Hispanic Ministry Consulting Is Here!

My name is Tom Hines and I have been serving as a missionary in Latin America for the past 36 years.

In a recent gathering of  North American church leaders, the top-level leader said these words, "It used to be that we went to the mission field--now the mission field is coming to us.!" It was in reference to the large number of immigrants now living in the United States--most being Hispanic.

What is your church or ministry doing to reach out to this sector of our society?

Remember the three monkeys--Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil, See No Evil?  Their coping strategy was to cover their ears, their mouths and their eyes, and just pretend that no evil exists.

Our modern USA church response has been similar in many instances.  Because we often do not know what to do, we choose to do nothing.  We would rather choose to do the things we feel we are good at, and leave the unknown alone.

The wave of Hispanic immigrants into the USA has exploded and has changed our landscape. Because we feel unprepared to deal with this new challenge, we often hide from it, or choose to wait it out and see what will happen.  All the while missing a great opportunity.

When we meet a new challenge our first tendency is to try to simplify it and take control. We often strike out on an action plan without ever knowing what the real deep issues are. Our passion to help often outruns our willingness to take the time to understand another's way of thinking.  We make mistakes that are costly in time, energy, resources, and especially in souls.

Let's look at the question of cultural complexity.  Many churches have started Hispanic ministries by desperately choosing any pastor or leader who speaks Spanish and plugging them in,  That seems to be about as far as some understanding goes.  But lumping all Hispanics together in a category where their only distinction is their language is far off course.  Here's why.

When a missionary goes to a Latin American country, he/she learns Spanish and serves in one primary culture.  It is challenging, but far less complex than our North American Hispanic reality.

When a Hispanic ministry is started in the USA or Canada, any congregation of 50 or more will likely have people from 10 to 15 different countries. Customs and traditions around Central and South America vary greatly.  This, combined with the immigrant's very common desire to "hang on" to his culture, can cause lots of distress and fragmentation in a new congregation.  Combine that with the fact that the culture mix will not be even.  Half or more will likely be Mexican. Puerto Ricans and Cubans are often strongly represented.  The others are scattered among the total.

But wait, only 12 million of the 50 million Hispanics are undocumented immigrants. (The ones we hear about most in the news.) The other 38 million are residents and citizens of the USA and Canada. You can add in another complicating factor!

Now, back to the common misconception that all Hispanics can be put in the "Spanish" box. The dialects of Spanish vary from country to country.  And most Hispanics are bilingual--Spanish and English.  To the shock of some Anglos, there are many Hispanics who speak no Spanish at all.

The key to being ready for these challenges in Hispanic ministry is to get good advice BEFORE you begin.  Hispanic Ministries Consulting was launched in 2015 to help churches and groups of churches meet the Hispanic opportunity wave in a healthy way.

Let me help you gear up for Hispanic ministry by training and assisting your people to revitalize existing churches and plant new healthy, growing ones.

Contact me through my email:  tom@wesleyana.org

Until the next time--blessings,

Tom Hines
Global Partners
Hispanic Ministry Consulting