CHM Newsletter - Summer of 2017

From CHM Director David Byrne -

Scheduling for Ministry

It seems like there is so much pressure to fill our lives with “enriching” activities, especially for our children. We run from band, sports, dance, debate, drama, choir, scouts, and lessons of every type. Would I be dating myself if I shared that I remember a time when people in the church would spend most of their time outside the home and school in church activities? I have also been in communities in Mexico where the entire life of the village revolved around the church with prayer starting each day in the early morning hours (about 4:00 a.m.) and with people coming and going throughout the day and well into the night for the various activities and for prayer. There is something to be said about the goodness of filling our lives with the things of God. The danger is to so isolate ourselves from those around us so that we become only a curiosity to them. How do the activities of our lives reflect our values? Is it really wise to invest so much time in so many activities without enriching our life in God? How do we leave time to share the Good News about Life in and through Jesus? This prioritizing of time is important to Hispanic ministries in that often the last thing we schedule for is ministry – especially cross-cultural ministry. Let’s include in our mindset each week the missionary call each one of us has to the world and schedule accordingly. People’s lives depend on it.

Interns – an Option for Extending your ministry!

Here in EFC-MAYM one of the ways that summer ministries have been enhanced is through the participation of interns. Several of these are Spanish-speaking college students who are fulfilling school ministry requirements. Others (like Dario and Raquel Bastías who are just beginning an internship in one or more local churches over the year) are out of school with an immigration option that allows them to work in ministry for a year after graduation. There are also those in our own churches who would be open to working in a ministry for a 1-3 month period of service over a summer. Think about how this would be a blessing to summer ministries and the impact it can have on those young people as they consider full-time Christian service. Think also about how a Spanish-speaking intern Angela, Jael and Anani

can open up doors in your church’s community. I posted a video about Anani Coria (right), who is working in the Bayshore Friends Church this summer as well as spending a week helping with the Friendswood Friends Church VBS. Jael (middle - daughter of Pastor Sergio of Coahuila, Mexico) and friend Angela (left) also helped 2 weeks in Friendswood.

Multiplication Catalyst Ministries has been a good partner for the Coalition for Hispanic Ministries as it works to promote and equip for the multiplication of churches across the continent both cross-culturally and in the English-speaking context. Identifying and preparing leaders and helping churches with a structure to care for church plants are key parts of MCM’s outreach. This is a project that can help Friends in North America to be engaged and productive in extending Christ’s ministry into new churches. The “catalytic” part involves bringing together key leaders with a passion for church-planting as part of a conversation that will bring together resources for projects. In addition to your support for CHM, consider supporting the broader task of church-planting through MCM. Contact Director Randy Littlefield (randy@friendsmultiply.com – 913-683-3831) for more information and for strategic resources.

The North American Hispanic Friends Conference will be held in Phoenix, Arizona from the 12-15th of October. Plans are in place to follow the theme of “Volviendo a la Cruz” (Turning to the Cross). To get more Information and to make your reservation by email:

AMANAphoenix17@gmail.com

Ministry Conferences and Hispanic Participation

Across the country believers are coming together in associations of churches. Whether they are called Yearly Meeting, Ministry Conference or Annual Conference, the purposes are similar and include sharing a vision for common ministry and making decisions for the future. In EFC-ER the annual Hispanic Conference that took place during the first days of Yearly Meeting was suspended this year as more of the Annual Conference sessions were moved to the weekend and as representatives for the Hispanic churches attend as participating delegates rather than guests. Hopefully, there will be other opportunities to gather the members of the churches together in fellowship and ministry in Spanish. Interpretation and Translation Teams will be working in Ohio and Kansas to help make the fellowship and participation more complete. May God make us one.

Transition for Hispanic Institute

In Southwest Yearly Meeting the long-running Hispanic Training Institute (IHPLA - Instituto Hispano para Líderes Amigos or “Hispanic Institute for Friends Leaders”) that has been serving Southwest churches since 1999 went through an important transition this Spring. Dr. Gene Pickard has moved to Haviland, Kansas and the direction of the Institute has been passed to Lorena Sosa. Dr. Pickard has worked well to help establish the institute program and leaves a good base of capable leaders able to carry on the ministry.

	Pray for the interns who are currently serving (some are mentioned above) and for your own involvement in ministry. Pray that you can make time for your own involvement.
	Pray for conferences and Yearly Meetings being held over the summer, that God will do a new thing among His people.
	Pray for the multiplication of ministries and for those who are called to lead Jesus’ church forward. Pray for the identification and encouragement of those catalytic people who will plant the churches of the future – in all cultures and languages.