Click to join the conversation with over 500,000 Pentecostal believers and scholars
| PentecostalTheology.com
73
Hispanic
Pentecostals
Anglo-Franco
in a Canadian Environment
Luis C. Fontalvo
EDITOR’S NOTE: Luis C. Fontalvo, a Colombian, began to preach in his home- land, but several years ago he moved with his family to Canada, and there he found himself
in an
altogether different cultural, climatological
and economic world, to which he had to
adapt. Fontalvo, however, in contrast to most preachers
who come from
the Third to the First World, did not migrate to Canada in the company of fel- low Colombian believers nor with the intention of establishing a
Spanish-speaking church, but to preach in French to the people of the province of Quebec and in response
to what he interpreted as a specific call. His work crystalized into what is now known as the Eglise des Apôtres de Jesus-Christ, with
than His work and in very he
different and farther- reaching
results
expected.
iment that another
presence
Canada became an
exper-
may, or may not, be repeated in country or under different circum- stances. It leaves open the question as to what will when the church he founded
is totally integrated or if migration to Canada happen if and ceases in the future. Fontalvo’s experience
is simply one instance of the many things that are happening in countries like the United States and Canada, and even on soil, to which Latin American Pentecostals arrive
silently, learn
to live European many times surreptitiously or anonymously
in the country of their choice, and do what is most natural to them: Share the The results
may
not be
exactly
what the
preacher expected, they may
be as new gospel. as a
“hybrid”
church, as it happened to Montalvo. These hybrid churches may well become the trend of the future in some of the First World cities. Although
Montalvo does not say so, the implicit lesson is that the preacher is the key
to success and has to begin by becoming a polyglot and not
simply
the mono- lingual
head of the operation who thinks that one
language is enough either for
the preacher or for
a situation as that described in this article.
Introduction
The drama of
abandoning
one’s
country
and cultural
background
is known to millions around the world.
Many
have been
pushed by politi- cal persecution and have had no other alternative. Others suffer
religious persecution
and at the end, the situation becomes unbearable for the family
and
they
are reduced to a life less than human. Still others leave their countries of
origin
for social and economic
reasons, looking for “greener pastures.”
Whatever the reason for
leaving
behind their cher- ished memories to start out in their new venture in the countries of their choice, the road that
leads to
self-sufficiency
and
autonomy
is
long
and rough. Every
individual could write his or her own tale filled with sus- pense, surprises,
sometimes of the
meeting
of a “good
Samaritan,” and sometimes
living
with the dreaded
possibility
of being sent back to their country
of
birth,
where
they
no longer have
anything
to which
they may return. This situation makes them lead a different kind of life than that led
by
those who have been in the
country
for
generations past,
and
very few
integrate fully
in their new environment even if there is no
language
1
74
barrier. Instead
they
become a sub-culture,
many
times
suffering
from the
injustices
and
prejudices
of racism, in spite of how much their “new country” may
claim to believe in human
rights
and to be against discrim- ination of
any
kind.
Quebec-Canada
We will
attempt
to situate new
Hispanic
believers
trying
to
integrate into a French-speaking
community
within the context of Canada. Canada is
officially
a bilingual
country (English-French),
but for a long
period of time the French were a restricted and
predominantly-Catholic minority (We
will not
go
into the historical
background,
since this is not the issue here).
Montreal-Quebec
We came to the
city
of Montreal in the Province of
Quebec
to
plant churches
specifically among
the French Canadians. We knew
they
were people
in
deep spiritual need, people
of Catholic
religion
and French tongue.
The call was
very specific.
We did not know if Montreal had Hispanics
as
part
of the
population
at the time that we
came,
so
we, Hispanic ourselves,
started out
by trying
to learn the French
language and culture in order to get to the heart of the
people.
The Mixture
Begins
After a few
years,
when we
began
to see
tangible
results and some of the French
began committing
themselves to follow
Christ,
some His- panics
crossed our
way
and were rather astonished to see that we were ministering
in French and not in our mother
tongue.
But since
they
were interested in the
gospel
and even
though
we had a clear call to the French-speakers,
we considered ourselves debtors to all
men,
and
began ministering
in our own
language
in one of our
weekly meetings,
and continued our
Sunday meetings
in French. Most of the
Hispanics
who made their commitment to God and our
church, also made it a “must” to be there on
Sundays,
since I was the
pastor
to both
groups
and minis- tered to the others
during
the week. We
encouraged
them to come on Sundays,
since we were one
single congregation
and it was convenient also for
language
and cultural contacts.
They
would
mingle
in an atmo- sphere
of love with the French
believers,
who were also new in the faith. The church
provided
a pleasant atmosphere to learn about each other’s culture, and to
many
of the
Hispanics,
it also became their lan- guage school, good
contacts for business were made, and
strong
friend- ships developed.
When we had
agapes,
or love feasts. We would taste the food at the other
people’s
tables, learned
new
recipes,
etc.
