Manos a la obra

Manos a la obra! Let’s get to work!

by Santiago Reales | Director, Red Latina

LET’S GET TO WORK! With these words, the people responded to Nehemiah after sharing the compassionate way God helped him and the words of hope that the Persian king said to him.

They were words of empowerment that encouraged the people of Israel during captivity. Nehemiah’s desire to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls stems from a call from God and after having processed the pain, suffering, and loss of freedom and limitations to worship God. (Nehemiah 1-2).

I can’t imagine what it feels like to live in exile, in the face of the uncertainty of knowing if things will change in the future. This narrative reminds me of God’s presence in the history of the human being and the opportunities that He opens for our lives to be better.

Similarly, during this pandemic time, many of the pastors of the Red Latina have experienced an “emotional exile” where COVID-19 has limited us from doing what we love: ministering to and serving others.

As Nehemiah comforted his people, many pastors in and out of Red Latina continue comforting each other. With empowerment and wisdom, pastors have shared ways to approach, assimilate, and process the effects of COVID-19.

“Let’s get to work” were the Red Latina team’s words, and so on March 13, we proactively started a chat on “What’s App” to address our concerns and share mutual aid resources. It was amazing to see how many pastors jumped from the pulpit to “live streaming” on Facebook and Zoom. Some exclamations that I have heard are:

-“I have had to be creative to get my message across to others."

-“I had to unlearn to learn again.”

-“We have stopped doing to be doing.”

Despite the effects of COVID-19, we continue with our vision for 2020 that includes some of the following goals:

Work on the consolidation of the Red Latina

The leadership team continues to meet through the Zoom platform to take care of business. Also, we have created Zoom opportunities to have moments of reflection, pastoral care, and also to promote events online.

Strategically create projects that benefit neighboring CBF churches

Before the effects of COVID-19, we managed to carry out two projects that involved several CBF congregations. On February 29, the “Red Latina Women’s Conference Winter 2020” was held in collaboration with the Latino Ministry of the First Baptist Church in Huntersville. One hundred twenty-five women from all over the state gathered to grow in their spiritual and personal lives under the theme “Breaking the rules: Women with great power and great support.” Our last in-person training was offered on March 14 at Baptist Church “Centro Familiar Cristiano” in Siler City. We had a fantastic time talking to parents about “discipline techniques.” Additionally, “La Iglesia Cristiana Sin Fronteras” has been a strategic point for food distribution in Winston-Salem during COVID-19.

Strengthen and equip the local church’s leadership

All the resources that CBFNC has available have been translated into Spanish and shared. We also awarded six grants among Latino congregations to equip leadership. As a necessity, we offered a webinar, “The church in a pandemic time: The recovery of Its Identity,” facilitated by pastor Juan Carlos Cevallos, the new Hispanic minister at The Memorial Baptist Church in Greenville, NC.

We would appreciate your prayers as we try to make important decisions about the following events we had planned for the remainder of 2020. Our Youth Retreat 2020 in partnership with “La Voz de la Esperanza Baptist Church” at Ridgecrest Conference Center that is scheduled August 7–9. And our annual Fall Ministers retreat, which is one of the essential pastoral formation events of the year.

I am thankful to CBFNC for its support offered to the Red Latina ministry. Also, I would like to recognize our leadership

team: Daniel Sostaita (Iglesia Cristiana Sin Fronteras), Fortino Ocampo (Iglesia Bautista Centro Familiar), Rafael Hernandez (First Baptist Church Huntersville) and Julio de Leon (Iglesia Bautista Valle de los Lirios en Durham). I appreciate also the support of women’s leadership included by Elaine Reales, Veronica Gallegos, Emma Hernandez, Pilar Ocampo, and Irene Sostaita. Manos a la Obra—Let’s get to work!