Iglesia Bautista Emanuel

By Dave Toro

Voodoo is a religion unlike any other. Thanks to the treacherous West African slave trade which thrived between the 14th and 18th centuries, voodooism spread throughout the world. It persists today in Cuba and Miami as a cult called Santeria.

The church in Pompano Beach, Florida would be called Emmanuel Baptist Church in English. My wife Bev and I started this work in 1985. Prior to that we served as ABWE missionaries in Chile from 1959 to 1971, when we moved to church planting in Australia. We worked in two churches at the same time; one an Australian church, the other Spanish-speaking.

To start Emmanuel Baptist Church, Bev and I visited many unsaved people and Christians who wanted to help in the new ministry. One contact was the Melenwicks where the wife was from Colombia and the husband from Europe. Both spoke Spanish. We started meeting in their home. In 1986 Broadview Baptist Church opened its doors to us and we have met there ever since. We have people from 14 different Spanish-speaking nations in our congregation. Curiously, we had 14 Spanish nations represented in our Spanish church in Australia.

Dr. Arturo Blanco from Cuba is our visitation coordinator. Materially he lost every thing in Cuba, but here he has been enriched by God's gift of salvation. He was my wife's physician until God called Bev to heaven in March 1992. Dr. Blanco teamed up with Juan Salas from Spain. Mrs. Salas is also active in the work; she invited Manuela, a Peruvian whom she met at English class. Manuela told me, "Pastor, I'm coming to check you out and see what you teach."

The majority of Spanish people are Roman Catholic, but coming from so many countries, they incorporate a variety of religious beliefs. One is called Santeria, the Cuban form of voodoo that mixes Roman Catholicism and West African animism. When the slaves came, they masked their spirit worship with veneration of saints, hence "Santeria." The "saints" were actually demon spirits worshipped in West Africa. Santeria involves animal sacrifices. Twice I have found on my door step large rats with their throats cut. Another form uses human heads stolen from graves. Much of the cult revolves around the "Botanica" shops which sell the paraphernalia needed.

In the midst of voodooism, God is at work. Ismael Herrera was saved and baptized during 1997. Tommy LaTorre from Peru accepted the Lord in my living room on January 14, 1998 after many sessions of Bible reading and questions. He went right home and told his wife whose uncle is a Roman Catholic priest in Peru.

Our church conducts women's meetings, men's prayer breakfasts, and a visitation program. Once a month we have a supper and game night when many unsaved people attend. At a recent supper an 86-year-old woman from Cuba, a young couple from Mexico, and a lady from Peru with her three young children and sister-in-law came. None of them is saved, but they are ready to hear the gospel.

Already our church helps to support four missionaries: the Australian AWANA directors, a national pastor in Chile, a couple in Argentina, and a couple serving in Florida. Pray that the church will reach self-support status and have its own pastor soon. One possibility is a Salvadorian couple we are working with. Mr. Lopez had some Bible training and preached in his own country. He wants to continue his training and service for the Lord.

The US Immigration Department records the Spanish population at about 45 million but counting the illegal immigrants, the number could be nearer 80 million. More Spanish-speaking people live in the United States than in all of Central America. What a great mission field right here at home!

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