Aug. 18, 2009 | By Paul F. South

NEW ORLEANS - Luis Muriel, a university-trained economist from Peru and associate pastor of Alliance Community church in Athens, Ga., left a recent conference for Hispanic pastors with a lasting lesson: Scripture alone is sufficient for revival.

"Many Christians believe the Bible is the Word of God," Muriel said. "But at the same time, many Christians believe the Bible is not enough. They use psychology, marketing, anthropology, sociology. It is a problem in the church now. But in my heart, I have the conviction that I am going to use the Bible for every problem in my church."

The drive for revival was at the heart of a three-day conference at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Aug. 6-8, the Second Congress of Hispanic Baptists of the United States sponsored by the National Fellowship of Hispanic Churches of the SBC. More than 100 pastors to the Hispanic community attended the conference, and more than 400 attended a Saturday festival.

For Muriel, who has about 80 involved in the Hispanic ministry at his small, but growing church, prayer is also critical. Each Monday, he gathers with other men to pray specifically for revival, not just in his neighborhood, but throughout Athens and around the world. Sometimes those prayer sessions last for seven hours.

"Our burden is to see revival in this country," Muriel said. "That is the reason I came to this conference. This conference is about revival."

Several Spanish-speaking members of the NOBTS faculty hammered home the revival theme. Conference. David Lema, director of the New Orleans Seminary's Miami-based Center for the Americas, taught on true spirituality, focusing on revival in personal life.
Main-campus professors Tim Searcy, Bill Warren and Ed Steele, all former missionaries to Spanish-speaking countries, also participated in the conference. Searcy taught on true discipleship, revival in knowledge. Warren taught on revival in a world of change and Steele taught on the elements of revival.

According to the 2000 Census, there were 35.3 million Hispanics in the United States, not including those who may be in the country illegally. One of the biggest challenges facing pastors in the Spanish-speaking community concerns dealing with illegal immigration. By 2050, the government projects that more than 102 million Hispanics will call America home.

It's also a challenge for churches with traditionally Anglo congregations. Muriel experienced this first hand when he came to Alliance from Peru.

"The church knew nothing about immigrants, problems with immigrants or illegal immigration, because the Anglo church was always around Anglos. When I started my ministry here, some church members thought that for me, it was a new thing to use a microwave," Muriel said.

But the church had a vision to become a truly multicultural church in Athens. As home to the University of Georgia, Athens has a multicultural population. Muriel estimates that about 17 percent of Athens' population is Hispanic.

"We don't want to be an Anglo church or Hispanic church. We have Mexicans, Americans, Canadians, Koreans, people from El Salvador and Guatemala," Muriel said. "The vision of a multicultural church is happening now."

God is also moving among the Hispanic community on the North Shore of Lake Ponchartrain  in suburban New Orleans Humberto Medina is a graduate student at NOBTS from Peru, and is Hispanic pastor at FBC Mandeville, La. Sixty-five Hispanics regularly attend worship at the church, Medina said.

In reaching the community for Christ, the lack of education is a hurdle in sharing the gospel, Medina said. And, there is the matter of immigration, as well as the cultural differences that can exist between different Spanish-speaking countries, despite a common language.

"A lot of Hispanic people have trouble understanding the gospel message because of they don't have an education," Medina said. "The issue of illegals is difficult, but my responsibility is to carry the gospel to lost people."

Like Muriel, Medina believes the Bible alone is sufficient to spark revival.

"It's most important to reach people with the Bible," he said. "The Bible changes people. We're not teaching the history of America or Latin America, just the Bible and Jesus Christ, his work of salvation. Some churches have programs, like entertainment. But we need revival."

But both pastors say that revival needs to spark not just in neighborhoods or in cities, but globally.

"My vision is to share the gospel not only in my neighborhood, but with all people, all cultures. We want to build a ‘Bible culture' in our church. We want to worship according to the Bible, not according to fashion," Muriel said. "Months ago, I was praying, asking God to help me put my light over the table, not under the table. I need to know that every step is from God. We are walking, step by step."

NOBTS officials used the conference as an opportunity to meet with Hispanic leaders to discuss current and future training needs. NOBTS Provost said the school plans to expand training options in Florida in the coming years.

"We were honored to host the National Fellowship of Hispanic Churches on our campus in New Orleans," said NOBTS Provost Steve Lemke. "NOBTS is committed to expanding the certificate and undergraduate level theological training we currently offer for Hispanics in Florida."

"During the meetings, we profited from a listening session with some key Hispanic leaders about what the greatest needs are to improve the delivery of quality ministerial training for Hispanics," Lemke said.

Representatives from SBC entities Golden Gate Seminary, GuideStone, LifeWay, NOBTS, North American Mission Board, International Mission Board and Southwestern Seminary also participated in the conference.

Next year's event will be hosted by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. The dates for the event will be announced later.

For more information about the National Fellowship of Hispanic Churches of the SBC, visit www.confraternidad.net.

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