Hispanic Ministries Director Carlos Rodriguez gave an update on Hispanic Ministries in the Bible Fellowship Church. Read his update below:
Looking Back
My family and I moved to Reading, PA twenty years ago to start a Hispanic church. By God’s grace, La Roca de Reading Bible Fellowship Church became a particular church in our denomination in 2018. Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, and some people from Central and South America from different backgrounds became a spiritual family through the gospel of truth and grace. Our Lord Jesus Christ keeps building His church with Hispanics in this country, and as you are reading, my community is growing fast.
Looking Forward
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Hispanic population reached 63.6 million people in 2022, up from 50.5 million in 2010. The Hispanic population accounts for 19% of all Americans which makes it the nation’s second-largest racial or ethnic group behind White Americans and ahead of Black Americans. It is also one of the fastest-growing groups in the U.S. Between 2010 and 2020, the country’s Hispanic population grew 23% which is faster than the nation’s 8% growth rate.
The BFC has a large and growing mission field ahead of us, and we need to work harder to reach out to the Hispanic community before us. As Pastor David Gundrum points out, there is every indication that the Hispanic ministry in the BFC will continue to grow both here in the U.S.A. and Mexico and possibly in other Spanish-speaking countries.
Hispanic Ministries Director
To assist the BFC in reaching this Hispanic population, Church Extension has invited me to take this responsibility as the Hispanic Ministries Director. This position is currently part-time because I am also the pastor of La Roca de Reading. In the past, Church Extension began the Hispanic Task Force to bring the BFC Hispanic ministries together to promote Hispanic outreach in the BFC and to assist our churches in their efforts to minister to Hispanics in their target sites. We found several challenges, and after all these years of experience, it became clear to appoint a Hispanic man to assist Church Extension in growing the Spanish Ministries.
The United States
Part of my responsibility as Hispanic Ministries Director is to encourage and facilitate Spanish speaking ministries in the United States. Currently the BFC has La Roca de Reading and a Hispanic ministry at Calvary BFC in Sinking Spring, PA. We have a lot of potential contacts for further Hispanic ministry through the BFC which I will work to help develop. If you have a Hispanic community near your BFC that you are ready to intentionally reach with the gospel, please contact me.
30th Anniversary of Merida BFC in Mexico Mexico
Despite the time limitation, I had the opportunity to travel to the BFC in Merida. Mexico two times and to the Mission Church in Tapachula, Mexico once in 2023. It was a blessing to visit the church and the church plants. I had the chance to encourage and be encouraged by our brothers and sisters’ faith and hard work for God’s kingdom. There are several challenges for our work there, such as time and financial limitations, a needy social environment, and some challenges with leadership. Still, God’s grace is there, and the Lord is helping us deal with those situations. Pastor Marcos Ramirez and his elders, Freddy Chi in Villa Magna and Immer Molina and Daniel Solorzano in Tapachula, keep serving the Lord in their places. I constantly communicate with them, encouraging each other to press on our different ministries.
Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom in constantly supporting our people in Mexico. We are planning more visits to train, equip, teach, and help them to develop their ministries. Here in the USA, I will grow the Hispanic ministry to connect our community with the BFC family and find more Spanish-speaking leaders to support our work. If you would like to partner with our work, we would be so grateful. We are in need of $310 more per month to be fully supported in my role as Hispanic Ministries Director of the BFC. You can use the enclosed card to give or you can give at ChurchPlantingBFC.org/Donate. We trust that the Lord will provide for this important ministry.
May the Lord give the BFC His vision to reach more “Hispanos” for His glory.
Contact Pastor Carlos Rodriguez at CEMoffice@bfc.org
