STORY
Hispanic Ministries Camp Meeting Focuses on Church Planting
June 17, 2023
Francis Tuffour
The Hispanic Ministries held its regional camp meeting at Spring Valley Academy today, Sabbath, June 17, 2023, in Dayton. This year's camp meeting for Hispanic churches was organized regionally, unlike the past years, where all had a single camp meeting. Ruth Sandoval, followed by the praise team, led the attendees in a series of inspiring songs.
The camp meeting, under the theme “Planting Churches, Harvesting Salvation,” focused on starting new congregations. Four newly-planted company churches from Cincinnati, Vandalia, Middletown, and a Haitian community within the Ohio Conference were presented and recognized. Pastor Peter Simpson, the Hispanics Ministries director, thanked God for what He is doing in soul-winning. He emphasized the mission of a church, “The church is to reach out to those who have not been reached.” Pastor Simpson invited Pastor Oswaldo Magaña, Executive Secretary and Elder Roy M. Simpson, Treasurer of the Ohio Conference, to lead in the presentation of certificates of recognition to church planting leaders. Nubia Mejia, secretary of Hispanic Ministries, shared that the four groups have met the requirements to become mission churches due to their numerical and financial strengths. Pastor Oswaldo assured that the four new churches would be organized later this year.
Peter Simpson reported on Hispanic Ministries what God has done for the past five years. One thousand six hundred seventy-five people were baptized, membership of Hispanic churches grew from 1,313 to 2,718, and churches increased from 18 to 34 during the period under review. Tithe saw an increase of 126%. On media ministry, Pastor Simpson reported that the Spanish Ministries' online radio, Stereo Adventista, with four locations in Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, and Toledo, reaches more than 100,000 people in 20 US states and over 100 countries.
Pastor Oswaldo commended Pastor Simpson for his excellent leadership in the Hispanic Ministries. He also disclosed that the Ohio Conference had reconfigured the department, now called multilingual ministries, a move to reach other non-English speaking communities in the Ohio Conference.
Pastor José Espositó delivered the sermon centered his message on Joshua chapter 2, a story of the spies and how Rahab hid them. He pointed out that Rahab wanted salvation not for herself only but for her entire family. Pastor Espositó stated that when the spies kept their promise Rahab and her household were saved, meaning when one is saved, a whole family or house is blessed and impacted.
Pastor Espositó stressed Rahab was the black sheep in her family but brought salvation to her mother, father, and the entire family. “Jesus comes from the lineage of a harlot, Rahab. Because God forgives, don’t stick to the past, there will be no sinners in heaven, but forgiven sinners,” he added. Following his appeal, several people gave their lives to Jesus.
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