Jesus Christ Speaks Your Language brochure

The evening started quietly enough this past Saturday, January 5. A few people from several Presbyterian churches trickled in early at John Knox church in anticipation of our first bilingual, bicultural worship service in Indianapolis. There was good energy in the room, mixed in with a nervous anticipation. Members of the planning committee were setting out refreshments, arranging chairs, preparing music and a Powerpoint presentation. We chose this day because of El Día de los Reyes Magos (Three Kings Day), the popular Latin American holiday celebrated on January 6 when gifts for children appear under their beds. So, we laid wrapped presents at the manger ready to give them out to children who came to the service. If any showed up, that is. With a few minutes to go before the service, there was only one Hispanic woman from the community in the congregation; she was chatting away with Bob Anderson.

At the January 13, 2008 bilingual worship service held at John Knox, we celebrated January birthdays. Here Bob Anderson helps Stefani Casco light candles on the cake. There were thirty adults and children at this worship service (9 Anglo, 21 Hispanic adults and children).

Fabio Socarraz, Barry and Mary Sumner, my wife Tracy and I gathered in the church office to pray, to ask for God's hand in this service, to offer this service as our effort to be faithful to our call to reach out to the Hispanic community. As if on a divine cue, soon after we finished praying we saw Hispanic families starting to arrive. And they kept coming, even after the service had begun. We recognized some from Campo Amistad, some from the work of the Legal Clinic, some from the Dental Clinic. Some were from homes we had visited on a cold December morning when we walked the neighborhood to invite people to the service. Some we had never seen before (they must have seen our ad in the newspaper La Voz de Indiana). As these families arrived, more church members arrived from John Knox, Zionsville, Second, Northminster, Tab, Irvington, and St. Andrew to celebrate with us at this special service. We kept getting up and adding more chairs to make room at the inn (I mean, Fellowship Hall).

The entire forty-five minute service was conducted bilingually. We sang, we heard the scriptures read and proclaimed, and we offered prayers, all in Spanish and in English. It was a joyous event that got more joyful after the benediction when children came up to get their presents. But it wasn't all about the presents. We noticed that most of the twelve Hispanic families in attendance lingered long after the service. We shared with them, enjoying the great refreshments and Rosca de Reyes (a traditional Mexican cake). We talked in English and Spanish and got to know each other a little bit better. It felt like the Hispanic families appreciated this gathering, and like they really longed for this sense of community which they were helping to create. In total we had 53 people in attendance, 23 of whom were Hispanic adults and children.

We invited everyone to return to our upcoming worship celebrations, and they seemed genuinely interested in our worship series entitled "From Isolation to Community" (Sunday 6:30 p.m., January 13 through Easter).

This was one of those times when one can't help but look up to heaven and thank God for God's surprising and generous work among us. Keep praying for our outreach. Pray for these Hispanic families so they may become seeds in this garden which God will make bloom. Pray that the planning team will be in tune with the needs and strengths of the gathered community. Pray for deep relationships to form. And pray for God's Holy Spirit to continue to surprise us.

If you have any questions about this outreach, or if you would want to get involved, contact Felipe Martinez