Norma Rams felt empty when she walked into Whittier Area Community Church to worship for the first time. But that day, Jesus and the believers in this church invited her into a life that has filled her spirit ever since.

“Jesus was telling me, ‘If you’re looking for me, I’m here,” Rams said of that day. “They made me feel like I was at home. When I got there, these people received me into their family.”

The Bible in Spanish sweetens their minds

That’s precisely why pastor Alex Juarez and the core team started Whittier Area Community Church en Español. They strive to offer Spanish-preference speakers, many of whom immigrated without family, a second home.

He said the church launched out of Whittier Area Community Church in March 2022. They now offer worship services, Bible studies and other spiritual growth opportunities for people who struggle to find a Hispanic church.

Forty-seven percent of the people in Hacienda Heights, where Juarez lives, speak Spanish. Nearby Whittier, where WACC worships, has 67 percent of its population as Spanish speakers.

Residents near the church come from Guatemala, Mexico, El Salvador, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, Bolivia, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. While many of them speak English, go to college and work in white-collar and blue-collar jobs, he said they prefer to speak Spanish, especially in worship, as many grew up speaking Spanish at home.

“When it comes to Bible language, they wanted it in Spanish because [religious conversations weren’t] as easy as daily conversations,” Juarez explained. “Whenever they hear Spanish, they feel more comfortable. They feel more attuned to it. They feel more drawn to it.”

People have often told him that when they hear the word of God in Spanish, it has a different flavor, that the Bible in Spanish sweetens their minds.

A mother’s power and a ministry’s preparation

God fashioned Juarez for such a role in such a community. His mother was a Bible teacher for a Guatemalan church and school. So, he learned early on the value of teaching God’s word to people who don’t know God. 

Several years later, Juarez joined a global Christian ministry where he boarded a ship around the world feeding the hungry. That’s where he learned English while visiting Los Angeles, Russia, Africa, the Caribbean and other places in six years of service.

“There’s fertile soil everywhere,” he said.

The church brings families together through language

That includes his California community for more than 20 years. Juarez discovered several needs in the Spanish-speaking community, like family members who attended different churches because of language needs. He also saw people who wouldn’t participate in Christian worship because believers had hurt them.

At the same time, he lived out his faith by translating WACC’s English worship services into Spanish. 

A few years later, he and his wife, Ivete, gathered believers for a Bible study. That was the first Bible study in Spanish in the original church’s history.

In the early days of his volunteering, Juarez said families started to share how they could discuss their faith and growth because of Spanish language ministries at WACC.

Over time, he said people saw grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, cousins, husbands and wives worship together and grow in the Lord as a family. He estimates that 75 percent of the people who’ve joined the church plant don’t have much time in the Lord’s community. 

“It’s God’s miracle in their lives,” Juarez added.

Meeting spiritual needs starts with knowing God personally

Many people in the church had heard about God; however, they didn’t know him personally as father or as their Lord and Savior. 

That was the case with Norma Rams, who grew up hearing about God but didn’t know him personally. When she found herself empty in spirit, the welcoming community at WACC filled her heart. The years among them have redirected her life into the Lord’s mission.

She got more involved when the church mentioned they would have a Spanish translation of worship services. When WACC announced they were hiring a Spanish-speaking pastor, she got even more involved. 

She’s part of a church now that serves others, a group that’s there for the needs people have, whether small or big, a problem or a challenge. She joined the welcome team so others would find the kindness she encountered years ago with an empty heart.

“I want to receive everyone the way they received me, with a big smile and say, ‘You belong here,'” she said. “It’s been changing my life a lot. It’s all I was looking for.”

Converge’s 10 U.S. regions have committed to deploying 312 church planters before 2026. Read more inspiring church planting stories and learn about the goal to send out 312 church planters in five years.