EFCA Eastern District | Urban/Intercultural Ministry: Hispanic Mission


	About the Foundation Church Planting Hispanic Mission Gateway CityServe		Eastern District EFCA Foundation Ministries About the Foundation \| Church Planting \| Hispanic Mission \| Gateway \| CityServe Urban/Intercultural Ministry: Hispanic Mission The purpose of ministry is to develop an Hispanic identity within the district that will reach this growing and significant population with the hope of the Gospel. The number of churches desiring to expand ministry to Hispanic populations around them grows every year. Lorenzo and Betsy Meson are the lead contact for the Mission. They function as a team, share a passion for ministry and exhibit great chemistry with the Evangelical Free Church. They were selected after several exploratory meetings which pulled together district representatives who had a heart for developing Hispanic Ministry. This included district staff, Hispanic pastors/wives and representatives from our other churches (missions pastor, pastor's wife who teaches Spanish in a college setting) and lay people from the Hispanic churches. After meeting to define our vision and strategic goals, the question was asked, "Who does God want to lead us?" The Lord simply moved the committee to look to Lorenzo and Betsy and ask if God was also speaking the same thing to them. He was and Lorenzo shared an emotional testimony of how he feels God led him to the U.S. eight years ago for such a responsibility as this. Once people know there is a point person there for them, the network of relationships expands. This has happened with the Hispanic pastors in our district and those outside of our district. For example, recently, the Hispanic pastors in our district held their first day of prayer. It was attended by ten leaders. One of them was a Hispanic pastor who shares a facility with one of our EFC pastors. Through this day of prayer, he has been drawn closer to affiliating with the EFCA and he also gave the name of another independent Hispanic pastor in VA who might also be interested. The Hispanic pastors are developing a sense of "family", very important in the Hispanic culture. The Hispanic Mission is focusing its energies on four strategic initiatives at present: Developing an annual Hispanic Celebration Event that allows churches to experience Hispanic and Anglo worship, hear a sermon by a Hispanic Pastor, attend workshops dealing with a variety of topics and, of course, sample Hispanic cuisine and fellowship. Church planting and training: Marcos Solt is our Hispanic Gateway director and does a great job teaching our pastors and future pastors. Lorenzo and Betsy work with our District Leadership Team and Peter Johnson in assessing and developing potential church plants in our district. Communication: We are developing a Hispanic Mission website for the telling of the stories of what is happening among Hispanic ministry throughout our district. Working with churches who wish to get involved in partnering opportunities. Dave Gehret from CityServe encourages our district churches to see if they can participate in work camp projects to come alongside our Hispanic churches in meaningful ways. We also encourage our Anglo churches to develop a "church within a church" Hispanic Ministry where appropriate. God has blessed our district through the Eastern District EFCA Foundation with a wonderful beginning to Hispanic ministry. We now have a wonderful core of Hispanic pastors and leaders that we believe are being used of God to share the good news of the Gospel with these precious people that God loves so much. Click here to visit the Hispanic Ministries website! Make a Donation We trust that you will join us in thanking and praising God for His provision of this wonderful foundation. And we trust that you will join us in supporting our Foundation in prayer and with a financial contribution. Please note that all money received, no matter how large or how small, will be used exclusively to share the Gospel through district church planting and through district urban and intercultural ministry. To make a tax-deductible financial contribution to the Eastern District EFCA Foundation Ministries, please select an amount and click "continue".