The story is not over yet
By Ender Zambrano
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| Ender and Aidsa Zambrano |
In the year 2000, my wife, Aidsa, and I went to San Antonio, Texas, with our two children (Estefany, 4, and Gabriel, 9 months) in order to finish my studies in the seminary. It was there where I received God’s call and the invitation from the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware to become a church planter. God moved me to work with Blue Ridge Association and start a Hispanic church in Frederick, Md., even though the Hispanic population was not very large.
We arrived in Frederick on Dec. 23, 2003 and started right away to make contact with every Hispanic person we found. So, with a lot of emotion we launched the first worship service on Mar. 7, 2004 at South End Church, but to our surprise and disillusionment, no Hispanics attended.
It was a difficult time for us Sunday after Sunday, seeing no one come to the worship service, but we understood that God had brought us to this place with a purpose in mind. During that time I reviewed everything I learned in the seminary, and tested many strategies and plans used by other ministers who have reached many people. Unfortunately, though, nothing seemed to work.
In the Spring, we found a group of Hispanics playing soccer, so we began to play with them every time they met. This group carried us to other groups with the same interest in playing soccer. We spoke to them of the church and of the Word of God, and little by little they began to attend Sunday’s service. After the service we went out to play soccer with them. As a result, our group grew to have 30 people during worship service.
Autumn arrived and the cold weather came, so all the group that had attended now disappeared, and we remained alone again. We began to do prayerwalks and fasts, asking God to send stable families that would allow us to minister to those who are in transition.
We searched for Hispanic names in the telephone book and we sent them Christmas cards. God answered our prayer, and in January of 2005 two new families arrived at the church. One of these families offered their house to start a prayer group every Friday. Prayer, fellowship, discipleship, and a vision for multiplication became the keys to growth for the church.
During this process I learned that each place has its own context and needs a unique strategy. God is working already in these places before we arrive and our responsibility is to join Him. Our challenge is to discover how God is working. For me the only way to discover that is through prayer. God has taught me that the amount of time I spend in His presence shows Him how committed I am to Him and His work.
Today we have around 45 people for Sunday worship in Frederick; on special worship events we have as many as fifty-seven. We have discipleship on Wednesdays and a prayer service on Fridays.
From the discipleship group, we began a small group in Walkersville on Thursdays, where people have received Christ as their Savior. Many times we have had to abandon assumptions and stereotypes in order to reach lives that do not have Christ. For example, many Hispanics cannot participate in regular Sunday worship because their jobs require them to work. That is why small groups have been an answer to prayer for these people.
There they can receive Christ in their lives, begin a relationship with God and discover a church family who will love them as they grow.
My family moved to Hagerstown at the end of 2004. Almost immediately, we received an invitation to work as chaplain of the Hagerstown Suns, a minor league baseball affiliate of the New York Mets. This became a sign to us that God desired us to begin a second new work here. Starting the second church taught us that each place must have a different focus and a different strategy. We prayed every day and soon Hagerstown Church was meeting on Sundays at 7:00 p.m. at Virginia Avenue Church. We have gathered about 25 people so far. The service is bilingual, which has caused the youth to organize a bilingual group for Hispanic teenagers, too. This group gathers on Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. and already has 14 people in attendance.
I give thanks to the Lord for the opportunity that He is giving me to serve with the BCM/D and the Blue Ridge Association. I give thanks to South End Church in Frederick and Virginia Avenue Church in Hagerstown for their support and for allowing us to use their facilities. Also, I want to give God all the honor and the glory for what we has done through this ministry. All you can see that is good is because of Him, and His faithfulness in keeping His promises (Acts 1:8) (Matt. 28:18-20) (Psalms 127:1).
The story is not over yet. God has placed in my heart the desire to begin a work in West Virginia this year, and sometime in the future, in Pennsylvania. My passion is to carry the Word of the Lord wherever He wants, and as I always tell Him: I will abide in you, and you in me, because without you I am not able to do anything (John 15:1-17).
Ender Zambrano is the church planting pastor of both Iglesia Bautista Fuente de Vida in Frederick and Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana in Hagerstown. He can be reached at (301) 305-6460 or by email at enderfj_jk@yahoo.com. |
