El Faro Baptist Mission
El Faro began as a ministry of Horse Cave Baptist Church in March 2004 with the help of North American Mission Board (NAMB) Missionary John Torres. The ministry was originally designed to be a recreational center for Spanish people to have a positive place to go in the evenings. English as a Second Language and Spanish as a Second Language classes began as well as Bible studies and Sunday Morning Worship. The ministry was located in Cave City, KY
February 2005, Jerry Cambrany took over as leader. By this time, El Faro was functioning more as a mission than a recreational center with Sunday attendance in the 20's. Jerry was also helping two other Spanish works in Lynn and Simpson Associations. Several Spanish made professions of faith and some were baptized.
September 2007, NAMB Missionary Heriberto Torres took over as leader. The ministry lost their building in Cave City and was moved to Horse Cave Baptist Church’s building. Heriberto immediately began searching for a local Spanish pastor to take over the work. Victor Silbestre was the natural choice. He has worked in Horse Cave’s seasonal Migrant Ministry for several years. Little Bethel Baptist Church, Liberty Association, is Victor’s home church and had licensed him to preach in 2004. December 2007, Victor Silbestre took over the teaching, preaching and pastoral duties of El Faro. He was ordained by Horse Cave November 16, 2008.
Horse Cave Baptist Church has shifted El Faro from ministry to mission status using KBC guidelines. The ultimate goal is for El Faro to be an autonomous Southern Baptist Convention Church. Victor has been interviewed by Horse Cave and asked to be on staff as our bi-vocational Hispanic Pastor. The mission will shift to church status when sufficient leadership is established. Our goal is 2012.
Victor and his wife, Amy, have three children. Victor is from Guatemala and received his permanent US resident status in 2004. He was saved in 1997, called to preach in 2003. Victor is a full-time employee of Burkmann’s Feed in Glasgow. He speaks three languages and is currently attending the KBC sponsored Hispanic Baptist Bible Institute to improve his preaching, teaching and leadership. Victor can be reached at 678-4904 or cell 590-2623.
El Faro needs your prayer support and patience. Reliance on the Lord is the only way to see this or any ministry grow. Having their own building is exciting and at the same time challenging. But the members of El Faro are up to the task of following the Lord wherever He leads. May God be glorified in this venture
April 24, 2011, Easter Sunday, El Faro worshipped in their new facility located at 202 Main Street, Cave City. Worship on Sunday is at 11 a.m. and Friday at 7 p.m. Discipleship Training is Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Hispanic Migrant Ministry
How the Ministry began
Jesus said, "I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest." John 4:35
For the Migrant Ministry at Horse Cave Baptist Church, those words of Jesus were literally true! The harvest of souls was in the fields of harvest as Hispanic migrant farm workers.
The first Hispanic Migrant Ministry meal and worship was in September 1998. To our amazement, 115 Hispanics showed up. Even more to our amazement, so did the Lord! Thirty-two accepted Christ that night. It was the beginning of a yearly ministry to Hispanic Migrant workers.
How the Ministry has progressed
1998 - Three get togethers, 49 accepted Christ.
1999 - Four months of Saturday services, 70 accepted Christ.
2000 - Four months of Saturday services, 44 accepted Christ, 5 baptized, 1st Health Fair with 70 attending.
2001 - Four months of Saturday services, 11 accepted Christ, 4 baptized, 2nd Health Fair with 30 attending. Southern Kentucky Hispanic Ministry started by Liberty Association.
2002 - Six months of Saturday services, 50 accepted Christ, 2 baptized, 3rd Health Fair with 40 attending.
2003 - Four months of Saturday services, 22 accepted Christ.
2004 - Four months of Saturday services, 57 accepted Christ. El Faro began year round ministry.
2005 - Four months of Saturday services, 48 accepted Christ. 4th Health Fair with 66 attending.
2006- Four months of Saturday services, 13 accepted Christ, 1 baptized, 5th Health Fair with 63 attending. UK Extension Service helped and won a National Award for Diversity.
2007- Four months of Saturday services, 21 accepted Christ, 2 bapized, 6th Health Fair with 150 attending.
2008 - Four months of Saturday services, 1 accepted Christ and was baptized, 7th Health Fair with 130 attending, all done free of charge.
