Iglesia Comunal La Esperanza, Valrico, Fla., is a small Grace Brethren congregation of mostly Spanish-speaking people. “[We have] no more than 70 people, 35 of them kids and teenagers,” says Pastor Javier Forero.
But they are still big enough to plant another church.
“Every Tuesday, for five years, we have had a food pantry ministry,” explains the pastor. The pantry attracted a lot of homeless people and people in need, “so we started praying with them and for them,” he adds.
They began sharing a devotional thought with the people who came. That developed into a full-fledged church service that meets in the church building each Tuesday “because they don’t want the church on Sundays,” says Pastor Forero.
Now the Tuesday congregation numbers around 35 and it’s just the beginning for the Valrico mother church. “We are going to start planting seven more churches,” says the pastor. “Please pray for us and for that church planting movement.”