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Cuba
Jesús Rivas is our pastor serving in University Place, Washington. He shepherds the Hispanic group at Olympic View Baptist Church. Jesús is originally from Cuba and returns regularly to visit family there and plant new churches!
Over the last five years, Jesús has planted eight churches there and continues to direct and disciple the pastors leading those churches. These are small house churches, as the Cuban government won’t allow new churches to construct buildings to worship in.
Even with the restrictions and financial hardships, these pastors are preaching the Word, baptizing new believers, and discipling new leaders.
Pastor Jesús has been supporting these pastors financially, as well as with training and encouragement. They each receive $25 a month, which makes a big difference in their context. We would like to double this and allow these men to share the Gospel and make disciples in a place where we can’t send missionaries.
Venezuela
Pastor Lucio Gallo (Fundación ESEF) works with HFC in Salta, Argentina. He has been planting churches there for almost ten years. He now has four churches, a Bible Institute, and a Christian camp. Over the last few years, he has been working with a Venezuelan pastor, Giovanni Conde. Pastor Giovanni has been given a property in Venezuela he hopes to use as a missionary training center. He has already begun church planting and raising up leaders in a country we are unable to work in today.
We are praying for a partnership between a few NAB churches, HFC, ESEF, and Pastor Giovanni to see this training center developed. Church planters would be prepared there, missionaries sent from there, and local young people discipled for serving in their churches. This is another country where we can best do Kingdom work through a partnership, as we cannot enter.