Hispanic missions summit calls Georgia churches to pray and reach the nations By HENRY DURAND, The Christian Index Monday, March 16, 2026 DACULA, Ga. — Hispanic pastors and church leaders gathered Saturday, March 14, at Hebron Baptist Church in Dacula for a Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit. The summit’s main sessions featured ministry leaders who approached the Great Commission from different angles — local engagement, global mobilization, and spiritual formation — while all returning to the same common theme. God’s mission advances, they told listeners, as His people obey, and obedience begins with prayer. Associational Missionary Strategist David Cardoza of the Mulberry Baptist Association opened the day by emphasizing that missions is not a side program reserved for a select few, but a call to each and every believer. He shared with attendees a simple framework for local outreach that can be reproduced in any congregation: go with prayer, listen to the community, serve real needs, and share Christ. Cardoza urged churches to think beyond the building and treat the surrounding community as the church’s daily ministry context. Teaching from John 20:21, he pointed out that just as Jesus was sent by His Father with power, with purpose, and with a plan, so are we. Listening to those with whom we share, Cardoza said, is not optional. He urged leaders to identify nearby neighborhoods, schools, and public gathering places, and then show up with humility rather than assumptions. “The goal is the gospel,” he said, “but we have to listen first.” In small-group discussions, participants talked through ways to learn what their communities are facing right now, and how churches can respond with tangible help while keeping the message of Christ central. Annel Robayna, Hispanic church mobilization strategist for the International Mission Board, showed how churches can cultivate a missions culture through consistent prayer. Using slides designed for worship services or small groups, Robayna encouraged attendees to pray for three different indigenous people groups in Brazil. He encouraged pastors to use similar methods to encourage prayer in their own churches. Robayna also walked through Acts 1:8, explaining it as a biblical framework that keeps local and global missions together. “Your local responsibility does not replace your global responsibility,” he said, “and neither should be used to excuse the other.” He described the book of Acts as a record of the Spirit breaking barriers to gospel advancement, and explained that the Spirit can break those same barriers today. He urged believers not to focus on the barriers, such as religious opposition, imprisonment, administrative challenges, ethnic prejudice, and persecution, but on the power of the Spirit to overcome them. Samuel Ayala, missions consultant for the GBMB, emphasized the spiritual depth and maturity required to sustain a missions-minded life. Preaching from Ezekiel 47, Ayala urged leaders to measure spiritual maturity not by activity, but by intimacy with Christ and faithfulness to spiritual disciplines. Ayala noted that personal spiritual health is a prerequisite to effective spiritual leadership, and he reminded pastors that biblical leadership is not defined by status but by service. Citing Jesus’ teaching, he urged leaders to pursue a balanced life that cares for family while also caring for the flock. He warned that disciples are often shaped more by what leaders model than by what they say. He pressed participants to prioritize prayer, Scripture, and discipling others as the foundation for any effective missions strategy. Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Mission Georgia, shared with attendees the tangible ways in which they can prepare to reach the nations that are coming to Georgia for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Williams noted that many international neighbors already live in Georgia and will be paying attention. “We care about the World Cup because we care about people,” she said. Williams pointed participants to Mission Georgia resource guides with practical outreach strategies — from watch parties and neighborhood gatherings to children’s sports nights and “Cup of Nations” events — along with soccer-themed evangelistic tools being developed in English and Spanish. The goal, she said, is to help churches move to practical next steps, including follow-up, so that conversations about the “beautiful game” can become conversations about Christ. Participants were reminded that the power of the gospel does not rest in their own strength, but in the One who sends them, and that the mandate to evangelize is rooted in Scripture. Pointing to Acts 1:8, Robayna stressed that the same Spirit who empowered the early disciples is still at work today, and that Spirit’s enabling is the essential ingredient for both local outreach and global missions. “Without power, there is no preaching of the gospel,” he said. ___ This article is also available in Spanish. --- PHOTOS --- File: 20260316-142519-e76-Prayer 1.jpg Caption: Attendees pray at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-142523-657-Prayer 4a.jpg Caption: Attendees pray at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-142511-7d7-David 2.jpg Caption: Associational Missionary Strategist David Cardoza of the Mulberry Baptist Association speaks at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-142509-b1d-Annel 2.jpg Caption: Annel Robayna, Hispanic church mobilization strategist for the International Mission Board, speaks at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-172039-d50-Samuel 3.jpg Caption: Samuel Ayala, missions consultant for the GBMB, speaks at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-142514-439-Mission Ga Beth Ann.jpg Caption: Beth Ann Williams, lead strategist for Mission Georgia, speaks at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. David Cardoza translated for Williams. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-142528-23e-Worship 1.jpg Caption: Orlando Rivera, left, and Henry Medina lead worship at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand) File: 20260316-142521-508-Prayer 3.jpg Caption: Attendees pray at the Georgia Baptist Mission Board Hispanic missions summit at Hebron Church in Dacula, Ga., Saturday, March 14. (Index/Henry Durand)