Hispanic Summer Missionaries Make Big Impact In Grand Island, Nebraska
By Eva Wilson
October 2008
“Lift up your eyes and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:34)
A mid-summer outreach effort for Hispanics in Grand Island, Neb., revealed a ripe field.
Hispanics make up about 25 percent of the population of 40,000 in Grand Island.
Two area churches—Crossroads Community Church in Kearney and Watermark Community Church in Hastings—teamed up for the effort. A student team from Texas provided exceptional leadership. Plus, KNCSB and Oregon Trail Baptist Association provided assistance.
David McDonald, pastor in Kearney, coordinated the outreach effort held in a local park. Doug Lee, OTBA director of missions, assisted.
The six-student team came from Rio Grande Bible Institute in Edinburg, Texas. Kansas-Nebraska alumni of the school include Abraham and Ester Arevalo, who lead the Hispanic congregation at South City Southern Baptist Church in Wichita, Kan.
When the week was over, Lee was in awe about how God had worked: a total of 35 people accepted Christ. Plus, a young man from the Kearney church who assisted with the event felt God calling him to serve in international missions.
The days consisted of Kids Club in the mornings. Although the average attendance of 17 was lower than organizers were hoping for, more than half of the children made decisions for Christ.
Evening activities started out with drawing a crowd by offering free hotdogs, snow cones or watermelon. Then the student team led a praise service, and one of them shared a brief evangelistic message.
Twenty-five people accepted Christ on the final night. “It was like a revival,” Lee said.
The EvangeCube proved to be a key tool in the outreach activities. Find more information at http://www.e3resources.org/
Event organizers are now meeting with people who made decisions that week. They hope to begin English as a Second Language classes. The eventual goal is to start a Bible study that will grow into a Hispanic church that will “start a ripple of church plants” along Interstate 80 and throughout Western Nebraska, Lee said.
As a side note, Lee praised the Rio Grande Bible Institute team. The students displayed great flexibility and used any situation as an opportunity to share Christ.
“I was impressed with not only their emotional maturity but their spiritual maturity,” Lee said. “I can’t say enough good things about them.”
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