Hispanic fellowship to join Crossover, discuss challenges

May 9, 2006
DAVID RAUL LEMA Jr.
Baptist Press

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GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--“Facing the Challenges of the 21st Century” will be the theme of the National Fellowship of Hispanic Baptist Churches’ 19th annual meeting, June 10-11 in Greensboro, N.C.

Fellowship President Augusto Valverde, pastor of the Resurrecciòn Church in Miami, said a key event for this year’s gathering will be an evangelistic concert and “encuentro” (literally “finding” or “coming together” in Spanish) at the conclusion of the all-day Crossover Greensboro outreach.

The Hispanic population of North Carolina is one of the fastest-growing in the nation, Valverde said, and Crossover will be a good opportunity to offer the local community a chance to hear and respond to the Gospel.

Personnel from the North Carolina Baptist Convention, the local Baptist associations and pastors and lay leaders from Hispanic churches from across the country will join local pastors and church leaders to make an impact for Christ within the state’s Hispanic community.

All of the sessions of the Hispanic fellowship will take place at Pleasant Garden Baptist Church of Greensboro, located at 1415 Neelley Road.

The fellowship’s first session will begin at 5 p.m. Saturday June 10, with a fellowship dinner for all attendees, followed by a presentation from LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.

The evening will conclude with an evangelistic concert of traditional Spanish and contemporary Christian music. The concert is being organized by the fellowship’s music director, Lucas Almeida, minister of music at Resurrecciòn Church in Miami. The concert will feature two Floridians, Moises Hernandez, an opera tenor, and Pedro Neira, a contemporary Christian artist, along with other artists performing Spanish Christian music.

On Sunday morning, fellowship participants will support the local Hispanic congregations in the area, with fellowship activities to resume Sunday afternoon.

Thematic and discussion-oriented conferences from 1:30-3 p.m. will focus on:

-- “The Challenge of the Contemporary Christian Family” led by Samuel Otero, an evangelist and practicing psychologist from San Antonio, Texas.

-- “The Da Vinci Code” led by Julio Fuentes, a Florida pastor and director of foreign missions for the Hispanic fellowship.

-- “The Challenge of Islam” led by Jason Carlisle, director of Hispanic mobilization for the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

-- “The Challenge of the Cost of Discipleship” led by Jess Fairbanks of LifeWay’s leadership department.

-- “The Challenge to the Contemporary Christian Woman” led by Christian counselor Liz Rosales.

-- “The Challenge from the Prosperity Gospel” led by David Caraballo, a Baptist leader from the Greensboro area.

-- “The Challenge to Pastoral Ministry”led by David Fajardo of the Baptist Spanish Publishing House in El Paso, Texas.

A business meeting from 3-5 p.m. will include the election of new leaders and discussion of a document presenting the views on immigration of the Hispanic fellowship’s leaders.

More information about the National Fellowship of Hispanic Baptist Churches can be obtained at www.confraternidad.org or by contacting Julio Fuentes at (305) 206-7575 or email to cnihb@aol.com or informacion@confraternidad.org.

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