(CNS) -- Hispanics are
the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States, many of them carrying seeds of
revival from their countries of origin that could turn America's Anglo evangelical church
upside down.
As Jesse Miranda, a professor at
Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif., and director of the school's Center for Urban
Studies and Hispanic Leadership, tells "Charisma" magazine for a March report on
the movement, out next week: "I see a revival [in America] coming from south of the
border."
At around some 40 million, Hispanics
in the United States now almost outnumber blacks, according to government figures released
last month. Other studies claim that an estimated 9 million of them are evangelical. And
of that number, close to 70 percent are Pentecostal.
No longer hidden in storefront
missions on the "wrong" side of town, Hispanic churches are blossoming into
mega-ministries that are bursting at the seams.
"We need larger facilities. We
don't fit," says Daniel de León, pastor of 6,000-member Templo Calvario Assembly of
God in Santa Ana, Calif. -- the largest Hispanic church in America. Twenty-six years ago
there were 60 people in his church.
Iglesia de Restauración Elim, an
independent Pentecostal church in Los Angeles, began with three members in 1986 and now
has 4,200 members. "They mostly came from the Catholic Church," says René
Molina, pastor. "They are tired of tradition. They want to have a real relationship
with Jesus. They want to have His love in every part of their lives."
Although most Hispanics live in urban
centers, hordes are pouring into even the unlikeliest of rural towns. Mabel Nieto, a
single Mexican American, planted Fuente de Vida -- affiliated with the Assemblies of God
-- in Perry, Iowa, a small farming community near Des Moines. She is targeting 2,000
Hispanics from Mexico and Central America who work in a local pork-processing plant.
The immigrants arrive in the area with
their families or alone. Transient workers stay for six months and leave by winter. Nieto
reports many conversions among this group. "There has been an awakening among these
people," she says. "They are witnessing on the job, and young people feel a need
to preach."
Elsewhere, across the country,
relatively young leaders who carry influence with the Hispanic church nationally are being
raised up by God.
Marcos Witt, 40, a popular worship
leader and teacher throughout Latin America recently joined the 30,000-member Lakewood
Church in Houston as pastor of the Hispanic congregation. More
than 3,000 people attend Witt's Spanish service, which results in as many as 55
conversions every week. He intends for his congregation to become the largest Hispanic
church in North America.
"I want to encourage Hispanics in
the U.S. to live a life of victory," he says, explaining that he desires to break the
victim mentality many Hispanics carry over from having lived in conquered nations. "I
speak consistently against that as God ... shows them unconditional love," he says.
"I'm looking forward to breaking that mentality."
Since Frank Almonte, 44, took over as
senior pastor of Adonai Christian Center, in Queens, New York, in 1988 membership has
zoomed from 60 to 1,900. "God is opening the eyes of the Hispanic people,"
Almonte says. "Something is going on. I can't explain it. Most are coming from the
Catholic Church. They want to listen to God's voice. They want to hear Jesus."
© 2003 charismanews.com
© 2003 Maranatha Christian News Service
Post date - February 9, 2003 at: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/03a/20030209b.shtml