2009 - Four months of Saturday services, 11 accepted Christ, 8th Health Fair with 150 attending and 90 volunteers.
2010 - Three months of Saturday services, 11 accepted Christ, 9th Health Fair with 115 attending and 77 volunteers.
2011 - Three months of Saturday services, 4 accepted Christ, 10th Health Fair with 70 attending and 75 volunteers.
Southern Kentucky Hispanic Ministry
Current Officers of the SKHM:
President, Tom Stokes (Monroe);
Vice President, Richard Easterling (Monroe); Secretary, Phyllis Wilcoxson (Liberty); Assistant Secretary, Kevin Denton (Liberty); Treasurer, David Gaddie (Taylor); Missionary Supervisor, Kevin Denton, (Liberty).
1. Work with participating associations to identify English speaking churches, interested in reaching out to Hispanics.
2. Locate the Hispanic population in our area and help the English speaking churches begin ministries.
3. Help already established Hispanic ministries with leadership training.
September 7, 2000, Liberty Association of Baptist voted in Annual Meeting to form the Southern Kentucky Hispanic Ministry, Inc. Grundy Janes, language missions consultant for the KBC, gave guidance in developing By-Laws, job description for the missionary and organization of the ministry. The funding of this ministry comes from a partnership of interested Baptist Associations, the KBC and NAMB providing health insurance coverage. The 2011-2012 budget is $52,000.
Each participating association is to elect three representatives to the SKHM. DOMs of each association are also voting members. Each association is to make a financial commitment to help to provide salary, housing and ministry expense for the missionary. The missionary will have a supervisor and communicate ministry plans to DOMs.
June 5, 2001, Simpson Baptist Association was the first association to make a four year commitment and join Liberty in this missions venture. July 8, 2002, Bro. John Torres was called as the ministry’s first missionary. He and his wife Linda moved from Houston, TX to Glasgow. He served until January 2005. While here, Bro. Torres helped one Hispanic Ministry constitute into a church which joined Liberty Association as Iglesia Emanuel. Two additional year round works were established in Liberty and Simpson associations. All three works continue to reach Spanish speaking people. In 2005, Simpson Association completed their four year commitment and chose not to continue in this ministry.
April 12, 2005, representatives from Lynn, Taylor and Severns Valley Baptist Associations were accepted as partners in this regional ministry. May 24, 2005, representatives met to update By-Laws, elect new officers, reorganize committees and announce funding commitments. July 25, 2006, Monroe Association was accepted as a partner, financial commitment was made and their three representatives were named. January 2009, Severns Valley Baptist Association chose not to continue in this ministry. That same year Lynn Association completed their four year commitment to the SKHM and for financial reasons, chose not to continue in the partnership. March 2010, East Lynn and Russell Creek Associations requested and were granted membership. This brings the total partnering associations to five.
October 25, 2005, Rolando Muniz was called as the ministry’s second missionary. He, his wife Sarai and two children moved from Clayton, GA to Hodgenville, KY. Rolando began his ministry January 2, 2006. March 5, 2007, Rolando passed away from complications after heart valve replacement surgery. He was 42 years old. Rolando had started works in Taylor, Monroe and Severns Valley Associations. He restarted a work in Lynn Association and supported three on-going works in Liberty. He and his family are greatly missed.
June 5, 2007, Heriberto Torres was called as the Ministry’s third missionary. He, his wife, Noemi and two children moved to our area from Lenoir City, TN. Heriberto began his ministry August 2007. Since arriving to our area he has completed a 13 hour advanced English as a Second Language at Campbellsville as well as graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary May 11, 2011, with a Master of Divinity.
Heriberto has started new work in Tompkinsville and Campbellsville while restarting a work in Elizabethtown and Hodgenville. He has helped place Hispanic pastors in all four places. He also placed a pastor at El Faro Baptist Mission in Horse Cave. Heriberto visits and/or preaches at each group every month, as well as teaching classes at the KBC sponsored Hispanic Baptist Bible Institute. He is available to assist English speaking churches reach out to Spanish speaking people. You may contact Heriberto at 270-576-3092 or by email at caleb2k@hotmail.com.