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The number of Latinos in the NCBC district area will reach 4.5 million by 2010 according to CA Department of Finance estimates. Many NCBC churches in communities with Latino populations are searching for ways overcome language and cultural barriers to reach them.
Another barrier is a shortage of qualified leaders; the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. On October 25th - 28th, NCBC/Sunergeo sponsored an evaluation retreat to identify and equip Spanish-speaking harvest workers.
New Covenant Community Church in Fresno, CA hosted the first district and national Latino Planter Evaluation Retreat.
Other Latino and Anglo churches also partnered as financial sponsors.
NCBC Latino Planters, Mike Ensley and Chris Swanson, and BGC national Latino team leaders provided instruction and evaluation for our candidates.
Five prospective planting couples participated to learn more about church planting and be evaluated for their "fit" and readiness for church planting. All the couples made presentations, worked on projects, were interviewed and trained entirely in Spanish by evaluators with Latino planting experience.
All 5 candidate couples experienced incredible growth and demonstrated calling, passion and skills for planting. Each couple was recommended as planters and given specific conditions and recommendations to become effective Latino church planters.
Please pray for these candidates as we walk together on this journey to plant much needed Latino churches.
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