Nearly two years ago, Jesus Navarro felt God calling him to Blount County, Alabama, from Houston, Texas, to lead a congregation of Spanish speaking people.

Today, that congregation is thriving, averaging about 50 people per service and preparing to move out of their current room into First Baptist Church Oneonta’s main sanctuary.

Navarro said he was filling in for a pastor at a Friendship Baptist Association church when he learned about the struggle to reach the area’s Hispanic population.

Following this, a friend prayed over him and asked God to “make it happen” if Navarro were the man to lead this new, much needed congregation.

“That’s how everything started,” Navarro said. “It took about a year and a half. I was refusing because, for us to move here, it meant to separate our family — leave behind my grandchildren, my house, 45 or 46 years of memories from Houston.”

Calling

However, he said God’s calling was greater than his reservations, and his children encouraged him to go where he was being led.

Some of his children came with him and his wife to Oneonta and assist in the operations of the church, and they have all been pivotal in the growth and proper functioning of the church.

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This article was originally published at TheAlabamaBaptist.org.