After a Year

It's hard to believe ... and at the same time it VERY believable, that we've been involved in this Hispanic work for a year now. It really does seem like just a few weeks ago that we were pulling up to the parking lot at Coan Church and there was already a small crowd gathered, some hitting a volleyball around, others kicking a soccer ball, with more inside, just visiting. Back then there was a sense of excitement and anticipation that is somehow still present at every Encuentro.

One experience in particular seems to exemplify how our ministry has taken shape in the last year. One evening, at Wal-Mart, we ran into Armando, one of the area nursery workers. It had been a couple of weeks since I had seen him and he asked me, "When are you going to bring Church back to us?" Leslie and I have worked intentionally at relating as pastors to our friends at every event, expressing a genuine love and care for our Hispanic brothers and sisters on the Northern Neck. We probably don't look or act like the pastoral presence that they've been traditionally accustomed to, but we can tell by the way they act around us and how they refer to us and our children that we are making a difference one life at a time.

But then, it's not about us, it's about them and YOU as an Association. As the year has gone by, the people have gone from being names and faces to being friends and family. We've gotten to know and love many of them, found out about their families back home, or their families here, and have been able to form bonds of love in the name of Christ that transcend the distances that result when they are gone. We find ourselves dreading their return to Mexico, and anticipating their return to the States. There have been moments of tragedy, and moments of joy. Having the opportunity to show them the face of Christ, to be his hands and feet, to lend an ear, provide comfort and counsel, to cry with, laugh with, and live with his children has been an awesome and wonderful thing.

Through the meetings that Leslie and I have attended and at which we’ve shared, we hope we’ve been able to convey to you that YOU are as much a part of this ministry as we are – we’re not doing this on our own, we do it as an extension and an expression of YOUR love, YOUR concern, YOUR desire to reach out and minister to the Hispanic Community around you.

Thank You, RBA, for this last year for the blessing you've allowed my family to partake of, and for the vision that you have for what God’s kingdom should be.

Grace and Peace,

Kenny, Leslie, Hannah, Caleb and Judson Park