Can you describe your ministry with Iglesia Hispana Luz Y Vida?

There are a lot of Hispanics who work on dairy farms and other jobs in our area. We reach out to them where they’re at spiritually, and when we get to know them, we try to form Bible study groups. There are Bible study groups in a couple of different places. The way we’re reaching them is to bring them together, building networks and connections, and studying scripture with them and discipling them.

How do you connect with Hispanics in the first place?

Primarily through my job. I work as a salesman in the agricultural market so I’m on farms and I build a relationship with them at that point, whether it be through translation between the worker and a farmer or other contexts.

Where do you meet for Bible study?

Right now we’re meeting on Sunday mornings in a school gymnasium, and I have a Bible study at a very large dairy farm on Tuesday evenings.

About how many people are involved in these studies?

There's a big turnover. They are typically here for three or four years, but they're always coming and going. I started the ministry about five and a half years ago; since then I would say there have been 100 or so that we have taught and been in contact with, but currently I would say between 20 and 30.

How do you invite people? Is there a lot of interest?

With my past in missions, I typically approach it evangelistically from the start—do you read the Bible, do you understand the Bible, come join us, we'd love to teach you and share with you what we're experiencing as a group. There's typically a pretty good response to that. We do have some guys who come in and don't feel that connection and leave and never come back, but a lot of them stay.

We're seeing some good things happen. Being on a dairy farm, they are to some extent separated from other Hispanics and so when we build that network and relationship by bringing them together as a group, they feel part of something and I think that draws them in to what we're doing and that's a big part of reaching them. Once they are connected, typically they stay and really enjoy it.

What led you to this work?

I have a background in missions in the country of Ecuador as a missionary intern with RMM. I worked as a youth pastor at our church for about three years and then we distinctly felt God's call back to missions. At that point my wife and I were thinking it was foreign missions. Doors opened and closed numerous times, and it was a frustrating time. But then one Sunday morning a friend of mine approached me and said “There are two Guatemalans here and they don't speak any English, can you relate to them?” So I started relating to them that Sunday morning, and started doing Bible studies with them. Then I made a connection with a few others and it just developed from there. We realized at that point it wasn't us going overseas, it was reaching them here and then commissioning them when they go back, as missionaries to their own culture. We are now seeing that happen. In Central Mexico there are three guys that went back, all part of the same family, and they are now starting a home group out of their house. I was there about a year and a half ago and I am planning another trip back down to be with them and encourage them and help out however I can.

I call myself a church planter because I love church planting work, but this is very different. One of my frustrations was that I wanted to build a stable church, and really quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Most of the Hispanics are transitional and they're going to go back. I realized that this is a lot bigger than what I originally thought. We really try to teach them that Christianity is a way of life, and that when they go back, they go changed and carry that light with them back into the household and into the community.

What are some of the challenges you’ve had?

Transportation is probably the biggest challenge, but there's also a lot of other service work that can be burdensome as far as time. I'm praising God for Larry Moser, a gentleman who came on board and is now helping with the ministry. His primary gifting is servanthood and he loves serving these guys, and that frees me up to focus more on the vision and teaching and evangelism and training and all that…if it wouldn't have been for that I think I would have been inundated with too much stuff to do a long time ago and burned out.

What are the highlights for you?

When Hispanics come to faith. We've been able to baptize a number of them, and when they go back carrying that same passion to go do it at home. When one of them makes a decision for Christ and decides to be baptized, those are highlights for the whole group.