Internationalmatt's Blog

Ministerio Manantial de Vida and Spring of Life Deaf Churches Have a New Home

Last Sunday my friends at Ministerio Manatial de Vida Church and Spring of Life Deaf Church had their first worship service in their new place which is at 3336 N. 14th in Lincoln. It is across from Belmont Elementary School just a few blocks north of Adams Street. It happened so quickly for them that I barely had time to keep up with how things were going. I have previously written about both of these congregations and the unique ministry they have in Lincoln.

Pastor Rogelio with one of the children

I have been impressed with how Pastor Rogelio and his wife Chayo invest themselves in the children of the church to foster confidence and skill building in the church. They encourage the children to participate in the worship service. It is common on a Sunday morning to see a child or teenager get up in front of the congregation to recite bible verses they have memorized or to sing a song. Each time it is an illustration of their passion to encourage growth in all people in their church.

Their heart for seeing others grow is a big reason why there are two churches meeting at the same location. Pastor Rogelio and his family immigrated to the United States so that their three hearing impaired sons could go to school here. Two of their sons Jonathan and David are the pastors of Spring of Life Deaf Church. They minister to a congregation of hearing impaired people who are mostly American. Pastor Rogelio and Chayo’s daughter Jezharela leads worship in the Hispanic congregation Ministerio Manantial de Vida. Their other son Moises is also actively involved in ministry.

Their new site was owned a Slavic Baptist Church which is a congregation of immigrants from Ukraine and Belrus. First Slavic Baptist bought another church building and put their old location up for sale. It was wonderful to hear about how the pastor of First Slavic Baptist worked with Pastor Rogelio and the sale went through quickly. Members of the congregation worked hard, especially Pastor Rogelio and his family, to get the church ready. They painted, remodeled a garage, cleaned etc to get the building ready. A God thing was when a man came to the church a few months ago and began coming with his family. He came to know God through coming to the Ministerial Manatial de Vida. He works construction and gave a lot of his time to work on the building.

Erik on the left helps with the Power Point and our "WORKER" on the right

I am excited for my friends in both congregations. It is an excellent location because it is close to 3 neighborhoods with large Hispanic populations. It is also close the Superior Street and Cornhusker Highway, so it is very accessible for everyone. It is also not too far from UNL, so if a University Student wants to practice their Spanish,it is a great place to do so.

I am also excited about their vision for future ministry in both congregations. It is awesome to see how God is helping them in their work. I still marvel at how a family came here form Mexico several years ago and is now ministering to not only Hispanic people, but also to Americans who most churches neglect, which are the Hearing Impaired.

left to right David, Jonathan and Moises sons of Pastor Rogelio and Chayo

Spring of Life Deaf Church will be meeting at 9:00am on Sundays and Ministerio Manatial de Vida will be meeting at 11:30am. Ministerio does have equipment to listen to English translation if you want to come but do not speak Spanish. They will welcome all.

October 19, 2011 - Posted by internationalmatt | Experiences of international friends, Hispanic friends, International Friendships, Internationals, Sign Culture