EDITOR’S NOTE: This year’s Week of Prayer for North American Missions is March 1–8 and is focused on the theme “More Than a Gift” and the theme verse of Ephesians 3:20–21. The emphasis spotlights the spiritual needs and ministry taking place on the North American mission field leading up to the annual Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. All gifts given to the offering support missionaries and resources on the mission field. The AAEO provides half of the annual funding for the North American Mission Board. Gifts to the Annie offering can be given through local Southern Baptist churches or online at give.anniearmstrong.com. This year’s goal is $80 million.
No one would’ve guessed that “Go big or go home” was an Ortiz family truism.
After all, when God called Oscar Ortiz and his wife, Wendy, to plant a church in Río Grande, they didn’t first launch a marketing campaign, send out glossy, full-color mailers or pay for billboards, radio ads and social media blasts.
Instead, they moved their car off the driveway, set up some lawn chairs, and invited neighbors over to their house to hear the gospel. And then, when it rained on what turned out to be Iglesia Bautista Esperanza Eterna’s launch Sunday, Oscar and Wendy didn’t let it dampen their enthusiasm, because they had a different definition of what it means to “go big.”
“We had just six adults that first rainy Sunday, and lots of things didn’t go as planned,” Oscar said. “But that was okay because we weren’t planting with the intention of having a big congregation one day. We just wanted to plant a church that would plant more churches.”
‘Can’t-stop-thinking-about-it burden’
Starting a church planting movement in the driveway of their Puerto Rico home was not always Oscar and Wendy Ortiz’s chief ambition. Born and raised on the island, they moved to Texas the day after their wedding so Oscar could attend seminary.
“We just went there to study, but ended up staying 14 years,” Oscar said. “We built a life, we had kids, and then eventually got to the point where we had no intention of ever going back to Puerto Rico.”
An irresistible dose of homesickness combined with a can’t-stop-thinking-about-it burden for lost people changed all that.
“God really just started to give us a heavy heart for Puerto Rico,” Wendy said. “This is called ‘The Enchanted Island’ for a reason. It’s a beautiful place with beautiful people, and it’s easy to think there are lots of Christians here because everybody says, ‘God bless you,’ when they pass you on the street.”
“But the truth is,” Oscar noted, “there are very few believers in Puerto Rico, and the more we prayed about it, the more we knew it was time for us to come home.”
Five years ago, when the Ortiz family moved back to Puerto Rico, they brought with them what they’d learned in seminary.
“We’d planted a congregation in Texas, and learned how different churches connect with different people,” Oscar said. “So when we came to the area around Río Grande, where there’s 46,000 people and zero Southern Baptist churches, we told ourselves, ‘If this first plant never gets above 50 members, that’s alright as long as we’re constantly sending out teams who can plant more churches and reach more people.'”
‘And God answered’
That’s why when Iglesia Bautista Esperanza Eterna started small, Oscar and Wendy could still dream big. “This church has been an answer to prayer,” Wendy said. “God’s made it into a family who love the Lord and want to see other people come to love Him too.”
Shortly after planting in Río Grande, Oscar and Wendy’s congregation turned their attention to another nearby town.
“Loíza is just down the road from here,” Oscar said. “It’s a low-income community with almost no gospel witness, and we started praying about starting a new work there. But we had a problem. We only had 27 members. So, what did we do? Did we wait until we had more people to move forward? No. We prayed for help. And God answered.”
Send Relief is the Southern Baptists’ compassion ministry arm, and when Send Relief began sending volunteer mission teams to Loíza to repair residents’ homes, that opened doors for Oscar, Wendy, and their church.
“We didn’t know anyone in Loíza,” Wendy said. “But the Send Relief teams coming in and telling people, ‘We’re connected with this church in Río Grande,’ really helped us build relationships there.”
Whenever Send Relief mission teams came to work on homes in Loíza, Oscar and people from his church plant in Río Grande would be there too.
“We talked with people in the homes and really got to know them,” Oscar said. “Then even after the teams left, we kept going back and connecting with the people there.”
Big need
That’s how Oscar and Wendy Ortiz were able to go big. Send Relief helped them and their tiny church plant in Río Grande lay the foundation for what will hopefully soon be another new church in an unchurched place.
“There are so many lost people in Puerto Rico,” Oscar says. “We have to start more churches, and it amazes me that even though our church plant in Río Grande is still small and new, we’re already able to be a part of that work.
“That’s big. It’s something only God can do.”
The Annie Armstrong Easter Offering is used for training, support and care for missionaries, like Oscar and Wendy Ortiz, and for evangelism resources.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Tony Hudson and originally published by the North American Mission Board.
