Members of the Hispanic Baptist Convention of Texas Young Latino Leadership Development Initiative set in motion “100 Projects in 2020,” a program seeking the discovery and development of young Latino leaders in Texas.
Efforts to develop Hispanic young adult leaders began in 2015 when Convención offered a space for Hispanic young adults to meet during its annual meeting. Two years later, Convención received a grant that helped start the Young Latino Leadership Development Initiative.
This year, during their October meeting in San Antonio, members of the initiative proposed the vision for a project that will take place next year.
Convención President Tony Miranda and Jaime Cortez, community pastor at First Baptist Church of Athens, proposed the project as a way to share leadership opportunities with other young adult Hispanics.
Outlining the process
The first phase involves selecting 20 leader-coaches across the state. Those coaches will lead a cohort of five young leaders in their respective areas during phase two of the project.
Miranda expects the selection of the 20 coaches by the middle of December. Recommendations for young leader coaches can be submitted online.
Abilene, Amarillo, Austin, Central Texas, College Station, Corpus Christi, Dallas, El Paso, East Texas, Fort Worth, Harlingen, Houston, Laredo, Lubbock, Midland, McAllen, San Angelo, North San Antonio, South San Antonio, and Wichita Falls make up the 20 areas from which 100 leaders will come.
The five leaders selected by each cohort coach will start and carry out mission/ministry projects. These cohorts will be assigned by the end of January 2020.
Phase three involves three meetings of the cohorts during February, March and May, in which leaders will look into potential projects on their first meeting, offer proposals at their second meeting and give development updates in May.
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Inspire young Hispanic adults to serve God
Leaders of the cohort will have until September 30 next year to complete their projects, and some of those projects will be presented at the final general meeting on October 9, 2020.
In addition to involving more young Hispanic leaders in church, Miranda and Cortez suggest the program will also strengthen relationships between young adults at both regional and statewide levels.
Miranda also said the project will activate young leaders in Hispanic congregations and ignite growth in those churches as they inspire other “potential young adults to serve God by using their gifts.”
“We want to inspire young Latino leaders to have a bigger impact in their roles of leadership in their congregations and communities,” he said.
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