The Hispanic Harvest in the USA

Hernando Sáenz-Oggioni

¨ Born Bogotá, Colombia¨ Roman Catholic

upbringing¨ Moved to Miami in 1979¨ Born again through the

ministry of a PCA church

¨ Planted two PCA Hispanic churches

¨ Serving with Mission to North America since 2011

MNA’s three fold strategy to reach Hispanics in the USA

¨ Develop Leaders

¨ Plant Churches

¨ Nurture Existing Churches

Leadership Development

¨ Producing Spanish language training resources

¨ Recruiting potential leaders

¨ Encouraging committed candidates during their ministry preparation

¨ Placing trained leaders into suitable opportunities

Equipping churches for thriving ministry

¨ Organizing relevant training events

¨ Offering Gospel centered mentoring and coaching

¨ Resourcing

Church Planting

¨ Vision casting

¨ Consulting

¨ Assessment of potential church planters

How to "Build Bridges“ to the Hispanic population

“If you’re in a multicultural environment, there will be a moment when you feel at home, and then there will be a moment where you feel like, ‘Where am I?’ ”

“It can’t be that one group always feels not at home and one group feels completely at home.”Bil Mooney-McCoy

Goals / Aims

To gain a better understanding Hispanic culture.

To discuss ideas of how to build bridges to Hispanics.

Understanding Hispanics

Hispanics are actually not a single race but a mixture of many races and ethnicities and different levels of assimilation into U.S. culture.

Ethnicity

There are 18 Latin Countries in South and Central America and each has differences in culture and language.

Acculturation to the USA

¨ First Generation

¨ 1.5 Generation

¨ Second Generation(+)

First Generation

¨ Foreign born¨ Immigrated to the USA

as an adult¨ Strong family ties to

their country of origin¨ Speaks mostly Spanish¨ Trying to figure out the

“system” in the USA¨ Existential Question:

Where am I?

I.5 Generation

¨ Foreign born¨ Immigrated to the

USA as a child¨ Bilingual and

bicultural¨ Understands the

“system”¨ Existential

question: Where do I belong?

Second Generation (+)

¨ US born¨ English proficient¨ May not speak

any Spanish¨ Strong family

ties in the USA¨ Existential

question: Who am I?

Shared Characteristics of Hispanics

¨ Religious people¨ Family oriented

people¨ Celebratory

people¨ Passionate

people

Religious people¨ Roman Catholic• Part of who you are

(culture).¨ Most educated in

Catholic schools¨ Prominence of Mary¨ Biblically illiterate¨ No idea of how the

church works (priesthood of believers, giving, etc)

Family oriented people¨ Family is the primary

support system¨ The needs of the

family are placed ahead of individual concerns

¨ Prominence of the mother

¨ Prevalent machismo¨ Decision making as a

unit¨ Trust “confianza”

driven

Celebratory people

¨ Love “fiestas”▪ Quinceañera▪ Mothers Day▪ Día del niño▪ Cinco de Mayo

¨ Many holidays¨ Work to live vs.

live to work¨ Hospitality

Passionate people

¨ High emotional displays

¨ Bright colors¨ Spontaneous¨ Closer personal

space ¨ Present time

perspective; relaxed about time and punctuality

Sunday Bridge Building Suggestions

Greet visitors (not just pass the bulletin)

Have the greeters stay in the back of the church until the time for the sermon

Have the bulletins in English and Spanish

Have the church web site in English and Spanish

Signs in English and Spanish

Weekly Communion

Include a Spanish word (ie: bienvenidos) when welcoming the congregation

Sing a few Spanish language songs (provide translation for all songs)

Have food after every service (include Hispanic foods like empanadas, pasteles…)

Invite people who visit more than once to your home

Suggestions for a Bridge Building calendar

Jan: Three Kings day – include

a rosca de reyesFeb: Dia del amor y la amistadMar: Ash Wednesday –

Cauresma Semana santa – Easter

weekApril : Dia del niñoMay: 5 de Mayo Dia de las madres

June: Special Back to school

prayer service July : 4th of July Sept: Hispanic Heritage monthNov: Thanksgiving Dec: Posada Novena de Aguinaldo Parranda

Relationship Building Opportunities Big celebration when

you baptize a baby Big celebration for

Quinceañeras Monthly special

events to celebrate birthdays – include piñata

Regular time for testimonies during the service

Father and son soccer tournaments

Financial peace classes

Cross cultural marriage seminars

Men’s & women’s retreats

Interest based small groups

Special services to pray for the sick and anoint with oil

Relationship Building Opportunities Work with teachers and

principals at your church to host a community education lecture “how to support your kids in school”.

Develop tutoring program

Join Latin associations in your city

Soccer clinics Soccer/ foosball

tournaments Citizenship Classes

Art classes Dominos tournament Salsa classes Cinco de Mayo cookout ESL/SSL Guitar classes Sponsor a marriage

conference Hispanic Heritage

month events Children's summer

camp Plaza Comunitaria