In 2002, my family and I had decided to move to the United States. I didn’t really know what I was going to be doing, whether I would continue in fulltime church work or not. Among other places, I posted my resumé on the Abilene Christian University website. One night I got a call from one of the members in Stockdale, telling me that they had seen my information and wanted to know if I would be interested in talking with them about a job. It was a predominantly Hispanic church in a small town in Texas (population about 1400). I was too polite to tell them that I wasn’t interested in small towns nor Hispanic ministry, plus I’ve always felt that I should listen to every opportunity the Lord puts in my way. He’s surprised me almost every turn along the road, so I’ve learned not to rule anything out.
Several phone calls followed, including one where they offered to fly me to the States to interview. Seeing this as a chance to travel to the States and interview for some jobs I was really interested in, I agreed. But the people of Stockdale knew something I didn’t know: once I met the people of that congregation, no other place could have any appeal for me. They wanted me there on a Sunday and a Wednesday, which I now realize was an exceptionally long visit/interview (I was pretty new at all that, having been in mission situations before that). By the time I left on Wednesday, I was fairly convinced that I had a found a good place for our family to be.
We accepted the job in July, making arrangements to make our move in October (we were waiting on Carolina’s visa). During that interim, the congregation merged with the local Anglo congregation. It was a merger with lots of strikes against it: different cultures, language barriers, different worship styles, doctrinal differences… None of those could overcome the biggest positive these Christians had: they really loved the Lord and they really loved one another.
Today the Stockdale congregation is a healthy one. They’ve had plenty of trials over the last 6 years, but God has blessed them in many ways. It’s hard for me to describe all of the ways in which God has prepared this church for ministry. I’m proud to still be able to consider myself a part of that congregation, even though I’ve been away for 3 years now. I doubt there’s a healthier small town church in the country, especially a bilingual congregation. Others would do well to observe the things they’ve done to bring Christians together, especially those of different languages.