Spanish-speaking church trying to put down roots in Beckley

BECKLEY, WV (WVNS) — A local Beckley church has opened its doors to encourage the birth of a new congregation. Northgate Baptist church welcomes Hay Esperanza in hopes of encouraging the creation of a new Spanish-speaking church in the community.

Northgate Baptist Church is right off Pinewood Drive in Beckley and opened its doors last Sunday, April 28 to a congregation not their own.

Hay Esperanza is a burgeoning Spanish-speaking church forming from their ministry in Cross Lanes, West Virginia.

Hay Esperanza has branches in Huntington, Cross Lanes, and Ashland, Kentucky. Northgate Pastor Josh Johnson said he’s great to see this need being fulfilled.

“We do know there is a need for that here in our community, even though it may not be way out in the open, not everybody is aware of it, there are Hispanic speaking individuals here in our community that need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Pastor Johnson. “And we wanna make sure that they’re hearing the message that Christ has come to offer salvation to all.”

The man behind getting this branch of Hay Esperanza started is Pastor Carlos Ortiz.

Pastor Ortiz is originally from El Salvador, but was called to the United States to spread the word of Christ.

He gives sermons at each of the Hay Esperanza churches, but felt compelled to start his own here in Beckley.

Pastor Ortiz invites everyone to come and check things out in their next Sunday services.

“We also wanted to make an invitation from the church, from the ministry, so that you can come every Sunday at 3 P.M. We have a service, a meeting here, in this place,” said Ortiz.

Pastor Ortiz said he’s excited to spread the word of Christ to as many Spanish-speaking people as he can and looks forward to the day when he can have his own, full congregation.

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