis is also traveling to the Yucatan in Mexico soon and has already begun to network with Pastor Tun, our Field Coordinator there, to reach his families in Cancun and Carrillo Puerto. This is not only a new movement in Arizona but an extension of our work in Southeastern Mexico.
On March 27/28 the churches HFC is working with in the Yucatan will be gathering in the village of Quintana to celebrate the choosing of a name for this church. Pastor Pablo Borges and the members of his church has selected Iglesia
Pastor Pablo Borges and family in Quintana.
Bautista IXOYE as their name and sister churches from Merida, Huhi, Felippe Carrillo Puerto and as far away as Chetumal will be joining them to celebrate.
Juan Tun, our Field Coordinator in the Yucatan, has been encouraging these pastors, helping them to work together and planting a vision for church multiplication that is now bearing fruit. The Yucatan Peninsula is a region lacking evangelical churches and facing a serious shortage of pastors to serve there.
