The Rescate Church is Alaska’s sole Hispanic Southern Baptist Church and it has witnessed spiritual fruit in the past few years. The members of the church are planning to grow their ministry by increasing the number of Hispanic churches throughout Alaska. The church’s pastor, Mario Morales, is the only Spanish-speaking person at his work place, Home Depot, and many of the Hispanic customers who interacted with him, eventually joined the church.
Church Leaders reports:
JUNEAU, Alaska (BP) – Members of Rescate Church, the only Hispanic Southern Baptist Church in Alaska, have seen great spiritual fruit in the last couple of years and desire to continue growing their ministry by planting more Hispanic churches throughout the state.
Mario Morales, pastor of Rescate Church, told Baptist Press despite the church’s essentially having to start over after the COVID-19 pandemic, the congregation has grown to 25 members and baptized seven people in the last year.
Beyond his family, Morales said most of the members of Rescate have come from a unique outreach – his job at Home Depot.
Morales is the only Spanish-speaker who works at the store, and therefore any Hispanic customer who needs help is sent to him. Many of the members of the church have come through these conversations and connections.
His job at Home Depot is not just an avenue to finance his ministry, it is a part of his ministry, Morales told BP.
“In September of 2020, the Lord blessed me to be able to start working at Home Depot, and that became the best evangelism strategy,” he said.
“People are able to learn that I am a pastor as we have conversations. That is my evangelistic approach. If they were to take away my Home Depot job tomorrow, I would still go to Home Depot every week to buy a nail or something in order to interact with people and tell them about God.
As per the findings of the U.S. Census, a little over 7 percent of the population in Alaska is Hispanic. It shows that the percentage of Hispanic population is higher in Alaska than in southern states like Tennessee and Kentucky.
According to U.S. Census data, just over 7 percent of Alaska’s population is Hispanic, which is a higher percentage than southern states like Kentucky and Tennessee.
After a period of prayer and contemplation, Morales and his wife Migdalia contacted the North American Mission Board about starting a church in the state.
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