History of Spanish Language Preaching in Los Angeles

The Beginning

On arriving in Los Angeles in the spring of 1998 the first thing we did was to begin placing advertisements in the Spanish-language daily newspaper La Opin­ión, offering the Bible course by correspondence. Several small weekly papers were also tried, but they produced little response. Subsequently we discovered a Spanish-language PennySaver-type magazine which gave cost-effective results, and for years we used it almost exclusively. But since the beginning of 2010 most advertising has been done using Google ads placed by the CBMA’s guru in this field, Bro. Robert Alderson. At present this appears to be the most economical means of reaching people interested in studying the Bible.

Going back to 1998, the next step was to begin producing postal courses and Bible literature. Most material is produced using a leased photocopier and manually folding and stapling, on an as-needed basis. This work could have been contracted out to a commercial printer, but it would have had a much higher initial cost and would present problems of storage and spoilage. We do use a commercial printer for a small number of high-demand titles.

By September 1998 there were about 300 people receiving the postal course — a reasonable number to begin inviting out to talks. One of the problems in LA is the size of the city and the limitations of public transport. We were unsure where to establish a meeting place, and so for the first six months we hung up a map of greater LA and put pins in all the places where the contacts lived. Unfortunately that didn’t resolve the problem — the whole area had pins in it! It had been sug­gested that the greatest density of Hispanics was in East LA and that we should set up there, but strangely enough, little interest has ever come from that area. In the end we concluded that the Koreatown, west of downtown, was the approximate “centre of gravity,” so to speak, of the areas where most contacts lived.

We sent out invitations to a series of six talks in a modest hotel and were encour­aged by the 20 or so visitors who came out. Several of them were subsequently baptized. Sis. Vera Ifill, who lives in the area, began looking for rental premises and found a very nice storefront with ample parking and good bus service. Once the hall was ready we began to offer regular Bible classes and lectures there. At the time we were still members of the Los Angeles Ecclesia, so we attended that ecclesia on Sunday mornings and offered Spanish-language Bible talks in Koreatown at 3 PM. Sis. Vera always went with us and gave a Sunday School class (in English) to the smallest children who came — Vera being 85 at the time!

We have always encouraged people to bring their children to all the meetings and, except for the breaking of bread, the children have their own classes at the same time as the adults. This is important in developing a habit of attendance as well as allowing both parents to attend classes undisturbed.

A weekly Bible class was scheduled on Thursday evenings and shortly afterwards a Saturday-afternoon class was also instituted to attract some of our contacts who were Seventh-Day Adventists. A good number of these, members of an extended family, were later baptized. Both Bible classes continue to the present day. For a while we offered a Tuesday-night class at the LA Ecclesial hall in Santa Fe Springs, but it was suspended after a few weeks for lack of attendance, even though many contacts lived in the area. Attendance was initially quite small at the weekday classes in Koreatown, but Sundays usually brought a nice turnout — 10 to 15 adult visitors. Within about a year two contacts began studying for baptism.

One thing to be conscious of is that taking people out of the world or another church means completely changing their way of thinking. Most have little un­derstanding of the Bible even if they have been attending a church. This means that preparation for baptism must be very thorough; trying to rush things will only mean problems further down the road. (We usually take about a year to do baptismal classes, unless the person has already been attending for a long time.) Another caution: the fact that a contact has done all the Bible courses and answered well is no indication that he has understood or embraced the teaching. Contacts who have completed all the postal courses — which are very clear about basic teachings — often admit that they don’t really believe what they have studied even if they have understood it. Some people like to do courses and will put down the answer expected of them just to get a good grade on their questionnaires.

First Results

The first two baptisms took place in the spring of 2000, and so a breaking of bread was added to the Sunday-afternoon schedule. But after a few more baptisms the LA Hispanic members requested that Sunday meetings be held in the morning, and so the breaking of bread was rescheduled for 10:00 AM, followed by the public lecture at 11:30. Sunday school is held at the same time as the lecture, so visitors can bring their children. During the Thursday-night Bible class we offer two concurrent classes, one for teenagers and another for younger children, while on Saturday afternoons there is just one class for kids of all ages. There is also CYC class on Monday evenings. Usually there are weekly personal baptismal classes as well. Adult classes are given in Spanish; those for young people and children are usually in English since the children are being schooled in English even though they speak Spanish at home. But the teachers sometimes switch to Spanish if there is a new student who has recently arrived in the country and hasn’t yet picked up English.

Years ago a couple of billing efforts were carried out in the area of the LA Hispanic hall with the welcome help of young people from nearby ecclesias. This produced two baptisms. But the main preaching method has always been the same: adver­tising the Bible course and inviting the postal contacts out to meetings. The best way to identify a serious contact is to see if he is willing to show up to a meeting. We discovered that even when we did look people up and even gave them classes in their homes, this rarely translated into their making the effort to come out to meetings (remembering that our focus is on building ecclesias).

