Many Hispanics caught off-guard by storm warnings they didn't hear or couldn't understand


If you're not from the Southwest, you still have heard about Texans.

They like things big. BIG. (Never mind what Okies say about Texans. It is enough that there are two ways of viewing every rivalry.)

But here's some news big enough for Texas and the nation, too.

Hispanics are no longer a minority in Texas, according to recent reports. Rather, Hispanics are now the majority in Texas as well as other parts of the nation. Latinos are a growing segment of all our communities.

If you're not from Texas, don't quit reading here.

Too often, they are “invisible” - living their lives quietly in the shadows, where schools, churches and governments have learned not to look.

One sad reminder of this truth is the story that has begun to emerge in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. A recent National Public Radio story told how an estimated 42,000 Hispanics in Mississippi were caught largely off-guard by storm warnings issued in English and by English-language media.
In addition to those U.S. Census numbers, like most states in the nation, Mississippi also has a large, undocumented population of Hispanics who work its farms and in the service industries.

Who knows how many Spanish-speaking residents hunkered down, endangering their own lives because they were afraid to appear on the radar screens of rescuers, governments and authorities?

Language and cultural barriers made emergency measures and relief efforts complex, to say the least, as Katrina's winds and waves lashed the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts.

Long before Katrina, however, U.S. leaders had been trying to catch up with the Latino population boom. Some Latino families have been in the United States for generations and are leaders in schools, municipalities, corporations, universities and state or national agencies. Others are undocumented, uncounted and invisible. Politicians are scratching their heads about how to respond.

These invisible neighbors cannot remain invisible in Texas, in Mississippi or in your community and mine. Christians must be asking important questions about these neighbors and seeking connections with them.

What do they to offer? What do they need? Who are they? How can we serve them? How can we know them well enough to value their strengths?

Whether it's English language lessons using the “Let's Start Talking” ministry or literacy training in Spanish or English, there are many ways of learning to see these formerly invisible neighbors.

This month, our Dialogue interview with Alabama minister Justo Durantes provides important insights into these ministries. This interview was planned prior to Hurricane Katrina, but it remains important for church leaders all over the nation, so we have retained it in this issue.

If you think your community is not touched by the Latino wave, you might not be looking in the right places.

For several years, the Chronicle has tried to provide news coverage and perspectives to help church leaders get a handle on this trend. Christians can no longer think of these neighbors as outsiders. Many congregations already have turned their efforts from simply hosting a Spanish-language worship to building more significant partnerships to reach and serve others.

In August 2001 we interviewed Dan Rodriguez, a Pepperdine University professor and urban minister in Los Angeles. His city is “a preview of coming attractions,” he said. Find the Dialogue with Rodriguez on our Web site.
In January 2003 Lindy Adams created a Currents section on Hispanic evangelism, which includes extra materials published in our online edition only.

For example, Hispanic Evangelism Resources is a Web-based listing of ministries and helpful materials for any congregation seeking to reach out to its invisible neighbors. The resources include missiologist Everett Huffard's essay “Churches in Ethnic Transition.”

In April 2001 we provided a discussion of leadership issues in which outreach to Hispanics was an important strand.

In that leadership discussion, minister Abel Alvarez told our readers, “Wave. Tides. Movements. Shifts. There are many ways to describe them but whatever you choose to call them, it is imperative that you see them coming or you will be hurt by their unexpected arrival.”

Alvarez's advice is as wise today as it was in 2001. Hurricanes. Thieves in the night. Shifts. All come with little warning. Each is unavoidable. Each demands our respect.

The wise see what is invisible to others. They prepare for the deluge.

CONTACT soctt.lamascus@christianchronicle.org