June 18, 2001
Time for Hispanic Baptists to rise up,
proclaim gospel, evangelist says___
___NEW ORLEANS (BP))--It's time for Hispanic Baptists to rise up and proclaim the gospel in America, said evangelist Alberto Mottesi of Anaheim, Calif.
___Mottesi delivered a rousing message June 9 to a crowd of nearly 1,000 people gathered at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for the annual meeting of the National Fellowship of Hispanic Southern Baptist Churches.
___"Let history judge me, but I have the conviction that God is going to use the Hispanic peoples to cause a revival and ask this nation to come home to God," predicted Mottesi, who preaches throughout the United States and Latin America.
___"When we evaluate the mission of reaching the 40 million Hispanics in the nation according to our resources, it might be a problem," Mottesi said. "But our resources don't come from dollars or computers; our resources come from God."
___ In presenting a global vision, Mottesi said a revival is taking place in the Third World as evidenced by the more than 50,000 people he said have made decisions at recent revivals. "I cannot accept or think that the revival can be held back by the border--it must come into our country," Mottesi said.
___The crowd assembled for the National Fellowship of Hispanic Southern Baptist Churches represented more than a dozen states and nearly two dozen Latin American countries.
___The two-day event showcased a 20-member choir, Coral de la Confraternidad from First Hispanic Baptist Church, Plantation, Fla., and a 15-member youth band and choir, Primera Praise, from the First Mexican Baptist Church of Fort Worth.
___In a business session, a single motion was recommended by fellowship President Herberto Becerra to create a committee for the purpose of developing a vision and mission statement.
___Officers re-elected by acclamation for 2001-2002 include Becerra as president; Vice President Moises Rodriguez, pastor of First Mexican Baptist Church, Fort Worth; Second Vice President Cristobal Donas, pastor of White Grove Baptist Church, San Jose, Calif.; Secretary Eloy Rodriguez, pastor of Parkway Spanish Mission, Orlando, Fla.; and Treasurer Segundo Mir, pastor of Hispanic Baptist Church, Laurel, Md.
___Executive Director Julio Fuentes of Hialeah, Fla., was later re-elected by the officers to serve a one-year term.
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