Present Day

There have now been 29 baptisms into the LA Hispanic Ecclesia. Three members have since fallen asleep, four have moved out of the area but keep in touch and one no longer at­tends. So including our­selves there are 23 active members in the local meeting, a harmoni­ous little congregation. More than 760 different people (including children — some of whom have now been baptized) have at­tended meetings since the beginning. Because of our favourable location there have been lots of walk-ins, and in fact four of our members are the result of coming in off the street. About 4,500 people have received the Bible course in the greater LA area.

We have a very nice storefront on a busy street. The main room is furnished with a whiteboard and tables to help create a learning environment. Coffee and light refreshments are set out at the beginning of every class. After the Sunday lecture we serve a light lunch, which encourages the visitors to stay around chatting. The sisters take turns bringing the food, and we get an amazing variety of menus — often including hot peppers for the Mexican members! Baptismal classes are often held after the Sunday lunch or before the Thursday or Saturday Bible classes. To promote fellowship we have family days several times a year. For example, on Thanksgiving we have a brunch together or even a full turkey dinner. On July 4th we either go to the home of Bro. Manny and Sis. Celina Cervantes for swimming and a barbecue or use the LA ecclesial hall for games and a barbecue. Since we are intended to be a family, we celebrate together as a family. Every month there is a cake at the meeting for everyone celebrating a birthday that month (though I think we once offended a JW contact who came and saw the cake!). The sisters occasionally get together to have lunch at a nice restaurant, which is fun.

Factors to consider for Spanish-language outreach

1. Distance

In any big American city the Hispanic population will probably tend to be widely dispersed. Here in Los Angeles they are spread all over the downtown area and the suburbs. Since many do not have their own vehicle, public transportation is an issue. For example, we have many contacts in Anaheim and Santa Ana (30 to 40 miles from our hall), but we have never had a visitor from those areas.

In an effort to try to reach other areas of greater LA we once held a lecture series at the Reseda ecclesial hall but got no visitors from the area. The same thing was tried using the LA ecclesial hall, but again, no-one from the area showed up. This has not been done recently.

2. Advertising

For years newspaper ads were the main form of advertising in most countries of Latin America and here in LA as well, but rising costs combined with restricted budgets have become a deterring factor. Since 2009 targeted Google ads have been used in many areas of Latin America, but we are still trying to assess the quality of the contacts. In Los Angeles 190 contacts have come in from Google ads, but very few of these students have actually answered the course and only four of them have come out to a meeting. Since coming out to meetings is the bottom-line definition of what makes a “good” contact, we are still trying to work out the pros and cons of Internet advertising. It produces new contacts much more inexpensively than print advertising, but it is hard to know how serious they are. It is easier to click on a link and type a few words than to make a telephone call or fill out a coupon and mail it in.

3. The importance of stable leadership for a reasonably long time

Having a missionary brother or couple on the ground for several years has played an important role in the success of CBMA outreach in Latin America. In the early years in El Salvador, an Evangelical pastor told us, “The lovely sisters are great, but until you convert a capable young man who can teach and lead, you will not have an independent church.” That has certainly been our experience. Just baptising a brother doesn’t mean that he is capable of giving classes or mature enough to be an ecclesial leader. A lecturing brother must be able not only to present our teachings clearly but also answer difficult questions from visitors. Even in the best-case scenario, that of baptizing a capable young man early on in the effort, it can take years for these skills to develop enough for the ecclesia to become independent.

4. Immigrant contacts

Most Hispanic members and contacts in the US are fairly recent immigrants. They have come to this country to improve their economic situation and provide better opportunities for their children, and so the struggle to achieve these aims is an important factor in their lives. In addition, many are sending money back to their home countries to support family members there. They often work long hours for low wages. Work schedules that include changing shifts and weekends can be challenging to regular ecclesial attendance.

5. Language

Of the older members in our ecclesia only two speak English well, even though some have lived here for many years. Their work schedules and family duties have left them little time to attend English classes. Some of our members work in Korean businesses and end up speaking more Korean than English!

It is impractical to expect older Latinos to learn English. Few of our converts that began attending as adults will learn the language well. So if we begin preaching in Spanish in an area we must continue to provide a Spanish-speaking ecclesial environment; in the main it will be difficult to successfully incorporate Hispanic contacts into English-speaking ecclesias.

On the other hand, their children all speak English and prefer it to Spanish. It is uncertain at this stage how this will work out in the future of the LA Hispanic Ecclesia. The kids tend to zone-out during the breaking of bread (maybe kids do that anyways!), closing their ears to the Spanish. On the other hand, we encourage our young people to take part in regional CYC activities and Bible schools in the hope that they will become integrated into the wider ecclesial world.