What Made Us Grow
Together
Later
on,
while we attended a meeting in the United
States,
the Lord confirmed to us,
through prophecy,
that he had not
only
called us to the
2
75
French but also to the
Hispanics,
and that he wanted a church in the
city where all
barriers-language, culture,
social
status, etc.-would
be broken,
and his love would rule. As a result, we were convinced that we had to continue
ministering
this
way.
There are a few
things
that
probably helped keep
us together and build strong
ties between us. One was the fact that our
building
was burned twice and in both cases we had to start all over
again.
Another was that we undertook the construction of our
present building.
Without
any previous experience,
we had to learn a lot
together through
hard times, and our hearts were melted in
unity
as we looked for solutions before the Lord for our construction and financial
problems,
and
together
we grew
in faith.
Another factor was the
planting
of other churches in the Province where we were. It was a joint
missionary effort;
the
intercession,
the giving,
the
correspondence
and the
visiting
of these new churches also kept
us united in heart and
spirit.
We launched out to plant a church in France
through
one of our missionaries who was converted in our own congregation.
This
gave
the members of the church a sense of
belonging to one another. We did
things together.
We never had communion in different ethnic or
language groups,
but
always together.
We had
picnics and conventions and visited each other, and in our
prayer nights
we always prayed together.
Another
thing
that
helped
was that most of the Hispanics
in the church were not
“transplanted”
from churches in other countries.
They
were converted here and, therefore, could
adapt
more easily.
Language
Barriers?
At
first,
the two
languages, Spanish
and
French,
were
kept totally separated
in our
meetings,
that
is,
if our
meeting
was in Spanish, it was totally Spanish-the songs,
the
testimonies, prayers
and
preaching.
The same was true of our French
meetings,
even
though people
from both groups
would attend the two classes of meetings. We followed this line in order to reach newcomers who, we
thought,
would resent a mixed meeting
and would
agree
with the more traditional
way
of keeping ethnic groups separated.
The French Canadians
already
resented the use of English
as a second
language,
and
anything
that was
purely “Quebegois” would have to be
strictly
in French. The Province of
Quebec suffered, and is still
suffering politically,
because of the use of
any
other language,
and this shows even in street
signs, public meetings,
etc. So, in order to reach the French Canadians, we wanted to keep the
meeting for them
purely
“French.”
But as the
congregation grew
and as we
began
to know more of each other,
we
began
to
sing,
now and
then,
a
Spanish song
in our French meetings,
and vice versa. And since our church would
fellowship
at conventions with
English-speaking
churches, we would also, once in a while,
include an English
song.
3
76
English
ity
is Added
believers were drawn to they
made a commit-
As the
years
went
by,
some
English-speaking
our
congregation and,
after some consideration,
ment to our church and
began
to
integrate
into our
already
mixed (French-Spanish) group.
Since
English
is also the
language
of a minor-
in the Province of Quebec, these believers came with the understand- ing
that our
meetings
on
Sundays
were in French and
they
were
going
to
that
way.
Some of these
people
understood a little French while others
spoke
it
fairly
well. But as others
joined
us later, we had to establish some kind of translation service. As a result, one side of the
stay
church was
equipped
with an
earphone system
and in
every
seat there was the
option
of two channels to receive the desired translation. Trans- lation was made into French and
English
if the
meeting
was in
Spanish, for
instance, or
into
English
and
Spanish
if the
meeting
was in French. The translation was done
simultaneously
from a closed cabin in the back of the church.
This
procedure apparently encouraged
some of the French believers to come to our
Spanish meetings. They began
to join the
singing,
which was all done in
Spanish,
but later
they
would hear the sermon in their own
language by
means of the
earphones.
Some of the French even learned
Spanish
well
enough
not to need the
earphones anymore.
With
now
understanding
more than one
language,
the
earphones
were
restricted to the ones who had no
understanding
of the lan-
in which the sermon was
preached.
people eventually guage
Other Ethnic
Some Italians were also converted
represent
groups, identified
Groups
to the Lord and committed them-
was
kept
as the main
language
and the
Province, and the
We were not a single
selves to the Lord and to our church. But
they
were
already
fluent in either French or
English,
and most of them
spoke
both. This did not
a major
problem
for either them or us. With the
blending
of several cultures
now,
we were all somehow
losing
our
identity
as ethnic
but we felt confident because of the fact that we were all
in Christ.
French, however,
because it is the official
language
of the
city
one best understood
by
most of the
congregation.
ethnic
group
now nor restricted to a certain
language,
color, or culture. Then we
began
to have an influx of new believers from the Caribbean (Haiti, Jamaica,
St. Lucie,
etc.),
and others from Africa
(Ivory Coast, Burkina
Faso, Zaire, etc.).
The
Hispanics
now constitute about half of the
congregation
and come from at least eleven different countries
Republic,
Costa Rica, El
Salvador,
Guate- mala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama,
Chile and
Argentina).
