Miracles Achieved in Mission
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
Churches and members around the union continue to place special emphasis on evangelism in their churches across the Columbia Union Conference. (We'll share several stories highlighting this throughout March and April)
José D. Espósito, assistant to the president for evangelism at the Columba Union who participated in more than eight of the meetings since last fall, notes the common denominator that drew visitors.
“In all the campaigns, it was the [members] personally inviting their friends, family, neighbors or co-workers that attracted them to Jesus and to the church,” he says. He notes that Chesapeake Conference’s Frederick Spanish district did just this. Pastor
Kelvis Romero reports that every night members brought dozens of friends. “That resulted in 34 baptisms—including a former Pentecostal pastor—after two weeks of campaigning,” says Espósito. “But the story does not end there. Pastor Romero ended 2022 with more than 80 baptisms in his district.”
Rubén A. Ramos, vice president for Multilingual Ministries, also notes a striking 2022 statistic from Ohio Conference’s Hispanic Ministries Department. He reports Ohio Hispanic members welcomed 409 new converts last year, averaging a 5.7 member-to-new convert ratio, in comparison to the union’s overall ratio of 30.6.
Ramos says, “It’s a joy to see these brothers and sisters becoming engaged. ... The method of Jesus is to become Jesus to those around them [befriending them, meeting their needs]. ... But if we meet the needs without the intention of them meeting Jesus, it is just social work. Our intention is to lead them to something better— Jesus Christ.”
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