But
almost 10 days after the first Spanish-speaking event in the United
States was held by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, ripples
are still being felt after hundreds of decisions were made in each of
three different services.
“It was quite an experience that a lot
of people are still talking about,” Festival Director Galo Vasquez said
from Los Angeles this morning. “People are very humbled with that
experience.
“The leaders have made the comment that they are sensing something unique has happened here.”
Unique to say the least.
A
total of 615 different Spanish-speaking churches throughout the Los
Angeles area partnered together for this weekend
evangelistic event, as the Hispanic church—commonly known as the
“Invisible Church”—finally started worked together, bringing over
18,000 people to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif.
“This
event has given them a new sense of identity. There is now a community
of Hispanics,” Vasquez said. “There hasn’t been cohesiveness as far as
the geographical location or the relationship between the churches.”
Hence, the “Invisible” tag.
But
it’s more than just a name, as Jose “Pepe” Caballero, the director of
the local committee, explains. It’s a perception that has affected
their reality.
“Hispanic pastors are not really recognized in
this city,” Caballero said. “If you ask the mayor, the police, any
authority in the city, they are not really recognized. They don’t take
them into account for anything that happens in the community.”
Part
of the complexities in the Los Angeles area is the diversity within the
Hispanic community. Just because a group of people speaks the same
language, doesn’t mean their cultures are naturally intertwined.
“Obviously
the Hispanic church has a subculture of its own,” Vasquez said. “Under
the subculture, there’s a national expression. You have the Mexicans,
the Guatemalans, the Argentinians, the Hondurans and so on. Their
culture is so strong. They fight to be themselves.”
Peeling back
the layers to the “Invisible Church” is complex. Each subculture has its
own defining elements, whether it’s food that binds the country or
a national flag flown, often proudly from a car window.
“We are proud of our food,” Caballero said. “We are very happy with our food. The food joins us together.”
But take a few more layers off and you’ll find that sometimes there’s a lack of depth that hinders spiritual unity.
“Even
amongst some of the pastors, they would rather not be known as
Christians, because they do not really have a strong testimony in the
city,” said Caballero, was in charge of involving the Hispanic Church
during the 2004 Billy Graham Rose Bowl Crusade. “That’s because the
pastors are not really trained to teach the Bible to these believers.”
So
follow-up becomes even more critical to a Festival such as this. And
that’s what Vasquez and his team are doing, matching up new Christians
with the appropriate churches.
“Making sure the church is proactive, inviting them to join their congregations,” Vasquez explains.
And
in many cases, that congregation is part of a larger American church,
split off and meeting on a Sunday afternoon or evening, or wherever they
can find space.
“It’s part of the human behavior that there’s a
conflict,” Vasquez said. “They wish they could afford a place of their
own so they could be themselves.”
And so more times than not, the church body lacks the attributes that keep it healthy and strong.
“Very few churches really get involved in the community,” Caballero
said. “It’s not like the people in the neighborhoods and the people in
the city go ‘Oh, what a beautiful Hispanic church we have here.'”
But those attitudes are starting to change. The importance of a church
building of their own, or having the same heritage, is fading into the
background as the unification of the Hispanic church is inching toward
prominence.
One sign of that unity is a major pastor’s
leadership meeting scheduled for July 30 to discuss what they learned
from the Festival de Esperanza process and to start planning for the
future.
“That’s an indication of how much they appreciated what
was accomplished in bringing them together and giving them a fresh
vision,” Vasquez said. “They talked a lot about the training that went
on to share their faith in Christ.”
But solidifying the Hispanic
church most effectively was the hundreds that flooded down the aisles
to the field to accept Christ as personal Savior. Witnessing that
life-changing power of the Gospel has transformed their definition of
church unity and what it means to work together as a local church body.
“All of us witnessed the expressions of the people who came forward by
friends and relatives,” Vasquez said. “The response was very moving.”
Used with permission from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
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