July 23, 2001

BGCT honors Hispanic pastors and church starters
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___DALLAS--Texas Baptist leaders honored Hispanic pastors and church starters July 17 and emphasized the importance of laypeople in the effort to start thousands of new Hispanic churches in the state.
___Texas has more Hispanic people--6 million--than the populations of three neighboring states, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico, Charles Wade told the luncheon gathering at the Baptist Building in Dallas. Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas. The BGCT Church Starting Center sponsored the event.
___"In our time, there is a great movement of people," Wade said. "Hispanic people are everywhere," moving to Texas from both south and north. "Hispanic people have an opportunity to be missionaries to all kinds of people" because God has "given you cultural sensitivity."
___The luncheon focused on the importance of laypeople starting Hispanic churches and highlighted the work of Otto Arango, a McAllen pastor who is leading that effort.
___Arango has a vision of what God can do in Texas and beyond, Wade said. "When I'm with him, my heart gets bigger."
___The pastor of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in McAllen envisions 500 training centers for leaders being established in churches over the next 10 years. There already are 188, he said. He also wants to see 5,000 Hispanic churches started during that time.
___Those at the luncheon already are involved in that church-starting effort.
___"The kingdom of God is strengthened because of you," said E.B. Brooks, coordinator of the BGCT's church missions and evangelism section. "You're involved in something new and yet very old." When the Apostle Paul went into a community and established churches, "as far as we can tell" the leadership of those churches came out of those churches.
___"Both present and future Hispanic churches are benefitting from what you're doing," Brooks said. "You lead the way. ... You're working with God himself in calling out future leaders."
___Wade spoke from Acts 8 about how God used persecution of Christians in Jerusalem to force them out of the city with the gospel message. Jesus had told the first Christians to go to all the world, but the fellowship was so good in Jerusalem that the believers lingered there.
___God scattered the Christians in Jerusalem in order to spread the good news. "We will never grow our churches ... unless we are willing to get out of our Jerusalem and start churches in other places," he said.

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