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Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
With her genuinely good heart and a wealth of experience behind her, Susannah works to connect local business and non-profit leaders to their neighbors. In a community like ours in which so many have invested their lives, there are fantastic stories all around us that motivate and inspire, often right next door. She hopes to share some of those here, on the Good Neighbor Podcast. Book an interview today at GNPAuburn.com
Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika
Ep.#56: Transforming Communities through Faith: Daniel Gonzalez and the Latino Ministry at First Baptist Church Opelika
Have you ever wondered how a ministry can transform an entire community? Daniel Gonzalez joins us on the Good Neighbor Podcast to share the incredible journey of the Latino Ministry at First Baptist Church in Opelika. From knocking on doors and visiting construction sites to connecting families with vital services, Daniel's inspiring story takes you from his roots in a persecuted church in Cuba to his impactful work in Alabama. Listen to how his faith and perseverance have cultivated a vibrant, unified congregation that mirrors the diversity depicted in Revelation 7:9.
Discover the cultural shift Daniel experienced moving from the bustling cities of Havana and Miami to the tranquil surroundings of Opelika. Learn about the pivotal role of local support in his mission and the profound need for Latino outreach in Lee County. In this heartwarming episode, Daniel also opens up about his extensive church planting experience in Latin America and the personal calling that led his family to FBCO. Don’t miss this captivating conversation brimming with tales of faith, community, and the transformative power of love.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susanna Hodges.
Speaker 2:Hi and welcome With me. Today I have Daniel Gonzalez with the Latino Ministry at First Baptist Church, opelika. Welcome, daniel. Thanks for joining me.
Speaker 3:Thank you, Susanna. What a privilege to be here. Thank you for having me today.
Speaker 2:Well, you're so welcome. Tell us a little bit about the Latino ministry at First Baptist Church in Opelika.
Speaker 3:Well, the official name is PIBO. Pibo is an acronym P-I-B-O, that means the same thing. F-b-c-o. Primera Iglesia Bautista Opelika, or FBCO in Spanish, is the church of an American church that, by the way, have been hosting Korean congregations since five years, probably in Lee County it is the closest thing that we can say to have an image of a revelation. Chapter 7, verse 9, where people from every tribe, language and nations appear worshiping God.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, when did the ministry start there at First Baptist Church? Is it relatively new?
Speaker 3:Well, it's relatively new. We came here almost two years ago. By the way, this August the 1st, me and my family will be two years here in Alabama and since that moment we start knocking doors, sharing the gospel in the marketplace everywhere, visiting the construction places and you know, in the construction places and helping families get in contact with some very important ministries here, like Mercy Medical, women's Hope, and one year ago we started what we call our public services in the 360 here in FBCO.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, tell me a little bit about how you got to this position, and to Opelika, for that matter.
Speaker 3:Yeah Well, I was born in Cuba within the context of a church persecuted by the communist regime.
Speaker 3:Oh, no In the midst of a Cold War. So you kind of have an idea of that war. So you kind of have an idea of that we had that time. We had to steal the echoes of a missile issue.
Speaker 3:In Cuba I lived a part of a persecuted minority. I think that made us me and my generation a great generation that was firm in our principles and successful in the midst of the adversity. When I was in college, a student telecommunication engineer, I received a calling up to the ministry, so I entered in the southern uh, in the a Seminary in Havana, and for about 20 years I was part of one of the most formidable church planting movement in Latin America. David Garrison is a classic book about church planting movement. He used that model of Cuba to show different kind of ways that church planting movement can happen at the end of 2022. Use that model of Cuba to share different kind of ways that church planting movement can happen the end of 2022,.
Speaker 3:I came to USA to start with my children who are in their college time to study in the university, because all my relatives and all my wife's relatives here in the States during many years they have been American citizens during the many years the last two decades.
Speaker 3:So I came here to start with my children to continue their studies in math, in social work and all that. We have three children, two boys, one girl and I was finishing myself the dissertation of my doctoral studies in Midwestern Baptist Geological Seminary in Kansas and in the midst of that at that time I was contacted by AFBCO. But honestly, in the very beginning I was not really excited in coming to the deep south because I was growing in Havana City and then I was living in Miami City. Both cities are more than 3 million people, really really different, really noisy, a lot of culture going on. I really love that they define me as a city boy. But, believe me, pastor Jeff and his wife Tracy Tracy loves the Latino children, she works as an ESL teacher in the Opelika City School and my wife, she, is doing the same teacher in the Opelika City School and my wife, she, is doing the same.
Speaker 3:So, pastor Jeff, bishop, and the love of this church and the necessity and the key moment for the Latino people here in this Lee County, and God used all those factors to appeal us just to come here. We cannot say no. So we right here on two years ago so how do you like Opelika and Auburn?
Speaker 2:how's? You've been here with two years now. What's? How do you like it?
Speaker 3:wow, it's a great place. A great place, you know. It looks like a paradise for a city boy, really relaxed in my eye. We love our house. We have a lake in the backyard with a lot of. Canadian geese and our dog is really happy too, and my wife, she really loves this. So happy wife, happy life.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 3:And you know, I just one hour ago from a big city when I need to spend time in the just in the noisy. Just drive one hour north and reach the big city.
