Contact: Willie Costa

Ministry's Mission:
Our mission is to reach those willing to hear the Gospel and teach the redeeming qualities of our Lord Jesus Christ; to make disciples within the Spanish Language Ministry (Hispanics) community by demonstrating Christ's love and equipping the congregation to minister to their needs so that all might fellowship, worship, and serve as one body.

Target Population:
Our ministry is primarily focusing on evangelizing the Hispanic population in Guilford County. Our strategy is to identify the needs of the Hispanic Community and creating services/programs to fulfill those needs. For example, we are currently serving our community by providing individually scheduled Bible classes and ESL classes, and translations of the English sermon. Marriage and family classes, parenting classes, and citizenship classes are some of the future programs to be offered by Friendly Avenue Spanish Language Ministry. This ministry wants to bring Hispanics in the Triad area to Christ and to help them as they mature spiritually.

Ministry Goals:
Our ministry goals are to create a leadership that will integrate and energize all other aspects of the Friendly Avenue congregation by participating, helping, and encouraging every member of the Spanish Language Ministry to serve the kingdom actively and to create a self-expanding ministry that will be evangelistic and equipped to touch all sectors of our targeted population with the life changing and relevant message of the Gospel.

Ministry Responsibilities/Tasks:
Our ministry's tasks are to bring Hispanic individuals into fellowship by communicating the Gospel, impacting them with services, addressing their spiritual needs, and all the while showing Jesus Christ to everyone who comes in contact with us.

Dream/Vision:
Our dream/vision is to construct a SLM where Jesus is first, and the Christian community is next in importance; and

• To have a participatory and integrated ministry
• To be self-propagating to develop internal leadership
• To have fellowship with Hispanic ministries across the Carolinas
• To be an active, uplifting and encouraging place to find renewal and direction to conduct God-pleasing lives
• To be comprehensive of all family members, encouraging our children to be a part of Friendly Avenue. The SLM cannot delegate the responsibility for nurturing the faith of our children to other ministries; rather, we need to work with parents to assume their God-given role as primary faith shapers and cooperate with the work God is doing in the rest of our church body.

How the English-Speaking Member can help our Ministry:
God's image is not a measurable set of characteristics. God's image is reflected uniquely in each person. God does not make mistakes, and the kingdom includes people who are different but who are still brothers and sisters in the Lord. People want to know that they have value and purpose. Be welcoming by:

• Treating people with language issues as if they're intelligent. Communication ability in a second language is not equivalent to intelligence.
• Speaking in a normal tone of voice. Sometimes we tend to speak louder thinking we can make ourselves understood better.
• Talking directly with the person, not through a companion or a family member. If someone needs to interpret for you, look at the person you are speaking with, not the interpreter.
• Learning a few welcoming words and use them freely. It will also help you empathize with the difficulty of learning a language different from your own.