Ricardo teaching leaders at Gethemani in El Salvador.
Presenting HFC in El Salvador, C.A.
Ricardo Ayala
Field Coordinator – Chicago, IL
From September 7th through 22nd it was my privilege to visit my homeland of El Salvador with the idea of introducing the ministry of Hispanics for Christ among my Christian brethren. Originally I thought of my cousin Juan, who in addition to hosting me in his home, enthusiastically embraced the idea of planting a home church among his friends in the near future.
The days were intense, between enjoying the company of my family and friends, and launching the vision for church multiplication. Sunday the 13th in the morning I was given the opportunity to preach in the church Gethsemane, affiliated with the Central American Mission. That same Sunday in the afternoon, the pastor gathered together 30 of his leaders to participate in a workshop for three hours on this subject. The great majority of those attending left very excited and full of enthusiasm, thinking about the possibilities of beginning speaking with their “existing social networks.”
Another ministry that had the opportunity to hear about our vision and mission was “Seeds of the New Creation”, a ministry directed by my good friend and colleague, the attorney Jorge Flores. We spoke with them about the possibility of a joint effort in the near future to achieve some objectives of the mission of the church to extend the kingdom of God in this region.
On Sunday the 20th, Pastor Ceferino Gonzalez, of the church of Nazareth in San Salvador, granted me the pulpit to preach on the celebration of their 38th anniversary. I preached the three services, as well as having the opportunity to introduce the ministry of HFC to more than 800 attendees!
Furthermore, in the Presidential Palace of the Salvadoran Republic, I was permitted to share testimony of the work the church in general was carrying on in El Salvador and the rest of Latin America. The lawyer David Rivas, National Press Secretary, warmly received us in his office in the Presidential Palace to hear about HFC. The doors have been thrown open for an interview with the president of the country, Mr. Mauricio Funes, from the evangelical perspective.
No doubt that visits such as this provide tremendous satisfaction, but at the same time the responsibility falls on all of us to intercede for the Salvadoran people, brought down by suffering caused by the hundreds of social evils that exist in their society. In spite of all of them, the Gospel of Christ shines brightly and sounds forth clearly. There is much left to do.
