August 19, 2002
Kingwood church seeks Texas partners for growing Yucatan ministries
___MERIDA, Yucatan--Texas Baptists are invited to network with First Baptist Church of Kingwood in an educational and church-starting ministry that is expanding the Christian witness in the Yucatan Peninsula.
___The Kingwood church has an ongoing relationship with Iglesia Bautista la Palabra de Dios (Word of God Baptist Church) in Merida, a town of nearly 1 million people. That church's pastor, Victor Pineda, also leads an embryonic seminary that trains bivocational pastors to start churches in the region.
___"The bivocational factor is extremely important," said Shelton McBride, a pharmacist and member of First Baptist in Kingwood. "What Victor Pineda found in that area was that too often a young pastor would move in to an established church or to establish one and would be unable to get the support he needed for his family, much less the church. So the churches were not surviving. Once they began training bivocational people, they saw church growth."
___McBride has made seven trips to the region in recent years, after he was introduced to Pineda through Pat Carter, former president of the Baptist seminary in Mexico City.
___The strategy of training bivocational pastors already has made a positive impact in the region, McBride reported. "The last time I was there, I visited with a young seminary graduate who had established a church five months before and now had 80 members."
___Baptists in Merida and the surrounding region of the Yucatan are making great strides with limited resources, McBride said.
___Pineda's church, for example, meets in a dental clinic. "They stand around the walls. There's no room to grow. He teaches seminary classes in his house, and it's not a big house. They make full use of every inch of space.
___"I'm positive if they had a stable, defined location, we would see more growth there," McBride added. "They're doing everything they can with what they've got. And I'm impressed with that."
___Pineda agreed the need for permanent buildings is critical, both for the church and the seminary. Land has been purchased for the seminary, and a foundation has been laid for a building. More resources are needed, however, to build on the foundation that has been laid.
___"We need facilities," Pineda said. "Right now, I am like a gypsy going from place to place."
___That's especially a problem as Baptists attempt to reach the upper and middle classes, whom Pineda says cannot find a church building nice enough to attract them. Most church buildings in the Yucatan have dim lights, unpainted walls and no bathrooms.
___"That's why we need a proper building, to invite these people to come to church," he explained.
___Pineda at one time was director of education for Mexico's merchant marines, but he felt a burden to take the Christian gospel to his countrymen who had not been reached by existing churches.
___A highly self-disciplined individual, Pineda has invested a great deal of his time and money in the seminary. Its 4,000-volume library represents the sacrifice of the majority of his worldly possessions.
___McBride and other members of the Kingwood church continue to be impressed with Pineda. McBride currently assists Pineda's daughter, who is attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. She is working on a music degree in order to return to Merida and teach other church musicians.
___While Pineda has been building up training opportunities for pastors, similar training is lacking for youth workers and musicians, McBride said.
___McBride has a special concern for the youth work and has led several youth conferences there. The last time he was there, Pineda's church rented a facility near the town plaza and invited participation from other area churches. Nearly 200 people attended the motivational rally for youth.
___Similar opportunities exist for other Texas Baptists who would like to support the work in the Yucatan, McBride said, pointing to a recent report from the Baptist General Convention of Texas that many churches desire to network on mission causes.
___"We would be so happy to have other churches network with us on the work in the Yucatan," he said. "We are expecting an invitation in 2003 to have some businessmen give guest lectures in the university there. We believe this will help us to attract university students into the Baptist churches.
___"We're also looking for people who would like to go there and lecture to seminary students. They need input and teaching from various people."
___Editor's note: For more information about opportunities in Merida, contact Shelton McBride at rphmcbride@earthlink.net or at (281) 361-3763.
___
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