The other half
consists
mainly
of French Canadians. But there are
and
Italians,
and we also have
repre-
(France, Austria, Switzerland,
(Colombia, Peru,
Dominican
of the
congregation
also some
English
Canadians sentatives of other countries
Rumania,
4
77
Hungary,
Greece, Trinidad,
the United States and Brazil). Once we counted
altogether
26 different nationalities, and this made the Hispanics feel that
they
were not alone and that
they
could benefit and enrich their own culture
through
the first-hand
knowledge they
now had of other peoples.
Obstacles Observed
As it happens all over the world,
everything
has its good
points
and its difficult
ones,
but both
bring
the
blessing
of adaptation.
Testimonies
.
Some
Hispanics
find it hard to
express
their ideas and
opinions
in French,
and sometimes
they prefer
not to
speak
in
public meetings. Others take the
liberty
to
speak
in their own
language, knowing
that someone in the
congregation
will understand them. Now we are
trying to solve the
problem by having
those testimonies translated from the pulpit.
The same
thing happens
when
somebody
chooses to
testify
in English.
Announcements
When the time for announcements comes, there arises the
possibility of a misunderstanding as a result of not
grasping
the
language properly. For that reason, we
try
to solve the
problem by giving
the announce- ments with their
corresponding interpretation.
Starting
Time
The time to start the
meetings
has been another obstacle that some Hispanics
and
people
from other southern cultures have learned to over- come. As
part
of our
Hispanic culture,
we believe that we can be late
up to one hour and it is still
justified.
The French and
English
Canadians, on the other hand, believe more in being
punctual.
This situation makes some of the
people
come late
knowing
that not
everybody
will be there on
time,
and this has been a bit of a struggle, although we have dared to start the
meetings
on time,
anyway,
for,
after
all, we have
an
appoint- ment with the Lord.
Jealousy
or Love?
As the
pastor,
I have had some
Hispanics
accuse me of
loving
the French members more than the
Hispanics.
The
opposite
has been claimed
by
the French. Now the
English-speaking
members have started to feel left out at times,
feeling
that we cater more to the
French, so we try
hard to keep a fair balance between all the
groups, trying
to be just, so all of them will feel at home.
Competition
or
Evangelism ?
Some of the French believers worried that the
Hispanics
would
bring more and more
people
into the church and that
they
would
outgrow
the French in number.
My
answer was that the French would
just
have to
5
78
bring
more French to balance it! So this
keeps
them on their toes and makes them see the real
purpose
of their salvation: To reach out!
Other Effects
As the
congregation
was more and more knitted
together,
love crossed color and
language barriers,
and since there was
already
a certain
degree of
adaptation,
some
began
to make
marriage proposals.
As a
result, today
we have several
young
mixed
couples, English-Hispanic
and
French-Hispanic, living
a rather
peaceful
and
happy life,
with of course, the usual
problems any marriage
will
bring.
In the
past,
new
Hispanic
believers were accustomed to bribe their governments
and the
police
and to do
illegal things
in order to secure certain
government
benefits. Now
they
have had to cope with the Bible teachings
on
honesty
and justice. Those
practices
were so much a part of their culture that it took time for them to realize that
they
are
actually wrong.
With the
teaching
from the Word and with
patience,
we have overcome these
practices
and learned to live as true Christians.
Residential Status
As far as the residential status
mainly
of
Hispanics
in our church is concerned,
most of them are
permanent
residents. A
good
number are already
Canadian citizens and others are
officially
still
refugees.
But as far as I know, no one is living illegally in the
country,
and this
helps
to establish them more in their new-found faith.
Work in Society
We all know how hard it is for
foreigners
to get a decent job in spite of their education. It takes a while before
they
learn their
way around, although
for the ones who have finished their studies
here,
it is much easier.
Nevertheless, many
have found
good positions
and have ac- quired
homes for their families. A
good majority
of the
members, how- ever,
are still
paying
rent. The children
growing up
in these families and in this
city
have
maybe greater opportunities
than their
parents had,
since they
are
already
bi- or even
trilingual,
and have
integrated
well into the environment,
or
adapted
much more
easily
because of their
young age. Our Goal
With all these ties
binding
us
together, many
of the
Hispanics
consider it advantageous to belong to a pluralistic church like ours and would not want to break
away
from the French
congregation
to form a
separate church. Other
Hispanics
are also in the
city
who
worship
in their own ethnic churches.
They
have a tendency to criticize us for not
being
“Pure Spanish.”
We are also often criticized for
being
“Jesus
Only,”
as
they call
us, because of our
position concerning
the Godhead that dwells fully
in Jesus and our
baptismal
formula in the name of Jesus. Neverthe- less, we want to
evangelize
as a group and to plant new churches in the city
and in the Province. If there is a need for a totally
Spanish
church in
6
79
the
future,
or even two or
three,
we would be
ready
to
support
such a project,
but as far as the mother church is concerned,
may
the Lord
keep us together until he comes.
7
