Louisville—Since starting five years ago with about 10 people in their weekly worship service, average Sunday attendance at Senda de Luz (Sending the Light) in Louisville has swelled to 100. That makes it the largest Hispanic congregation in the Kentucky Baptist Convention, even though the group has not officially constituted as a church.

Pastor Yurian Santiesteban is also chaplain at Churchill Downs, where Monday night services attract 100 worshippers, with 30 to 50 coming to Wednesday night Bible studies.

With growth giving them the ability to do more, members of Senda de Luz are helping three other Hispanic churches in the Louisville area and are working to establish eight home Bible studies.

“We call our church a mission church,” Santiesteban noted. “We help other people start missions because we know what it’s like to start new and only have 10 to 12 people in the worship service.”

The growth of his church and the race track ministry symbolize how Hispanic ministry is maturing in Kentucky, the pastor pointed out.

Almost every Monday night someone at Churchill Downs raises their hand to accept Christ as their personal Savior, he added.

“We have the opportunity to touch many lives,” Santiesteban said. “We have planted the seed and now are seeing the response with the numbers of attendance we have.”

Central region missionary Job Juarez agreed. Formerly the pastor of the Hispanic mission at Bardstown Baptist Church, Juarez sees many Hispanics moving from salvation to involvement in such practices as Bible study, prayer and tithing.

“We have been able to go full circle with them,” the missionary noted. “I’m excited about seeing God work in people’s lives.”

Numbers are another indicator of growth. Compiled in late March, the annual report on Hispanic churches showed 62 congregations at the end of 2007. Seven were churches and the rest were missions, with the exception of several seasonal migrant ministries.

Carlos De la Barra, one of the pioneers of this ministry in Kentucky, has his sights set on more than tripling the number to 200 over the next six years.

“It’s a really hard goal but we need to do more,” said De la Barra, ethnic associate in the KBC’s new work and associational missions department. “We are not reaching more than three to five percent of the Hispanic population.”

The former pastor has been involved in Hispanic ministry in Kentucky since it began in 1995. Although the roster of churches has not grown as quickly as he would like, De la Barra called Hispanic ministry “healthy.”

He noted that when the state convention started reaching out to Hispanics in the mid-1990s, most were single migrant workers. Today, families are settling here, with an estimated 80 percent of Hispanic Baptists full-time residents.

In addition, many existing congregations are moving toward independence, which shows maturity, he added.

One of the keys to growth in recent years has been the 4-year-old Instituto Biblico Bautista Hispano (Hispanic Baptist Bible Institute). With campuses in Louisville, Covington and Bowling Green, the school has graduated more than 75 students.

Statewide last year, Hispanic congregations reported collective membership of 1,041 and average Sunday attendance of 1,387. Sunday school attendance averaged 604 and there were 79 members of Woman’s Missionary Union. Total giving to the Cooperative Program, associations and special missions ­offerings came to just more than $22,500.

The most impressive statistic was the baptisms. The 147 reported last year averages about seven members per baptism, much lower than the Southern Baptist Convention’s 42:1 ratio.

“If you look at the number of members to baptisms, that’s phenomenal,” said Grundy Janes, consultant in associational missions for the KBC. “Attendance is moving up, too. ... If you go back to where we were 10 to 12 years ago and look at where we are today, there’s been fantastic growth.”

The attrition rate has been fairly low as well. Janes counted 78 starts over the past 12 years, meaning only 13 have either closed or merged with other churches. Like De la Barra, Janes sees Hispanics maturing, which he credited to the Bible Institute providing more leadership.

“The missionaries are doing less of the Sunday-by-Sunday preaching,” Janes said. “And, we’re getting more leadership and growth in churches and Sunday school classes.”

Still, Janes noted that there is more that can be done. Any Anglo churches aware of Hispanic groups in their area can contact De la Barra to arrange help in reaching them, he said.

Janes also pointed out that missionaries are better equipped to initially reach other Hispanics. Once relationships have been established, existing churches can help by providing meeting space, periodic meals and English-as-a-second-language classes, as well as holding joint worship services, Janes said.

Help from Anglo churches is always appreciated, Santiesteban urged.

Even though his church is much larger than in 2003, it is still relatively small and has limited resources to help immigrants with few possessions, he noted.

“We are always looking for help—getting clothes for people and furniture,” Santiesteban said. “I’m always asking for any kind of donations we can (get) to help these families.”