Speaker 2:But I really like this place. I think that's. I think Auburn and Opelika is really situated very nicely. We're not very far from Montgomery or Atlanta or Birmingham, but we have our little, small little place here in the world. It's like a little sanctuary here. So let's go back to the ministry a little bit. So you've been in the Latino ministry for most of your life. I'm sure you've come across some misconceptions that people have. Are there any that you'd like to clear up?
Speaker 3:Yeah, there are misconceptions. I'm learning, of course. Most of my ministry was in Cuba. I was working in contact with the European churches too, and I have been traveling during those almost 20 years to Brazil, mexico and Argentina. But living here and here in the States is totally different. So I'm learning. Honestly, I have been learning a lot during these last two years, much more than I learned in the practical way. Much more than I learned in the practical way, much more than I learned in all my studies.
Speaker 3:And you know one of the things, specifically here in Alabama I heard, starting reading the story and visiting the different places, I heard a couple of times that phrase of Martin Luther King Jr.
Speaker 3:I say in one of his speeches it is appealed that the most celebrated hour in Christian America is 11 o'clock on Sunday morning. Honestly, maybe that, probably that was true a couple of generations ago, a couple of decades ago, but right now, every Sunday morning, the service where I'm pastoring and the reality where I am living is totally different. Maybe it's the most multicultural thing that I have been living my whole life, because just in my congregation I have 16 different nations and more than 20 different ethnic groups, and that is inside of a context of an American First Baptist Church. It's a concept, right, and next Sunday we will celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Korean church. So every Sunday, here in the campus of First Baptist Church of Laika, you can touch, you can get in touch with people from more than 30 different nations and human groups. So it's not this. Most are great. In my opinion, maybe that is a myth or a misconception.
Speaker 2:Or a misconception about the South, absolutely Well, let's take a little bit of time to talk about what you and your family do for fun when you're not working in the ministry. What are some things you guys like to?
Speaker 3:do. Well, maybe it looks like it's part of my work, but I really enjoy knowing the different culture of my congregation, visiting them and trying the food. Believe me, that is really fun. Okay, and this Sunday, for instance, many of them will come to my house to enjoy the final of Copa America. The soccer Colombians and Argentinians will be together, maybe not really together, but will be in my house. So I enjoy the gathering and knowing the cultures, knowing the different identities, because maybe that is another misconception, maybe some people saying, ah, latinos are the same, we are so, so different yeah really different in, in behave, traditions, even language.
Speaker 3:we are. We are different, so I really enjoy that. But I really enjoy hiking with my family and with my dog, training my dog. I really enjoy training my dog and in the really special moment, you know, enjoy the chamber music with Mozart, beethoven and Bach. I was rowing in that city so I need that time to time.
Speaker 2:Okay Well, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Was there any kind of hardship or life challenge that you've experienced that made you a better person, or maybe even stronger, in your ministry?
Speaker 3:Well for me. I was born in a communist country. Every morning I went to school, was expelled from the state. There are no any chance to have a private school over there, no any chance to have Christian school. So we need to go to the state school. It was mandatory to learn Marxism. It was like brainwashing every day. So the apologetic that we learned since the five years old was really, really heavy.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Was surviving. Not surviving, but developing yourself and growing yourself and being successful in the middle of a lack of freedom and oppression and persecution. It's not fun, Obviously it's not fun, but it makes you strong. And right now, living in this deep south, you can hear in the restaurants Christian music and you go to some shopping and see scriptures in the woods. It's not a paradise, of course.
Speaker 2:We are in a broken world, but for me that is a paradise that made me stronger, not just me, but all my generation in Cuba well, what is one thing that you wish people knew about the Latino ministry at First Baptist Church of Laika?
Speaker 3:I really want that the people see us as a bridge, a bridge of cultures. Okay, I'm a bridge. You know, a bridge doesn't belong to no one short, no another one, right, and you belong both. So it's that I'm enjoying being the middle, yeah, and just helping people to pass over us, to get contact and and realize what are the wonderful things of norweg cultures. And you can survive in the in the other show. Uh, sure that for me, that is the way that we want to people see us, the family of the Latinos here in Lee County, just to make bridges.
Speaker 2:I like that analogy. So you're a bridge connecting people, but then also connecting people to God as well.
Speaker 3:Of course.
Speaker 2:So how can people learn more about your ministry or get in touch with you if they want to volunteer or if they want to become a member? How do they get in touch with you? If they want to volunteer or if they want to become a member, how do they get in touch with you?
Speaker 3:Well, just type P-I-B-O or Familia Pivo, or just go to FBCO and look for the Latino Ministry in FBCO. Otherwise, all the ways are really simple. So, otherwise, all the ways are really simple. We have a really good network, a really good website and link tree and you can have access to all of that. And we need volunteers. We need a lot of volunteers.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I looked up your website, wwwpibous, and the neat thing about your website is when you first log on, it asks you if you need to translate, and you just say yes and it pops up in English. So that's good. You can do Spanish and English.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, yeah. My son developed that website, so I'm really proud of him. Good.
Speaker 2:It's very nice. It's well done. Well. Thank you, daniel, for being on the Good Neighbor podcast with me today. I've enjoyed learning more about you and more about the Latino ministry at First Baptist.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor podcast, auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpauburncom. That's gnpauburncom, or call 334-429-7404.